What is Chiropractic?
The word “chiropractic” derived its name from the Greek words meaning “done by hand”. Chiropractic is a conservative approach to health restoration, maintenance, and disease resistance. As a natural health-care method, chiropractic, by choice, does not utilize drugs or surgical procedures. While chiropractic recognizes that drugs and surgery may be necessary at times, it also understands their limitations and risks. Therefore, chiropractic takes a non-invasive approach to illness.
What is an Adjustment?
An adjustment is a specific force, done by hand or instrument, which allows a chiropractor to manipulate the joints of the body. A chiropractor will feel a joint and judge if it is moving the way it should and adjust it to allow for proper function and movement.
What is Chiropractic Maintenance?
Maintenance therapy is defined as a treatment plan that seeks to prevent disease, promotes health, and prolong and enhance the quality of life; or therapy that is performed to maintain or prevent deterioration of a chronic condition. The frequency of chiropractic maintenance visits is determined by you and the chiropractic physician.
In many cases, you might not even realize your spine is misaligned, because you may not be experiencing pain. But misalignments can lead to a gradual deterioration of your health and well-being. This is where your Chiropractor can help. By correcting spinal mis-alignments and removing the interference in your nervous system, your Chiropractor can help your body function more efficiently on all levels. And while pain often motivates people to seek the help of a Chiropractor, you do not have to be in pain or discomfort to benefit from Chiropractic adjustments. In fact, ongoing chiropractic care may promote your body’s ability to heal itself and may lead to decreased incidences of certain ailments and injuries, while helping you reach and maintain your optimal health goals.
At Sweeney Chiropractic, our mission is to help improve the quality of life through affordable and convenient chiropractic care.
Once I get an adjustment, will I always need to be adjusted?
We like to look at it like this: We all regularly brush our teeth and go to the dentist to keep up with dental health. We take our cars in for an oil change or a tire alignment. Chiropractic can do for your health what all of these things do for your dental health or car maintenance. If you take care of your spine and get adjusted regularly you’ll be taking care of your whole body, after all, the nervous system is what controls the rest of the body.
Can a chiropractor help with migraines and headaches?
Chiropractic can most definitely help with migraines and headaches. Often it is the muscles just at the base of the skull that are in spasm causing these headaches. A chiropractor can adjust the vertebrae and work on those muscles to help alleviate the pain caused by migraines and headaches.
When will I start feeling better?
There are typically three different reactions to an adjustment. Some will feel better as soon as it’s over. Others will feel a little sore and others will feel no change at all. The majority of the time people will feel a change for the better.
How many adjustments does a typical person need?
It all depends on how long you’ve been experiencing symptoms. If it’s a chronic problem it will take more adjustments than those who just started feeling their pain. Everyone is different though, so it depends on the patient.
If I stop feeling pain, do I need to keep coming?
Pain is usually the last thing to show up when there is a problem and the first thing to go away. Just because you aren’t in pain anymore doesn’t mean you won’t benefit from getting regular chiropractic adjustments. Maintenance is key to keeping you healthy.
Do I need X-Rays?
When we do an initial examination and x-rays are warranted, then yes. X-rays help us to see exactly what is going on and can give us an idea on what might be causing your pain. Most of the time, a detailed history of the problem and a thorough examination will help eliminate the need for x-rays.
Is it bad if my body pops and cracks during the adjustment?
No, not at all, it’s what we call a cavitation and usually happens when an adjustment is performed. However the presence of a cavitation is not necessary for the adjustment to be performed correctly.
What does chiropractic treat?
Chiropractic may help with any problems of the neuromusculoskeletal system. By working on that system, it may affect other systems of the body. It works great for low back and neck pain, headaches, arthritic pain or sports injuries.
Do adjustments hurt?
Adjustments shouldn’t hurt. However, everyone reacts differently to an adjustment and you may be sore afterwards. It’s like going to the gym, if it’s been a while, you will likely be sore; if you haven’t been adjusted in a while (or have never been adjusted) you may experience soreness.
If you do feel sore after an adjustment, please let us know and we can do other things and try our best to make sure you walk out feeling better than you did walking in.
Can I get a friend to crack my back?
You can, but you can also cut your own hair and perform your own dental work. I would advise against doing any of those things and find someone who went to school to do specialized things, such as adjusting someone’s back. As chiropractors, we were taught when and when not to adjust.
