Chiropractic
As stated by the American Chiropractic Association, "Chiropractic is a health care profession that focuses on disorders of the musculo-skeletal system and the nervous system, and the effects of these disorders on general health.  Chiropractic care is used most often to treat neuromusculoskeletal complaints, including but not limited to back pain, neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, and headaches."

HISTORY

The formal onset of the chiropractic profession within the United States dates back to 1895, when it was founded by D.D. Palmer, who went on to form the first Chiropractic school.  Chiropractic suffered greatly in the early years as it struggled to gain acceptance amongst the medical establishment, which fought desperately to destroy the profession, even formalizing an actual committee in 1963 for the very purpose.  After failing to do so and eventually losing a decisive court battle in the process, Chiropractic flourished.  Today, Chiropractic is the second largest health field in the western world, behind only medicine.  Education, research, and treatment guidelines have all grown by leaps and bounds in the past several decades, which has resulted in a greater acceptance amongst the medical establishment.  Today more than ever, practitioners in every facet of health care are working together instead of against one other.

THEORY

We provide gentle spinal adjustments using manual techniques in order to restore the normal function to your body's joints.  It is necessary to adjust the spinal joints when they become "dysfunctional", a term for a joint complex that is not functioning properly. Each joint complex is composed of: two vertebral bodies, the intervertebral disc between the vertebral bodies, and the surrounding ligaments, muscles, tendons, fascia, blood vessels, and nerves.  When a chiropractic adjustment is made, it is made to the facet joints, with the intention of setting off a sequence of events that will restore normal function to the joint complex and ultimately eliminate pain.

While we typically use manual "hands on" adjustments, in some cases it is necessary to use different techniques.  Some people cannot undergo a manual adjustment due to previous surgeries or underlying conditions and some people simply do not prefer them.  In those cases, we use a variety of techniques consisting of: activator, traction, massage, and mobilization (think stretching of the joints without the traditional 'pop' of the joint). 

Adjustments can also be made to the extraspinal joints (shoulders,elbows,wrists,knees,ankles,etc).  The methodology is a little different for these areas compared to the spine, but the desired end result is essentially the same; restored function with elimination of pain. 

RESEARCH

• "In a Randomized controlled trial, 183 patients with neck pain were randomly allocated to manual therapy (spinal mobilization), physiotherapy (mainly exercise) or general practitioner care (counseling, education and drugs) in a 52-week study.  The clinical outcomes measures showed that manual therapy resulted in faster recovery than physiotherapy and general practitioner care. Moreover, total costs of the manual therapy-treated patients were about one-third of the costs of physiotherapy or general practitioner care."- British Medical Journal, Korthals-de Bos et al (2003)
  

 

• “The results of the literature review confirm the common clinical experience of doctors of chiropractic: neck manipulation is beneficial for patients with certain forms of chronic neck pain.”- Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Vernon et al. (2007)

 

• “Cervical spine manipulation was associated with significant improvement in headache outcomes in trials involving patients with neck pain and/or neck dysfunction and headache.”- Duke Evidence Report, McCrory et al. (2001)