Frequently Asked Questions

When should I see a Chiropractor?

Many people often think the only time they need to see a chiropractor is when they have back or neck pain, but the truth remains that regular visits to a chiropractor is vital to maintaining sound health and fitness. Everyday events such as improperly bending and lifting, poor posture, and physical overexertion can put a strain on the spine and related muscles that cause subluxations to occur. This in turn leads to an unbalancing in your body and a downward spiral in your health, (a positive feedback loop furthering the loss of health and spinal decay). Regular visits to a chiropractor can help break this cycle.

How do I know if I have Subluxations?
The only way to detect with certainty whether or not you may have a degenerating Vertebral Subluxation complex is to consult the expert care of a Doctor of Chiropractic.

What is subluxation?
“An official definition of a subluxation presented to the commission of inquiry by a Dr. Terry R. Yochum, then head of the Department of Roentgenology (x-ray) at a Melbourne, Australia, Chiropractic College was as follows (with the writer’s comments in brackets”): “...a complex biomechanical (spinal sections) neurophysiological (nerves) dis-relationship (damage) as it affects predominantly the spinal column.”

A more common definition
A SUBLUXATION is an ABNORMALITY in the alignment, movement, or position of the spine or joints, which interferes with the normal nerve impulses passing through that area. A subluxation may involve just one vertebra (one out of twenty-five moveable segments of the spine) or a combination of multiple segments.

Subluxation is a term used in the chiropractic field to describe what happens when one of the vertebrae (bones) in your spine (back) moves out of position. The word “subluxation” is derived from the Latin words meaning somewhat or slightly (sub) and to dislocate (luxate). When this happens, the misaligned vertebra creates pressure and stress on the spinal nerves, blood vessels, and surrounding muscles. This pressure and stress can cause an imbalance in the body’s normal processes as the nerves in the spinal column extend to the entire body and its organs.

As time goes on and the uncorrected subluxation settles, the damage to the nerve gets progressively worse different stages of subluxation degeneration (spinal decay) set in. Regular visits to a licensed chiropractor can help to reduce the effects of subluxation and may be necessary for you to maintain good health and physical fitness.

Can I Adjust Myself?
No. Some people can make their joints “pop”, but that’s not an adjustment! Worse, damage can occur by INDISCRIMINATELY mobilizing a joint, this improper force and direction can cause ligaments to weaken; the body will build up bone in these weakened ligaments over time to stabilize itself, causing osteo-oarthritis. Chiropractic adjustments are specific and take years to master. Only the spinal joints that are “locked up” receive adjustments allowing weakened muscles and ligaments to stabilize and heal.

Who else can adjust me?
Doctors of Chiropractic are the only Health Care providers specialized in spinal biomechanics with national licensing and accreditation to detect and correct/remove the vertebral subluxation Complex through Adjustments. When performed by Chiropractors, Adjustments are some of the safest forms of health care.

What Is Chiropractic care?
Chiropractic is a healing art recognized around the world, a profession that facilitates the body to heal, from within, from many different diseases. Chiropractic is a healing art that science has proven to be beneficial to patients of all ages.

Science has shown that we all have the “innate” ability to heal ourselves (think about when you have scraped your knee, a scab forms over the injury so your body can start to heal). The problem arises when there is interference (via spinal misalignments) in communication between your body and the “innate Intelligence” that does the healing. This interference is called the Vertebral Subluxation Complex (subluxation).

History of Chiropractic Care
The roots of chiropractic care can be traced all the way back thousands of years. Writings from China and Greece written in 2700 B.C. and 1500 B.C. mention spinal manipulation and the maneuvering of the lower extremities to ease low back pain. Hippocrates, the Greek physician, who lived from 460 to 357 B.C., also published texts detailing the importance of care likened to chiropractic. In one of his writings he declared:
"Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases".

Safety Studies

New Zealand Commission; The New Zealand Commission of Inquiry into chiropractic was perhaps the first government-sponsored investigation to discover the epidemic proportions of this often-latent cause of much of humanity’s ills. During its 18-month inquiry which spanned four countries, they also discovered chiropractors were the only Doctors sufficiently trained in the intricacies of the spine to safely deliver vertebral adjustments as a means of correcting abnormalities of the spine.

1993 Manga study published in Canada investigated the cost effectiveness of chiropractic care. The results of this study concluded that chiropractic care would save hundreds of millions of dollars annually with regard to work disability payments and direct health care costs if implemented properly.

Doctors of chiropractic have become pioneers in the field of non-invasive care promoting science-based approaches to a variety of ailments. A continuing dedication to chiropractic research could lead to even more discoveries in preventing and combating maladies in future years.

Cycle of Health - How Chiropractic Works
For centuries most of the world has depended on the doctor of medicine to cure health problems, yet the world is still sick and some would say getting sicker.

Medicine supposedly became "scientific" with the appearance of bacteriology. Since then, the education of the medical science has centered on the germ theory of disease as a focus on the cause of all diseases. Although huge progress has been made in the fight against germs, only recently has the medical profession started to understand that it is actually the degree of natural immunity, natural body defenses, and vitality which determines the success or failure of any treatment or disease in a person

Medical science is beginning to realize what chiropractic has said for over 100 years. Chiropractic helps sick people to get well and helps prevent the healthy from getting sick by allowing the body to function and heal itself without any interference.

None of the body functions "just happen”.
Your heart doesn't just happen to beat.
Your lungs doesn’t just happen to breathe in and breathe out.
Your stomach doesn’t just happen to digest the food you eat.

All doctors know that your brain and nerve system coordinate these functions which makes life possible and sustainable, your nerve system allows for health instead of sickness. Without your brain or spinal cord intact you would not be alive... right… of course. The following will illustrate this example further.
It is your brain and nerve system which causes your heart to beat an average of 72 times per minute, 4320 beats every hour, and 103,680 beats every day.

If you perceive danger it is your brain that makes you heart beat faster and when you are really calm and relaxed doesn’t your heart beat slower. Of course it does.

The nerve system is often called the Master Control System because it controls every function either directly or indirectly in your body. This makes you a whole human being rather that a collection of parts.

SUBLUXATIONS - HEALTH'S HIDDEN ENEMY
In order to enjoy true health, the individual must maintain structural balance of the spinal column. Any imbalance in structure or function can result in lowered immunity to fight off disease or infection.

It is the stresses and strains, the knocks and bumps of Life that sometimes creates this imbalance. Just look around the next time you are at the mall - you will find people with; their heads forward, slumped shoulders, hollow or humped backs, protruding bellies, and shuffled gait (labored walking).
You can be sure these people suffer from sub-clinical or even clinical health problems.

Back, heart, stomach, liver, kidney problems, headaches, sinus trouble, sciatica, and ear infections are only a few possible problems related to subluxations. They may suffer from any of the nearly 400 different diseases or conditions caused by structural and functional imbalances.

Misaligned vertebrae which create interference are called subluxations. A fall or injury may produce subluxations. They may result from stresses or strains either physically, chemically or emotionally which may overload the nervous system's protective mechanism and produce subluxations.