Chiropractic For the Uninitiated
For those who have no knowledge or understanding of chiropractic, let me offer a few basics.
Chiropractic is a health care system which improves one’s health and well-being and eliminates pain by moving the bones of the spine. The bones of the spine can move out of place and irritate nerves which are going to all parts of the body. A chiropractor through consultation with the patient, examination of both the area of complaint and the spine, and often x-ray images, is able to determine which bones of the spine are causing the patient’s difficulty. When the chiropractor has this information a plan is devised on how to move the bones back to where they should be, eliminating the interference or irritation to the nervous system. Sometimes a patient’s illness or pain is eliminated with one adjustment. Sometimes a longer series of care is necessary.
In any chiropractic case there are three phases of care.
The first phase is the Emergency or Pain-Relief Phase in which everything is done with the goal of eliminating the patient’s pain or other symptoms. Once the pain/symptom is eliminated work can begin to further correct the spine. Unless there has been a traumatic injury such as an auto accident or a fall the problems in the spine have developed over a long period of time. The pain is present long after the problems in the spine began. Just as the pain is the last thing to appear, it is the first thing to disappear. The elimination of the pain does not mean that the problems and difficulties within the spine that caused the pain are completely eliminated.
The second phase of care is a Corrective Phase in which everything is done with the goal of restoring proper function to the spine or as close to normal as is possible. This is a longer phase and usually the majority of the work is done in this phase.
The third phase is a Maintenance Phase. Once the Corrective Phase is complete and the patient’s spine is as good as it’s going to get, it should be monitored and adjusted regularly. We all sit in soft, low chairs, ride in cars, walk on sidewalks, spend eight hours a day in workspaces which are not conducive to good spinal health and sleep in positions or on beds that are not helping matters. To undo these negative effects upon our spine and to prevent the return of the original pain/symptom the spine should be checked and adjusted as needed on a regular basis. In some patients this might be once a week, then some patients four times a year.
There are various ways of adjusting the spine using chiropractic tables which can look like medical examination benches up to something from the Starship Enterprise. The adjustment to the spine can be done by hand or by instruments which have been developed for that purpose. Some chiropractors use warming or cooling agents before or after the adjustment. Some chiropractors use physiotherapy machines before or after the adjustment. Some chiropractors recommend nutritional and/or exercise programs.
Chiropractic is included in insurance programs; major medical, HMO, PPO, PIP and Medicare/Medicaid all cover chiropractic care. Coverage, of course, depends upon the particulars of one’s plan.
There are at this time of writing roughly 72,000 chiropractors in the United States and roughly another 25,000 around the world. There are eighteen schools of chiropractic in North America and eight in other parts of the world. Chiropractic is licensed in all fifty states and the Veteran’s Hospitals offer chiropractic care to their patients.
Chiropractors carry malpractice insurance but because the incidence of injury due to malpractice is so low the premiums are very low.
The chiropractic adjustment is a painless procedure. Sometimes there is a sound similar to when one cracks their knuckles. It is commonly expressed as “cracking the back. “ Moving the bones of the spine to make a cracking noise is not necessarily a chiropractic adjustment. The cracking can be elicited many different ways, many of which are not chiropractic adjustments. A chiropractic adjustment is taking a specific bone that is irritating a nerve and putting it back into or towards its normal position.
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Dr. Dennis J. Melillo: Chiropractic Orthopedist: Belvidere, NJ
Call (908) 475-2007 or visit www.drmelillo.com