TAKING CHIROPRACTIC CARE TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Chiropractic Care Explained

Chiropractic is a profession within the health care field that deals with the nervous system of the human body. The nervous system is the body's master controller of all cells, organs, tissues and glands of the body. Our chiropractors will remove the subluxations (misalignments of the vertebra), by giving gentle, accurate chiropractic adjustments. Removing of the subluxations allows the body to heal its self without invasive procedures and/or drugs.

Our patients at Health and Healing Family Chiropractic receive a thorough consultation including history and examination of their major complaint. Also, included is two state of the art spinal scans and digital x-rays if needed. After considering possible causes of the patients' condition a diagnosis is established and a treatment plan is created. Should a patient require treatment outside the scope of chiropractic care, they are referred to the appropriate health specialist.

As the science of chiropractic has evolved, so have the techniques used within its practice. Common treatment methods have grown to include nutritional counseling, orthotics, lifestyle modification / exercise programs, and physical rehabilitation programs. While these adjunctive treatments are certainly beneficial, spinal and joint adjustments remains the primary and most effective mode of treatment by our clinic. Statistics reflect that nearly 95% of patients that seek chiropractic care do so as a result of musculoskeletal pain such as:

• Neck pain
• Headaches
• Back pain
• Extremity pain
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Strain/sprain injuries

Conditions caused by spinal dysfunction accounts for the remaining 5% of chiropractic patients. These conditions are those manifesting through the nervous system, such as:

• Asthma
• Allergies
• Colic
• Constipation and other digestive dysfunctions, etc …

Chiropractic care is not a guaranteed miracle treatment. However, it is not uncommon for patients to report an improvement in the conditions listed above after receiving chiropractic treatment. The majority of people understand that chiropractic is beneficial for back and neck pain, headaches, and sprain/strain injuries. However, very few people including those in the medical community, truly understand the affect adjustments have on the central nervous system. In particular, the affect adjustments have on the autonomic nervous system and its sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.

Health Benefits of Chiropractic Care

If you have been dealing with chronic pain, have been injured or you would just like to grow your health you should consider seeking chiropractic care. The benefits of chiropractic treatment can be realized for many people with any variety of health conditions. Even those relatively "healthy" individuals with few, if any, health conditions can see the benefits of chiropractic maintenance care. The impact of life's daily grind adds up, stressing the human body in far greater ways than you might realize. Regular chiropractic adjustments at Health and Healing Family Chiropractic can help to restore and maintain balance within, allowing the innately intelligent human body to heal itself.

Regardless of one’s walk in life, anyone can benefit from regular chiropractic care. Routine chiropractic treatments will help maintain the body at the high level of activity life calls for, allowing the body to self-heal through proper alignment. Your spinal column serves as a conduit through which the human brain sends messages throughout the body’s nervous system. It is simple to see how protecting the integrity of this important structure, through regular visits to Health and Healing Family Chiropractic is vital to the body’s optimal function and overall health.

Chiropractic Success Scientifically Explained

If you are looking for a scientific explanation of how we achieve the results we do, this paragraph is for you. A concise scientific explanation of chiropractic is that adjustments directly affect musculoskeletal structures by reducing pain and increasing joint motion.

Musculoskeletal structures include ligaments, muscles, joints, joint capsules, and surrounding myofascial tissues. Aside from this direct benefit, the autonomic nervous system is indirectly affected by the down regulation of the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight system), and promotion of the para-sympathetic nervous system (rest and repair system).

This is done through the effect that chiropractic adjustments have on joint capsules and the body’s proprioception mechanism (sense of where one is in space), through the mechanoreceptors (provide information regarding mechanical changes within the body), in the joints and periarticular tissues (tissue surrounding the joint).

That’s a lot to take in, but it is the explanation as to why some chiropractic patients report improvement in organic function, not only musculoskeletal benefits. To reiterate, this is not a claim that chiropractic adjustments treat systemic pathology, but does suggest that some who have systemic symptoms may see results from chiropractic care even without the presence of pain.

The Education of a Andover Chiropractor

Most patients don’t realize how much schooling chiropractors have to go through before they can start practicing. Chiropractors are held to some of the most intense educational requirements of any health profession. In fact their schooling requirements are very comparable to that of medical practitioners. After completing a heavy emphasis of basic sciences in an undergraduate program, potential chiropractors may be accepted into a four year chiropractic college. During that time they do extensive course work in the areas of:

• Anatomy
• Physiology
• Public Health
• Microbiology
• Pathology
• Biochemistry
• Chiropractic Philosophy and Practice
• Chiropractic Diagnosis
• Adjusting Methods
• Nutrition
• X-Ray