What Can I Expect on My First Visit With a Doctor of Chiropractic?

The first thing a chiropractor will do is asking you about the health complaints about which you are chiefly concerned. The Doctor of Chiropractic will also ask about your family history, dietary habits, other care you may have had (chiropractic, medical, etc.), your job, and other questions designed to help determine the nature of your illness and the best way to go about treating the problem.

A physical examination will be performed in accordance with your Doctor's clinical judgment, which may include x-rays, laboratory analysis, and other diagnostic procedures. In addition, a careful spinal examination and analysis will be performed to detect any structural abnormalities which may be affecting or causing your condition. All of these elements are important components of your total health profile and vital to the doctor of chiropractic in evaluating your problem.

An "adjustment," as doctors of chiropractic use the term, means the specific manipulation of vertebrae, which have abnormal movement patterns or fail to function normally. Doctors of chiropractic spend years learning motion palpation (the art of examining by movement or touch) and other forms of spinal examining procedures so that they can administer specific and appropriate spinal adjustments.

Once the Doctor of Chiropractic has identified the problem, he/she will begin care by way of these adjustments or "manipulations." Particular attention will be paid to that area of your spine where a spinal derangement or "subluxation" has been detected. The adjustment is usually given by hand or "activator" type instruments and consists of applying pressure to the areas of the spine that are out of alignment or that do not move properly within their normal range of motion.

Doctors of chiropractic use many sophisticated and varied techniques. The specific procedure to be used will be determined and explained completely to you following a careful evaluation of your radiographs and physical findings.
Under normal circumstances adjustments do not hurt. The patient may experience a minor amount of discomfort during the adjustment, which lasts only seconds. Adjustments or manipulations are extremely safe. The risk factor is estimated to be in excess of 1 million to 1.

What is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic is a branch of the healing arts, which is based upon the understanding that good health depends, in part, upon a normally functioning nervous system (especially the spine and the nerves extending from the spine to all parts of the body). "Chiropractic" comes from the Greek word Chiropraktikos, meaning "effective treatment by hand." Chiropractic stresses the idea that the cause of many disease processes begins with the body's inability to adapt to its environment. It looks to address these diseases not by the use of drugs and chemicals, but by locating and adjusting a musculoskeletal area of the body which is functioning improperly.

The conditions which doctors of chiropractic address are as varied and as vast as the nervous system itself. All chiropractors use a standard procedure of examination to diagnose a patient's condition and arrive at a course of treatment. Doctors of chiropractic use the same time-honored methods of consultation, case history, physical examination, laboratory analysis, and x-ray examination as any other doctor. In addition, they provide a careful chiropractic structural examination, paying particular attention to the spine.

The examination of the spine to evaluate structure and function is what makes chiropractic different from other health care procedures. Your spinal column is a series of movable bones, which begin at the base of your skull and end in the center of your hips. Thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves extend down the spine from the brain and exit through a series of openings. The nerves leave the spine and form a complicated network, which influences every living tissue in your body.

Accidents, falls, stress, tension, overexertion, and countless other factors can result in a displacements or derangements of the spinal column, causing irritation to spinal nerve roots. These irritations are often what cause malfunctions in the human body. Chiropractic teaches that reducing or eliminating this irritation to spinal nerves can enable your body to operate more efficiently and more comfortably.

Chiropractic also places an emphasis on nutritional and exercise programs and wellness and lifestyle modifications for promoting physical and mental health. While chiropractors make no use of drugs or surgery, Doctors of chiropractic do refer patients for medical care when those interventions are indicated. In fact, chiropractors, medical doctors, physical therapists and other health care professionals now work as partners in occupational health, sports medicine, and a wide variety of other rehabilitation practices.

Diversified Technique:

Sacro Occipital Technic (SOT):
A soft gentle approach of chiropractic, yet highly effective. SOT is centered on diagnosing one of 3 Categories for treatment. The use of specific functional test (indicators) determines the category.

Category 2 blocking methods can be learned to address the SI sprain. Often patients present with a separation subluxation that requires blocking rather than a thrust type adjustment. Proper block placement puts 250 pounds of pressure per square inch into the SI joint surface.

Category 3 blocking addresses the disc and cartilaginous system directly. When splinting, swelling and pain levels of the patient limit your ability to adjust, incorporation of blocking can be highly effective; Piriformis and Psoas involvement can also be diagnosed and corrected.

McKenzie System approach: Demonstrates the body has the mechanisms by which to correct itself, and the potential is great enough that the patient may develop skills to be self-reliant in achieving that goal.

Electrodiagnostic Studies is to help figure out whether there is problem in the nervous system and if so, where the problem is occurring.
The term electrodiagnostic studies really encompasses a lot of different tests.

The most common tests done are Nerve Conduction Studies (NCS) and electeromyography (EMG). EMG and NCS are really an extension of the neurological and musculoskeletal examination.

Acupressure: Direct pressure on the trigger point that is in the tight muscle which has been there for some times due to miss alignment or subluxation of the spine.