What is Chiropractic? Chiropractic is a health care profession that focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, and the effects of these disorders on general health. Chiropractors are specialists in assessing and restoring joint function. Chiropractic care is used most often to treat neuro-musculo-skeletal complaints, including but not limited to back pain, neck pain, arms or legs pain, and headaches. The chiropractic profession has been established for over 100 years and is practised in more than 100 countries worldwide. Doctors of Chiropractic – often referred to as chiropractors or chiropractic physicians – practice a drug-free, hands-on approach to health care that includes patient examination, diagnosis and treatment. Chiropractors have broad diagnostic skills and are also trained to recommend therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises, as well as to provide nutritional, dietary and lifestyle counselling. The most common therapeutic procedure performed by doctors of chiropractic is known as “spinal manipulation”, also called “chiropractic adjustment.” The purpose of manipulation is to restore joint mobility by manually applying a controlled force into joints that have become hypomobile – or restricted in their movement – as a result of a tissue injury. Tissue injury can be caused by a single traumatic event, such as improper lifting of a heavy object, or through repetitive stresses, such as sitting in an awkward position with poor spinal posture for an extended period of time. In either case, injured tissues undergo physical and chemical changes that can cause inflammation, pain, and diminished function for the sufferer. Manipulation, or adjustment of the affected joint and tissues, restores mobility, thereby alleviating pain and muscle tightness, and allowing tissues to heal. In many cases, such as lower back pain, chiropractic care may be the primary method of treatment. When other medical conditions exist, chiropractic care may complement or support medical treatment by relieving the musculoskeletal aspects associated with the condition. Doctors of chiropractic may assess patients through clinical examination, laboratory testing, diagnostic imaging and other diagnostic interventions to determine when chiropractic treatment is appropriate or when it is not appropriate. Chiropractors will readily refer patients to the appropriate health care provider when chiropractic care is not suitable for the patient’s condition, or the condition warrants co-management in conjunction with other members of the health care team. What do we treat? At City Chiropractic we treat a range of conditions that affect the head, neck, back, shoulders, arms, and legs. We feel it is important to look for the root cause of the problem as opposed to masking the symptoms e.g. pain, pins and needles, and numbness are often felt in a different area to where the problem is. There are a lot of reasons why problems occur. Here is a list of the major causes:
- Macro trauma - a major incident such as a road traffic accident causing whiplash associated disorders.
- Micro trauma - multiple minor incidents that cumulate over an extended period such as poor postures when using the computer at work causing a painful neck.
- Poor posture - posture affects and moderates every physiologic function from breathing to hormonal production. Spinal pain, headache, mood, blood pressure, pulse and lung capacity are among the functions most easily influenced by posture. We treat these problems using chiropractic techniques as well as others that are derived from physiotherapy and sports massage. This gives us a diverse range of techniques to treat conditions that affect the muscles, ligaments, joints, and/or nerves.
