Patient information

While chiropractic is different, it is not something that you have to believe in- Instead, chiropractic results are produced by adhering to scientifically confirmed facts:

The nervous system controls every cell of your body. Nerve impulses flow from the brain, down the spinal cord, and to every organ and tissue. Impulses sent back to the brain confirm that the body is working as it should.

The moving bones of the spine can interfere with this exchange by irritating adjacent nerves. Ill health can result from distorted or compromised nervous system control of the body. Chiropractic care helps restore the integrity of the nervous system by reducing interferences caused by the spine.

How long you decide to benefit from chiropractic care is always up to you.  Since many spinal problems get started from traumatic births, accidents, or other long-standing problems, permanent correction can be difficult. Years of muscle damage, scar tissue, and ligament instability can set the stage for a relapse. Some patients find a program of wellness care (like regularly brushing your teeth) to be helpful.

The extent to which you choose to benefit from your chiropractic care is ultimately up to you.  Every one of us is solely responsible for the quality of our health and well-being.  However, we do strongly urge all practice members to consider regular wellness checkups. Regular exercise and healthy eating habits are a lifestyle decision and so is lifetime, wellness chiropractic care.

The placebo effect depends on the power of suggestion. Yet chiropractic results have been enjoyed by newborns and infants for whom the power of suggestion isn’t possible!

It has been our experience that those who stop care when they are “feeling fine” return with the same health challenge(s) which brought them to our office in the first place…only it’s usually gotten worse.  On the other hand, those practice members who commit to long-term, wellness chiropractic care, find their health challenge(s) rarely return and they enjoy a higher quality of life and health.

Chiropractic care can actually help prevent joints from wearing out.  A joint that is misaligned will wear out fast than joints are properly aligned. Bones don’t ‘rub’ on each other. Instead, each joint is enclosed in a ‘capsule’ of fluid that should offer a lifetime of friction-free movement. When there is a loss of proper motion or position of spinal bones, this movement can be restricted. Spinal joints that are above or below the injured joint will attempt to make up the difference by moving too much.

Obviously, areas of too much movement are left to stabilize during the healing process. Instead, chiropractic spinal adjustments are directed only to those areas that are ‘stuck’ and not moving enough.

Critics mislead by suggesting that adjustments to the neck can subject patients to unnatural stress or compromise blood supply to the brain. But if the spine were that fragile, people would fear bending over to tie their show laces or looking up to enjoy an evening sunset!

Thousands will suffer and some will even die this year from anesthesia or needless back surgeries. Thousands more will perish from common aspirin or destroy their kidneys from so-called ‘safe’ pain medicines. Adverse reactions to prescription medication are the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.

During pregnancy, the body goes through a series of changes. Rapid development, weight gain, hormonal changes and shifting of weight bearing. These factors, combined with the laxity of corrective tissues, may cause a pregnant woman to experience low back or leg discomfort.

Chiropractic care can be quite helpful. Besides helping to relieve the discomfort many expectant mothers experience, chiropractic care helps normalize nervous system function. This is an important component of overall good health. The benefits of chiropractic care may also be noticed during delivery. Many chiropractic patients report that their deliveries were faster and more comfortable than deliveries previous to chiropractic care!

Chiropractic care can be quite helpful during all stages of pregnancy. Our office will take special precautions with you during your pregnancy. Modifications to the table or adjusting techniques are made during each stage of pregnancy to keep the weight off your stomach and keep you comfortable. Women who give up smoking, eat healthy foods, and avoid alcohol during their pregnancies are to be congratulated. Those receiving prenatal chiropractic checkups, demonstrate even more concern for their still developing babies. Pamper yourself and your baby through regular chiropractic checkups.

No. A chiropractic adjustment feels great. I am confident that once you begin receiving your adjustments, you will begin to look forward to them. They will become one of the highlights of your week. When you allow the vertebrae in your spine to return to their proper position, you will notice much less stress and tension.

That sound is not your spine “cracking” or “popping” like most people think. That sound is created by gas (in this case, nitrogen) rushing in to fill the partial vacuum created when the joints are slightly separated. Another example of this phenomenon would be the “pop” sound you hear when the cork is taken out of a champagne bottle. Not all chiropractic adjusting techniques produce this noise.

Some adjustments produce noise while others do not.  Both types are effective for correcting spinal misalignments.

This question is frequently asked because people associate the “cracking” or “popping” of one’s back or neck with a chiropractic adjustment. The two are not the same thing.

If a person has a desire to “crack” his/her neck or back, it is often because one area of their spine is fixated or jammed causing another area to move too much and “pop," sometimes by itself. It’s the fixated or jammed area that needs to be properly adjusted by a chiropractor so that the other parts of the spine will not move to much and cause more instability.

When you “crack” your back you may be relieving the tension for a little while. Do you notice how it keeps coming back? That is because you are not giving yourself a specific chiropractic adjustment. The cause of the spinal tension, the fixated or jammed (subluxated) vertebrae, has not been corrected. Any person who makes a habit out of “cracking” or “popping” their back or neck needs to go to a doctor of chiropractic to have their spine checked. Attempting to self adjust is not healthy.

As with any healing process everyone responds differently. Children usually respond quickly while adults take longer because previous degeneration.  How many times have you said “Maybe it will just go away”? Some patients find they start to feel better with one adjustment. Others discover progress may take a few visits. Your lifestyle, nutrition, exercise and regular chiropractic care all improve your healing time.

This is always the big question, and many people who “shop around” often ask it. However, it is very hard to answer over the phone or the internet. (You wouldn’t call a body shop for an estimate on your car without letting them see it first, would you?) No respectable doctor could quote you an exact price without first examining you to see what you needed. If they did, they probably give everyone the exact same treatment, which would not be in your best interests. You want a doctor who listens to you and customizes care to your condition.

No – chiropractors do not include medication in their care.  Chiropractors work with your spine and nervous to improve the way the body works.  In some cases the use of medication can interfere with the body’s healing mechanisms, produce side effects, create dependence and lead to drug-caused disease or complications.  Many times (such as with pain medications) medications can only mask or cover up the pain. This also makes it difficult to discover the actual cause of the problem instead of correcting the problem itself.

The birth process is often the cause of your child’s first subluxation. A very soft and undeveloped spine of an infant can suffer trauma during delivery. It is estimated that as much as 80 pounds of pulling pressure can be exerted to remove a baby from the birth canal. Then, as children grow up, it has been measured that an average child falls down up to 18 times per day. The repeated falls as children learn to walk often cause your child to become subluxated. However, children often do not show any signs or symptoms of being subluxated until later on in life. Chiropractic care allows your child to better adapt to stress. A child with a healthy nervous system also minimizes the risk of future health problems.

The formal training to become a chiropractor is very similar to other medical professionals. Chiropractors must have an undergraduate degree in the basic sciences and an additional four years of post-graduate training at a recognized chiropractic college.  Since chiropractors do not prescribe drugs or perform surgery the curriculum for chiropractic students has special emphasis on anatomy, physiology, x-ray, clinical nutrition, and spinal adjusting techniques.   After completing the course of study, and finishing an internship with chiropractor in the field the student graduates with a doctoral degree in chiropractic.

Following graduation all the new chiropractors must pass national board examinations as well as state board examinations for licensing purposes.

Each year, like other types of doctors, chiropractors must complete additional post-graduate continuing education classes for re-licensing.

These, combined with seminars and the extensive reading of professional journals keeps chiropractors in touch with the latest developments in their field.

Chiropractors have Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degrees granted from chiropractic colleges.  Chiropractic education and medical education are similar in some respects and different in others because chiropractors do not prescribe medication and medical doctors do not correct adjust the spine.

A gentle, specific “impulse” delivered by hand or instrument. The purpose of the adjustment is to correct your spinal subluxation(s) thus removing the nerve interference in your spine.

Integrative medicine is a healing-oriented approach that takes into account the whole person (body, mind, and spirit), including all aspects of the person's lifestyle and needs. It  makes use of all appropriate therapies, both conventional and alternative, and emphasizes the therapeutic relationship between the medical practitioner and the patient.