What we like about chiropractic care is it’s a drug-free and surgery-free path to healing naturally. Essentially, the basic principle upon which the entire profession is built on is that the body has the amazing ability to heal itself, and it is the chiropractor’s job to help create an environment to facilitate this. The nervous system controls every cell and organ in your body, and helping the spine come back into alignment will help alleviate much of the pain or disfunction.
Chiropractic Spine Care
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Heal Naturally Without Drugs or Surgery
Why Get Chiropractic Adjustments?
Some of the more common causes for a visit to a chiropractor:
- A vertebra going out of place because of a slip or fall.
- Trigger points and tight back muscles that pull the vertebrae out of place can cause pain.
- Global misaligning due to poor posture.
- Intervertebral joint swelling due to inflammation or injury.
- Osteoporosis or degenerative changes of the spine or intervertebral discs.
- Sciatica, low back pain, neck pain
- Headaches (Tension and Migraine)
- Colic and Ear Infections
- Scoliosis
- Athletic Performance
Posture
Far too many live their lives hunched over and with their necks stuck out like turtles. Doctors call this “forward head posture,” and studies prove that for every inch your head sticks out from a true center of gravity, your neck bears an extra 10 pounds of stress.
During posture evaluations, chiropractors regularly observe many of their patients carrying their head two to three inches forward, which is an extra 20-30 pounds of pressure on their neck!
Sciatica
The European Spine Journal published the findings from a clinical trial last year uncovering how chiropractic adjustments resulted in a 72 percent success rate in treating sciatica and related symptoms compared to the 20 percent success from physical therapy and 50 percent from corticosteroid injections.Other clinical outcome measures showed that chiropractic adjustments resulted in faster recovery than physiotherapy and general practitioner care. Moreover, total costs of the chiropractic-treated patients were about one-third of the costs of physiotherapy or general practitioner care.
Neurological symptoms
Research currently being conducted via upright MRI showing how upper cervical adjustments affect various brain-based conditions. Scans revealing that cerebral spinal fluid and blood flow are markedly increased after a chiropractic adjustment, researchers are observing that cerebellar invagination (when the cerebellum drops down below the skull line) is being reversed and brain plaquing (common in multiple sclerosis patients) is disappearing.
Headaches (Tension and Migraine)
Second only to back pain, headaches are one of the most common conditions regularly managed by chiropractors. There are over 200 + peer-reviewed articles referenced chiropractic’s ability to help cure, prevent and lessen the burden of headaches and migraines.
Chiropractic Care for Children
A 2012 study published in Journal of Manipulative Physiological Therapeutics found that chiropractic adjustments greatly reduced colic symptoms, and there are scores of case studies documenting that describe how children suffering from ear infections, acid reflux and colic have experienced resolution after just a few visits.
Scoliosis
Chiropractic adjustments for scoliosis coupled with muscular rehabilitation techniques may help prevent the progression of scoliosis.
Athletic Performance
One of the most overlooked aspects of chiropractic care is that it enhances personal and athletic performance. There is a reason why athletes like Michael Phelps, Jerry Rice and Joe Montana, are under regular chiropractic care. In fact, NFL teams have a chiropractor on staff, because it is a very effective at pain-based and pathological conditions, . Studies have shown that it:
- Reduces inflammatory cytokines
- Boosts your immune system
- Enhances pulmonary function
- Decreases mental and oxidative stress
- Relieves muscle tension
- And can naturally increase your energy level
How Does it Work?
A concept known as “vertebral subluxation” is at the core of chiropractic spine care. When chiropractors use this phrase, they refer to mechanical compression and irritation to spinal joints and nerves. When you consider how most cells and organs in your body are controlled by nerves traveling through your spinal canal, it’s mind-blowing to consider how vast the side effects can be !
Auxiliary Techniques
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Graston
One of the auxiliary techniques I learned while I was in chiropractic school was the Graston Technique. Extensively used by athletes, the majority of American athletes know about it. The Graston Technique is a manual soft tissue technique invented by an athlete named David Graston. Because he was having problems recovering from a knee injury he sustained while water skiing, he got to thinking about the normal manual massage style therapy and he took it one step further and decided to design a set of tools to assist with his rehab. He based this on the concept of cross-friction massage, developed by orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Cyriax.
The Graston Technique is basically an instrument-assisted, soft tissue mobilization therapy. It is beneficial in breaking up fascial restrictions, scar tissue adhesions, and detecting areas of chronic inflammation and/or fibrosis. Graston has been known to help conditions such as a cervical sprain/strain, tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow, lumbar sprain/strain, rotator cuff tendinosis, and even Achilles tendinosis. Graston works by utilizing one of six stainless steel tools to diagnose and treat a certain condition. Designated areas of the body use certain tools to break up adhesions, so that the healing process may start immediately. I do warn people that they may experience redness or bruising in the next day or two, and they may also be sore.
Graston has been known to decrease treatment time and reduce a patient’s need for NSAID medication.
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Active Release Technique [ART]
Every ART session is actually a combination of examination and treatment. The ART provider uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tightness and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements. These treatment protocols – over 500 specific moves – are unique to ART. They allow providers to identify and correct the specific problems that are affecting each individual patient. ART is not a cookie-cutter approach.
ART is a patented, state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. Headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART. These conditions all have one important thing in common: they are often a result of overused muscles. Over-used muscles (and other soft tissues) change in three important ways: acute conditions (pulls, tears, collisions, etc), accumulation of small tears (micro-trauma), not getting enough oxygen (hypoxia). Each of these factors can cause your body to produce tough, dense scar tissue in the affected area. This scar tissue binds up and ties down tissues that need to move freely. As scar tissue builds up, muscles become shorter and weaker, tension on tendons causes tendonitis, and nerves can become trapped. This can cause reduced range of motion, loss of strength, and pain. If a nerve is trapped you may also feel tingling, numbness, and weakness.
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Functional Exercise
Functional exercise involves training targeted core muscles of the abdomen and lower back. It teaches the body proper movement patterns by strengthening the muscles of the low back, glutes, and hamstrings. It helps to take stress off the spine, discs, and knees and places it on the larger, more powerful joints such as the hips. The spine is designed to give the body stability and protection and by strengthening the muscles surrounding the spine will help with inflammation, pain, degeneration, and deterioration of the vertebrae and discs. This redistribution of stress and strengthening of the muscles that support the spine and intervertebral discs can help bring relief of a variety of conditions including:
- Chronic back pain
- Sciatica
- Back surgery prevention and/or recovery
- Injury prevention
- Herniated/bulging disc
- Core athletic strength
- Prepare the body for competition/athletic events such as: Running, cycling, basketball, football, baseball, hockey, soccer, and weightlifting.