blog post written by Dr. Riley Zubrickas
What can chiropractors treat & how do they treat?
Myth: Chiropractors can treat everything that walks in their door and do so by solely using their adjustments.
Reality: When people think of chiropractors, they tend to associate them with spine care; primarily neck and/or back pain. Although these ailments encompass a good portion of the patients that chiropractors see, they have the ability and knowledge to treat many different areas and conditions of the human body. Some other common examples of conditions that have high success rates with chiropractic care include headaches/migraines, TMJ and common upper and lower extremity symptoms. On the contrary, there are many conditions that cannot be directly treated through chiropractic care, some of which include high blood pressure, asthma, fertility issues, or any other additional systemic conditions. In these cases, chiropractors are well educated on where to refer patients.
Although one of the main therapeutic methods chiropractors use are manual adjustments, this is just one tool in their ever-expanding tool-box. Chiropractors also utilize many different soft tissue therapies, rehabilitative exercises, and patient education to help their patient’s reach their treatment goals and achieve long-lasting results.
What do chiropractic adjustments actually do?
Myth: Chiropractic adjustments move bones back into “place” when they are misaligned.
Reality: Simply put, chiropractic adjustments reintroduce motion back into joints. Throughout our daily lives, we are constantly moving and exposing our bodies to countless different postures and positions. Naturally, to perform these we tend to rely on certain areas of our bodies more than others which can leave us feeling stiff and sore in these areas of neglect. By applying a small thrust using our hands, we are able to slightly gap the joint which often times produces a “popping” or “cracking” noise. As mentioned, this process creates motion within joints that need it while allowing all the surrounding musculature and other structures to relax. The chiropractic adjustment as a whole is a painless maneuver and tends to give patients some form of immediate relief. Patients tend to feel an immense decrease in stiffness afterwards with increases in ranges of motion.
Treatment Frequency – how often do you need to see a chiropractor?
Myth: Chiropractors will require you to sign up for a treatment plan and need to see you as often as three times per week.
Reality: In modern-day chiropractic, treatment plans are developed on a patient-to-patient basis. Each patient presents with their own symptoms along with various co-factors, therefore each treatment plan should be individually crafted. If this isn’t the case, you should reconsider if your best interest is being taken into consideration. Overall, there should be input from both the chiropractor and the patient when forming treatment plans to ensure that they will be both of benefit and achievable for the patient. In terms of treatment frequency, this again is dependent on what the patient presents with. For the majority of cases, chiropractors should only need a few sessions to get you started in the right direction while supplying you with the tools and guidance to manage your symptoms on your own moving forward. Gone are the days of locking you in to long treatment plans.
What does the chiropractic education entail?
Myth: Chiropractors earn their title after 4 years of undergraduate education or chiropractic is a 2 year masters degree.
Reality: Unlike other alternative healthcare providers chiropractors must first obtain 90 credit hours (3 years) from a post-secondary university before completing a 4-year doctorate degree. During the first part of the chiropractic education, major emphasis is placed on anatomy, physiology, and neurology; the foundations of chiropractic care. Among many conceptual benefits, this allows chiropractors to understand the implicit cause of conditions rather than simply treating a patient’s symptoms. The specific area you are feeling pain is not always the root cause. The chiropractic education also places large emphasis on radiology, general diagnosis and pathology, which allows practitioners to cater care based on imaging results or any other pre-existing health conditions a patient may present with. In addition to all of this, there is of course focus on many techniques and manual skills specific to chiropractic care that are continually fine-tuned over countless hours and hands-on training.
