What is A Chiropractic?
The term “Chiropractic” comes from the Greek word Chiropraktikos, which means “effective treatment by hand”. It started over 100 years ago when the originator of Chiropractic, D.D. Palmer, moved a bone in a deaf man’s neck and enabled him to hear again.
Chiropractic is a type of natural health care based on a philosophy that if your nervous system is functioning at its best, so will your entire body. The BASIC understanding is that when the spine is out of alignment, it pinches the nerves, which decreases vital communication from the brain to the body. Chiropractic adjustments move the bones into position to remove this pressure and facilitate better health naturally.
For example, when your neck muscles tighten up from stress, car accidents, sports injuries, etc. you may not be able to completely turn your head, or you may get dizzy or have headaches.
A different example is if the mid-back is injured it can affect the nerves going to the stomach, the lungs, or the muscles along the spine. When this happens, you can have symptoms like acid reflux, asthma, or stiffness and pain between the shoulder blades.
There is always a source to the symptoms you’re feeling and Chiropractic looks at the structure of your body to establish this cause and then treats with adjustments to remove the pressure on the nerves and encourage proper function.
Doctors of Chiropractic (Chiropractors) practice a drug-free, hands-on approach to health. They have been educated to believe that a pill or liquid is what will make us ‘better’ and ‘healthier’. Such as weight loss… Americans would much rather take a diet pill than actually eat well and exercise!
What are the Difference between a MD (Medical Doctor) and a DO (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine)?
Chiropractors look at the body differently than MD’s or DO’s. We encourage movement, stretching, exercising, eating well, and getting adjustments to encourage the spine to help heal the body. MD’s may refer you to physical therapy where you will get training on exercises and stretching but you will also receive medications to cover up your pain.
Here is an example, if you fall and break a leg or arm; you would go to a D.O. to have it set and casted. If you dislocate your shoulder completely to get it set back into position, but then you can see a Chiropractor to help rehabilitate the muscles and ligaments and strengthen the area to prevent it from happening again.
If you have back pain from bending over or from a slip and fall, you should see a Chiropractor to check the spinal alignment and get it adjusted back into position.
