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Evidence of healers and physicians performing manual manipulation of the spine can be found in ancient Greek and Chinese history. These manual manipulations were believed to cure many ailments, not just those related to the spine.

It was not until 1895 that D.D. Palmer performed a spinal adjustment on a partially deaf man named Harvey Lillard. This seemed to improve his hearing. Palmer believed that spinal adjustments could cure any number of pains and ailments, since the spine has the ability to press on many different nerves.

Several years later, Palmer opened the Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, which still educates doctors of chiropractic today. Over time, the fundamental ideas behind of chiropractic have not changed much, but great strides have been made as more and more people have experienced the health benefits of Chiropractic.

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Today’s Chiropractic

You probably already know that chiropractic is commonly used to treat back and neck pain. But did you know that chiropractic can be used to treat any number of ailments, from allergies to osteoarthritis and many in between.

Many advances have been made in the world of chiropractic while still staying true to the roots of this practice. By taking an active role in their healing, patients can eliminate many issues of pain and other ailments. Taking an active role means not only consulting a licensed chiropractor, but also having a healthy diet and exercising. Treating your body well is the best way to stay healthy.

How does it work?

Chiropractic is a holistic approach to healing. Through adjustments, exercises, and a healthy lifestyle, the self-healing properties of the body can be realized. Depending on your problem, chiropractic care can offer immediate relief or relief in a series of sessions.

Why Chiropractic?

A lot of current pain management techniques only treat the symptoms of a problem, not the cause. Chiropractic works to treat the source of the issue. Because of this, chiropractic is effective at preventing future issues from presenting themselves.

Furthermore, Chiropractic is non-invasive (i.e. there is no surgery and no drugs), so there are fewer risks related to the procedures performed. Chiropractic uses your body’s own natural healing powers to manage pain and other problems. Many patients who visit chiropractors report decreased pain and an increase in general wellness.

Effects of Chiropractic Care?

In many modern medical practices, drugs are administered to treat everything from pain to ailments. Use of prescription drugs can have undesirable or dangerous side effects. These drugs can also be hard on the liver and kidneys if used long-term. Chiropractic can eliminate the need for these drugs by treating the source of an issue. The spine houses the spinal cord, which can directly affect many of the body’s other systems.

Chiropractic Myths and Facts

There are a lot of unfounded myths about chiropractic. Most of them come from people who are unfamiliar with the ideas and practices behind chiropractic.

1. Spinal adjustments are painful

Immediately following a spinal adjustment, many patients feel relief immediately. Misalignment in the spine can cause pain not only in the neck and back, but also in other parts of the body. Once the spine is properly aligned, that pain is often immediately relieved.

2. Chiropractors are not real doctors

Chiropractors, in addition to undergraduate studies, have to endure several years of rigorous training in their field. Upon completion of their training program, chiropractors must also complete hundreds of hours of clinical practice under a licensed chiropractor. To become licensed, chiropractors must test and register with their state board of Chiropractic, similar to medical doctors. Chiropractors attend schools which are accredited by the U.S. Department of Education.

3. Chiropractic is Costly

When compared with Western medical care, Chiropractic is far less expensive. In cases of worker’s compensation, chiropractic care can cost half as much as traditional medical care, and it treats the source of the problem instead of just the pain. Because of this, in the long run, patients often end up needing less chiropractic care than traditional Western medicine.

4. You don’t need to visit a chiropractor, you can adjust yourself

Attempting to adjust your own alignment is not only ineffective, but it can also be quite dangerous. If you’re not familiar with the different muscles and nerves in your spine, you can end up seriously injuring yourself. It’s best to consult a licensed chiropractor for any back or neck pain you experience.

Is Chiropractic Effective?
Chiropractic helps to remove postural imbalances and structural misalignments that can accumulate in our bodies over time. Chiropractic works by restoring your own inborn ability to be healthy. For your body to remain healthy, your nervous system must function well. For your nervous system to function well it must be free of interference. By restoring spinal function with Chiropractic adjustments, nerve interference by misaligned vertebrae is removed, thus allowing optimal nervous system function and improved health.

Why should I see a Chiropractor?
Seeing a chiropractor is not only for back pain and neck pain. Chiropractic care is an excellent way to keep your body at its peak performance through nutrition, adjustment and overall wellness. In addition, chiropractic care has been known to help a wide range of conditions from fibromyalgia to diabetes.

What is Subluxation?
When a vertebrae becomes misaligned or moves out of its normal position, this is referred to in the chiropractic profession as a subluxation. Subluxations can be caused by a wide range of issues ranging from a minor slip or bump to a car accident or any sudden trauma. When a vertebrae is subluxated, it begins to put pressure on nerves, blood vessels and everything around it. This pressure comes with a price. The subluxation interrupts the natural pathways that the messages sent from the brain need to be clear in order to be completed properly.

How does chiropractic care work?
Chiropractic is an overall way of looking at the human body. It’s based on the idea that the body is self-sustaining and self-healing. The body is in essence completely controlled by the brain through its connection via the spinal cord and the vast networks of nerves that make up the body. When this system is not functioning at its peak, the overall performance of the human body is lacking.

In the chiropractic world, drugs and medicine are not utilized as a form of treating a patient. While supplementation and nutrition are almost always a part of the bigger picture, drugs and prescriptions can be viewed as band-aids to treat symptoms rather than going to the source and treating the real problem.

While it’s often perceived that the chiropractor is solely here to treat back and neck pain, this is simply a small piece of what the profession really is capable of handling. Chiropractors not only treat soft and hard tissue problems such as sciatica and joint pain, but are largely called on to deal with more significant issues. Some of these issues include fibromyalgia, allergies, insomnia, headaches and many more.

What is a chiropractic adjustment? Is it safe?
Adjustments, or manipulation as they’re sometimes referred to is the minor movement of vertebrae in the spine. The objective of this movement is to realign vertebrae that have moved out of place for a number of reasons ranging from normal daily activity to trauma such as a car accident.

When these vertebrae are out of place, it has an overall systemic effect from muscular to the central nervous system. Without proper alignment and flow of all nerves and systems in the body from the brain, we can’t function at our peak.

An adjustment is often a pressure from the chiropractor utilizing the hands or an instrument to move a vertebrae back into place. This happens with a quick movement and is often without discomfort. You may hear a noise that sounds like you’re cracking your knuckles referred to as joint cavitation. It is the release of gases such as oxygen and nitrogen from the joint.

What can I expect from my visit to a chiropractor?
Going to the Chiropractor is a new experience for many of us. Maybe we’ve heard through a friend or have done some research online. It’s possible that you are just fed up with living in pain and it’s time to do something about it. In either case, your first visit to the chiropractor will really be about getting to know the chiropractor and discussing your history, current condition and goals.

What results can I expect from treatment?
Chiropractic is based on the idea of removing imbalances both structural and postural in an effort to allow our body to heal itself. For this to happen the network of nerves and signals from your brain, down your spinal cord, to the network of nerves must be allowed to flow freely without any interruption. Chiropractors have the ability and skill to remove these interruptions or misalignments and allow the body to perform as it was meant to.

If you’ve ever been in a car accident, played a sport, fell down or just bumped into something too hard, it’s very possible that you are not functioning at your best due to a misalignment. While there are many potential mechanical or structural causes for misalignment, there are also chemical reasons. For instance, if you smoke or drink excessively or even just have a poor diet, the chemical issues in your body can eventually cause underlying conditions and disease to appear.

Allowing a chiropractor to get you back on track both chemically and structurally will bring your body back to the proper state it should be in to perform at its peak.