What is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic, founded in 1895, is the third largest primary health care profession in the world. Licensed in all 50 states and in many countries around the world, Chiropractic offers a natural, non invasive, non drug alternative for many health conditions.

Chiropractors, also known as doctors of Chiropractic or Chiropractic physicians, are trained to treat and diagnose patients with health problems that 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 function, and lowers the body's resistance to stress and disease. They also believe that spinal or vertebral dysfunction (known as Vertebral Subluxation Complex), alters many important bodily functions by affecting the nervous system, and that skeletal imbalance through joint dysfunction can cause loss of health or pain.

The Chiropractic approach to health care is holistic in nature, stressing the patient's overall health and wellness. Chiropractors recognize that many factors can affect health, including diet, exercise, proper rest, environmental factors, heredity, and so on. Chiropractors use natural, drugless, nonsurgical treatments, and rely on the body's own inherent recuperative abilities.

They also recommend changes in lifestyle, exercise, eating habits, ergonomics, and proper lifting techniques. When appropriate, chiropractors consult with and refer their patients to other health care professionals. Like other health care practitioners, chiropractors follow a standard routine to secure the information needed for proper diagnosis and treatment. They take the patient's medical history, conduct physical examinations, and may order laboratory tests or other diagnostic tests including X-ray's and MRI's.

Chiropractic care is based on the premise that good health depends primarily upon a normally functioning nervous system.

Chiropractors understand that many health dysfunctions can be linked to nerve interference caused by imbalances in the body. Restoring balance to the body through Chiropractic adjustments (gentle, comfortable mobilizations of the joints) restores proper nerve flow. As a result, symptoms can often be relieved and good health can be restored.

Chiropractors base this knowledge on years of study and research into the biomechanics and neurology of the human body and the cause and effect that subluxation and injuries have on the overall health of the individual.

Chiropractic research and its effectiveness in treating many common problems is readily documented. The Chiropractic profession has undergone six formal government studies which have found that contemporary Chiropractic health care is safe and effective in the treatment of many musculoskeletal problems.

A study by the Western Journal of Medicine found that "Two thirds of the Chiropractic patients we surveyed were 'very satisfied' with the care they received..while only 22% of medical patients reported the same level of satisfaction. In addition, the Chiropractic patients in our study were far more likely to return to the same provider for future back care than the medical patients surveyed."

The following summarize the Chiropractic approach to health:

1. Your brain and nervous system control everything.
   
2. Nervous system compromise can cause ill health.
   
3. Doctors cannot heal. Only your body can do that.
   
4. The best doctors remove barriers to your healing ability.
   
5. That is the purpose and power of Chiropractic care.