More and more people today are including chiropractic care in their healthcare routine, and collaboration between chiropractors and medical providers is developing rapidly as the chiropractic profession becomes increasingly integrated into the health care system.

As a result, many people find themselves wondering whether they should seek chiropractic care. Unfortunately, much of the information that is widely available about chiropractic is based on third-hand accounts and unfounded myths, some of which are addressed below:

1. Fiction: Chiropractors are not real doctors. Fact: Earning a Doctor of Chiropractic degree requires 6 to 8 years of college education. Doctors of Chiropractic must pass National Board Examinations as well as state testing.

2. Fiction: Chiropractic medicine is not supported by scientific research. Fact: The benefits of chiropractic are backed by empirical data and independent research (randomized controlled trials) that demonstrate both its effectiveness and its safety.

3. Fiction: Chiropractors only treat back and neck pain. Fact: This misconception is a direct result of the success of chiropractic in treating neck and back problems. Chiropractic care actually focuses on the neuromuskuloskeletal (nerves, muscles, and bone) system as a whole. Chiropractic wellness care takes preventative measures to ensure that various health problems do not occur in the future.

4. Fiction: Chiropractic adjustments can cause serious side effects, including strokes. Fact: Chiropractic is widely recognized as a safe form of health care available. While no form of health care, including conventional medical care, is completely without risk, the likelihood of having a stroke from chiropractic care is infinitesimally low. In short, the risk of serious injury following chiropractic treatment is certainly much lower than the risk from invasive medical procedures or surgery

5. Fiction: Chiropractors crack your bones. Fact: Chiropractic techniques sometimes involve adjustments of the spine or extremity joints (where two bones connect). These adjustments affect connective tissue that holds the joint together, not the bones. The ’pop’ sound sometimes heard during an adjustment is created by the opening of the joint space. Adjustment is just one of many different chiropractic techniques.

Many other fallacies and misconceptions about chiropractic exist, but these will gradually disappear as more and more people experience the benefits of this form of healthcare and as other doctors (and insurance companies) continue the trend toward endorsing and corroborating chiropractic care.

Regardless of how young or old a person is, vertebrae can become misaligned.  When this happens, it can produce pressure or irritation to nerves that may cause them to malfunction (known as a “subluxation”). Interference in the nervous system caused by a misaligned or malfunctioning spine may result in tissues and organs not functioning properly – at any age. 

Children undergo a number of physical stresses, starting with possible birth trauma (difficult labors, forceps and vacuum extraction births, C-sections etc), to early infancy falls, tumbles and accidents, to sports juries in older children.

Parents should realize that symptoms such as pain or malfunction following spinal trauma might not appear for years. Chiropractic medicine, based on the principle that good health relies, in part, upon a normally functioning nervous system, focuses on causes rather than symptoms. That’s why it’s important to have your child’s spine checked if he or she experiences some kind of physical trauma. A chiropractor will detect any “subluxation” and correct it, relieving nerve interference and returning the spine and nervous system to a healthy state.

Studies show that many children who suffer from colic, ear infections and asthma have spinal “subluxations” impairing their nervous system function. Recent research has shown that chiropractic care can help treat many such children’s ailments:

* Colic: Several studies involving infants diagnosed with colic by pediatricians show that infants who receive chiropractic care cease to suffer from colic symptoms faster than infants were taking dimethicone. In most of these studies, follow up surveys performed a month later revealed that the infants who had received chiropractic care had not suffered a reoccurrence of colic. Chiropractors attribute this improvement to a removal of a subluxation that was interfering in the infants’ nervous system.

* Ear infections: Children with middle ear infections respond to treatment by chiropractors, even when they suffer from chronic infections previously treated with several courses antibiotics. Chiropractors try to determine whether the reason for their body’s inability to combat the infection is an irritation of small nerves in the spine that causes an abnormal tension in the small muscles of the neck. This can put pressure on the lymphatic drainage ducts. The inadequate drainage from inside the ear prevents the child’s body from naturally correcting the problem. The chiropractor will also look for spinal vertebrae that are slightly out of alignment or are not moving within their normal range. Chiropractic treatment of earache involves a detailed evaluation, commonly followed by a number of spinal adjustments and manipulation of neck muscles to help restore normal lymph drainage.

The condition of your children’s central nervous system and spine is important to their overall health. When you check your child’s hearts, lungs, eyes and teeth, remember to also check his / her spine. Since a child’s spine grows almost 50% in length during his first year, regular early chiropractic examinations are critically important to provide essential corrective and preventive care.

Because of its underlying health philosophy, chiropractic is a medical system that is particularly well-suited to sports and the health needs of athletes of all kinds. A natural (drug-free and non-surgical) system, chiropractic is based on the importance of maintaining optimal functioning of all the systems of the body.

Since the focus of Chiropractic care is the structure of the body as a whole (not just the injured part), chiropractors are able to identify (and correct) structural imbalances that may impede optimal athletic performance. The detection and correction of such structural imbalances can help to prevent sports injuries as well.

In the U. S., Chiropractic sports medicine specialists, who are licensed in all fifty states, typically earn a degree, Diplomate of the American Board of Chiropractic Sports Physicians (DABCSP), upon completion of a three year, post-doctoral program. Sports chiropractors have been officially included on the medical staff of world class and Olympic sports teams since the 1970s (the first appointment of a Doctor of Chiropractic to a U.S. Olympic team was in the 1980 Winter Olympic Games held in Montreal).

While conventional medicine focuses on the treatment of the symptoms caused by individual sports injuries (damaged tendons and ligaments, bone fractures, dislocations, sprains etc), the chiropractic approach is to stimulate the body’s natural capacity to heal itself, which will not only overcome symptoms, but enhance performance. The distinctive value of chiropractic sports care can be summarized as follows:

* Almost all sports place abnormal strain on the back and structural systems. This often means that athletes are not able to perform at optimal efficiency because their structural systems are imbalanced. Chiropractic sports specialists are specialized in maintaining proper structural alignment of neuro-musculoskeletal systems to optimize performance.

* Athletes who have been ‘treated’ for old injuries by surgery or medication and no longer experience the symptoms of their injuries are very often mislead. Believing they are cured, they resume the practice of their sport, often putting their health at risk. This is because, even when its symptoms are ‘treated’ or covered up, a sports injury can still affect an athlete’s body – and his / her performance. Since the neuro-musculoskeletal misalignments caused by the injury have not been corrected, they often continue to suffer the same amount of spinal stress Chiropractic care, which focuses on correcting (adjusting) vertebral misalignments or ‘subluxations’, effectively enhances recovery from sports injuries and speeds up the process of recuperation.

* Many sports injuries that do not respond to conventional medical treatment can be helped by chiropractic sports medicine. If the athlete’s spine is properly aligned and in its optimal structural position, nerves are protected against irritation and damage, ensuring optimal communication between the central nervous system and other parts of the body. Minor spinal misalignments can affect nerves and impact legs, shoulders, head, feet etc. Restoring and optimizing the function of the spine and nerves (a unique chiropractic procedure) increases the body’s potential to heal itself.

* Sports training very often leads to spinal misalignments and, because the spine is the center of the body, this can weaken other parts of the athlete’s body, increasing the chances of injury – injuries that chiropractic care can help avoid. This is why the role of chiropractic sports medicine in preventive care is so important.

Coaches, athletes, and medical doctors have recently realized the importance of chiropractic care for athlete health. Doctors of Chiropractic know that the key to health and recovery is NOT simply the removal of injury symptoms, but the enhancement of the body’s structural function to stimulate its self-healing power so that athletes can withstand avoidable injuries, enjoy optimal performance, decrease the risk of injury and recuperate faster when they do get injured.

About one-half of the millions of people who suffer whiplash injuries fully recover; of those that do, many develop chronic long-term symptoms.

Primarily associated with car accidents, whiplash injuries can also result from amusement park rides, sports injuries, work-related accidents, or even from a powerful punch or a vigorous shaking. Of course, the extent and type of injury varies, but anything that causes the head to be suddenly and violently rocked back and forth or sideways, can lead to a whiplash injury.

Whiplash injury symptoms may be one or several of the following:

* Neck pain and stiffness
* Headache
* Shoulder pain
* Low back pain
* Pain or numbness in hands, feet or hips
* Dizziness and / or blurred vision
* Diminished concentration or memory

Neck pain and headaches are usually due to tensed or contracted muscles, a reaction to limit excessive movement and abnormal jolting of spinal joints. Numbness and pain result from pressure exerted on the nerves in cases of more severe disc damage. The violent jerking of the head and neck beyond normal limits often over-stretches or tears muscles and ligaments supporting the spine, and this type of soft tissue damage causes both neck and low back pain.

Whiplash injury symptoms often take weeks, months or even years to develop. This is because adrenaline released during an accident masks the pain for some time and also because it takes anywhere between a day and three days for an inflammation to develop. Disc injury symptoms may not appear until weeks after the event that caused the injury. Unfortunately, this delay in symptom manifestation means that many whiplash victims only seek treatment after complications have developed.

You should always see a doctor immediately after an accident, even you feel no symptoms. Make sure to get appropriate imaging examinations (CAT Scans, Magnetic Imaging or Ultra Sound), which, unlike X-rays, do show soft tissue injuries.

Whiplash injuries often leave people with long-term symptoms that can only be relieved by pain killers or, in some cases, by wearing a brace for temporary relief. In 1999, an article published in the British Journal of Orthopedic Medicine stated that, “The results from this study provide further evidence that chiropractic is an effective treatment for chronic whiplash symptoms.”

Chiropractic care after a whiplash injury can help to restore movement, strengthen and tone muscles, and reduce chronic long-term symptoms. Treatment strategies differ according to the type of whiplash injury, determined by a thorough chiropractic check up. Using chiropractic diagnostic techniques (such as palpation), your chiropractor will examine your entire spine to discover any restricted joints, disc damage, muscle contraction or ligament injury. As part of the diagnostic process, he or she will examine your gait, your posture and your spinal alignment to better understand your body and how your spine is functioning.

If you see your chiropractor immediately after your injury, he or she will first address the problem of reducing inflammation. As the muscle injury heals, treatment will revolve more on mobilizing restricted spinal joints, using gentle spinal manipulation, to restore motion. Other chiropractic procedures that may be used include muscle stimulation / relaxation and McKenzie exercises. You should also receive personalized lifestyle advice to help you manage your day-to-day activities without putting undue stress on your body and irritating your whiplash injury.

If you suffer a whiplash injury, you should immediately see a doctor to determine the extent of the damage. Do not wait until symptoms appear. After you have received appropriate urgent medical care, you will either make a full recovery – or you may be faced with a long period of painful, recurring symptoms.

It is during this healing period that chiropractic care can be most valuable to you. By enhancing your body’s self-healing power, chiropractic rehabilitation will help you to overcome the long-term physical and psychological symptoms of whiplash injuries.

What is osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a disease or condition involving a decrease in bone tissue mass, meaning that the bone becomes progressively more fragile (more brittle or porous). There are no symptoms in the early stages of osteoporosis so people cannot tell that they are beginning to develop what is commonly known as ‘bone loss’ unless they undergo specific tests.

The condition develops painlessly. For the first 35 or so years of our lives, our bodies regularly build bone mass (break down old bone and make more new bone), but the process slows down with age and eventually, our bodies lose more bone than they make.

Osteoporosis is a serious condition because it increases the risk of osteoporotic fractures. People with osteoporosis can break a bone doing simple every day things that would not normally result in fractures. Very often, it’s only after they suffer fractures (typically in the hip or thigh bone, wrist or forearm or the vertebral column, the spine) that patients discover they have osteoporosis.

There are no initial symptoms, but advanced cases of osteoporosis could lead to: acute back pain (often accompanied by shooting pain due to nerve compression), neck pain, loss of height over time, stooped posture or curvature of the spine (kyphosis). Sometimes these symptoms indicate an osteoporosis-related injury (such as a collapsed vertebra).

Is Chiropractic An Option In The Treatment of Osteoporosis?

Persons who know they have osteoporosis are usually hesitant about seeking chiropractic care for their back and neck pain. This cautious attitude arises from the widespread notion that chiropractic care is limited to administering spinal adjustments and the misconceptions about the force administered during spinal adjustments. Knowing that their bones are fragile and fracture prone, osteoporosis patients are wary of forceful spinal manipulations. This concern is legitimate. It is extremely important for chiropractors to be aware of the fact that a patient has osteoporosis so that they can determine the best care plan and whether to use or avoid spinal manipulation treatment.

While you should definitely notify your chiropractor of your condition if you know you have osteoporosis, it is the chiropractor’s responsibility to evaluate a patient’s medical history and symptoms prior to beginning treatment. Particularly for elderly persons complaining of back pain, chiropractors should order x-rays, bone scans, and / or mineral density tests (MDT) to ascertain whether the patient has osteoporosis, bone disease, or a compression fracture.

Chiropractic is concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention musculoskeletal disorders, but it is above all a holistic approach to health and well-being. While there is no cure for osteoporosis, your Doctor of Chiropractic can definitely develop a safe and personalized healthcare plan to help improve the quality and strength of your bones:

* For osteoporosis patients who have not experienced fractures, chiropractors can take steps to prevent the condition from worsening, prescribing exercise (specific programs that avoid sudden or excessive strain or stress to the bones), diet plans and vitamin supplements to bolster bone density. Besides helping to reduce or alleviate pain associated with osteoporosis, regular chiropractic care also helps to protect patients from falls (and osteoporotic fractures) by optimizing joint mobility, range of motion, balance and muscle tone.

* For patients with osteoporosis-related injuries, chiropractic care uses several techniques, including orthopedic support, certain forms of physical therapy, ice therapy, electro-muscle stimulation etc that will strengthen the muscles and ligaments supporting the spine.

You may think that chiropractic care is only about manipulating joints and performing spinal adjustments, but it actually includes many other procedures. Chiropractors are familiar with the risk factors of osteoporosis and use various forms of modified techniques to meet the needs of osteoporosis patients. If your Doctor of Chiropractic determines that your condition would benefit from an adjustment, he will do so using a consistent low-force, high-speed chiropractic adjustment that is safe and appropriate.

To benefit fully from chiropractic care, it is important that you trust both your chiropractor and the prescribed treatment plan. If you feel you need reassurance, there is no reason why you should not consult your primary healthcare provider.