1. What Is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic is a system of health care that focuses on locating and correcting vertebral subluxations with gentle, specific chiropractic adjustments thus allowing your body to function at its optimum potential.

2. What Is A Subluxation?

A subluxation is a misalignment of one or more spinal bones (vertebrae), which causes interference to the nervous system. Interference can be in the form of pressure or irritation to nerves or the spinal cord. If your nervous system is interfered with, your body's natural ability to heal itself & function at its optimum potential becomes impaired. The end result can be pain, muscle spasm, numbness, weakness, malfunction of organ systems, and decreased health potential.

3. What Is An Adjustment?

An adjustment is 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 and allowing it to heal itself. Adjustments make you feel better by removing irritation to spinal nerves by simply restoring the normal alignment of the spine.

4. Who Should Go To A Chiropractor?

Who should go to a chiropractor depends on who you ask. For example, if you asked a person who was relieved of migraines he would say, "Anyone with migraines should see a doctor of chiropractic." A child who no longer wets his bed will say, "Chiropractic is for bed-wetting." "Anyone with menstrual problems should go," says a woman who suffered from menstrual cramps. Someone saved from back or disc surgery would say, "Chiropractic is for people with spine, back or neck problems." There are case histories of people recovering from nearly every known disease and condition under chiropractic care: heart trouble, hyperactivity, fatigue, allergies, digestive problems, colds, flu, infertility and hundreds of other conditions.

5. 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.

6. Is Chiropractic Care Safe?

Yes. Statistics prove that chiropractic care is one of the safest types of healthcare in the world. You only need to compare the malpractice premiums paid by chiropractors to those paid by medical doctors. Doctors of Chiropractic pay only a small fraction (approx. 1/20) of the price medical doctors pay in malpractice premiums. 225,000 people will die this year as a result of bad medicine, making this the third leading cause of death in the United States of America (The Journal of The American Medical Association, JAMA; Vol.284, July 26, 2000). Of the millions of people receiving chiropractic adjustments, each year, only a handful will even make a complaint.

7. Why Children Need Chiropractic Care?

The birth process is often the cause of a 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 80 lbs. of pulling pressure can be exerted to remove a baby from the birth canal. As children grow they will encounter many potentially hazardous situations. 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, children often 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 she/he passes through their windows of development. A subluxation free child also minimizes the risk of future health challenges.

8. 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, carbon dioxide) 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.

9. Is It Harmful To Twist And Pop Your Neck Or Back?

Yes, if you have a desire to twist and pop your own neck or back, it is harmful, because there is a fixation or jamming of the spinal joints (subluxation) causing pain and discomfort. These problems can only be corrected by a specific chiropractic adjustment. If you continue to twist and pop your own neck, the spinal joint fixations (subluxation) will continue to get worse and create more severe problems in the future.

10. How Long Does A Spinal Adjustment Take?

After the initial consultation and examination, a schedule of care will be established to correct the problem. Once this has been completed, the spinal adjustments will only take a few minutes.

11. Can A Person Who Had Back Surgery See A Chiropractor?

Yes. Many people who have had various kinds of spinal surgery often discover a return to their same back problems months or years later. There are so many of these people around, that the condition has a special name "Failed Back Surgery Syndrome." These people can usually receive chiropractic care without undue worry. It is best to check with your chiropractor on a case-to-case basis.

12. Can Chiropractic Prevent Back Surgery?

In a majority of cases the answer is a resounding "yes!" Chiropractic adjustments correct many spinal problems that in time would require surgery.

13. 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 & every one of us is solely responsible for the quality of our health & 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 & healthy eating habits are a lifestyle decision and so is lifetime, wellness chiropractic care.