What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic is a branch of healing arts which focuses on correcting the cause of symptoms and dysfunction, rather than masking the symptoms.
Chiropractic stresses the idea that the cause of many disease processes begins with the body’s inability to adapt to its environment. This form of healing looks to address these diseases, not by the use of drugs and chemicals, but by locating and adjusting a musculoskeletal area of the body which is functioning improperly.
The conditions which doctors of chiropractic address are as varied and as vast as the nervous system itself. Chiropractors use a standard procedure of examination to locate subluxations. Doctors of chiropractic use the same time-honored methods of consultation, case history, physical examination, and x-ray examination as any other doctor. In addition, they provide a careful chiropractic structural examination, paying particular attention to the spine.
The examination of the spine to evaluate structure and function is what makes chiropractic different from other health care professions. Your spinal column is a series of movable bones which begin at the base of your skull and end in the center of your hips. Thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves extend down the spine from the brain and exit through a series of openings. The nerves leave the spine and form a complicated network which influences every living tissue in your body. Accidents, falls, stress, tension, overexertion, and countless other factors can result in subluxation.
A subluxation is a displacement or derangement of the spinal column, causing irritation to spinal nerve roots, as well as the surrounding musculature. These irritations are often what cause malfunctions in the human body. Chiropractic teaches that reducing or eliminating this irritation to spinal nerves can cause your body to operate more efficiently and comfortably.
Chiropractic care places an emphasis on nutritional and exercise programs, wellness and lifestyle modifications for promoting physical and mental health. At Build and Balance Chiropractic Center we believe the decisions and actions we make every day have a huge impact on our level of health and well-being: choosing to exercise rather than watch television; eating an apple instead of a candy bar; working to reduce areas of stress in our lives; choosing to have a chiropractic adjustment rather than take aspirin to reduce symptoms.
All of these decisions have a large impact on our quality of life. We feel it is our job to encourage patients to make decisions that will lead to improved health and well being.
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.
