An adjustment is the term used to explain the chiropractic
treatment. It is known in the medical community as spinal
manipulation, although the chiropractic adjustment is performed
specifically by chiropractors with at least four years of extensive
experience in this type of treatment.
Adjustments do not hurt. If the patient has muscle spasms, then
relieving the spasms can sometimes cause soreness. The adjustment is a painless procedure. If a person is already in
pain any movement of course can be uncomfortable, but the
adjustments are designed to ultimately reduce and eliminate the
pain.
A subluxation is a misalignment of the bones that house and protect
the spinal cord. Any misalignment puts unnecessary pressure on the
nerve system and damages the nerve supply to different parts of the
body. Vertebral subluxations that are left undetected and unadjusted
for many years can lead to symptoms of pain, diseases, and an
unhealthy expression of life.
It's not easy to know when you are subluxated, although a pain of
some kind can be a clue. Abnormal posture including one shoulder
higher than the other, hips not level or a head forward past the
shoulders can also be indicative of a subluxation. Often, the nerves
that are negatively affected because of the misalignment in the
spine do not carry pain signals. This means that you can suffer from
subluxations for years without any painful warning signs. However,
allowing subluxations to exist in your body can negatively impact
the functions of the organs in your body, which leads to a
deterioration of your health. A chiropractor can detect the
subluxations with their highly trained hands, and correct them
effectively.
A person can become subluxated in a wide variety of ways. Simple
things like improper sleeping, sitting, and standing can contribute
to subluxations. Often, people develop their first subluxation
during birth when the doctors use force of up to 60 to 100 pounds to
aid the delivery. Normal childhood activities such as spills from
the bike, sledding, playing ball, and any other activity that
results in a jarring fall, all result in subluxations in children.
Because subluxations don't often cause pain, people do not know they
are there and thus do not get them fixed until after major damage
has been done, at which point the pain usually begins.
While correcting subluxations usually brings you relief from pain,
the aim of the chiropractor is to not merely fix painful backs and
necks, but to enable the body to express itself to the fullest,
without any interference from subluxations. Correcting subluxations
opens up a whole new world of wellness and health care because the
body is able to function as it was designed. Without any nerve
blockages due to subluxations, the body can boost its immune system
and much more effectively fight disease and illness. Relief from
back pain, neck pain and headaches, which are the most common
symptoms that bring people into a chiropractor's office, might come
about from the adjustments, but there are no guarantees. However,
living with subluxations is like trying to ride a bike with one
hand, you are only half as effective as you would be if you had the
full use of both hands. Allowing subluxations to exist in your body,
even if they are not causing you pain, means you have a reduced
nervous system function and a lower level of wellness and health.
That "cracking" sound is air, gas and fluid escaping from the joint.
It is the same thing that happens when you crack your knuckles. The
patient’s bones do NOT crack.
Different patients have different healing times. Some experience
relief within 1-2 weeks; others notice changes before the end of the
first month. Healing is dependent on the length of time a patient
has had the subluxations and the severity of their problem.
No! In our office we have three types of care: relief care,
corrective care and maintenance care. Pain usually subsides in the
first 4-6 weeks. However, correcting the cause of a problem takes
longer. You have the option of discontinuing care when the pain
subsides, when you complete the corrective procedure, or you can
continue with what we call maintenance care. It is completely up to
you. The purpose of maintenance care is to keep your spine healthy and
to avoid a reoccurrence of a spinal-related problem. Just as you go
to the dentist for regular checkups, having your spine checked by
the doctor is as important, if not more so. But the choice is always
yours.
If you have them, please DO bring them, as they will help the doctor
with his examination. If the doctor determines at the end of the
examination that new films are necessary, he will advise you and
discuss why he feels they are necessary.
It depends on what is causing the spine to NOT be straight. If the
cause is a lot of arthritis and degeneration, it is unlikely that
the spine can be straightened. If the cause is related to muscle
tightness, there is a much greater chance that the spine can be
straightened.
Chiropractic treats the misalignments of the spine and the
interferences in the nervous system caused by the misalignments.
Chiropractic does not cure cancer or any other diseases. The
chiropractic adjustment can help relieve the pain associated with
different diseases. There are a number of different health
conditions which have been helped through chiropractic care. As a
result of chiropractic care, many patients experience improvement
due to the body's innate ability to heal itself.
Chiropractic is good for all patients, because chiropractic care
centers on the spine. Different techniques are used for children and
the elderly due to their spine's delicate nature. Children need
chiropractic care so they do not develop the problems we see in most
adults, like nerve compression and arthritis. It is especially
important to have children checked by the doctor after they have had
a fall. Chiropractic care can help the elderly from developing more
serious complications from their longstanding spinal and nerve
related conditions. Personally I have treated babies a few days old
to patients 102 years old.
Chiropractors use many different techniques to treat specific areas
of the body. As with medicine, each technique provides the patient
with various, specific benefits – depending on the patient, some may
be more appropriate than others. The doctor will choose techniques
that are most effective and comfortable for each individual patient.
The doctor will recommend a treatment plan for you which will best
benefit your health. For you to obtain the best results from
chiropractic care, it is important that you stick to the schedule
the doctor recommends.