Doctors of chiropractic practice natural, drugless, non-invasive health care and rely on the body’s ability to self-heal. Sounds ideal, but just how does it work?
We look at the whole picture
Like other health-care providers, we follow a standard routine to gain information about the patient. We consult, review the case history, conduct a physical examination, and we may request laboratory analyses and/or x-rays.
Unlike other health-care providers, however, the doctors of Align Your Spine Chiropractic also conducts a careful analysis of the patient’s structure, movement patterns and pay particular attention to the spine. We also ask you about your life— Do you eat well? Exercise at all? How do you deal with stress? Do you have children? What do you do for work? And so on.
We seek the origin of the problem
Using this information, a diagnosis is made. Included in the diagnosis is the probable reason for your pain or discomfort. It is important to note that chiropractors seek the origin of the illness in order to eliminate it — we do not simply treat the symptoms.
If your roof is leaking, do you simply catch the drips in a bucket for years on end, or do you repair the roof to prevent it from leaking? Similarly, if the migraine headache you’ve had all week is being caused by misaligned vertebra and an irritated nerve, do you continue to take dangerous pain killers indefinitely, or do you realign the vertebra to prevent the pain? You get the picture.
Chiropractors have a term for misalignments: Vertebral Subluxations
A vertebral subluxation is a misalignment of the bones that protect the spinal cord. It’s a leak in the roof. Or a kink in the wiring of your nervous system.
It is imperative to our health that the electrical signals that our brains constantly send and receive from the body, travel freely. This allows the body to be in a state of “ease.” This is the opposite of dis-ease and allows for optimum function of the body components. This is akin to being plugged directly into your internet as opposed to using a wireless router with a spotty signal. Which is will work optimally, and which will develop “symptoms?”
The severity of the subluxation can vary greatly and often leads to other symptoms that compound the issue. There are a number of potential contributing factors that will be associated with the subluxation complex. The easiest to understand in the physical stress from day to day work, play and trauma. A more seemingly abstract contributor is emotional or mental stress; have you ever been so stress out after a bad day that your shoulders were hiked up to your ears? Those knotted up muscles often attach directly or indirectly to the spinal column and will torque the vertebra out of ideal alignment. Lastly, chemical stressors that can affect muscle tension as well. These chemicals are found in our diet and even the air we breathe.
The subluxation can be caused by any number of incidents, from birth trauma to an auto accident to simple repetition or over-use.
Then we help you fix it
When a subluxation occurs, a chiropractor can locate and correct the misaligned bone and allow it to return to its proper position. This procedure is appropriately called an adjustment, and the adjustment enables the body to heal. The leak is fixed. The wiring is fixed. Information is flowing again and consequently pain often diminishes, as an added bonus.
To keep the wiring fixed and the information flowing, several adjustments over a course of time may be necessary, in addition to physiotherapy, stretching, or strengthening exercises.
In the chiropractic world, keeping the problem fixed and preventing others from ever occurring is just as important as the initial remedy. Remember, our goal is to enable your body to function at it absolute best, always in a state of pain-free ease. Pain is a warning that something has been wrong for a long time and needs addressed.
Another important aspect of chiropractic care is this: the patient’s improvement is the responsibility of both the doctor and the patient. You will be active in your own care-this is essential in optimizing the care you receive.
Something to think about…
Pregnancy and child-birth is now considered a “condition to be treated”. The mother is drugged (now so is the baby) & mom cannot help push her baby out during the delivery. So the baby’s head is TWISTED, PULLED and PRIED on until he or she is completely yanked out of mom. Does that sound traumatic? If it does not, watch a few videos of the birthing process and you will see why we very often check the spine of newborns and pregnant women.