What Is Chiropractic?
According to The Association of Chiropractic Colleges, “chiropractic is a health care discipline which emphasizes the inherent recuperative power of the body to heal itself without the use of drugs or surgery. The practice of chiropractic focuses on the relationship between structure (primarily the spine) and function (as coordinated by the nervous system) and how that relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health.”
Origins
D.D. Palmer – Father of Chiropractic
The “founding father” of chiropractic, Dr. D.D. Palmer, developed a theory that spinal misalignment caused nerve pressure or irritation which in turn caused various ailments. He realized that the structure and condition of the body influenced how the body functioned and its ability to heal itself, without the use of drugs or surgery. This simple philosophy has healed people and has prevented unwanted injury and illness for over a century! But to fully understand the chiropractic perspective, one must learn a bit about the nervous system, or how our bodies are “wired.”
The nervous system consists of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. The brain is divided into sections and stores and receives an incredible amount of information. But this information needs a way to get in and out. Nerves provide a pathway for this information to travel, and the spinal cord is made up of bundles of these nerves. The spine both houses and protects the spinal cord. Nerve dysfunction can result from any number of factors, such as falls, accidents, stress, tension, or over-use. These events can alter our “wiring” and create pain or discomfort in our bodies.
Getting to the Source
Doctors of chiropractic are trained to locate the source of the pain or discomfort— it may actually be far from the actual location where the symptom is occurring— and then we correct or adjust the joints in the body and set it up to heal on its own. Of course, the type of correction or adjustment employed by the chiropractor depends on the condition being treated, but you get the main idea. The important thing to remember is that chiropractic success occurs by addressing the source of the problem, not just masking the symptoms.
Holistic Efficiency
Because helping the body heal itself involves many facets, chiropractors also provide lifestyle advice to help prevent illness and injury. Diet & nutrition, fitness, ergonomics, and other areas in your life contribute, or diminish, your overall health. By making the right choices, one can live a life full of wellness and vitality.
Why Chiropractic?
The benefits of chiropractic go far beyond relieving back and neck pain and can help people of all ages from infants to the elderly. Maintain your spinal joints RANGE OF MOTION and JOINT POSITION will improve your ability to move freely without pain and discomfort. Movement is life. Your spinal column gives you the foundation for all movement that you need to have a quality life.
The combination of proper joint position and vertebral alignment, allows for optimum RANGE OF MOTION and pain free movement along with proper posture.
What is Good posture?
Posture is the position in which you hold your body upright against gravity while standing, sitting or lying down. Good posture involves training your body to stand, walk, sit and lie in positions where the least strain is placed on supporting muscles and ligaments during movement or weight-bearing activities.
Defining posture:
Follow the red gravity line from top to bottom
Looking straight ahead:
*facing a mirror, you should be straight from top of head thru your chest thru your belly button to the ground
Looking at yourself sideways:
*your earlobes are in line with the middle of your shoulders
*middle of shoulders are in line with middle of hips
*hips in line with middle of knee then to ankle bone
Proper posture gives you:
*Optimum joint movement or RANGE OF MOTION
*Keeps bones and joints in the correct alignment so that muscles are being used properly.
*Helps decrease the abnormal wearing of joint surfaces that could result in arthritis.
*Decreases the stress on the ligaments holding the joints of the spine together.
*Prevents the spine from becoming fixed in abnormal positions.
*Prevents fatigue because muscles are being used more efficiently, allowing the body to use less energy.
*Prevents strain or overuse problems.
*Prevents backache and muscular pain.
*Contributes to a good appearance.
What are obvious signs of bad posture?
Have someone look at you from the side, do you look like this picture? This is forward head carriage.
What contributes to bad posture?
*poor joint position or Subluxation of spinal joints
*poor joint motion, poor Range of Motion
*obesity
*pregnancy
*weak muscles
*high-heeled shoes
*tight muscles; decreased flexibility
*poor work environment
*poor sitting and standing habits
The result of this forward head carriage is typically muscle pain, trigger points, decrease range of motion, headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome plus many other conditions that decrease activities of daily living.
Looking straight at a mirror, bad posture can also and obviously seen if your head or shoulders lean one way, if one arm hangs much lower than the other, if one side of your hips are higher than the other.
Any aberration of good normal posture can lead to spinal pain, headache, mood changes, muscle pain, and joint pain among other things.
A person with forward head carriage will typically have an x-ray that looks like the Abnormal x-ray in the diagram. Notice the straightening of the cervical spine as compared to the Normal image on the left in the diagram.
A normal x-ray like the one on the left should have a gradual C-curve evident when looking at it from the side.
A normal C-curve will allow you to have proper posture, good range of motion and a good appearance.
Your low back should also should have a normal gradual C-curve like your neck.
Without this, you will have poor ROM of the spinal joint, bad posture and typically some sort of pain syndrome.
Looking from the side, if you lost your c-curve in your low back, you would appear to have a “rooster behind”
Proper posture requirements:
Normal motion in the joints
Good muscle flexibility
Strong postural muscles.
A balance of muscles on both sides of the spine.
Awareness of your own posture, plus awareness of proper posture which leads to conscious correction. With much practice, the correct posture for standing, sitting, and lying down will gradually replace your old posture.
Just like fixing crooked teeth with braces that may take over 2 years, correcting your cervical curve or low back, fixing your posture, restoring your optimum range of motion can be done depending on the severity of your condition. You determine how you look and feel. Do not accept decrease in motion and increase in pain as normal.
DO something today!
Call for an appointment!
Back to topWhat is Spinal Decompression, also known as Flexion Distraction?
Treatment Protocol Ends Back Pain WITHOUT Drugs or Surgery!!!
If you have been suffering from low back pain for years and been told that a lifetime of taking drugs or a risky surgery are your only option, we have new hope for you.
This chiropractic breakthrough has provided thousands of men and women relief from acute and chronic low back pain associated with:
Bulging or herniated discs
Myofascial Pain Syndrome
Numbness or tingling
Osteoarthritis or degeneration of the spine
Radiculitis or nerve pain
Sciatica
Spinal Stenosis
Scoliosis
Ankylosing spondylitis
What is the treatment?
This special chiropractic therapy called Spinal Decompression aka Flexion Distraction alleviates pain by taking pressure off the nerves and discs in the lower back, or lumbar region of the spine. Pressure on the nerves in the this region is a major cause of sciatica and other painful conditions.
This treatment does far more than provide temporary relief from pain. In many cases, spinal decompression can produce long-term pain relief because it actually corrects the problem of a herniated, bulging, or “slipped” disc (left pict).
This therapy does this by creating a “negative pressure” in the disc, thus taking pressure off the sensitive nerves that surround the spine.
This works by applying a gentle force at the correct angles through the use of a specially-designed treatment machine. This therapy manipulates the vertebrae of the spine so that the bulging disc gets “sucked” back into its normal position. This allows increased nutrient flow into the disc. After repeated treatments, the disc can heal, and thus the pain problem goes away.
Spinal decompression or flexion distraction is an especially attractive alternative to back surgery, which is risky, painful and expensive procedure from which some people never fully recover.
Based on principles researched at major universities and in clinical settings, Spinal Decompression is a treatment that relieves patients of their back pain by re-establishing functional capacity and decompressing the sensitive nerve fibers WITHOUT SURGERY.
-Who is a candidate for Spinal Decompression treatment?
Patients suffering from herniated discs, degenerative joint disease, sciatica, facet syndromes and other low back conditions.
-What other terms mean Spinal Decompression?
Long axis traction of the lumbar, flexion distraction therapy
-How does Spinal Decompression work?
Spinal Decompression targets the lumbar muscles to reintroduce kinetic activity. The Spinal Decompression Decompression Unit then comfortably tractions the spinal joint, decompressing the disk and reducing pain. Unlike conventional traction that stretches the back only, the Spinal Decompression procedure aids in reconstitution and disc healing, allowing increased circulation to the damaged area.
-What do the procedures involve?
Flexion – Distraction is the treatment of choice for those patients suffering with back pain. Most patients experience relief after 3 to 5 treatments. The treatments are comfortable and performed on a fully adjustable ergonomic table that can be fit to all body types including pregnant woman. Flexion – Distraction should be considered for those whose pain has not responded to other types of care… this treatment can make all the difference in removing and managing your pain permanently.
