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 or 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 nervous system consists of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. The brain is divided into sections and stores and receives an incredible amount of information. But this information needs a way to get in and out. Nerves provide a pathway for this information to travel, and the spinal cord is made up of bundles of these nerves. The spine both houses and protects the spinal cord.
Nerve dysfunction can result from any number of factors, such as falls, accidents, stress, tension, or over-use. These events alter our “wiring” and create pain or discomfort in our bodies.
Doctors of chiropractic are trained to locate the source of the pain or discomfort-it may actually be far from the actual location where the symptom is occurring-and then we correct or adjust the joints in the body and set it up to heal on its own. The important thing to remember is that chiropractic success occurs by addressing the source of the problem, not just masking the symptoms.
How does it work?
Like other health-care providers, we follow a standard routine to gain information about the patient. Unlike other health-care providers, however, chiropractors 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.
Using this information, a diagnosis is made. It is important to note that chiropractors seek the origin of the illness in order to eliminate it-we do 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 migraine headache you’ve had all week is being caused by misaligned vertebra and an irritated nerve, do you continue to take pain killers indefinitely, or do you realign the vertebra to prevent the pain?
Chiropractors have a term for misalignments: subluxations.
A vertebral subluxation is a misalignment of the bones that protect the spinal cord. It’s a 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 be physical, emotional, mental, 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.
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 wiring fixed and the information flowing, several adjustments over a course of time may be necessary, in addition to massage, stretching exercises, or strengthening exercises. In the chiropractic world, keeping the problem fixed and preventing its reoccurrence is just as important as the initial remedy.
Another important aspect of chiropractic care is this: The patient’s improvement is the responsibility of both the doctor and the patient.
You will be active in your own care-this is essential in optimizing the care you receive.
How long will it take?
This is a trick question because quite often the patient actually means, “How long will it take for my pain to go away?”
There are two types of care, relief care and corrective care. Relief care takes less time, but the results are less permanent. Corrective care, on the other hand, is an extension of relief care, meaning that once your pain is gone, care is extended with the goal of getting rid of the cause of the problem. This type of care takes longer.
It is important to understand the stages of chiropractic care because they are unique relative to those of other health-care disciplines. Because chiropractic addresses core physiological and biomechanical aspects of the body, the process to correct problems without drugs or surgery can take some time.
The following is a brief summary of the three major phases of chiropractic care:
Relief Care –
The majority of patients consult a chiropractor because they have an ache or pain. In the first phase of care, the main objective is to eliminate or reduce your discomfort and stabilize your condition in the shortest amount of time. During this phase, progress is usually rapid.
Rehabilitative Care –
Here the objective is to correct any underlying injury or cause of discomfort, strengthen the muscles, and improve neuromusculoskeletal function. The frequency of office visits is reduced over a period of two to six weeks. Care may be supplemented by rehabilitation exercises, nutrition, and modification of daily habits. It is important to remember that many of the conditions for which people seek care have developed over many years; therefore, correcting these problems is a true rehabilitative process. It helps to understand that it takes time to correct these conditions.
Wellness Care –
You then “graduate” to the wellness phase, which is designed to maintain your improved health, encourage normal spinal function, prevent the return of the original condition, and catch small problems before they become serious.
Few things as complicated as your body can be “fixed” and then ignored. Think of your car, your teeth, or your relationships. They take time and effort to maintain, but you know it’s worth it in the long run.
That’s why we recommend a regular schedule of chiropractic check-ups.
E-mail:
drnick@drnickthompson.com 
