What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic is a branch of healing arts which focuses on correcting
the cause
of symptoms and dysfunction, rather than masking the symptoms.
Chiropractic stresses the idea that
the cause of many disease processes begins with the body's inability
to adapt to its environment. This form of healing looks to address
these diseases not by the use of drugs and chemicals, but by locating
and adjusting a musculoskeletal area of the body which is functioning
improperly.
The conditions which doctors of chiropractic address are as varied
and as vast as
the nervous system itself. Chiropractors use a standard procedure
of examination
to locate subluxations. Doctors of chiropractic use the same time-honored
methods
of consultation, case history, physical examination, and x-ray examination
as any other doctor. In addition, they provide a careful chiropractic
structural examination, paying particular attention to the spine.
The examination of the spine to evaluate
structure and function is what makes chiropractic different from
other health care professions. Your spinal column is a
series of movable bones which begin at the base of your skull and
end in the center
of your hips. Thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves extend down the
spine from the brain and exit through a series of openings. The
nerves leave the spine and form a complicated network which influences
every living tissue in your body.Accidents,
falls, stress, tension, overexertion, and countless other factors
can result in subluxation.
A subluxation is a displacement or
derangement of the spinal column,
causing irritation to spinal nerve roots as well as the surrounding
musculature.
These irritations are often what cause malfunctions in the human
body.
Chiropractic teaches that reducing or eliminating this irritation
to spinal nerves
can cause your body to operate more efficiently and more comfortably.
Chiropractic also places an emphasis
on nutritional and exercise programs,
wellness and lifestyle modifications for promoting physical and
mental health.
At Build and Balance Chiropractic Center we believe the decisions
and actions
we make every day have a huge impact on our level of health and
well-being.
Choosing to exercise rather than watch television, eating an apple
instead of
a candy bar, working to reduce areas of stress in our lives, choosing
to have
a chiropractic adjustment rather than take an aspirin to reduce
symptoms.
All of these decisions have a large impact on the quality of life
we lead.
We feel it is our job to encourage patients to make decisions that
will lead
to improved health and well being.
While chiropractors make no use of
drugs or surgery, doctors of chiropractic
do refer patients for medical care when those interventions are
indicated.
In fact, chiropractors, medical doctors, physical therapists and
other health
care professionals now work as partners in occupational health,
sports medicine, and a wide variety of other rehabilitation practices.