What is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic is not about treating symptoms, although often it is symptoms, typically pain, that brings a patient to the chiropractor's office. Chiropractic looks at the body in a holistic way and uses a variety of non-invasive diagnostic tests and tools to detect large and small detrimental changes or defects in the nervous system.

The nervous system is the body's communication network. If it is not up to scratch, then messages can get scrambled, parts lost, or just have the wrong strength. If a friend speaks to us in a very soft voice we might not hear them: if he/she leaves a message on the answer phone and there is too much background noise we might not understand it. The nervous system's messages can end up the same way: 'misunderstood'. This may lead to systemic problems with organs, and/or muscle weakness.

If you imagine a city at night all lit up. Everything going on in that city is made easier because of the lighting and good flow of electricity. Where the lights are out, things can start to go wrong and not work effectively. Your body is also full of electricity and for you to fully-function you need to be completely ‘lit up’. As a chiropractor I have been trained to track down areas that are not receiving the correct electricity, via the nervous system, and correct it.

These errors occur in layers, and therefore correction is like peeling layers off an onion. Only the surface layer is revealed at any one time. Once this layer is corrected the next layer shows up. The older you are the more layers you will have accumulated. Each of these layers has one primary problem called a ‘subluxation’. There are many other problems but these are compensations and become resolved once the primary cause has been addressed. This may take one or two days for your body to adjust to the new you. During this time extra care is necessary such as drinking plenty of water, avoiding hot baths, sitting down on hard surfaces for any length of time. It is best to go for a 10 to 15 minute walk after your visit, carrying nothing and swinging your arms as you walk. This helps your body heal itself. Always avoid carrying as much as possible, especially over one shoulder. A light rucksack is OK otherwise use a ‘wheelie’ bag. Babies and children , of course, must be carried and frequently picked up. Try to use both sides of your body equally, and use your bent knees rather than bending your back when lifting.

Chiropractors use 'adjustments' to joints as their main toolset to initiate new messages to the nervous system to initiate a correction to the situation. These adjustments range between very gentle to fairly forceful. Often only very gentle treatment is required, and often patient-preferred when dealing with children or the elderly.

The Chiropractic may use other tools such as soft tissue work and taping to speed up the body's own healing mechanisms.

The Chiropractor does not heal but facilitates the body in healing itself.

On the first visit the chiropractor's goals must be aligned with the patient's own goals and expectations set. Some patients may just want to be out of pain whilst others would like to address the root cause of problems to give them a potentially healthier, happier life. This may involve a wellness programme with maybe one to three- monthly check-ups once problems have been addressed by a defined course of treatment.

What are the adjustments like?

What other work is done on my body?

The Chiropractic may use other tools such as soft tissue work and taping to speed up the bodys’ own healing mechanisms.

How safe is chiropractic?

Everthing carries some risk, even pain killers, but, in general, chiropractic carries a very low risk. After your first visit you may experience an increase in discomfort for 48 hours but this should soon where off and you should start improving. It is important that you keep your chiropractor informed of any adverse changes so that you can be re-booked in or advised over the telephone on what to do.