What is Chiropractic?

Ask 99 chiropractors a question, get 110 different answers goes the old joke.

Chiropractors can't agree on what chiropractic is. There is an industry definition that means everything to everybody. When I tell you what chiropractic is, I'm telling you what it means to me.

Chiropractic is a branch of the healing arts which is based upon the understanding that good health depends, on all the parts, Neurological, Muscular and Skeletal, working as they should in a balanced manner. Health is a tripod and if one leg is too short or too long, you no longer have balance you no longer have health. Pain indirectly comes from lack of balance and it's pain that brings people through my doors.

"Chiropractic" comes from the Greek word Chiropraktikos, meaning "effective treatment by hand." Chiropractic started out with the idea that disease came from a bone being out of place causing pressure on nerves that stopped the healing power of the body from flowing and by racking bones back into place with the hands restored this healing power. It sounds ridiculous to us now but over 123 years ago when chiropractic was conceived, medicine was thinking and doing things on a regular basis that would put you in jail today.

I treat pain. That is an honorable profession. Pain robs you of the quality of your life. Medical science is a wonderful thing, it saves lives and prevents disease. It eases suffering. I'm proud to call several medical doctors, surgeons and specialists my colleges and my friends. Medical science, except for a few specialize practitioners, are not taught to deal with the muscular and skeletal origins of many common pains and they are not taught the neurological involvement with these common problems. Neither are all chiropractors at all schools. I chose to concentrate on the musculo-skeletal-neurological basis of common pains. To understand how I do that go to my pages on TREATMENT.

The examination of the spine to evaluate structure and function is what makes chiropractic different from other health care procedures. Understanding how spinal function affects muscles, the nervous system (indirectly) and other parts of the skeleton is central to chiropractic. The spine isn't everything but it is central.

Accidents, falls, stress, tension, overexertion, repetitive movements and countless other factors can result in a displacements or derangements of the muscular, skeletal and nervous systems. These derangements are often the cause of pain in the human body. Chiropractic teaches that reducing or eliminating this irritation to spinal nerves can cause your body to operate more efficiently and more comfortably. Keep doing the same thing - expect the same results. If you want change then you have to change. I'll teach you how.

Chiropractic also places an emphasis on nutritional and exercise programs, 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.