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Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is chiropractic?
Chiropractic is the science, art & philosophy of locating
& correcting vertebral subluxations through gentle, specific chiropractic adjustments
thus allowing your body to function at its optimum potential.
2. What is a subluxation?
A subluxation is a misalignment of one or more of your spinal bones (vertebrae),
which causes interference to your nervous system. If your nervous system is interfered
with, your body's natural ability to heal itself & function at its optimum potential
becomes impaired. A subluxation is a perfect example of how structure affects function.
3. What is an adjustment?
An adjustment is a gentle, specific "thrust" delivered
by hand or instrument. The purpose of the adjustment is to correct your spinal subluxation(s)
thus removing the nerve interference in your body.
4. Does it hurt to get adjusted?
No. Chiropractic adjustments feel great. We have confidence that once you begin
receiving your adjustments, you will begin to look forward to them. They will become
one of the highlights of your week. When you allow the vertebrae in your spine to
return to their proper position, you will notice much less stress and tension.
5.
Is chiropractic care safe?
Yes. Statistics prove that chiropractic care is one of
the safest types of healthcare in the world. You only need to compare the malpractice
premiums paid by chiropractors to those paid by medical doctors. Doctors of Chiropractic
pay only a small fraction (approx. 1/20) of the price medical doctors pay in malpractice
premiums. 250,000 people will die this year as a result of bad medicine, making
this the third leading cause of death in the United States of America (The Journal
of The American Medical Association, JAMA; Vol.284, July 26, 2000). Of the millions
of people receiving chiropractic adjustments each year, only a handful will even
make a complaint.
6. Why do my children need chiropractic care?
The birth process
is often the cause of your child's first subluxation. A very soft and undeveloped
spine of an infant can suffer trauma during delivery. It is estimated that as much
as 80lbs of pulling pressure can be exerted to remove a baby from the birth canal.
Then, as children grow up and become more adventurous, the number of injuries to
their spines become countless. Repeated falls as children learn to walk, running,
jumping, twisting, bumping, and falling all over the place while playing in the
yard or on an athletic field will often cause your child to become subluxated. However,
often children do not show any signs or symptoms of being subluxated until later
on in life. Chiropractic care offers your child a more responsive body, a more balanced
flow of energy and overall increased performance as he/she passes through their
windows of development. A subluxation free child also minimizes the risk of future
health challenges.
7. What causes the sound made during a chiropractic adjustment?
That sound is not your spine "cracking" or "popping" like most people think. That
sound is created by gas (in this case, nitrogen) rushing in to fill the partial
vacuum created when the joints are slightly separated. Another example of this phenomenon
would be the "pop" sound you hear when the cork is taken out of a champagne bottle.
Not all chiropractic adjusting techniques produce this noise. In fact, some adjusting
techniques use little force and thus produce no noise at all.
8. Is it bad to "crack"
your back or neck a lot?
This question is frequently asked because people associate
the "cracking" or "popping" of one's back or neck with a chiropractic adjustment.
The two are not the same thing. If a person has a desire to "crack" his/her neck
or back it is often because one area of their spine is fixated or jammed causing
another area to move too much and "pop", sometimes by itself. It's the fixated or
jammed area that needs to be properly adjusted by a chiropractor so that the other
parts of the spine will not be hypermobile and noisy. When you "crack" your back
you may be relieving the tension for a little while. Do you notice how it keeps
coming back? That is because you are not giving yourself a specific chiropractic
adjustment. The cause of the spinal tension, the fixated or jammed (subluxated)
vertebrae, has not been corrected. Any person who makes a habit out of "cracking"
or "popping" their back or neck needs to go to a Doctor of Chiropractic to have
their spine checked. Even a chiropractor cannot adjust him/herself.
9. Once you
see a chiropractor, do you have to go for the rest of your life?
No. The extent
to which you choose to benefit from your chiropractic care is ultimately up to you.
Each & every one of us is solely responsible for the quality of our health & well-being.
However, we do strongly urge all practice members to consider lifetime, wellness
chiropractic care. This is where the long-term, lasting benefits of care are enjoyed.
Regular exercise & healthy eating habits are a lifestyle decision and so is lifetime,
wellness chiropractic care. You need to remain subluxation free for life.
10. Should
I continue chiropractic care if I don't have any symptoms and I feel better?
Yes.
Just because symptoms disappear, it does not mean your subluxations are corrected.
Most of the practice members seen in our office have spinal degeneration (decay)
which has taken years to develop. The trauma of the birth process, slips, falls,
accidents and countless other stresses over the course of your lifetime adversely
affect the health of your spine. The longer you wait to have your spine checked
by a chiropractor, the longer it will take to correct your subluxations. However,
how you choose to use chiropractic care is ultimately up to you. It has been our
experience that those who stop care when they are "feeling fine" return with the
same health challenge(s) which brought them to our office in the first place...only
it's usually gotten worse. On the other hand, those practice members who commit
to long-term, wellness chiropractic care, find their health challenge(s) rarely
return and they enjoy a higher quality of life & health.
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