Chiropractic Care
What is Chiropractic Care?
We are glad you asked! Chiropractic care is the world’s leading drug-free, non-surgical approach to healing and wellness. Chiropractic care can relieve pain, restore health, and help prevent injury by improving the structural integrity of the body, primarily the spine.
Here is a brief explanation of how the nervous system works and how it relates to chiropractic care. The brain controls and coordinates all of the systems and functions within the body. The brain communicates with the rest of the body via the spinal cord and nervous system. When functioning perfectly, this communication is uninterrupted, and the messages go to and from the brain without interference. The nervous system serves as the body’s wiring. If this wiring is inhibited, the signal does not reach the intended body part clearly, and illness may result. This inference is caused by subluxations or misalignments in the vertebrae of the spine.
The spine is composed of 24 moveable bones called vertebrae. This movement is good and completely necessary for virtually every task throughout life. However, just like any other moveable object, our vertebrae can move into improper positions, as little as a one-millimeter shift out of position can cause discomfort or interference within our nervous system. Such interferences can manifest anywhere along the spine. For example, pain in the arm or hand may actually be caused by a problem in the neck, where the nerves connecting to that hand originate. Only a qualified chiropractor can examine the spine for such interferences and remove them through controlled adjustment techniques.
Chiropractic adjustments are very light, controlled impulses that are applied to specific vertebrae within the spine to correct subluxations, and relieve pressure on the nerves. Chiropractic adjustments are the only way to remove subluxations. If left untreated, these subluxations can cause degeneration, arthritis, nerve damage, and even muscle atrophy. If pain symptoms are ignored for too long and the degeneration becomes too great, surgical intervention is the only other treatment. These surgeries are performed by orthopedists, once so much time has passed that the nerves begin to die.
How Chiropractic Care Works
Chiropractic care is the leading drug-free, non-surgical pain management treatment in the world. While the term chiropractor has only been made popular in the twentieth century, the practice has been around for centuries. Medicine men used to “move bones” in ancient China. It is a tried and true technique of Eastern medicine and is not only completely natural but also virtually side effect free. Chiropractic care is traditionally done through spinal adjustments.
The human spine is composed of 24 moveable bones called vertebrae stacked in a column making up the spinal column. The nervous system is housed within the spinal column. Millions of nerve bundles are encased within the vertebrae and exit the spinal column in between each of the individual vertebra in a designated position to carry the nerve signals throughout the entire body. Every vertebra is designed fitted together with the vertebrae directly above and below it, this is what creates strength within our structure and allows us to move with ease. The vertebrae share the weight of the human frame so no one vertebra becomes overworked. When these moving bones work together fluidly all of the communication from the brain through the nervous system is able to be transmitted throughout the body without interference. However, throughout the daily activities of life, occasionally the vertebrae will move into an improper position and this applies pressure onto the nerve bundles that are housed in between the vertebrae.
This malposition is called a subluxation and can be caused by almost anything from stress or sleeping wrong, to a car accident or sports injury. Once the spine has a subluxation the nerves that come out in between those two bones begin to weaken. The nerve signal is not as strong and the area that those nerves go to can be affected. Symptoms of a subluxation can vary tremendously depending on the position of the subluxation within the spine. Regardless of the symptoms experienced the safest course of treatment is to be evaluated by a chiropractor and have the subluxation corrected.
Chiropractors are trained medical professionals who attend a 3-4 year graduate program after they have completed their undergraduate work. They are specially trained in understanding and assessing the spine and nervous system and learn a wide variety of techniques to treat subluxations. Correcting a subluxation is done through a procedure called a spinal adjustment. This is generally done by a chiropractor using their hands to apply a light, precise force to the improperly aligned vertebra which will cause the vertebra to shift back into its proper position. This will relieve the pressure off of the nerves, reducing discomfort and restoring healthy nerve function back to the affected area.
We offer a variety of chiropractic adjustment techniques
Have a question about our chiropractic services or techniques? Contact us today and we will get you the answers you need.