Contents

Introduction

What will a chiropractor do

What does treatment consist of

What next?

The Spine

Introduction

Like a telephone network, your spinal cord delivers messages to and from the brain and the body through the nervous system.  As everyday movement goes on, a loss of proper function (movement) in the vertebrae may interfere with the healthy working of the spine and nervous system.  As well as pain, this interference can slow down healing and impair performance.

Chiropractic aims to restore normal function in the joints, muscles and nerves, and helps with control, co-ordination and strength.

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What will a chiropractor do?

• Take a full medical history and discuss the major problem(s)
• Carry out a visual inspection, including assessing posture.
• Assess the range of movement, the gait, the smoothness and co-ordination of the movement
• Examine the spine, looking for symmetry, quality and quantity of movement, heat, spasm, imbalance and loss of muscle tone
• Explain the findings to you
• Carry out appropriate treatment
• Advise on aftercare; what to expect after care, further treatment, stretches and exercises etc
• Contact the referring clinician, if necessary.

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What does chiropractic treatment consist of?

Treatment consists of a wide range of manipulative techniques appropriate to the specific condition, known by Chiropractors as “adjustments”.  Adjustments are designed to improve the function of the joints, relieving pain and muscle spasm. Chiropractic treatment consists of specific adjustments done by hand to free stiff joints and reduce spinal nerve irritation.  In addition, the chiropractor may use other techniques to aide the success of treatment; these may include dry needling (a form of acupuncture), massage, ultrasound, exercises etc.

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What next?

Why do you get your car serviced even when it’s running well?  To keep it running well and extend it’s working life!   The same applies to the spine.

Chiropractic doesn’t chase symptoms.  Chiropractors specialise in finding and correcting loss of function, which, undetected, may lead to pain and reduced strength.

You don’t have to wait until your car breaks down to get it serviced.  You don’t have to wait for pain to return to get a check-up.

Chiropractic can speed up the recovery from an injury, enhance performance and help to prevent future problems.

Unlike painkillers, chiropractic gets to the root of the problem.

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The Spine

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The spine is a series of bones called vertebrae that fit together to allow movement, provide support for the body and protect the spinal cord. Think of your spine; it allows you to bend, twist, look either side and arch backwards. An animal’s spine functions in a similar way.  The vertebrae join together to form a bony canal called the spinal column.

The spinal cord runs through the spinal column with nerves that emerge at intervals along its length. These nerves divide into various branches and go to the joints, muscles, internal organs and skin. Nerve impulses travel from the brain and spinal cord, out of the spinal nerves to all parts of the body. Similarly, sensory information (sound, sight, touch, body position etc) travels back to the brain via the sensory nerves.  Every single part of your body relies on the nervous system to tell it what to do…what would happen if the nervous system didn’t work 100%?

Sometimes a joint between two vertebrae may become fixed, restricting the normal range of motion and decreasing flexibility. 

Both humans and animals can suffer from joint restrictions which can cause nerve irritation and subsequent dysfunction.  Muscles may become sore and spasm, or reduce in size through disuse.  Similarly, coordination may be reduced and subsequently performance may decline.  Pain is often the first sign, but the restrictions may develop some time before they are the cause of obvious symptoms. 

Chiropractic adjustments can restore movement and allow the nervous system to function properly again.

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