The 15 Most Frequently Asked Questions
Regarding Chiropractic

Chiropractic is a science which deals with the relationship between the spinal bones (vertebrae) and the nervous system and how that relationship influences health or sickness.

Subluxation is the condition Doctors of Chiropractic treat. A subluxation literally means less (sub) than a luxation(dislocation). When this condition exists, the spinal bones have become slightly misaligned. This will produce muscle spasm, inflammation of the joint and disc, swelling of the disc, and tissues between the joints, pain, loss or limited movement of the joint, and causes disc and joint damage. As a result of this condition, the nervous system becomes irritated and many symptoms, syndromes, and conditions arise.

Doctors of Chiropractic can locate the subluxations by palpation (using the sense of touch) to isolate areas that are painful, swollen, inflamed, tight, and exhibit loss of motion. They also perform orthopedic and neurological tests. We perform isolation tests to pinpoint areas of subluxation. They use x-ray examination to locate areas of misalignment, joint, and disc damage.

The causes of subluxations are any type of trauma or injury to the body. One of the most prevalent causes of subluxation begins at birth. Whether it be a vaginal or cesarean doesn’t seem to matter. The infant as it emerges is pulled either by hand, surgical forceps, or suction cup from the womb. The forces used are more than enough to misalign the spine due to the fact that the muscles are not fully.
developed along the spine to properly support it. Repetitive stress injury
such as using the computer, typing, frequent bending, etc can misalign the
spine. Poor posture habits coupled with our sedentary life style leads to
subluxation. Car accidents, falls, lifting injuries, improper lifting can also
misalign the spine

First Doctors of Chiropractic use spinal adjustments (manipulation) to gently realign the areas in the spine that are misaligned. Additionally, other physical therapeutics (cold packs, diathermy, interferential therapy, traction, exercise, ultrasound, etc.) are incorporated to help with the healing of the injured and damaged areas due to the subluxation. Spinal adjustments may be either manually done with the doctors hands or by instruments.

Yes. People are apprehensive about the manual adjustment due to the popping or cracking noise that accompanies this type of adjustment. The activator overcomes this by using speed to realign the spine without the noise associated with manual adjustments. Before a manual adjustment is performed the patient’s neck or body has to be compressed, or twisted. This is not required when using the Activator.

That is a good question. The fact is each doctor can choose to use any of the many different adjusting techniques that are taught in our colleges. Medical doctors develop confidence in certain medications for a condition while another may favor a different one. In the same way doctors of chiropractic choose different adjusting techniques.

Yes it is. Before I started using the Activator, I used a manual technique like my father used. I started using the Activator on patients that were afraid of the manual adjustment or were in too much pain to allow a manual adjustment. To my surprise these patients attained good results and in many cases responded faster. Another advantage of the Activator technique is the ability to adjust cases that you would normally not perform manipulation on. These include. osteoporosis, post-surgical cases, and severe arthritis patients. Children also present a challenge with manual adjusting. They have a hard time relaxing for manual adjusting. Not so with the Activator technique. Kids love getting an Activator adjustment.

Typically, doctors of chiropractic treat pain in the neck, back, upper extremity (shoulder, arm, hand) lower extremity (hip, leg, knee, foot). These are the conditions most people associate us with. However, because subluxations irritate and impair the nervous system, doctors of chiropractic have helped many conditions. These include digestive problems (gastritis, reflux, irritable bowel) respiratory problems (asthma, sinusitis, allergy), headaches (cluster, migraine, tension, sinus, and cervicogenic) just to name a few. If you have questions about a condition please ask me. I welcome the opportunity to discuss it with you.

The answer is sometimes. Change following an adjustment means muscles must reset tensions and this change may cause stiffness or soreness to develop much like exercise can. If it does that is how you will respond. We are all different and don’t react the same to all things. This discomfort is best handled by remembering to use the cold pack as instructed. This will very rarely interfere with your activity.

Well, that is the $10.000 question. This Is an individual response. It is well to remember that healing is a function of removing the cause and letting Mother Nature heal. I have treated some people that took a week and some that it took months to improve. Obviously this is dependent on how long you have had the conditions and the shape you have gotten into. Some get to us when the condition first began and  others wait weeks, months, and years before deciding to try chiropractic.

Common sense will tell us that a nineteen year old with a condition that started last week will respond faster than a fifty year old with a condition that started 6 months ago. You will respond as fast as Mother Nature will allow.

Your condition started at some point. It is not always when the pain or symptom started. Oh you say, “I felt it when I bent over to pet the dog.” Most would assume that it would take a short time for this to get well. And sometimes that is the case. Some one else states, “I didn’t do anything, I just woke up with it hurting.” Both started that day; one with an obvious cause, the other without an obvious cause. The key in determining how long, how often, and what needs to be done is to locate the cause, determine the shape the body is in, and then you will have a reason for how often and how long.

We treat all ages. We especially enjoy children. They respond well and we feel it is important to check children as part of their wellness program. As the twig is bent, so grows the tree. We urge you to have your children, grandchildren examined several times per year. More often if they are actively engaged in sports. Feel free to ask questions regarding how chiropractic can help your children grow up stronger and healthier.

There are many conditions that have responded favorably to chiropractic. Otitis media (ear infections/earaches), enuresis (bed wetting), colic, growing pains, allergy, headache, and digestive complaints are some of the conditions that we have successfully relieved. If one of your children or grandchildren has a problem we welcome the opportunity to answer your questions.

As part of your recommended action plan, Exercises will be given to help strengthen, and stabilize your spine. Please do not engage in exercises without first checking with me. It is important that I know what you are doing so you will not unknowingly undo what we are doing. We do recommend that you begin walking 1 mile three times per week if your condition allows.