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Chiropractic is: not what you might think

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Chiropractic is: The world’s 3rd largest health profession. Licensed in all 50 states. Completely independent of conventional medicine. Safe, especially when compared to the risks of other health professions. Based on the principle that real health and healing is an inborn ability. Able to be safely applied to all ages of patients. Concerned mainly with establishing free-flowing nerve impulses. Utilized by many professional athletes for performance enhancement. Recognized by the World Health Organization. Documented in many peer reviewed professional publications. A covered service by Medicare. Included in the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Often unjustifiably persecuted and/or criticized by those with a poor understanding of it.

The world’s foremost natural healthcare science. A science, art, and philosophy of natural healthcare. - The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) defines Chiropractic as “Chiropractic is a health care profession that focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, and the effects of these disorders on general health.  Chiropractic care is used most often to treat neuromusculoskeletal complaints, including but not limited to back pain, neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, and headaches. Doctors of Chiropractic – often referred to as chiropractors or chiropractic physicians – practice a drug-free, hands-on approach to health care that includes patient examination, diagnosis and treatment.

Chiropractors have broad diagnostic skills and are also trained to recommend therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises, as well as to provide nutritional, dietary and lifestyle counseling. The most common therapeutic procedure performed by doctors of chiropractic is known as “spinal manipulation,” also called “chiropractic adjustment.”   The purpose of manipulation is to restore joint mobility by manually applying a controlled force into joints that have become hypomobile – or restricted in their movement – as a result of a tissue injury. Tissue injury can be caused by a single traumatic event, such as improper lifting of a heavy object, or through repetitive stresses, such as sitting in an awkward position with poor spinal posture for an extended period of time. In either case, injured tissues undergo physical and chemical changes that can cause inflammation, pain, and diminished function for the sufferer.

Manipulation, or adjustment of the affected joint and tissues, restores mobility, thereby alleviating pain and muscle tightness, and allowing tissues to heal. Chiropractic adjustment rarely causes discomfort. However, patients may sometimes experience mild soreness or aching following treatment (as with some forms of exercise) that usually resolves within 12 to 48 hours. In many cases, such as lower back pain, chiropractic care may be the primary method of treatment. When other medical conditions exist, chiropractic care may complement or support medical treatment by relieving the musculoskeletal aspects associated with the condition. Doctors of chiropractic may assess patients through clinical examination, laboratory testing, diagnostic imaging and other diagnostic interventions to determine when chiropractic treatment is appropriate or when it is not appropriate. 

Chiropractors will readily refer patients to the appropriate health care provider when chiropractic care is not suitable for the patient’s condition, or the condition warrants co-management in conjunction with other members of the health care team.” Palmer College of Chiropractic defines chiropractic as – “Chiropractic is concerned with the relationship between the structure (primarily the spine) and function (primarily coordinated by the nervous system) of your body and how that relationship affects your health. In the late 1800s, Daniel David (D.D.) Palmer, who founded Palmer College, researched this relationship. His hypotheses and subsequent discoveries laid the groundwork for modern chiropractic healthcare. No part of your body escapes the dominance of your nervous system. Improper function of the spine due to slight misalignments—called subluxations—can cause poor health or function, even in areas far removed from the spine and spinal cord itself.

Misalignments can also reduce the ability of your body to adapt to its ever-changing environment. Even the slightest malfunction of your spine may alter the regular transmission of nerve impulses, preventing that portion of your body from responding optimally. Chiropractic is a natural form of health care that uses spinal adjustments to correct these misalignments and restore proper function to the nervous system, helping your body to heal naturally. Chiropractic doesn't use drugs or surgery. Rather, a chiropractic spinal adjustment—the application of a precise force to a specific part of the spinal segment—corrects the misalignment, permitting normal nerve transmission and assisting your body to recuperate on its own.” The International Chiropractic Association (ICA) defines chiropractic as - “The SCIENCE of chiropractic deals with the relationship between the articulations of the skeleton and nervous system and the role of this relationship in the restoration and maintenance of health. Of primary concern to chiropractic are abnormalities of structure or function of the vertebral column known clinically as the vertebral subluxation complex. The subluxation complex includes any alteration of the biomechanical and physiological dynamics of contiguous spinal structures which can cause neuronal disturbances.

• The PHILOSOPHY of chiropractic holds that the body is a self healing organism and that a major determining factor in the development of states of disease or dysfunction is the body's inability to comprehend its environment either internally and /or externally. Directly or indirectly, all bodily function is controlled by the nervous system, consequently a central theme of chiropractic theories on health is the premise that abnormal bodily function may be cause by interference with nerve transmission and expression due to pressure, strain or tension upon the spinal cord, spinal nerves, or peripheral nerves as a result of a displacement of spinal segments or other skeletal structures (subluxation).

• The ART of chiropractic pertains to the skill and judgment required for the detection, location, analysis, control, reduction and correction of primarily the vertebral subluxation complex. It also involves the determination of any contraindications to the provision of chiropractic care to any particular method of adjusting. The ICA holds that the chiropractic spinal adjustment is unique and singular to the chiropractic profession due to its specificity of application and rationale for application.

• The PRACTICE of chiropractic consists of the analysis of interference with normal nerve transmission and expression produced by abnormalities of one or more vertebral motor units or other skeletal structures and the correction thereof by adjustment of these structures for the restoration and maintenance of health , without the use of drugs or surgery. The ICA considers the therapeutic use of drugs and surgery to be the practice of medicine. The term "analysis" in this context includes the use of xray and other analytical instruments generally used in the practice of chiropractic.

Chiropractic care utilizes the inherent recuperative powers of the body for the restoration and maintenance of health through the normalization of the relationship between the spinal musculoskeletal structures and the nervous system. Chiropractic science recognizes that essentially only the body heals and, therefore, holds forth no cure for disease.” Chiropractic is NOT: Focused on back problems or pain relief. Regulated by conventional medicine. Meant to replace any needed medical treatment. A cure-all. A method of straightening spines. Focused on making diagnosis and prescribing treatment. Expensive relative to other healthcare methods.