What is Chiropractic? How can it help my family?

By: Elite Spine Chiropractic

People always ask us “what is chiropractic?”. Well this can be kind of a complicated answer. Chiropractic is considered an alternative approach to the traditional medical route we typically think of when we think of healthcare. It is a different approach to handling symptoms rather than just taking a medication or undergoing surgery right away. Chiropractic was founded on the premise that the body can function and heal with everything that is already inside us, and without the need for outside intervention.

To truly understand chiropractic we have to go back in time a little bit to 1895, when it was founded. D.D. Palmer, the founder of chiropractic, was practicing magnetic healing in Davenport, IA. He reported to have discovered chiropractic when he cured his janitor of deafness by “moving a bone” in his spine. The janitor, Harvey Lollards, reported that he could hear just fine until one day when he heard a pop in his spine. He said he immediately lost his hearing after that. D.D. Palmer’s theory was that the bone that was out of place was blocking the nerve that went to Lillard’s inner ear, causing his hearing loss. After Palmer “moved the bone” back into it’s normal position Harvey reported that his hearing was much better and after a few days his hearing was completely restored.

This became known as the first chiropractic adjustment and Harvey Lillard became known as the first chiropractic patient. Since this day, chiropractic has been developed and has evolved into the largest alternative medicine profession in the world. There are over 77,000 licensed chiropractors practicing in the United States alone, with thousands more practicing all over the world. There are about 200 different chiropractic techniques that have been developed since chiropractic was founded, but they all strive to do the same job, remove vertebral subluxation.

What is a Vertebral Subluxation?

A vertebral subluxation is when one or more of the bones of the spine (vertebrae) have shifted out of their normal position and are blocking the spinal nerves that come out between them. The most common question that I get is how does this happen. Well, it can happen a few ways. The first way is through major traumas like car accident, sports injuries, falls, etc. Something that happens to us with sop much force that it knocks one of these bones out of it’s position right away. The second way it can happen is through small traumas that happen to us everyday that over time are just as bad as those major traumas we suffer. This could be things like constantly slouching, sitting all day, always wearing a heavy purse on one shoulder, or sitting on a thick wallet all day long. Overtime these small traumas will do just as much damage as one of these big traumas.

So what happens when we have these vertebral subluxations? Well these subluxations can put pressure on the nerves that control how our body functions. If there is pressure on these nerves the message that is trying to get through to the body from the brain is not able to get through and this causes dysfunction within the body. That dysfunction can show up as many many different symptoms. It can show up as neck pain, headaches, bed wetting, ear infections, low back pain, digestive issues or sciatica just to name a few. So when these subluxations are present our body is not able to function at 100% and when they are not present our body will be able to function as close to 100% as possible.

What is the job of a Chiropractor?

Chiropractors are trained doctors who specialist in finding these subluxations and removing them so they no longer interfere with the nervous system. We do this through chiropractic adjustments. These adjustments are gentle and specific and allow us to put the bone back in its normal position so that it is no longer blocking the nerves that control the function of the body. In our office we use a technique that allows us to get the most specific adjustment without any twisting, cracking, or popping. We utilize tables that have a dropping mechanism to allow us to be so gentle that a lot of patients will tell us they don’t even feel anything.

A lot of times when people think of chiropractic adjustments they think of them being helpful to treat different symptoms like neck pain or low back pain. But that is very far from the whole truth. Once the interference to the nervous system has been removed and the body is able to function and heal itself, it can heal through many symptoms beyond just pain. Patients that come to our office have reported relief from things like ear infections, vision changes, bed wetting, IBS, high blood pressure, migraines, headaches, Trigeminal Neuralgia, TMJ, insomnia, dizziness, and ringing in the ears just to name a few.

What are the benefits of chiropractic care?

Although chiropractic can help with more than just pain, this is the most common reasons that adults visit a chiropractor. Chiropractic has been shown to help with back pain, neck pain, and headaches better than medication and surgery.

Chiropractic patients have also reported a boost in their immune system. So not only can chiropractic help patients function better physically, it can help other systems in the body function better as well. Children that are under chiropractic care have been shown to take less medication and be sick less often than children that are not under chiropractic care.

The mission of our office is to help our community change the way they think about their health. We want to shift the way we approach our health from reactively taking medication or having surgery to proactively allowing our bodies to function better so we are better able to fight disease and stay healthier longer.

For more information, you can visit Elite Spine Chiropractic at their website https://www.elitespinegroup.com, or visit them at their Doral, Kendall and Oakland Park locations.