Chiropractic Care
We take a holistic approach to treatment
in my office. This means treating the whole person, rather than just an isolated
symptom or body part. When someone is in pain, chiropractic is the most powerful
tool I have to help relieve that pain. At the same time, I help people with
nutrition, stretching, exercise and lifestyle changes that can really help increase
energy, and improve overall health and well being.
Whether you’ve been in a serious accident,
suffer from headaches, back pain, joint pain, arthritis, or just want to adopt a
healthier lifestyle, chances are chiropractic can help.
Thank you in advance for taking the
time to discover chiropractic and its powerful effects on human health.
Each year more than 15 million Americans
choose chiropractic for safe, natural and effective relief from back pain, neck
pain, headaches, extremity pain, poor overall health, low energy levels and much
more.
About Treatment
- What is Chiropractic?
- How Chiropractic Works
- What Chiropractors Do
- How Chiropractic Differs
- The Benefits of Chiropractic
What is Chiropractic?
According to The Association of Chiropractic
Colleges, "Chiropractic is a health care discipline which emphasizes the inherent
recuperative power of the body to heal itself without the use of drugs and surgery.
The practice of chiropractic focuses on the relationship between structure (primarily
the spine) and function (as coordinated by the nervous system) and how that relationship
affects the preservation and restoration of health."
The Goal of Chiropractic
Because chiropractic treatments are
primarily applied to the spinal region, many individuals incorrectly assume that
chiropractors treat only back and neck ailments. While we do quickly and effectively
eliminate back and neck pain, it's not the only goal. The objective is to restore
and optimize human health. In fact, according to a statement from The Association
of Chiropractic Colleges, "The purpose of chiropractic is to optimize health."
How Chiropractic Works
You may be wondering... how can the
same chiropractic treatment which effectively treats my back pain also optimize
my health? The answer can be found by looking into the relationship between the
spine and the nervous system.
As you may already know, the nervous
system is the master controller of all living cells, tissues and organs; orchestrating
and coordinating all cellular functions. The spinal column encases the nervous system
(spinal cord and nerve roots) and is responsible for its protection.
Because of this intimate relationship,
biomechanical and structural problems in the spinal column can irritate parts of
the enclosed nervous system. This irritation can result from noxious inflammatory
biochemicals released during tissue injury or may result from direct mechanical
pressure. In either case, the functioning of the nervous system is negatively influenced
as is the functioning of the cells, tissues and organs which are supplied by the
affected nerve(s).
The resulting ailment(s) depends on
the cells, tissues and organs affected as well as the extent of nervous system compromise.
In short, because the body's innate
recuperative powers are affected by and integrated through the nervous system, correcting
spinal abnormalities which irritate the nervous system can lead to a number of favorable
results in patients suffering from various, seemingly non-spinal health conditions.
What Chiropractors Do
Practically speaking, chiropractors
are primarily concerned with locating and treating vertebral subluxations.
A vertebral subluxation is a complex
of functional and/or structural and/or pathological articular (joint) changes that
compromise neural integrity and may influence organ system function and general
health.
Using a number of unique and highly
refined skills, the chiropractor checks the patient's spine for any misalignments,
fixations or other abnormalities (vertebral subluxations). If subluxations or other
abnormalities are detected, the chiropractor will generally apply a gentle force
in a corrective manner to the affected spinal area.
Chiropractors use many specialized
techniques to identify and treat these spinal abnormalities and optimize overall
health. In addition to spinal adjustive techniques, soft tissue techniques such
as massage, dietary and nutritional counseling, physical therapies, and lifestyle
modification programs are commonly employed.
How Chiropractic Differs
There is a significant and very important
difference between the way chiropractors and medical doctors approach health ailments.
When evaluating and treating patients,
chiropractors take a holistic approach which includes identifying and correcting
the cause(s) of the patient's health ailment. In contrast, the medical approach
tends to focus more on the treating the symptoms of a condition rather than focusing
primarily on the actual cause(s).
Chiropractors believe that correcting
the cause of the problem provides significant long-term benefits over only treating
the symptoms.
The Benefits of Chiropractic
- spinal and extremity pain relief
- headache relief
- increased mobility and range of motion
- decreased stiffness and muscular spasms
- arthritic joint pain relief
- increased joint health
- increased performance and energy
- increased sense of well being and relaxation
- increased balance and coordination
- reduced degeneration and risk of injury
- enhanced tissue healing
- decreased tissue inflammation