How Does Chiropractic Work?

Chiropractic works because you are a self-healing, self-regulating organism controlled by your nervous system.  Millions of instructions flow from your brain, down the spinal cord and out to every organ and tissue.  Signals sent back to the brain confirm if your body is working right.  Improper location or position of the moving bones of the spine called a subluxation can interfere with this vital exchange by irritating nerves and compromising the function of affected organs or tissues.  Specific spinal adjustments can help improve mind/body communications.  Health often returns with improved nervous system control of the body.

 

How Long Until I'll Feel Better?

Some patients experience almost instant relief.  Others discover it can take many weeks or months.  Many factors can affect the healing process.  How long have you had your problem? Are you keeping appointments?  Are you getting the proper rest, exercise and nutrition? Do you smoke?  Are you in otherwise good condition?  Within a short period of time, most patients sense enough progress to fully carry out their doctor's recommendations.

 

How Long Will I Need Chiropractic Care?

After patients get the relief they want many choose to continue with some type of periodic care.  These patients show up for their visits feeling great.  These visits can help support the final stages of healing and help detect and resolve new problems before they become serious.  Our job is to offer the very best care and your job is to decide how much of it you want.

 

Are Chiropracitc Adjustments Safe?

Yes, a New Zealand government study found that adjustments are "remarkably safe".  By avoiding drugs and risky surgery, chiropractic care enjoys an excellent track record.  A thorough exam can identify the rare person for whom chiropractic care might be unsuited.  Compare the statistics.  Adjustments are about 100 times safer than taking an over-the-counter pain reliever.

 

What's An Adjustment?

Chiropractic adjustments usually involve a quick thrust that helps add motion to spinal joints that aren't moving right.  Some methods use the doctor's hands, an instrument, a special table or force of gravity.  There are many ways to adjust a spine.

 

Are All Patients Adjusted The Same?

No. Each patient's spine and care plan is unique.  With 24 moving bones in the spine, each of which can move in seven different directions, we see a wide variety of spinal patterns.  Each patient's care is custom-tailored for their age, condition and health goals.

 

How Many Adjustments Will I Need?

The number of adjustments varies with each patient and their individual health goals.  Many patients sense progress within a week or two of frequent visits.  Visits become less often as your spine stabilizes.  In chronic cases, complete healiing can take months or even years.

 

Can I Have Chiropractic Care After Back Surgery?

Yes.  Rest assured that your chiropractor will avoid the surgically modified areas of your spine.  Surgery often causes instability above and below the involved level.  These areas will be the focus of your chiropractic care.

 

Can Patients With Osteoporosis Get Chiropractic Care?

Of course.  When developing a care plan, your chiropractic doctor considers the unique circumstances of each patient.  There are many ways to adjust the spine.  The method selected will be best suited to your age, size, and condition.

 

Can I Adjust Myself?

No.  Some people can make their joints "pop", but that is not an adjustment!  Worse, damage can occur by mobilizing a joint with weakened muscles and ligaments.  Adjustments are specific and take years to master.  Even your chiropractic doctor must consult a colleague to benefit from chiropractic care.

 

Can Bones Move Too Much?

Highly unlikely.  A chiropractic adjustment is special.  It has the right amount of energy, delivered to an exact spot, a precise angle, at the right time.  The intent is to get a "stuck" spinal joint moving again, helping to reduce nerve interference.  Years of training, practice, and experience make chiropractic adjustments specific and safe.

 

Why Do Newborns Get Adjustments?

Even today's "natural" childbirth methods can affect an infant's spine.  Preliminary studies suggest that colic, unusual crying, poor appetite, ear infections or erratic sleeping habits can be signs of spinal distress.  Pediatric adjustments are gentle.  Knowing exactly where to adjust, the doctor appiles no more pressure than you would use to test the ripeness of a tomato.

 

How Do I Know If I Have A Subluxation?

You can have subluxations and not even know it.  Like the early stages of tooth decay or cancer, subluxations can be present before warning signs appear.  The results of a thorough examination can show the location and severity of subluxations you may have.

 

Can Subluxations Clear Up On Their Own?

Sometimes.  Today's hectic lifestyles are a constant source of subluxations.  Fortunately, our bodies have the ability to self-correct many of these problems as we bend and stretch, or when we sleep at night.  When subluxations do not resolve, you need to see a chiropractic doctor!

 

Do I Have A Slipped Disc?

The disc is a soft pulpy "shock absorber".  It has a fibrous outer ring which holds in a jelly-like material.  A "slipped disc" is a common way to refer to a wide variety of disc problems.  However, a disc can not slip because of the way it is attached to the spinal bones above it or below it.  A disc can bulge.  It can tear.  It can herniate.  It can thin.  It can dry out.  And it can collapse.  But it can't slip.

 

Do I Have A Pinched Nerve?

A pinched nerve is rare.  It is more likely that an adjacent spinal bone irritates, scratches, rubs, or chafes a nerve.  These subluxations distort the nerve messages sent between the brain and the body.  This can produce unhealthy alterations to the organs and tissues connected by the afffected nerves.