Chiropractic Care

What is chiropractic?

Chiropractic is a healthcare profession that addresses disorders of the nervous, muscular, and skeletal systems. 

How is chiropractic similar to other healthcare professions?

Every healthcare discipline has a dominant, differentiating approach to health, however there are similarities. All strive to enhance the health status of the patient while minimizing or preventing damage. Chiropractic physicians have similar rigorous education and licensing standards as medical doctors and osteopathic doctors throughout the world. 

How is chiropractic different from other healthcare professions?

Chiropractic is a natural approach that enhances healing by correcting the body's relationship between its structure and its functioning. One of the things that differentiate doctors of chiropractic from other doctors is the fact that chiropractic physicians are the only healthcare professionals who are trained to examine, diagnose, and treat what are called joint fixations or subluxations or misalignments.  The word “subluxation” comes from the Latin words meaning “somewhat or slight" (sub) and “to dislocate” (luxate).  So the term ‘vertebral subluxation’ literally means a slight dislocation or a mechanical misalignment of the bones in the spine.  

When a joint subluxation or mechanical misalignment occurs, a chiropractic physician can correct the misaligned bones and allow the joint to return to its proper position. This procedure is appropriately called an adjustment, and the adjustment enables the body to heal more efficiently than when the body has misalignments. Restoring the structural integrity of the joint also minimizes or retards the onset of osteoarthritis caused by an uneven tread wear on the joint from chronically untreated misalignments. An example I like to use to convey this point is the misalignment of the wheels of car which can be felt when you release your grip on the steering column and the car moves either to the left or to the right. If this wheel misalignment is left unfixed then the wheels will develop an uneven tread wear and decrease the car's fuel efficiency. The same occurs in untreated misaligned joints.  

What is a chiropractic adjustment / alignment?

The chiropractic adjustment is a quick, light thrust applied to misaligned bones for the purpose of correcting its proper position and movement. Adjustments are often accompanied by an audible release of gas that sounds like a “crack.”  This sound is called cavitation. Cavitation within the joints of the body occur when there is a change of internal pressure of the joint thereby causing nitrogen gas to temporarily come out of synovial fluid and quickly come back in. Cavitation occurs all throughout the universe. An example of cavitation most people can relate to is the opening of a can of soda which produces the pop noise. 

Some people may be used to hearing the sound, especially if they adjust their own knuckles but for some, the sound may be slightly shocking especially the first couple times they get adjusted. The sensation is usually like a relieving or release of pressure, pain, stiffness, and muscle spasms. The majority of the time, the adjustment feels good, especially in the spine since the release of nerve pressure caused by vertebral subluxations can cause a release of neurochemicals in the brain called endorphins. 

Occasionally, minor discomfort is experienced, especially if the surrounding muscles have been in spasm for a long time or the patient tenses up during the chiropractic procedure. When there has been an injury that has not been treated for a prolonged period of time, bringing about structurally corrective change might cause moderate discomfort because the body has grown accustomed to being out of alignment and the body has to adapt to the new changes being introduced so muscles that were deconditioned from disuse will be activated, ligaments that grew loose might feel tight, etc.

There are times when the audible “cracking” does not occur.   This is often due to either significant  muscle tightness, excess inflammation within the joint, or that the patient may be having a hard time relaxing during their adjustments. We attempt to minimize this phenomenon by putting the patient on physiotherapy first before the adjustment, which includes electrical muscle stimulation (to electrically fatigue the muscle into relaxation), heat, and or ultrasound (for deep heating and softening of the muscle).

The chiropractic adjustment is very important to receive when there is a mechanical joint misalignment present. The clinical application of a chiropractic adjustment to, for example, acute mechanical, low back pain has been scientifically proven to be the most effective treatment over getting only medication (muscle relaxers, pain killers, NSAIDs), or only massage, or only physical therapy, or only rest, or only exercise, or just plain doing nothing about it.

When the adjustment occurs, the muscles that were in spasms relax, the stretched out tissues start contracting, and the flow of information through the nerve tissues is restored and can be analogized to fixing the wires that were compromised from mechanical pressure. To keep the wiring fixed, several adjustments over a course of time may be necessary, in addition to massage, physical therapy, 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. Think about how often you go to the dentist in your lifetime to maintain your oral hygiene and prevent your teeth from falling out. Shouldn't the rest of your joints deserve the same level of care?

What is a vertebral subluxation or spinal joint fixation?

There are actually five components that contribute to the vertebral subluxation complex (VSC) / spinal joint fixation.

1. Bone Component-where the vertebra is either out of position, not moving properly, or are undergoing degeneration.  This frequently leads to a narrowing of the spaces between the bones through which the nerves pass; often resulting in irritation or impingement of the nerve itself.
2. Nervous Component-is the disruption of the normal flow of energy along the nerve fibers, causing the messages traveling along the nerves to become distorted.  The result is that all of the tissues that are fed by those nerves receive distorted signals from the brain and, consequently, are not able to function normally.  Over time, this can lead to a whole host of conditions, such as peptic ulcers, constipation and other organ system dysfunction.
3. Muscular Component-since nerves control the muscles that help hold the vertebrae in place, muscles have to be considered to be an integral part of the vertebral subluxation complex.  In fact, muscles both affect, and are affected by the VSC.  A subluxation can irritate a nerve, the irritated nerve can cause a muscle to spasm, the spasmed muscle pulls the attached vertebrae further out of place, which then further irritates the nerve and you have a vicious cycle.  It is no wonder that very few subluxations just go away by themselves.
4. Soft Tissue Component-the VSC will also affect the surrounding tendons, ligaments, blood supply, and other tissues as the misaligned vertebrae tug and squeeze the connective tissue with tremendous force.  Over time, the soft tissues can become stretched out or scarred, leaving the spine with either a permanent instability or restriction.
5. Chemical Component-is the change in the chemistry of the body due to the VSC.  Most often, the chemical changes, such as the release of a class of chemicals called “kinins,” are pro-inflammatory; meaning that they increase inflammation in the affected area.

What happens if I choose to not align my fixated joints?

Misaligned / hypomobile (restricted in their movement) joints get progressively worse over time. If mechanical lesions are not treated correctly and in a timely manner, it can lead to chronic pain, chronic inflammation, arthritis, muscle trigger points, the formation of bone spurs, loss of movement,  as well as muscle weakness and spasm, and may eventually end up having to have surgery to repair the accumulated damage. Chiropractic physicians have known the dangers of the vertebral subluxation complex ever since the birth of the profession. More and more scientific research is demonstrating the tremendous detrimental impact that joint fixations / subluxations or mechanical lesions have on the tissues of the body.  In order to be truly healthy, it is vital that your nervous system be functioning free of transmission interference from subluxations.  Chiropractic physicians are the only health professionals that are efficiently and thoroughly trained in the detection, location, and correction of the vertebral subluxation complex.

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