Is Chiropractic effective?
Chiropractic helps to remove postural imbalances and structural misalignments that can accumulate in our bodies over time. Chiropractic works by restoring your own innate ability to maintain health. For your body to remain healthy, your nervous system must function well. For your nervous system to function, well it must be free of interference. By restoring spinal function with Chiropractic adjustments, nerve interference stemming from misaligned vertebral facets, ribs and joint hypomobility is removed, thus promoting optimal nervous system proprioception and exceptional mind/body connection.
Why should I see a Chiropractor?
Seeing a Chiropractor is not only for back pain and neck pain. Chiropractic care is an excellent way to keep your body at its peak performance through nutrition, joint adjustments and overall wellness. In addition, Chiropractic care has been known to help a wide range of chronic conditions from fibromyalgia to diabetes.
What is a subluxation?
When a spinal motion segment, consisting of two vertebrae and the joints in between them, becomes misaligned or is not moving optimally, this is referred to in the Chiropractic profession as a subluxation. Subluxations can be caused by a wide range of issues, from a minor slip or bump, to a car accident, a sudden trauma, or even repetitive micro-trauma from poor posture . When a motion segment is experiencing subluxation, it begins to crowd or put pressure on nerves, blood vessels and other tissues around it. It also causes a lack of proper motion in the joints of the spine, both the vertebral body and disc joints in the front of the spine, as well as the facet joints on the back part of the spine. This pressure or lack of motion causes a cascade of events, including interrupting or changing the nerve pathways from the body to the brain (proprioceptive afferent feedback) and from the brain back into the body (efferent output).
How does Chiropractic care work?
Chiropractic is an overall way of looking at the human body. It's based on the idea that the body is self-sustaining and self-healing. The body is in essence completely controlled by the brain through its connection via the spinal cord and the vast network of peripheral nerves that connect to the body. When this system is not functioning at its peak, the overall performance of the human body is lacking.
In the Chiropractic model, drugs and medicine are not utilized as a form of treating a patient. Drugs and prescriptions should be viewed as superficial, palliative aids to treat symptoms, rather than going to the source and treating the real problem.
While it's often perceived that the Chiropractor is solely here to treat back and neck pain, this is simply a small piece of what the profession really is capable of handling. Chiropractors not only treat hard and soft tissue problems such as spinal degeneration, sciatica and joint pain, but are largely called on to deal with more significant chronic issues. Some of these issues include fibromyalgia, allergies, insomnia, headaches and many more. Whole food nutrition and targeted supplementation are almost always a part of the bigger picture in the Chiropractic care strategy.
What is a Chiropractic adjustment? Is it safe?
Adjustments, or mobilizations as they're sometimes referred to, is the minor movement of vertebral joints of the spine or other peripheral joints like the knee, shoulder or ankle. The objective of this mobilization is to create movement in a joint that is not moving properly, creating better joint health and improved proprioception from the body to the brain and central nervous system.
When joints are not moving as they should, it has an overall systemic effect from muscular tension to diminished connection with the central nervous system. Without proper joint movement and alignment, we can't function at our peak.
An adjustment often feels like a pressure from the Chiropractor utilizing his or her hands, or an instrument, to impart movement into joints that are stuck. You sometimes may hear a noise that sounds like you're cracking your knuckles, referred to as joint cavitation. It is the release of gases such as oxygen and nitrogen from the joint.
What can I expect from my visit to a Chiropractor?
Going to the Chiropractor is a new experience for many people. Maybe you've heard about it through a friend or have done some research online. It's possible that you are just fed up with living in pain and it's time to do something about it. In either case, your first visit will be about getting to know the Chiropractor, his or her philosophy and adjusting strategy, and discussing your history, current condition and goals.
What results can I expect from treatment?
Chiropractic is based on the idea of removing imbalances both structural and postural in an effort to allow our body to heal itself. For this to happen, signals from your brain, down your spinal cord, to the network of peripheral nerves must be allowed to flow freely without any interruption. Chiropractors have the ability and skill to remove these interruptions, allowing the body to perform efficiently and optimally.
If you've ever been in a car accident, played a sport, fell down or just bumped into something too hard, it's very possible that you are not functioning at your best due to a misalignment or faulty movement in your joints. While there are many potential mechanical or structural causes for misalignment, there are also chemical reasons. For instance, if you smoke or drink excessively or even just have a poor diet, the chemical issues in your body can eventually cause underlying conditions and disease to appear.
Allowing a chiropractor to get you back on track both chemically and structurally will bring your body back to the proper state it should be in to perform at its peak.