More About Chiropractic Care

What Does a Doctor of Chiropractic Do?

The chiropractic physician has a scope of care based upon the licensing board of that state, which does vary from state to state.   As a whole, the profession chooses not to use drugs or surgery but instead seeks to encourage the body's innate recouperative power as a self healing, self regulating system.   This means that as your chiropractor, along with removing vertebral subluxations, I may use other natural tools such as acupuncture, nutrition, fitness recomendations, ergonomic changes to your workstation or car, proprioceptive exercises and re-training, and/or stress management techniques to assist your body in maintaining HEALTH.   The chiropractic college education includes many hours in diagnostic training as well as the needs of special populations (geriatrics, pediatrics, etc) and will be knowledgable in when certain conditions or treatment would not be appropriately managed by a Doctor of Chiropractic (DC).   In these cases you may be totally referred out or co-managed by both your chiropractor and another physician or practicioner.  

Although some of those in the healthcare industry may provide some similar kinds of care such as massage, diagnosis, radiography, therapeutic modalities, athletic training techniques, and/or strength and conditioning for example, the DC may also do all of those things in their scope of practice.   If you are looking for a a chiropractor for the first time you may want to consider the kinds of services that that particular office offers and the philosophy of that doctor.   Each office is slightly different just as every patient is unique as well.   It is important to find a doctor-patient relationship with the right fit!  

Children and Chiropractic

You may be asking yourself why kids need chiropractic care.   The reason is simply because they are kids! If you are a parent then you realize that things happen.   The number of bumps, falls, plops, slips, and slides even before the age of five seems uncountable.   Did you also know that the U. S. National Institutes of Health, children aged five through fourteen sustained an estimated 2.38 million sports and recreational injuries per year between years 1997 and 1999.   The majority of these injuries are minor, but these subtle traumas to their developing skeleton can create bigger problems down the road.   I find many people who visit our office as an adult are dealing with a chronic problem that most likely began from a structural dysfunction or physical trauma in childhood.   I do have to say "play" is absolutely a critical element to child growth and development.   Working in the field, I have witnessed children take tremendous traumas in football, martial arts, and gymnastics despite the best training.     Although we teach them to "shake it off" for now, what about later?   Because we use a variety of techniques such as Activator, Sacro Occipital Technique (SOT) and low force manual adjusting, individuals should feel comfortable getting spinal check-ups no matter what their age.

Reaction Time: Everyone Wins

Reaction Time-the time necessary for the body to respond (to take dirrection)   from neurological signals.   Is it important, ABSOLUTELY! Think about the last time you almost got in an auto accident or how important it would be to an aging parent responding to a slippery shower or almost falling from bed. Studies show that reaction time is affected by a number of things.   Getting enough rest may be one thing you are familiar with.   The New Zeland Chiropractic College is one group that has done studies of chiropractic and reaction time.   Their research found that the control group had a 8% decrease in speed of reaction with a rest period only and the experimental group had a 14.8% increase in speed or reaction with only an upper cervical adjustment.   Other researcher have found similar results which has fueled the growing number or Doctor's of Chiropractic working with sports teams and organizations.   As you can see now you don't have to be an athlete to appreciate the benefits of quicker response time.   For those who are athletes, just imagine a 15% difference   in almost winning the race.  

Sciatica: All About   Balance and Pressure

Sciatica is that notorious condition with pain down   in to the buttocks and the back of the leg.   So often   I will meet individuals who   have   performed self diagnosis because they know someone or have read somewhere about sciatica addressing the cause and finding proper treatment is usually not an "at-home process".     Finding the   cause of your scitica can be as   frustrating as suffering with the symptoms but it all comes down to balance and pressure.       Some of the common causes of sciatica include:

• piriformis syndrome
• spinal stenosis
• herniated disc
• spondylolisthesis

The spine is made up of 24 movable bones separated by the disc.   The disc has an immovable carilagenous outer ring with a sticky material inside.   This chain of bone, disc, and supporting ligaments and muscles help to maintain the 3 curvatures of the spine that provide proper biomechanics.   It is possible to disrupt this intricate balanced chain of structures through traumatic injury, chronic overuse or improper use of the body.   This may throw off the   alignment of vertebrae, imballanced muscle groups (decresing flexibility and strength).     Muscle imbalances can even be the cause for the change in spinal curvatures or alignment of segments.   Even the "herniated disc" can be from trauma but more likely years of uneven pressure like the car out of alignment wearing down the tread on the   tires. Spinal stenosis, or narrowing of the canal, is related mostly to age and trauma which can lead to scaring, bony changes and pressure on the nearby nerves but in some cases heredity or fluorosis is also related.   The type of spondylolisthesis where a segment is dropped forward pulling traction of the nerve fibers of that level is usually from degeneration of that   vertebral level.   This along with all of the conditions I mentioned can in many cases be managed conservatively with chiropractic care.   Our office utilizes spinal manipulation with rehabilitation and therapy primarily that has proved to be   very effective in many cases of sciatica.   For some individuals we   may consider acupuncture for pain management through the   treatment plan.    

In a best case scenario you should   maintain your spine so that these muscle imbalances and   spinal alignments do not   continue unaddressed for years until   chronic pain   begins.   If you have neglected a spinal condition until it has already reached that point, there may still be hope   to correct the problem.   The key is to get a proper diagnosis as early as possible and receive treatment   that   addresses the cause.   If surgery or injections has not   worked for you, you may consider having a second opinion.   You can only patch a crack or so long before you have to look to the foundation and how it affects the balance and pressure   of the spinal parts.