What is Chiropractic

---

What is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic is a health care profession that focuses on the disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system and how these conditions effect general health. Doctors of Chiropractic practice a drug-free, hands-on approach that effectively diagnoses and treats the root causes of neuromusculoskeletal complaints, including but not limited to low back pain, neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, and headaches. Chiropractors tend to have a broad-base approach to healthcare, so that they often recommend therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises, while also providing nutritional, dietary, and lifestyle recommendations.  

The most common therapy performed by Chiropractors is known as a “spinal manipulation” or a “chiropractic adjustment”. The purpose of this procedure is to restore proper joint mobility and function by manually administering a controlled force into the specific joints that have been restricted in their movement due to injury.  These injuries can be caused by a single traumatic event, such as a car accident or a fall, or by repetitive stress, such as sitting at a desk for long hours.  Regardless of the cause these injuries, damage to the tissue and the spine can cause physical and chemical changes that lead to inflammation, pain, and diminished function.  When a proper adjustment is performed on the joint and tissue, it can restore mobility, and, as a result, alleviate pain and muscle tightness, allowing the tissues to begin healing.  

How Does Chiropractic Work?

Chiropractic works by improving the function and integration of the nervous system. The human nervous system is made up of nerve impulses that flow from your brain down your spinal cord to pairs of nerve roots that branch-off between each spinal joint.  These nerves link your brain with every muscle, organ, gland, and cell in your body. Because of the nerves’ close proximity to the moving bones of the spine, improper motion or positioning of spinal bones can irritate and compromise nerve function–an issue we chiropractors call “subluxation”. Chiropractic care locates areas where subluxation is occurring, and helps to reduce the effect of subluxation with spinal adjustments that restore proper motion to the spine and allow the nervous system to function without interference. We find that health often returns when the nervous system’s control of the body is restored.  

What conditions to chiropractors treat?

Chiropractors care for patients of all ages with a variety of health conditions. Specifically, chiropractors are known for their expertise in caring for patients with back pain, neck pain, and headaches, as well as a wide range of injuries and disorders to the musculoskeletal system involving muscles, ligaments, and joints. At Chiropractic with Care, we also deal with a number of extremity problems, including sprained ankles, carpal tunnel, frozen shoulder, piriformis syndrome leading to sciatica, plantar fasciitis, among others. These painful conditions often involve or impact the nervous system, which can cause referred pain and dysfunction in another region of injury. As a result, the benefits of chiropractic care extend to general health issues as well, since our body structure effects our overall function. In general, chiropractors can also counsel patients on diet, nutrition, exercise, health habits, and occupational or lifestyle modification.

Is chiropractic treatment safe for children?

The answer is simple… Yes! Children are very physically active, and often experience falls and blows that lead to issues easily remedied by chiropractic care. At Chiropractic with Care, we offer a warm family environment that can provide your children with treatment that is as gentle and caring as it is effective. 

What about my pain?

When a person is experiencing a musculoskeletal disorder, pain is the body’s go-to way of telling the person that the disorder must be addressed for proper function to be restored. In chiropractic care, symptoms are typically the first thing to disappear and the last thing to show–which means disorders or “subluxations” are present before the symptoms are felt.  Each patient heals at a different speed, and no two experiences are the same.

Why is there that “popping” sound?

Most of the joints in our bodies are called synovial joints, and contain synovial fluid, which provides lubrication for the joint (similar to oil in a car). Over time, air bubbles can form within the synovial fluid of our joints, so that, when an adjustment is performed, the release of the air bubbles causes a “popping” sound. In most cases, this release of air in the synovial fluid triggers the release of endorphins into your body, so that relief is felt.

What type of education and training to chiropractors have?

Doctors of Chiropractic are educated as primary-contact health care providers with an emphasis on the diagnosis and treatment of conditions related to the musculoskeletal system. According to the educational requirements of the ACA, doctors of chiropractic receive the most stringent training of any such health care providers.

The typical applicant for chiropractic college has already acquired nearly four years of pre-medical undergraduate college education, including courses in biology, inorganic and organic chemistry, physics, psychology, and related lab work. Once accepted into the accredited chiropractic college of their choice, they are involved in four to five academic years of professional study. Throughout their professional training, chiropractors are educated in orthopedics, neurology, physiology, human anatomy, and the process of clinical diagnosis, including laboratory procedure, diagnostic imaging, and more. Because their profession relies so heavily on highly-skilled adjusting techniques, chiropractors also dedicate a significant portion of their training time to mastering these crucial procedures. 

In total, the chiropractic college curriculum includes a minimum of 4,200 hours of classroom, laboratory, and clinical experience, along with partaking in four National Board of Chiropractic Exams and one Physiotherapy Board.

Once I start going do I have to go for life?

Our main goal for each patient who walks through our doors is simple: to get them out of pain and back to their daily living in comfort with an improved quality of life.  However, because our patients experience a wide variety of different health issues, the duration of our treatment plans vary on a case-by-case basis. At Chiropractic with Care, we will never ask you to sign up for a long-term treatment plan, and we make sure you are in-control over your health and body during each stage of the treatment process.   

But please, give this a moment’s thought: Do you get your oil changed every three- to five-thousand miles?  And do you go the dentist every six months to get your teeth cleaned and checked?  Of course you do, because you want to elongate the life of your car and improve the health of your teeth!  Well, we want to help you elongate the life of your body and improve the health your spine.  We don’t want you to wait until it is too late to do something about your spine and nervous system.  You only have one body and one life, and we want to work with you to make the quality of your life the best it can be!

What has Chiropractic been known to help?

• Ear Infections
• Digestive Function
• Constipation/Diarrhea
• Erectile Dysfunction
• Athletic Mobility
• Allergies
• Scoliosis

• Whiplash
• Sleeping Disorders
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Fibromyalgia
• Parkinson’s Disease
• ADHD/ADD
• Plantar Fascitis