South Surrey & White Rock Chiropractors
Chiropractic care is more than you think. You probably are well aware of the popularized image that chiropractic care has in the media. It has to do with the dramatic popping of joints and the awkward positioning of the body while this is taking place. You know of the ample pressure applied to the patient to help improve a bad back, but there is more.
Did you know that chiropractic care is for more than just back pain and neck pain? Did you know that chiropractic care can help your headaches? Did you know that chiropractic care may be able to improve conditions that are beyond the scope of musculature issues and may even be able to improve your overall health?
Its history begins at least as far back as recorded history with the healers of those times aware of a connection between the health of the spine and the health of the individual. It continues into the modern world where chiropractors are put through extensive training to be licensed to diagnose and treat problems within the body.
The benefits of chiropractic care may not even now be fully known. The benefits begin with the management of pain and go from there. They include an improvement of the functioning of your immune system as well as a laundry list of other benefits that are directly linked to your overall well being.
The science of chiropractic care is growing as the field receives increased attention. Once relegated to treating primarily back and neck pain, now this field is developing into an instrument to promote overall health. While still effective in treating the often serious conditions of back and neck pain, there may be much more that this alternative method of healing can accomplish.
Chiropractic philosophy does not see problems within the body as isolated events. It sees the body as one integrated, cohesive whole where a symptom in one part of the body suggests that a closer look at the entire system is an advantageous and perhaps even a necessary next step.
The field of chiropractic care continues to gain support both in the form of popularity and in the form of research. As the field of health care continues to look for alternative forms of healing the body and helping the body to heal itself, chiropractic care will continue to be an area of study that will be explored because of its understanding of the integrated nature of the human body and its ability to work with that integrated nature to promote healing.
What is chiropractic care? Is it effective? Who can benefit from chiropractic care? All these questions are at the forefront of a patient’s mind when he or she considers chiropractic treatment as an option. While it may be a less traditional mode of treating conditions than medication and surgery, chiropractic care certainly deserves a second look.
Chiropractic care is often thought of as an alternative route of treating injuries involving the spine and the surrounding musculature. Its applications may not be limited to affecting these particular health issues, but these are the most common applications.
Injuries involving the spine and the surrounding musculature can often be treated with a combination of medications and surgery, but is this the only way to deal with such injuries? Is chiropractic care a viable option for those who wish to pursue a non-invasive treatment modality? The answer to these questions begins with a look at the purpose and practice of chiropractic care.
Chiropractic care is often only a part of an all inclusive treatment regimen. A chiropractor begins by taking a patient’s health history, performing an examination, running the necessary tests, and evaluating a patient. It is from this point that the chiropractor proceeds to make a diagnosis, if appropriate, and to decide the best course of treatment for a patient.
Through an accurate diagnosis and the proper follow up, a chiropractor seeks to ameliorate or even repair conditions that involve the spine. What constitutes a condition involving the spine may not have reached a consensus in the medical community as of yet, but the fact that the spinal column serves a function in various systems throughout the body as a gateway or messenger service, if you will, leads medical professionals and lay people alike to wonder where the health of the spine ends and the health of the body as a complete entity begins.
The spinal manipulation itself is the method through which the chiropractor seeks to realign and return the spine to its natural healthy structure. This is the well known application of pressure to the body to reorganize and realign the spinal structure. This structure, when returned to its proper alignment, allows the body to carry out all of its tasks more effectively.
This process may be accomplished in a single visit although it often takes repeat visits that may last for weeks or even years. The patient is often seen on a weekly basis for treatments in an effort to retrain the spine to assume proper positioning within the body.
The duration and frequency of treatment is decided on a case by case basis and all depends upon the needs of the patient. It also depends upon the reason for the treatment. The treatment may be administered for an acute condition, for a chronic or ongoing condition, or as a preventative measures. Any overview given has to begin with the knowledge that no two patients are completely alike and will not necessarily require the same course of treatment.
The reason why a person may seek out or be seen by a chiropractor is usually for pain management or resolution. It may also be for reasons regarding an individual’s range of motion. People tend to seek out medical care when there are outward signs of a condition within the body, and pain is at the forefront of reasons to seek out chiropractic care. It is also pain issues with the musculature of the body that are primarily associated with chiropractic treatment so it stands to reason that this would be the main reason to find such care.
These injuries may be the result of repetitive stress injuries, a pinched nerve, an acute trauma, or any of a long list of other possible causes. Whatever the reason, the interior problem has developed to the extent where it is now presenting with exterior symptoms that cannot be ignored. At this point, the patient is forced to seek some form of treatment to avoid the unpleasant and possibly painful symptoms.
Basically, the process of treatment begins when a patient has a problem, usually pain, and is seeking relief. That is where the chiropractor comes in and takes care of the patient through various techniques.
WHAT DO CHIROPRACTORS DO IN SURREY, SOUTH SURREY & WHITE ROCK?
First and foremost, chiropractors evaluate an individual. They seek to diagnose any possible problems and, of course, seek out causes for the problem that brought the patient in. This evaluation begins with a thorough health history for the patient and then continues with a complete physical evaluation, possibly including x-rays for a more complete picture of any abnormalities. Then the chiropractor continues based on the information gathered. Assuming that this step has been completed and it has been ascertained that the patient will benefit from chiropractic care then the real work begins.
Chiropractors crack backs. This is not all there is to it, but it is a good starting point. Chiropractors actually perform spinal manipulation on patients. This manipulation seeks to restore the proper alignment of the spine and, with it, the patient’s health. By health, this primarily means an improvement in the condition that caused the patient to seek treatment in the first place although this act of spinal manipulation can be used as a preventative measure and a way to improve overall health.
It is good to mention now that if a chiropractor does not feel that chiropractic treatment is the appropriate method of treatment then the chiropractor will refer the patient to an expert in another, more appropriate field. Chiropractic care can be helpful in many instances but not necessarily all. When chiropractic care is not the method of choice then the patient will be referred to another specialist. Chiropractic care is often used in conjunction with other forms of treatment.
If chiropractic care is the appropriate method of treatment then the chiropractor uses techniques of spinal manipulation. The process of restoring proper spinal alignment may seem rather simple and even a bit simplistic, but the effects are far reaching.
The process of spinal realignment is sought out through adjustments. During an adjustment, a chiropractor applies sufficient pressure to joints to give them back their mobility and to give them a chance to properly heal. This application of pressure is the common method of affecting changes in spinal alignment.
What chiropractors do is try to seek out the root cause of the symptoms that a patient experiencing. They do not content themselves with the simplest method of pain management, such as medication, although other avenues including medication may be used as adjuncts to chiropractic treatment. Instead, they seek the problem at its source so that the weed may be pulled out at the root and balance may be restored. The restoration of balance is the key. Medication may be used to help manage symptoms, but it is viewed as a temporary measure. The end goal is to correct the problem so that the patient may function without medicinal aid. Every case is different so this may not always be possible or advisable.
The chiropractor does not just look for the source of the immediate problems, however. They will also make an appraisal of the spine as a whole to discover any and all problems that could benefit from chiropractic care. Today’s spinal misalignment could lead to tomorrow’s health issues. By catching them early, these problems of tomorrow have a chance to be corrected before they become fully realized.
Ideally, the action of spinal manipulation will serve on an immediate level to restore mobility to joints. When they have reached a state of restricted range of motion, joints may produce discomfort. Restoring the range of motion and releasing the tension that builds up from pain and disuse can provide relief. On a larger level, this process of spinal manipulation will also hopefully allow the damage to heal even as pain is lessened and mobility is restored.
This damage or pain may be the result of a tissue injury. This tissue injury may have been caused by a single event, an acute trauma, or it may be the result of repetitive actions that have stressed the body. This precipitating situation may have included a person remaining in a stationary position with poor posture for extended periods of time or some form of awkward repetitive hand movements that were also paired with poor posture.
The result of such an injury is pain and inflammation along with an often decreased range of motion in the affected joints. The purpose of chiropractic care is returning these joints to their natural state of functioning, restoring range of motion, decreasing pain, and permitting the affected tissues to heal.
