Is Chiropractic Right For You?

By William A. Cox, DC

When discussing alternative medicine, it is impossible to ignore the efficacy of chiropractic. Chiropractic was founded in 1895 and ever since has grown into a mainstream alternative healthcare profession. While most people who seek the help of chiropractors suffer from low back pain, chiropractic is utilized in the treatment of numerous types of ailments.

So what do chiropractors do? This is dependent on the specific ailment the patient presents with but the chiropractor's basic focus is the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of neuromusculoskeletal disorders. That is a pretty big word, neuromusculoskeletal. To put it plainly, chiropractors assess the nervous, muscular and skeletal systems of the body and determine how to fix the apparent source of a disorder.

At the core of chiropractic lies the adjustment, or manipulation. After orthopedic, neurological, palpatory and radiological examination, the chiropractor determines if and where there are dysfunctions in the spine or other regions of the body. Through a series of manual adjustments, these malfunctioning joints are treated by the doctor until they function correctly.

This is an oversimplification of what today's chiropractors do, as the vast majority employs physical therapy modalities, self-care education, nutritional supplementation and various other means to further support the chiropractic treatments they administer.

The stereotype of the “bone cracking” doctor of chiropractic barely scratches the surface of what a good chiropractor can accomplish when treating the wide spectrum of disorders he or she sees on any given day at the office. Low back pain may be the most common of these complaints, but neck pain, headaches, extremity pain, nerve pain, sports injury and postural disorders all respond well to chiropractic care. These are only a few examples of what a chiropractor is trained to diagnose and treat.

If you suffer from any of these ailments there is a very good chance you can find relief in a chiropractor's office. All you have to do is get there. The proverbial ball is in your court.