What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic is a healing science that places emphasis on maintaining the structural and functional integrity of the body through the neuromusculoskeletal system. The focus is to restore and maintain health through safe, natural drug-free treatment. Chiropractic is based on the importance that your overall health depends on a healthy nervous system. Your nervous system is made up of your brain, spinal cord, and spinal nerves. The brain is the control center for all the functions in the body. If there is interference between the brain and the rest of the body, the brain and body cannot communicate properly, thus cannot function properly. The spinal cord is an extension off your brain, runs down through your spine, and exits out of the spine as nerves that travel to every cell, tissue, and organ in your body. If there is a misalignment in your spine, (subluxation), then the nerves that exit the spine cannot communicate properly with the cells, tissues, and organs that it innervates.
What is a subluxation?
A subluxation is a misalignment in the spine that can be caused by various factors. It can also be explained as a spinal facet joint that is “stuck” or doesn’t move through its normal ranges of motion. Stressors in life (physical, chemical, emotional) can cause the spine to become subluxated (misaligned). Physical stressors include accidents, falls, repetitive movements, improper posture, improper lifting, child birth, etc. that put a direct force to the spinal column. Chemical stressors include poor diet, environmental toxins, alcohol, drugs, etc. that can put a strain on the body and not give it the proper nutrition it needs to function at its optimal level. Emotional stressors (fear, anger, anxiety, depression) that cause the release of different hormones for prolonged periods of time that put tension on the body. These factors can create poor biomechanics in the spinal column, thus putting stress on the spinal cord and spinal nerves that exit the spinal column and interfere with the proper function of the nervous system.
What is a chiropractic adjustment?
A chiropractic adjustment is a technique used that puts a gentle force into the spinal column with the goal of correcting the subluxation (joint misalignment) for the purpose of maintaining or improving health. This technique can either be done by hand, or with an activator tool. This adjustment helps restore the alignment and mobility of the vertebrae, thus improving the function of the nervous system to communicate with the rest of the body.
What is the “pop” noise heard during an adjustment?
This “pop” noise is actually called a cavitation. A joint is the space that connects two bones together. They are surrounded by ligaments and are filled with fluid called synovial fluid. The synovial fluid lubricates the joints and nourishes the joints with nutrients and oxygen. The synovial fluid also contains little pockets of air bubbles that contain the gases oxygen, co2 and nitrogen. When a joint is gapped or stretched at a certain speed, there is a change in pressure in the joint, and the gasses get released. The release of gas is the “popping” sound we hear when we get adjusted. It is like opening a soda can, the gas gets released and we hear that “fizz” sound. Not all chiropractic adjustments create a cavitation. Some instrumentation techniques and low force techniques will not create a cavitation. People often wonder if they don’t hear the sound, if the adjustment was given correctly. Chiropractors’ main focus is if the joint moves properly after the adjustment. So we check the movement of the joint after the adjustment is delivered.
What type of education do Chiropractors receive?
A chiropractor must first get their 4 year undergraduate bachelor’s degree before applying to chiropractic school or receive their bachelor’s degree during chiropractic school. Then the student has to go through the application and interview process to get into an accredited chiropractic school where it is a 3 year (without summers) or 4 year (with summers) program. To graduate chiropractic school and be able to practice chiropractic, the student must pass all 4 parts of the National Board examinations. Once the student obtains their Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C) degree, they must then apply to their government chiropractic licensing board to obtain their license to practice in their state. Once practicing, a chiropractor must complete a certain number of continuing education credits per year to keep their license up to date.
How long do I need to receive chiropractic care?
Our focus at Bova Family Chiropractic is to restore and maintain health, for life. Every human being is different from one another. When a patient comes in, the frequency of care will be different based on how they present, their body, how quickly the body heals itself, and their goals for themselves. Once we get their body running to its fullest potential, the frequency of care will decrease, based on how long their body can hold the adjustment. We want our patients thriving at their fullest potential for the rest of their lives. That doesn’t necessarily mean coming in 2 days a week for life. That means coming in to get occasional spinal checkups to make sure their spine and nervous system is functioning properly. An analogy I like to use is comparing spinal health to dental health. Everybody knows you have to go to the dentist regularly to get dental checkups and cleanings, even if you are not in pain. Chiropractic works the same way. We want to make sure your spine is in good health, even if you do not feel pain.
Is it safe for babies and pregnant women to get adjusted?
YES! The chiropractic adjustment is very safe for all ages, starting at birth, right up until the end. We want children’s bodies and nervous systems running at their fullest potential so they can grow up to be healthy adults! Children and babies suffer stress on their bodies as well such as child birth, falls, learning to walk, growing, etc. The adjustment done on a baby/child is much different and uses much less force than when adjusting an adult. As for pregnant women, their bodies are going through a massive change during the 9 months of pregnancy. We want to make sure that during those changes, the spine and pelvis adapt to the growing fetus. We want to make sure the pelvis is always in alignment so there is ample space for the fetus to grow and move around. Again, the technique used on pregnant women is different than on any other patient.
For any other questions, please contact us or come on in to the office. Dr. Kristen would be happy to sit down and talk with you!
Bova Family Chiropractic 