HOW DOES CHIROPRACTIC WORK?

How Does Chiropractic Work? Can Chiropractic Help? What is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic doctors practice natural, drugless, non-invasive health care and rely on the body's ability to self-heal. Sounds ideal, but just how does it work?

Chiropractors look at the whole picture!

Like other health-care providers, we follow a standard routine to gain information about the patient. We consult, review the case history, conduct a physical examination, and we may request laboratory analyses and/or x-rays.

Unlike other health-care providers, however, chiropractic physicians also conduct a careful analysis of the patient's structure and pay particular attention to the spine. We also ask you about your life— Do you eat well? Exercise at all? How do you deal with stress? Do you have children? What do you do for work? And so on.

Chiropractic seeks the origin of the problem!

Using this information, a diagnosis is made. Included in the diagnosis is the probable reason for your pain or discomfort. It is important to note that chiropractors seek the origin of the illness in order to eliminate it- not simply treat the symptoms.

If your roof is leaking, do you simply catch the drips in a bucket for years on end, or do you repair the roof to prevent it from leaking? Similarly, if the headache you've had all week is being caused by a structural imbalance and an irritated nerve, does it make sense to take pain killers indefinitely, or to realign the spine and eliminate the pain and the need for potentially harmful painkillers?

Chiropractors have a term for structural imbalance: subluxation. A vertebral subluxation is a misalignment of the bones that protect the spinal cord. It's the leak in the roof, or a kink in the wiring of your nervous system.

The severity of the subluxation can vary, and there are a number of potential contributing factors that can either be physical, emotional, mental, and/;or chemical. The subluxation can be caused by any number of incidents, from birth trauma to an auto accident to simple repetition or over-use.

Chiropractic can help you fix it.

When a subluxation occurs, a chiropractor can correct the misaligned bone and allow it to return to its proper position. This procedure is appropriately called an adjustment, and the adjustment enables the body to heal. The leak is fixed. The wiring is fixed. Information is flowing again.

To keep the body functioning properly, several adjustments over a course of time may be necessary. During the course of treatment, physical therapy, nutritional support, exercises, dietary counseling, and emotional clearing may be necessary. The goal is to bring a healthy, pain free balance back to the body.

An important aspect of chiropractic care is this: the patient's improvement is the responsibility of the doctor and the patient. In order to heal it is the patient’s job to follow through with the doctor’s advice and it is the doctor’s responsibility to listen to the patient.