Chiropractic FAQs
What Is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic is a complete system of healthcare focused on restoring, preserving, and optimizing health by natural hands-on care. Chiropractors are licensed professionals who undergo years of training to diagnose and appropriately care for a spinal condition known as a ‘subluxation’.
Subluxations occur when pressure is placed on the spinal nerves by one or more of the spinal bones (vertebrae). Spinal nerves come out from between each of the bones in your spine and travel to all of your body’s organs. The pressure placed on the nerves causes malfunction and interference with the body’s signals traveling through those nerves.
Where conventional medicine places focuses on curing illness through pharmaceuticals, the goal of chiropractic is to optimize a person’s health with a non-invasive approach, without using drugs or surgery. .
ALL of the functions of your body are controlled by your nervous system. If you interfere with the signals traveling through your spinal nerves, parts of your body will not be able to function at your optimal level. Think of this like a water hose; if the water hose is properly kept, water is able to free flow from your house to your garden. If the water hose becomes kinked, however, pressure builds up in the hose and little to no water will come out.
My chiropractor prescribed a series of visits for me, why does it take more than one treatment?
Think of Chiropractic as “orthodontics for the spine.” In the initial stages, chiropractic is working to re-train your body’s vertebrae, ligaments and muscles to suit their proper alignment. Just as the time required for braces to achieve correction is dependent on the condition of the individual’s mouth structure and teeth, the time required for proper spinal alignment to occur is dependent on the condition of the individual patient’s spine. Other factors that may contribute are their posture, hobbies, work stress and other lifestyle habits.
Chiropractic results may vary. Some patients enjoy immediate, immense results while others find that their recovery may take several months. Some symptomatic problems may have just become to surface where they have been around for a significant period of time.
How Does Chiropractic Work?
Chiropractic restores your body’s own inborn ability to heal itself. When your nervous system is allowed to properly communicate with the rest of your body, all the cells, tissues and organs of your body are innately designed to fight disease and illnesses. The chiropractic approach is to restore your natural state of being healthy and remove nerves interferences that are inhibiting your body from functioning optimally.
Since the primary focus of your care is improved nervous system function, chiropractic can have a surprising and positive effect on many health conditions not normally associated with back pain.
What can I expect?
Helping to restore proper nervous system function begins with a detailed case history. This gives the doctor a chance to learn about your health history and includes; surgeries, accidents, the onset of your condition and other details that could possibly be affecting your health.
After reviewing your history and discussing your reason for beginning care, a thorough chiropractic examination is performed. An autonomic nervous system scan, called ‘thermography’ will assess and detect areas of high activity and x-rays may be taken to help uncover structural and functional problems associated with the spinal column. In addition, a posture analysis and weight imbalance test will also be performed. These examinations all help identify areas of spinal malfunction and resulting nervous system interference.
The findings of these examinations will be discussed with you by the doctor and a plan of chiropractic adjustments may be recommended to stabilize your spine and begin the correction process. Progress is monitored with periodic examinations and follow-up reports.
What Type Of Education Do Chiropractic Doctors Get?
Today’s Doctor of Chiropractic is well educated.
The science of chiropractic requires a special emphasis on anatomy, physiology, pathology, neurology, biomechanics, X-ray, spinal adjusting techniques, and related subjects. This demanding curriculum prepares chiropractic doctors to locate the Vertebral Subluxation Complex and help correct the resulting nervous system dysfunction.
To graduate with a Doctor of Chiropractic degree, each candidate passes the demanding National Board Examination. Then, doctors apply to a governmental or professional licensing board to pass a more difficult test before being granted the privilege to practice.
In our office, our highly skilled doctors also undergo lengthy training in an upper cervical technique called ‘orthospinolgy’. In addition to attending hundreds of hours of Continuing Education classes, our team also attends a monthly Chiropractic seminar and weekly and quarterly team training.
What Is An Adjustment?
A Chiropractic adjustment is the use of a specific force in a precise direction that helps return the vertebrae to its correct positioning. The adjustment is applied to a joint that is fixated and causing nerve interference, adding motion to the joint and helping the bones gradually return to a more normal position and motion.
There are many ways to adjust the spine. Usually by the doctor’s hands or a specially designed instrument that delivers a gentle, brief and highly-accurate thrust. Some adjusting methods are quick, whereas others require a slow and constant pressure. After years of training and clinical experience, each chiropractic doctor becomes highly skilled in the delivery of a variety of adjusting approaches, making chiropractic care safe and effective for the whole family.
Is Chiropractic Care Safe?
YES! Chiropractic adjustments are very safe, even newborns and children receive adjustments to repair the damage caused from childhood traumas such as; the birth process, learning to walk, or a spill off of a bicycle. Each adjustment is specific and unique to each patient’s age, size, and unique spinal condition. After years of training, our Chiropractors have selected a variety of methods and have become skilled in their delivery.
In fact, adverse effects of medical treatment is the principal cause of death in people under 45 years of age, as well as being the leading cause of morbidity and permanent disability. A New Zealand government study concluded that Chiropractic adjustments are “remarkably safe” and taking an over-the-counter pain reliever is about 100 times more risky.
Why do I need to keep coming back?
First of all it is always your decision as to how long you continue care and to what level or length of time you choose to enjoy the benefits of chiropractic care. Many chose to maintain their spinal correction on a “checkup” basis to ensure or help promote an optimally healthy lifestyle, just as you would to a dentist.
“What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson