It’s All Connected: Chiropractic Edition
Welcome: Welcome everyone! We are so excited to see that so many of you want to improve your health! We have a lot to review today, so let us dive right in. Our primary goal for today is to bridge the gap between traditional healthcare and chiropractic care. We will begin by briefly reviewing the history of chiropractic care.
Did You Know? Spinal manipulative therapy or chiropractic adjustment has a long history. Around 400 B.C., Hippocrates, the father of Greek medicine, used manual treatments to treat spinal conditions. Buddhist temples dating back over 2000 years contain depictions of lumbar spine manipulation. Lastly, “bone-setters” were tradesmen and women who learned the craft of spinal manipulation, beginning in the 16th century in Europe. Today’s chiropractic practices, however, are attributed to Daniel David Palmer who adjusted the spine of a deaf janitor and claimed to restore his hearing in 1895.
Do I Need A Chiropractor? This is one of the most asked questions we get, and the answer depends on your state of health. 85% of adults will experience some form of back pain in their lifetime, and this is the most common reason people have for visiting a chiropractor. Sports injuries are another common reason people seek care. The overuse of specific functions of the body can cause things like strains and sprains, tendinitis, and stress fractures. Whiplash associated with auto accidents is another common reason patient’s seek chiropractic care. While these conditions can certainly be helped with spinal adjustments, there is a long list of requirements for which correcting spinal misalignments can improve. More on these soon.
Preventative Care: While many patients wait until pain exists before seeking care, establishing the current health of your spine is a vital step for preventative care. It is common for people to sustain an injury or misalignment during childhood and not experience symptoms until years later. Therefore, we urge all patients to come in for a postural and spinal alignment assessment before the pain begins. Even just years of poor posture can be to blame; someone does not have to sustain an injury for misalignment to occur.
Why Chiropractic Care Works: There are many techniques utilized by chiropractors; however, the goal of treatment remains the same, to perform adjustments to the spine or other parts of the body to correct alignment problems, alleviate pain, improve function, and support the body's natural ability to heal itself. The nervous system is closely linked to spinal function. When there’s a misalignment, the nerve signals have trouble transmitting. As an analogy, imagine a garden hose. Water flows freely when the hose is free from kinks or blockages. However, when there is a kink, the water flow becomes disrupted. The same is true when the spine is misaligned. Chiropractic care is a holistic, drug-free, and non-invasive treatment approach that has been shown to help treat dozens of different conditions. Once an adjustment is made, the body can then heal itself naturally.
What To Expect: During your initial visit, chiropractors typically take a health history and perform a physical examination, with an emphasis on the spine. X-rays may also be performed to give a clear picture of alignment. Once a condition is identified, adjustments can be made to different parts of the body to correct misalignment. Several appointments may be needed to repair a misalignment fully. Many other techniques may be used depending on your health needs, including: -heat and ice -electrical stimulation -relaxation techniques -rehabilitative and general exercise -counseling about diet, weight loss, and other lifestyle factors -dietary supplements You and your chiropractor will determine together what the best course of action is for your concerns.
How’s Your Posture? In today’s society, we spend a lot of time sitting. All this time at desks, in our cars, and on sofas significantly impacts proper alignment and posture. This unnatural habit of sitting down all day does a lot of damage to our spine and posture. Whether you are ‘hunched’ over a computer for hours at a time or sitting unsupported on the sofa watching TV, this is bad news for your spine. Additionally, the increasing use of smart devices is leading to a condition called “forward head posture.” Studies reveal that every inch your head is misaligned from looking down, your neck bears an additional 10 pounds of stress. For many, this is an extra 20–30 pounds of pressure on the neck. Posture is a vital element of not just spinal health, but overall health. When something is misaligned, it can negatively impact other areas of the body and apply pressure on internal organs. Back pain aside, let us move on to the other ailments that correcting your posture can significantly improve.
Atlas Adjustment: A manipulation known as the Atlas Adjustment has been the subject of numerous studies concerning lowering blood pressure. Studies have found that misaligned Atlas vertebra, which is located high in the neck, is often exhibited in patients diagnosed with high blood pressure. A Chicago-area study of 50 individuals found that following just one Atlas Adjustment blood pressure decreased significantly. In fact, the decrease was observed to be equal to taking two blood-pressure drugs at once. Chiropractic care can be useful in helping people who want to avoid the side effects of drug therapy for treating high blood pressure.
Chronic Sinusitis: It may surprise you to hear a chiropractic adjustment can help with sinusitis symptoms. Treatments will target the bones and mucous membranes that line the sinus cavities located in the cheekbones, in the forehead, between the eyes, and behind the nasal cavity. There are a number of techniques a chiropractor can implement when alleviating sinus discomfort. Techniques such as trigger point therapy or light-force cranial manipulation are common and will be discussed with you during your consultation.
Hearing Loss, Tinnitus, & Vertigo: Conditions related to inner ear imbalances such as tinnitus, and vertigo, can also be improved with the previously mentioned Atlas Adjustment. Your head sits on a vertebra called the atlas, which allows your head to perform forward and backward movements, like when nodding ‘yes.’ The next vertebra is called the axis, and allows your head to rotate left and right as you shake your head ‘no.’ These vertebrae are the two most freely moveable vertebrae; and as a result, are the ones most common and easiest to be misaligned. Misalignment of these vertebrae can put pressure on the base of your brainstem leading to an accumulation of fluid in the inner ear, affecting hearing loss, tinnitus, and vertigo.
Premenstrual Discomfort: Symptoms associated with PMS include bloating, irritability, headaches, migraines, breast tenderness, fatigue, stress, cramping, back pain, nausea, and weight gain. Research from the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics concludes that a relatively high incidence of spinal dysfunction exists in PMS sufferers compared with a comparable group of Non-PMS Sufferers. The spine communicates with the nerves, which corresponds with every other part of the body, including your reproductive organs and hormones. If there is a subluxation in the spine, it could be interfering with the communication in your nerves or hormones, making PMS symptoms more severe than they need to be.
Pregnancy: Pregnancy is a particularly delicate time where drug intervention should be limited. For this reason, drug-free alternatives such as chiropractic care are ideal for lessening pain and promoting health throughout the body. Potential benefits of chiropractic care during pregnancy include: -Maintaining a healthier pregnancy -Controlling symptoms of nausea -Reducing the time of labor and delivery -Relieving back, neck or joint pain -Preventing a potential cesarean delivery.
Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorder: According to the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association, many people have reported that chiropractic care has helped them or their children manage the symptoms of ADHD more effectively. ADHD is a brain-based condition. Neural signals are passed both from the brain to the rest of our body as well as from the body to the brain via the spinal cord. Therefore, a misalignment along the spine can negatively impact the nerves and nerve function. Restoring alignment and removing pressure from the nervous system, enables signaling systems to function better.
Anxiety, Depression, & Stress: You may be thinking, ‘aren’t anxiety, depression, and stress considered mental conditions?’ They are, but they’re also related to the nervous system. Alleviating physical pain caused by misalignments can help improve the overall quality of life, which ultimately helps improve mental health. Chiropractic manipulation may help with increasing brain activity and also help with the balance of the nervous system. Chiropractic care works best when there is consistent outside care being made to the body, which includes a healthier lifestyle.
Asthma: Several studies have explored the connection between spinal manipulative therapy and improvement of asthma symptoms. Additional case studies have also shown a link between chiropractic adjustments and a decrease in asthmatic symptoms. Chiropractic treatment involves the realignment of the spine and therefore the nerves, which play a role in every function the body carries out. Additionally, chiropractic care can benefit asthma sufferers by fixing musculoskeletal alignment problems in the ribcage and spine allowing the thoracic cavity to freely expand as it should.
Digestion: Your digestive system is entirely linked to your nervous system, and your nervous system has complete control over various aspects of your digestive function. If you suffer from chronic heartburn, diarrhea, constipation, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or other digestive problems, chiropractic care can aid in restoring balance to the digestive system. Over the counter medications may provide symptom relief, but they do not treat the underlying cause of your digestive issues, leaving you in a never-ending cycle of trying to manage your problem with no cure.
Managing Diabetes: The possibility of chiropractic care to help in the treatment of diabetes is now widely accepted. When spinal misalignments disrupt nerve signals, the ability to produce enzymes that digest proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, or insulin production, may also be disturbed. The nerve supply in your upper neck and middle back are directly related to the function of your pancreas. A study done by the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research showed that when in when chiropractic care was used as a treatment for adult-onset diabetes along with nutritional and exercise guidance, the patient’s glucose, and blood urine levels normalized and remained stabilized after just one month of treatment. Additionally, recent studies show that type II diabetes may also be linked to central nervous system function.
What Others Are Saying: Here are a few quotes from others who have experienced the benefits of chiropractic care. “Chiropractic makes me feel a few inches taller each time I come out.” -Christie Brinkley “A chiropractor accomplished in three weeks what the army doctors haven’t been able to do in two years.” -George Kennedy “Chiropractic works in harmony with the basic healing forces of the body, whereas the allopathic, western medical establishment doesn't have nearly as holistic a vision.” -John Robbins
Causes Of Misalignment: There are countless reasons a person can become misaligned. Some of the most common causes include: -A vertebra going out of place due to a slip or fall -The entire spine misaligning globally due to poor posture -Joint swelling caused by damage done to the intervertebral joint -An inflammatory response induced by a poor diet, lack of pure water or psychological stress -Osteoporosis or degenerative changes of the spine or intervertebral discs -Trigger points and tight back muscles that pull the vertebrae out of place
Bridging The Gap: Chiropractic care is a great compliment to many other medical care practices. We urge you to speak with your physician about your current conditions and share with them that you are looking for a more natural way to supplement your health care plan. You can ask your doctor for a chiropractic recommendation or refer to your medical insurance for chiropractic coverage information.
A New Way Forward: As chiropractors, our goal is to partner with patients in order to offer the highest level of personalized care. We understand that the landscape of healthcare is changing and that people are looking for more holistic methods that take into account the body as a whole rather than the sum of its parts. We pride ourselves on offering non-invasive, drug-free care.
Reference List: The following resources have been essential in producing this event for you. If you’d like more information on any of the topics discussed refer to the following:
https://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/what-history-chiropractic
https://www.chirocare.com/what-is-a-chiropractor/seek-care/
https://www.arrowheadclinic.com/category/blog/how-does-chiropractic-careactually-work
https://draxe.com/10-researched-benefits-chiropractic-adjustments/
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070315161129.htm
https://guidedoc.com/chiropractic-sinus-adjustment-complete-guide
https://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-health/chiropractic-care-duringpregnancy/
https://chadd.org/adhd-weekly/is-chiropractic-effective-for-adhd/
https://allstar-chiropractic.com/how-chiropractic-care-can-help-people-with-diabetes/
Thank you all for joining us today! We know we covered a lot of information, please feel free to contact us with any questions that come up as you continue to process everything. Whether you’re interested in disease prevention, slowing the progression of a disease, or alleviating current symptoms, we’re here to help!