What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic is a health care discipline that emphasizes the power of the body to heal itself without the use of drugs or surgery.
The practice of chiropractic focuses on the relationship between the spine and the nervous system as well as how this affects the entire body.
What do you call a health practitioner who practices chiropractic?
Licensed chiropractors are entitled, by law and education, to use the title of "Doctor of Chiropractic." Those who practice chiropractic are also called "chiropractic physician" or simply, "Chiropractor."
What does a Doctor of Chiropractic do?
A Doctor of Chiropractic is a health care provider who considers the human an integrated being but gives special attention to spinal mechanics, musculoskeletal, neurological, vascular and nutritional relationships. A Doctor of Chiropractic must be able to carefully diagnose, evaluate and deliver the proper care so that the body regains and maintains health.
It is important to note that chiropractors treat the cause of the illness in order to eliminate it-we do not simply treat the symptoms. If your roof is leaking, do you simply catch the drips in a bucket for years on end, or do you repair the roof to prevent it from leaking? Similarly, if the low back pain and leg pain you've had all week is being caused by misaligned vertebra and an irritated nerve, do you continue to take painkillers indefinitely, or do you realign the vertebra to prevent the pain?
Doctors of Chiropractic use natural health care to treat the cause of the problem. Chiropractors have a term for misalignments: subluxations. A vertebral subluxation is a misalignment of the bones that protect the spinal cord. It's a leak in the roof. Or a kink in the wiring of your nervous system. The severity of the subluxation can vary, and there are a number of potential contributing factors that can be physical, emotional, or chemical. The subluxation can be caused by any number of incidents, from birth trauma to an auto accident to simple repetition or over-use.
