FAQs

What is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic is a natural method of healthcare that focuses on the body’s innate ability to heal itself. By correcting the actual cause of the physical problem rather that treating the symptoms your body will perform at optimum potential and heal on its own. Chiropractic is based on a simple but powerful principle. With a healthy spine and normally functioning nervous system your body is better able to adapt and heal itself. Your spine is your lifeline because it contains your nervous system which controls feeling, movement and function throughout your body.

What is a Chiropractic Adjustment?

Spinal joints that are locked, fixated or not moving correctly can affect your health by putting pressure on or choking the nerve tissue. Chiropractic adjustments add motion back to the area allowing restoration of the nerve flow so that proper healing can occur. There are many techniques used by a chiropractor to adjust the spine. Sometimes the doctor uses their hands to deliver a quick highly accurate force. Some doctors use an instrument to deliver the force into a fixated spinal joint. Most patients report a sense of well-being or calmness after an adjustment. Others feel improved mobility or less discomfort. Chiropractors are adept at making the adjustments comfortable and effective.

What is a subluxation?

A subluxation occurs when a spinal vertebra shifts out of alignment, creating damaging pressure on the spinal nerves which can cause interruptions in the vital nerve flow within the body. More than just bones and nerves are involved in subluxations. Muscles that are too weak or too tight can affect nerve tissue. Discs, ligaments and other connective tissue can cause inflammation that can irritate delicate nerves. Bone spurs and arthritic degeneration can also affect the nerves. Subluxations create disharmony in your body, a precondition for sickness and diseases of all kinds.

How do you get a subluxation?

There are three basic causes of subluxation. Physical causes include slips and falls, accidents, repetitive motions, and improper lifting. Stress, anger and fear are examples of emotional causes of subluxations. Alcohol, drugs, pollution and poor diet can be a chemical cause of subluxation.

How can I tell if I have a subluxation?

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

Who can benefit from Chiropractic?

No matter what disease or condition you have, you can benefit from a healthy spine. Subluxations can begin at birth and progress throughout life. Interruption to proper nerve flow by subluxations can affect your overall health. Correcting these subluxations greatly improves your body’s ability to achieve optimal health. It’s common to see many families choosing chiropractic because no one is ever too young or too old to obtain a healthy nervous system for life.

What type of conditions can chiropractic help?

Chiropractic is known to help many conditions. Some of the most common problems are readily treated through the implementation of a chiropractic care program.

Low back pain, neck pain, headaches, sciatica, arthritis, TMJ, vertigo, shoulder pain, arm pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, mid back pain, leg pain, foot pain, disc problems, and digestive disorders.

What are the stages of care?

1. Acute care: your initial treatment is geared toward reducing pain and symptoms

2. Reconstructive or corrective care: after your symptoms are reduced, there is a need for continued adjustments to strengthen, heal and restore your spine to its healthiest state

3. Health maintenance or wellness care: Now your spine is holding adjustments and corrections have taken place, you will need to come in every so often for a spinal checkup in much the same way as getting your car tuned up every few thousand miles.

Will my health insurance cover chiropractic?

Most insurance plans do have some chiropractic coverage. We base our recommendations on a deep desire to see you get well and stay that way. This may be at odds with the limitations of your policy. Or the popular but incorrect notion that health care is about reducing symptoms. Regardless of your coverage, we’ll suggest the chiropractic care we think you will need. It’s up to you to decide how much of it you want. Our office accepts many plans. Please call our office to find out more information.

What type of education do Chiropractic physicians receive?

After the required pre-med undergraduate studies, today’s Doctor of Chiropractic completes an additional four year program at a chiropractic college. Chiropractic doctors take a natural approach to health. Their education places special emphasis on anatomy, physiology, pathology, neurology, bio mechanics, x-ray, spinal adjusting techniques and related subjects. This demanding curriculum prepares chiropractic doctors to locate and help correct nervous system dysfunction that can cause disease and ill health. The Doctor of Chiropractic must participate in a closely supervised internship at a chiropractic college clinic and they must also pass rigorous National and State board examinations before beginning a practice. A chiropractic education never ends! They must complete many hours of post graduate instruction for their annual license renewal.