What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic is one of the western world's three major healing professions. The other two are medicine and osteopathy. Chiropractors specialize in the neuromusculoskeletal system (nerves, muscles, and bone). Chiropractors identify and correct misalignments of the spine (vertebral subluxations). Subluxations adversely affect the nervous system and cause disease in the body.
The word chiropractic is from the Greek: "chiros" meaning hand and "practic" meaning practice. Many chiropractic techniques involve the use of the hands in restoring the vertebrae to their proper alignment and motion. Chiropractic is a lifestyle that more and more people are choosing.
What Causes Subluxations?
There are three basic causes of subluxations: physical, emotional, and toxic traumas. Physical causes could include the birth process, slips, falls, accidents, repetitive motions and improper lifting. Emotions such as grief, anger and fear can cause subluxations. Toxic or chemical causes include alcohol, drugs, pollution, vaccines, and poor diet.
Is Chiropractic Safe?
Yes! Specific chiropractic adjustments are very safe. Care is given only after a complete health history and chiropractic examination has been performed. Individual treatment protocols are developed taking into account the state of health and age of the patient.
In the pediatric population, a peer reviewed study of the literature (Pistolese R. JVSR 2(2) 1998) was performed from 1977 to 1998 and found the risk to neurological or vascular complications from chiropractic care to be 1/250 million. The risk of serious adverse injury from taking an aspirin is 4/1000. A New Zealand government study found that adjustments are remarkably safe. By avoiding drugs and risky surgery, chiropractic enjoys an excellent track record.
What Is A Chiropractic Adjustment?
A chiropractic adjustment is the art of introducing a precise force in a specific direction to a vertebra that is subluxated or out of place. The chiropractor identifies the location of the subluxation, determines the exact direction and the best way to correct the positioning. The adjustment assists the vertebra in moving back into its normal alignment and restores proper motion in an effort to relieve nerve interference.
What Types of Conditions Do Chiropractors Use Adjustments For?
Chiropractic adjustments (a precise method of restoring proper movement) are very useful in correcting:
- Pain and stiffness in the neck, shoulders, back, arms, hands, chest, abdomen, hips, legs and feet.
- Certain types of headaches.
- Sciatica.
- Injuries and trauma to the body such as whiplash.
- Scoliosis.
- Leg pain and nerve disorders.
- Sports injuries and most muscular skeletal injuries such as tennis elbow, strained muscles, and sprained joints and ligaments.
- Bursitis and Tendonitis (conditions involving inflammation of soft tissues).
- Repetitve strain disorders such as carpal tunnel.
- Fibromyalgia (chronic muscle pain and stiffness).
- Arthritis.
Do Adjustments Hurt?
For most patients, chiropractic adjustments are painless. Some patients who are new to chiropractic treatments may involuntarily stiffen or resist the adjustment and feel a small amount of discomfort until they are able to relax during treatment. In addition, mild discomfort may be felt if the patient has had a recent trauma, such as whiplash, due to inflammation. However, may patients report a feeling of relief, calmness, and a sense of well being after the adjustment; others feel improved mobility.
What Causes the Popping Sound?
Lubricating fluids separate the bones of each spinal joint. Some adjusting methods can produce a sound when the gas and fluids in the joint shift. It's like opening a bottle of champagne or removing a suction cup. It is NOT the bones cracking! The sound is interesting, but it is not a guide to the quality or value of the adjustment.
Can I Adjust Myself?
No. Some people can make their joints pop, but that's not an adjustment! Worse, damage can occur by INDISCRIMINATELY mobilizing a joint, causing ligaments to weaken. Over time the spine will attempt to stabilize itself, resulting in the development of osteoarthritis. Chiropractic adjustments are very specific and only the spinal joints that are locked up receive adjustments allowing weakened muscle and ligaments to stabilize and heal.
