What is a Chiropractic Neurologist?
I wanted to take a moment and describe the goal of our practice and how the discipline of chiropractic neurology fits into the health care spectrum. Beyond the doctoral degree, a chiropractor can specialize in a variety of health subsets by the completion of a diplomat program and subsequent board certification. My diplomat’s governing body is the International Academy of Chiropractic Neurology (IACN); they oversee the 20-month program and board testing. This additional post-graduate training increases my depth of knowledge of the nervous system and allows for greater diagnostic and treatment specialization. In turn, this broadens the scope of practice to include care to patients with traumatic brain injuries, demyelinating diseases, learning and developmental pathologies, Parkinsonian symptoms, post-stroke patients, and many other conditions. Common diagnostic procedures include ophthalmoscopy, electrodiagnosis, and video-nystagmography; all non-invasive methods of evaluating the central and peripheral nervous system. As a Chiropractic Neurologist, I still treat the chiropractic “big 3” (low back pain, headaches, and neck pain) and perform manual therapy and rehabilitation on all sorts of musculoskeletal injuries; tendinitis, bursitis, fasciitis, etcetera. Don’t forget, Doctors of Chiropractic have physician status in the state in which they hold a license, and therefore function as portal-of-entry care, visit us (chiropractors) as you would any other doctor and appropriate treatment and referrals will take place when needed. With respect to all bodily functions, neurology is king, nothing takes place without its intervention. The diagnosis and treatment of most pathologies should consider the effects on the nervous system itself, and how the perturbation of it may aid in recovery or propagate disease progression. Neurology’s unanimous involvement in health is why I strive to become an expert in this area and build a practice around the most integral body system.
