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Frequently
Asked Questions
1.
What is chiropractic?
Chiropractic is the science, art and philosophy of locating and
correcting vertebral subluxations through gentle, specific chiropractic
adjustments and rehabilitation thus allowing your body to function
at it's optimum potential.
2.
What is a subluxation?
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
and function at its optimum potential becomes impaired.
3.
What is an adjustment?
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. I am confident 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 show that chiropractic care is one of the safest
forms of healthcare in the world.
When
comparing malpractice insurance premiums paid by chiropractors to
those paid by medical doctors, Chiropractic Physicians pay only
a small fraction (approx. 1/20) of the price medical doctors pay.
In fact, drug reactions are the third leading cause of death in
the United States (The Journal of The American Medical Association,
JAMA; Vol.284, July 26, 2000). Yet, of the millions of people receiving
chiropractic adjustments, each year, only a handful will even make
a complaint.
At
this time, when our health care providers are becoming evermore
critical of medication utilization and its side-effects, chiropractic
remains a safe alternative and continues to become a preferred treatment
option for many conditions.
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. The repeated falls as children
learn to walk, the 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 stages 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.
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 and every one of us is solely
responsible for the quality of our health and 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 and healthy eating habits
are lifestyle decisions 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, 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 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 and health.
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