Q What is Chiropractic?

A  Chiropractic is a system of health care that releases a serious stress from your body:  the vertebral subluxation complex (VSC or subluxation).  A subluxation is an often painless, tiny, spinal distortion that can affect your nerves, muscles, internal organs, discs, bones, brain function, posture, and overall health.

Q Can Chiropractic Help You?

A  Each year millions of people are enjoying the most popular natural, drug-free health care system in the world-chiropractic!  Chiropractic helps people function closer to their physical and emotional best, recover from sickness, disease and disability faster and minimize the use of drugs and surgery in their lives!  Many who choose a chiropractic lifestyle report less stress, more vitality and more enjoyment in life! ^1-7

Q How was Chiropractic Discovered?

A  Modern chiropractic was discovered in Davenport, Iowa in 1895 when Dr. D.D. Palmer performed the first chiropractic "spinal adjustment" on his deaf janitor, Harvey Lillard.  Lillard's hearing returned and Palmer thought he had discovered a cure for deafness.  But as patients with digestive troubles, sciatica, menstrual troubles, migraine headaches, epilepsy, heart problems, back pain, and many other conditions responded to his "hand treatments" (as he first called them), Palmer realized that he had discovered something more far-reaching indeed.⁸

Q Why Choose Chiropractic?

A  People like chiropractors because they approach health care in a unique manner.  Instead of diagnosing and treating disease, your chiropractor's purpose is to enhance your health by analyzing your spine and eliminating your vertebral subluxations.  Without subluxations your body and mind function better, heal better and you feel better.

The medical approach of waiting for symptoms to appear before addressing one's health is limited-by the time symptoms first appear you could have been deteriorating for years.  The chiropractic approach is to get your body working well now!  You could have subluxations in your spine for years, eating away at your health unawares.  Chiropractors can analyze your spine and locate and correct your subluxations before symptoms appear.

Of course, if you presently are ill and suffering, you need your natural healing ability enhanced so you can better fight disease and return yourself to a state of balance and health.  That is a fact no matter what disease or condition you may have.  By correcting your subluxations, chiropractors help activate your natural healing ability to function at its optimum-to awaken your "inner healer".  That's why increasing numbers of people are seeing chiropractors for health problems-and not only for health problems.  Many people are also seeing chiropractors to maintain and enhance their health, for better sports performance, for natural immunity-and a drug-free lifestyle.

Q What does a chiropractor do?

A  Your doctor of chiropractic is specially trained to analyze your body for subluxations.  Using special chiropractic spinal "adjustment" techniques your chiropractor safely, gently and painlessly corrects them, ridding your body of this dangerous condition. 

Q Could you benefit from a chiropractor?

A  Walk into a chiropractor's office and who do you see?  People with all kinds of problems:  colds, flue, allergies, hearing problems, ear infections; spinal or disc problems;  pain;  whiplash;  arthritis;  insomnia;  stress;  vision problems;  headaches;  PMS;  allergies;  bed-wetting; colic;  high blood pressure-the list is very long.  For over a hundred years people have visited their neighborhood doctor for chiropractic for nearly every health condition.^9-14

Q Why should I go to a chiropractor?

A  Chiropractic is now the largest non-medical healing art in the world, attracting everyone:  office workers, movie stars, scientists, laborers, business men, medical doctors, homemakers, infants, elderly, professional athletes and "weekend warriors".  All come seeking the unique services that only a doctor of chiropractic can provide.  As you read these words there are millions more sick and suffering people, many living on drugs, perhaps facing surgery, who don't know that help may be (literally) around the corner.

Q Who should go to a chiropractor?

A  It often depends on who you ask.  For example, if you asked a person who was relived of migraines she'd say, "Anyone with migraines should see a doctor of chiropractic."   A child who no longer wets his bed may say, "Chiropractic is for bed-wetting."  "Anyone with menstrual problems should go," says a woman who suffered from menstrual cramps.  Someone saved from back or disc surgery would say chiropractic is for people with spine, back or neck problems.  But those are limited views because there are case histories of people recovering from nearly every known  disease and condition under chiropractic care: heart trouble, hyperactivity, ear infections, fatigue, allergy, digestive problems, colds, flu and hundreds of other conditions.

Q How were subluxations discovered?

A  Dr. Daniel David Palmer, a successful magnetic healer, examined a deaf man's spine and found a vertebra slightly out of its normal position.  Palmer adjusted the vertebra back into place and his patient's hearing returned.  Dr. Palmer examined other patients' spins.  As he later wrote:  Shortly after this relief from deafness, I had a case of heart trouble which was not improving.  I examined the spine and found a displaced vertebra pressing against the nerves which innervate the heart.  I adjusted the vertebra and gave immediate relief.  Then I began to reason if two diseases so dissimilar as deafness and heart trouble, came from impingement, a pressure on nerves, were not other diseases due to a similar cause?¹⁵

Such was the discovery of chiropractic.  In may ways it was a re-discovery of the ancient art of spinal care found in nearly every culture and practiced since time immemorial.

Q What is a subluxation?

A  Palmer's "displaced vertebrae...[causing] a pressure on nerves" is now called the vertebral subluxation complex (VSC or subluxation).¹⁶  The VSC is technically an abstraction, like the electron, gravity, or the gene.  It is a term used to describe the phenomenon by which chiropractors get such good results.  Most definitions of the VSC say it consists of a spinal bone out of place interfering with brain/nerve function.¹⁷  The VSC causes body malfunction (dis-ease) which can lead to lowered resistance to disease, pain, imbalance and fatigue and can pave the way for ill health.  It is sometimes called the "silent killer" because it can slowly eat away at your health and vitality for years without your having the slightest awareness of it.

Vertebral Subluxation Effects

For ease of understanding and communication, subluxation damage is defined by the following 5 components:¹⁸

1.       Joint Damage (kinesiopathology)

Your spine is misaligned.  It's often painless but you may not be able to turn your head, hips or other body parts around equally well or as far as possible (reduced range of motion).  You may have "noisy joints".¹⁹

2.       Nerve Damage (neuropathology)

Your nerves and related structures are impinged, compressed or otherwise irritated.  Chemicals and impulses that flow over the nerves may be blocked.  You may feel nothing or there may be pain and other symptoms.²⁰

3.       Muscle damage (myopathology)

Your muscles are tight, in spasm, weak, overly sensitive and/or sore.  You posture is unbalanced, resulting in fatigue and increased joint wear and tear.²¹

4.       Tissue damage (histopathology)

You have tender "trigger points" or painful spots.  Ligaments, cartilage, discs, tendons and internal organs may be affected resulting on osteoarthritis or spinal degeneration.²²

5.       Overall body malfunction (pathophysiology)

Chronic subluxation stress causes your muscles, joints, ligaments and organs to show signs of wear and tear, premature aging, fatigue, less resistance to disease and lack of physical and mental vitality.  Internal organ disease and spinal degeneration and disc herniation may occur after years of VSC damage.^23-25

Q What causes Subluxations?

A  Subluxations are cause by accidents, falls, sports injuries, both stress and other trauma by bad posture and even emotional stress.  Infants and children need to have their spines checked by a doctor of chiropractic as neurological and other health problems have been traced to spinal damage at birth or in infancy.

Correcting Subluxations:  Subluxations are so common that they can be considered an epidemic-nearly everyone has them.  It is sometimes said that if you suffer from neck and back pain you're lucky-you are aware of a spinal problem and will (hopefully) go to a doctor of chiropractic for a spinal checkup.  The chiropractor will not only check the areas in pain, but will throw in "bonus" and check your entire spinal column for subluxations, even the areas that don't hurt.

Q Why should I return if I'm feeling fine?

A  Of course you can wait until you're miserable again, but should you?  You may be making a big mistake if you wait until you have symptoms to do something about your health.  Lack of pain is a poor way of determining how healthy you are.  In fact, it can be dangerous.

Death Warmed Over

We've all seen people looking like death warmed over who "feel fine".  They are walking targets , waiting for disease to strike before the decide to do anything about their health.  They "feel fine" but have no energy; they "feel fine" but sleep poorly;  they "feel fine" but are tired, have aches and pains, headaches or backaches.  Too many people who "feel fine" one day have a sudden heart attack, stroke, debilitating pain or are diagnosed with a serious disease such as cancer the next day.  It cannot be emphasized enough that "feeling fine" is no indicator of your health status.

Q Why do I need so many adjustments?

A  Most people first visit their chiropractor after they've had years of longstanding spinal subluxations.  By that time scar tissue (or fibrosis) has built up around the spinal discs, nerves and joints.²⁶

Longstanding subluxations also cause postural changes, tender muscle areas,²⁷ trigger or tender spots.²⁸  You may "feel fine" but when someone touches a "hot spot" you jump!  This scar tissue takes a long time to heal and it may take months or years of spinal adjustments before your spine is strong again.  The earlier you begin chiropractic care the better;  the longer you wait, the more scar tissue builds up²⁹ and the longer it will take to resolve.

Q Why periodic care?

A  So although symptoms may disappear after a few spinal adjustments, the spinal degeneration cause by years of uncorrected vertebral subluxations usually remains.  Sadly, it takes a long time for spinal degeneration to heal and your spine will not be as strong as it should be while degeneration is still there.  That's the reason you might need to return to your chiropractor's office in the future when stress builds up causing your spine to "go out."  Your symptoms may take a little longer to go away the next time ("I don't understand it doctor, the last time I felt better after a couple of visits...")because there may be more degeneration.

Periodic Subluxation Correction