Top misunderstood chiropractic questions solved

Key questions answered:

  • Is chiropractic safe and regulated?

  • What is a chiropractic adjustment?

  • What is a spinal misalignment (subluxation)?

  • What may cause a misalignment?

  • How do chiropractic adjustments work?

  • How does a chiropractor perform a chiropractic adjustment?

  • Who can benefit from a chiropractic adjustment?

  • Common conditions that can be treated by a Chiropractic adjustment:

  • How does chiropractic work?

Is Chiropractic safe and regulated?

In the UK, Chiropractic is a regulated profession, therefore all chiropractors must be registered with the General Chiropractic Council (GCC). Chiropractors are committed to providing the highest quality of care and professionalism to their patients. Chiropractors are fully qualified to provide chiropractic treatment safely and effectively while following the Code of Practice for Chiropractors. Our Cranbrook Chiropractor Karen completed a ‘Masters of Chiropractic’ degree in 2011, and continues to take part in yearly continued professional development to keep up to date.

What is a chiropractic adjustment?

A chiropractic adjustment is a manual procedure, where a controlled force is applied to a joint, either via the Chiropractors hands or an instrument (such as an Activator).

The goal of an adjustment is to realign the vertebra of the spine to improve spinal mobility, or in the case of other joints to help reset their position for optimal function, both to improve overall physical function while reducing nerve irritation.

What is a spinal misalignment (Subluxation)?

A spinal misalignment is where a spinal vertebra is slightly out of position within the spinal column. This can result in the small gaps between vertebrae becoming compressed. The small gaps play an important role in healthy spinal function. These gaps contain the spinal discs which act as a cushion, preventing your vertebra rubbing together and allowing your vertebra to flex correctly.

The gaps also allow spinal nerve roots to exit from the spinal cord, without compression or irritation, allowing signals to transmit freely from the spinal cord to nerve destination. Any compression or irritation to these exiting nerves can cause neurological symptoms along that pathway. For instance, 31 pairs of nerve roots exit the cord, that’s 62 potential entrapment sites. If we use the 5th lumbar nerve root as an example (L5), this runs from the spinal cord down the leg to the big toe), compression of this nerve could result in tingling, numbness, weakness and or change in sensation to this area. All nerve roots have specific jobs to send information to and from the brain via the spinal cord to specific areas of skin, muscles and organs.

The condition of your spinal disc will also influence your condition. If they have worn and narrowed, they may allow your vertebra to rub together. Both conditions can lead to varying degrees of back pain, inflammation and impaired function.

What may cause a misalignment?

Misalignments are caused by additional stress or pressure in an area such as via:

· Poor posture

· Falls

· Accidents

· Repetitive stress injuries

Chiropractors identify and treat the spinal misalignment.

How do Chiropractic adjustments work?

Chiropractic adjustments are applied by chiropractors, to specific vertebra in the spine. The adjustment is applied with a specific force in a certain direction. This encourages

movement into the spine, and helps realign the spine, relieving pressure on surrounding structures and nerves.

How do chiropractors know where to adjust?

Chiropractors take a history and carry out a physical examination to establish where to adjust. The history is thorough and includes past medical history and family medical history to ensure all potential diagnosis are considered. The physical examination is tailored to the complaint including range of motion testing, muscle testing, reflex review, palpation and special tests. Together all this information helps to determine the most likely diagnosis and treatment plan.

How does a chiropractor perform a chiropractic adjustment?

Chiropractors use their hands or an instrument (such as an activator) to apply a specific force to in a specific direction to encourage movement back into the problematic joint/s.

Forces used vary dependent on the individual’s age, history and complaint. An elderly, pregnant or paediatric patient would receive very different care to an otherwise healthy adult mechanical back pain patient. At KH Chiropractic Cranbrook we choose not to apply the same adjustment style to babies, instead we use cranio-sacral and touch and hold techniques. This paediatric treatment is very light, similar to that used to test ripeness of fruit.

With some elderly and pregnant patients we may choose to use lighter techniques such as Activator (a hand help instrument), fascial release technique, blocking and mobilisation. Treatment choices very from person to person depending on patient needs and preferences.

Who can benefit from a chiropractic adjustment?

Almost anyone with a musculoskeletal complaint of any age can benefit from chiropractic adjustments. We will recommend against chiropractic treatment if we feel the diagnosis is not a condition we treat, or the patients is requesting a technique we feel is not suitable or safe. In the instance we suspect a diagnosis we do not treat, we

will refer you to another healthcare professional, or back to your GP for further investigation.

Common conditions that can be treated with chiropractic adjustments:

Neck pain

Back pain

Lower back pain

Sciatica

Headaches originating from the neck

Dizziness originating from the neck

Migraines

Shoulder girdle pain / dysfunction

Tennis Elbow

Hip Osteoarthritis

Knee Osteoarthritis

Runners knee (aka Patellafemoral pain syndrome – PFPS)

Plantar fasciitis

Other Joint Conditions (hand, wrist, elbow, hip, pelvic, sacroiliac, knee, ankle and foot pain).

How does chiropractic work?

Improving these small misalignments can impact on the spines ability to move well. These spinal misalignments can not only feel painful and stiff but also cause disruptions to nerves and irritation to tendons, ligaments and muscles, often causing a cascade of events or progressing pain. In some cases, adjacent joints start to become affected, and this slowly reduces range of motion. The more dysfunction in an area the more stress, which can lead to a deterioration of the joint quality (also known as osteoarthritis). There are varying stages of arthritis and you can find areas of light arthritis somewhere in most people’s bodies from the age of approximately 20.

However, as time goes on, we put cumulative demand on our bodies and the weaknesses become more apparent. When it comes to Osteoarthritis it can’t be reversed, however by improving function and removing or reducing causing factors we can slow the progression, which can lead to the area never troubling you again. As with anything, activity causing damage need to cease to prevent further deterioration.

We find all too often people are unaware of the benefits of Chiropractic care and frequently wish they’d found us sooner. If you would like to book a Chiropractic appointment click here or call 01392 984959