What is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic is a profession which specialises in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions which are due to mechanical dysfunction of the joints and their effects on the nervous system.

How does it work?

Chiropractors use their hands to adjust the joints of your spine and extremities where signs of restriction in movement are found, improving mobility and relieving pain. Your body's own healing processes (which we normally recognise in its ability to heal bruises, cuts and broken bones) will then be able to get on with the task of improving your health. This treatment is known as 'adjustment' or 'manipulation'.

Poor, inadequate or incorrect function in the spine can cause irritation of the nerves that control our posture and movement. This spinal nerve stress (which may be caused by factors such as accident, poor diet, lack of exercise, poor posture and anxiety) can lead to the symptoms of discomfort, pain and even disease which are a warning that your body is not functioning properly.

By manipulating joints, chiropractors stimulate the joint movement receptors - your body's position sensors which provide feedback to the brain on where the joint is in space. This stimulation can affect the way your nervous system works. Depending on where the nerve irritation has occurred in your spine, your symptoms may include the following:

• headache or migraine
• neck pain
• back pain
• chest or abdominal pain
• shoulder, arm, wrist and hand problems
• leg, knee, ankle and foot problems

This is because the irritation of the nerve in one area can sometimes lead to pain (known as 'referred' pain) in other parts of the body. Painful symptoms are a warning sign which should not be ignored; your chiropractor is trained to diagnose the cause, and if indicated treat using manipulation. Chiropractors do not prescribe drugs or use surgical procedures.

Who benefits from chiropractic?

Chiropractic treatment is suitable for everyone such as

• newborn babies
• elderly people
• pregnant women
• sports enthusiasts

Chiropractors

Chiropractors, also known as doctors of chiropractic or chiropractic physicians, diagnose and treat patients whose health problems are associated with the body’s muscular, nervous, and skeletal systems, especially the spine.

Chiropractors believe that interference with these systems impairs the body’s normal functions and lowers its resistance to disease. They also hold that spinal or vertebral dysfunction alters many important body functions by affecting the nervous system and that skeletal imbalance through joint or articular dysfunction, especially in the spine, can cause pain.

Approach

Like other health practitioners, chiropractors follow a standard routine to secure the information they need for diagnosis and treatment.

• They take the patient’s medical history; conduct physical, neurological, and orthopedic examinations
• In cases in which difficulties can be traced to the involvement of musculoskeletal structures, chiropractors manually adjust the spinal column
• Some chiropractors use water, light, massage, ultrasound, electric, acupuncture, and heat therapy
• They also may apply supports such as straps, tapes, and braces