Welcome to my regular column Ask the Chiropractor . Many of you have used chiropractors and would like to know if a certain condition could be helped or not. Many of you have no idea what a chiropractor does except to work on the spine. Chiropractors are able to offer safe, natural alternatives to prescription drugs. For that reason, our popularity has grown immensely over the years. More and more people choose chiropractors to help with their aches and pains rather than simply medicate.

 

In the 1970s, there were 13,000 chiropractors in the country. Now there are over 65,000 worldwide - mostly in America. Chiropractic is an American institution. In 1895, Dr. D.D. Palmer first began manipulating patients and went on to establish our profession. At that same time, Dr. Still established osteopathy and both professions were quite similar in their early years. Along the way, the osteopaths became more medically oriented, using drugs and surgery as well as some manipulation; the chiropractors continued to specialize in spinal manipulation.

 

Chiropractic is based on the fact that the nervous system controls everything in the body. The nerves give you feeling, control your muscles as well as operate your organs. The spine houses and protects the spinal cord. If there are misalignments in your spine -- which we call subluxations -- pressure can result on nerves or spinal cord and cause pain, numbness, weakness and even organ problems like difficult digestion. Chiropractors manipulate the spine, called an adjustment to correct these misalignments. This allows the nervous system to operate at its full capacity and restore your health.

 

All of this is done naturally and without drugs. Chiropractic can be very effective in treating
spinal and joint pain as evidenced by our growth in popularity.

 

I welcome your inquiries and hope to be of help!