About Chiropractic

Chiropractic is a branch of the healing arts 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 ChiroFit Chiropractic Area 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.


What conditions benefit from chiropractic care?

Chiropractic is used mostly to relieve low back pain. Studies have found it also be effective for a variety of conditions, such as infantile colic, and pediatric ear infections, migraine headaches, neck and shoulder pain, sciatic pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyaglia, PMS, irritable bowel syndrome, ADD, plantar fascitis, low back pain and more.


How safe is chiropractic?

Chiropractic is recognized as one of the safest types of health care in the world. Numerous studies, including those funded by governments, universities and nonprofit research institutions, have proven it to be a successful primary therapy for neuromusculoskeletal conditions -- a therapy that is safer, in fact, than most medical procedures used to treat the same conditions. Chiropractic is also widely used as a complementary mode of care for a variety of other conditions and diseases and to promote overall health and well-being.

Your body is designed to be a self healing and self regulating being. When ill health, pain or disease set in, that is a sign that something is interfering with your bodies ability to heal, and regulate itself. Chiropractors are the ONLY health professionals that are uniquely trained to locate, and remove these interferences thus allowing the body to heal it self.

Injuries or illnesses are an inevitable part of living. The causes can include sports injuries, on-the-job injuries, automobile accidents, migraine headaches, arthritis, etc.. It's not whether you'll experience a physical setback in life, but when. How pain enters your life may be beyond your control, but you do have choices in how to deal with it. Chiropractic is safe and effective.


What kind of education and training do doctors of chiropractic have?

Chiropractors receive an education that emphasizes neuromuscular diagnosis and treatment. Preparation for the practice of chiropractic is concentrated on these three areas of learning; basic training in the biological and health sciences (anatomy, physiology, histology, biochemistry, clinical and radiological diagnosis); specialized training in the chiropractic discipline (theoretical studies, practice, diagnosis and applications); and extensive clinical training.

MEDICAL EDUCATION CHIROPRACTIC EDUCATION
Johns Hopkins Medical School Palmer College of Chiropractic
Class Hours SUBJECT Class Hours
508 Anatomy 520
256 Physiology 520
401 Pathology 195
200 Chemistry 325
114 Bacteriology 130
224 Diagnosis 520
112 Neurology 130
48 X Ray 292
144 Psychiatry 65
198 Obstetrics & Gynecology 65
2205 TOTAL HOURS 2762
3397 Grand Total
Including Other Required Subjects 		4485

How does the safety of chiropractic compare to other medical procedures?

In comparison to allopathic medicine, which uses drugs and surgery as an integral part of treatment, chiropractic presents far less risk. Consider, for example, that in the United States an estimated 140,000 people die each year from drug-related reactions. And the risk of death due to gastrointestinal complications from taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen is 400 times greater that the complication rate for people who receive cervical manipulation, while the mortality rate for people who undergo cervical spine surgery is 7,000 times higher.

Human error is another factor that tilts the safety balance in chiropractic's favor. In the United States, it is estimated that up to 98,000 Americans die yearly from medical errors -- a doctor accidentally making the wrong incision, a nurse administering the wrong medication, and so on.

But with all forms of treatment, whether allopathic or alternative, any risks, however slight, should not be ignored. While the methods used by chiropractors have proven to be safe in almost all cases, it is a constant concern for chiropractors to evaluate their patients to determine if treatment will cause an adverse reaction.


Can chiropractic adjustment damage your joints?

The answer is no. What's more, most chiropractic adjustments are painless. Often, the adjustment may feel good and can provide immediate relief from stiffness or tension.

While some people may get nervous about the "pop" that an adjustment can produce, the sound is not coming from the bones themselves. It's coming from a lubricant called synovial fluid that's found in every joint. That fluid contains dissolved gases. Separating joints creates pressure, which forces the gases to rapidly escape, creating the "pop."

You may have some discomfort during an adjustment, however, if you've had a recent injury, as adjustments can irritate inflamed tissue. As your body heals this should stop.


Is there a connection between stroke and chiropractic treatment?

Would you think twice about cradling the phone on your shoulder, checking your blind spot while backing into a parking space or getting your hair shampooed at a salon? The risk of stroke from chiropractic care is no greater than it is from any of these everyday activities.

A study published in Spine Journal of Medicine on February 15th, 2008 showed that there was no evidence of excess risk of VBA stroke associated with chiropractic care compared to primary care physicians. What the study suggested was that victims that had already suffered from a stroke or were about to have a stroke found themselves in either a primary care physicians office or chiropractic office because of the nature of their complaint.


Do chiropractors refer patients to other specialists?

Like other doctors, chiropractors belong to a large and growing network of health-care professionals and make referrals for patients when necessary. Chiropractors are well educated to recognize risk factors and signs of disease and will not hesitate to make a referral when it's in a patient's best interest.


Call (847) 382-3194 to schedule an appointment to get your spine checked today!


For further information please visit these helpful links:

American Chiropractic Association

The American Academy of Spine Physicians

Palmer College of Chiropractic

The International Chiropractic Pediatric Association

DEFLAME - Nutrition for Inflammation Reduction

East Lake Chiropractic - Dr. Christopher McNichols

ChiroStandard - Specializing in Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, and Nutrition in Sarasota, FL

ChiroWeb - Portal for the latest in alternative medical news, information &research breakthroughs

PubMed Central - U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature.

Gonstead Clinical Studies Society - Chiropractic Research, Education & Fellowship

The Titleist Performance Institute - Largest collection of golf-specific health and fitness information from the world's leading experts in the game.