Facts about Chiropractic You Probably Didn’t Know
Actually, with chiropractic becoming nearly a mainstream medical discipline these days, maybe you did know these interesting facts about the country’s most popular CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine).
Q: Isn’t chiropractic just for lower back pain?
A: No. Doctors of Chiropractic are well know for treating all sorts of back and neck pain. A little less well known is their expertise in treating headaches. As most any Nashville Chiropractor will tell you, patients are often surprised to find that chiropractic treatment is used for treatment of the entire musculoskeletal system (joints, muscles, ligaments). Since the system impacts virtually every part of our body, chiropractic treatment can’t help but address general health issues as well as specific problems.
Q: Isn’t a chiropractor sort of an MD wannabe?
A: If they had wanted to be a medical physician, any Nashville Chiropractor certainly could have been. While doctors of chiropractic share a primary focus on the health of their patients, they and medical doctors see different approaches to health.
Physicians embrace the concepts of drug and surgical procedures as ways to cure or alleviate illness. Chiropractors do not perform surgeries and only some use drug therapy in conjunction with manipulation and adjustment.
Chiropractors are primary health care providers. They graduate from a four-year university program in pre-med prior to four or even five years of professional study. Generally speaking, these doctors have extensive training in orthopedics, neurology, anatomy, physiology, and diagnosis. In the area of diagnosis they are trained in techniques and procedures using diagnostic imaging tools as well as exercise and nutrition. A major area of focus is on developing clinical techniques in manipulating and adjusting the spine.
All in all, a Nashville Chiropractor has probably spent over 4,200 hours training in the classroom, labs and clinics. Colleges and universities offering chiropractic education are accredited and the course of study is recognized by the US Department of Education.
Q: Isn’t chiropractic just for older people?
A: Quite the contrary, the earlier you develop a relationship with a Nashville Chiropractor the better. Infants, babies and children are very active little creatures. They are also tiny and their bodies are not yet fully finished. Their constant running, jumping, and general energetic play are an open invitation for injury. Correcting maladjustments is essential for children to grow, as they should.
Many people do not realize that chiropractic can help infants and small children who are victims of frequent earaches. Because they are so tiny, it’s very easy for a baby’s ears to become blocked and for pressure to build. A very gentle adjustment by a Nashville Chiropractor is often all that is needed to unblock the tubes in the ear and release the pressure.
Q: Isn’t it dangerous to have someone twist your neck and back the way chiropractors do?
A: First of all, unless they are a trained chiropractor, it would be impossible for someone to “twist your neck and back the way chiropractors do.” It takes years of training for a doctor to learn the fine arts of manipulating and adjusting the human body.
Secondly, chiropractic is recognized world wide as one of the safest non-invasive and drug-free treatments for neuromuscular problems.
Third, while no medical procedure is 100% safe for 100% of patients, risks from chiropractic treatment is almost unheard of. Of all complaints about treatment by a Nashville Chiropractor, the mild soreness associated with spinal adjustment are by far the most common. Interestingly, these aches are usually very short lived and are gone within a day.
Fourth, there are far greater risks in treating musculoskeletal with prescription or over-the-counter (OTC) anti-inflammatories than with chiropractic. The American Journal of Gastroenterology has reported that about 33% of hospital stays and deaths that are connected to gastrointestinal bleeding are attributable to the use of aspirin and painkillers like ibuprofen.
And finally, some patients worry about the effects of cervical manipulation. (Cervical manipulations is often referred to as neck adjustment or “cracking the neck.”) There have been questions about whether this treatment can contribute to certain kinds of strokes. But, as a Nashville Chiropractor can attest, these same strokes often occur spontaneously. History shows that injures to the arteries de to cervical manipulation occur in about one case out of every 5.85 million adjustments.
Q: With all the interest in affordable health care, how do insurance companies view chiropractic medicine?
A: Whether you use a Nashville Chiropractor or one in a completely different state, the only thing that determines how your insurance company addresses chiropractic treatment is your insurance company. Most companies accept chiropractic as a valid medical treatment. However, to determine whether your plan will pay for treatment, you must read your policy. This is also true when it comes to referrals. In many cases, no referral to a Nashville Chiropractor is necessary; in other cases it is. Some policies limit the number of treatments you can have in any given year; others don’t. Some companies treat chiropractic as a specialty and require a higher co-payment from the patient; others don’t.
Q: What is that awful popping sound you hear when you have your spine adjusted? It’s scary.
A: The best way to think of that sound is to think of your body as one giant knuckle. Just as you can “pop” or “crack” your knuckles, so can you crack other parts of your body. In all cases, the sound is made when the gas bubble that hides between your joints is suddenly set free. It stands to reason that an adjustment can set a lot of gas bubbles free.