A Doctor of Chiropractic is a physician who gives particular attention to the relationship of structural, physiological and neurological aspects of the body.
The word ‘Chiropractic’ comes from the Greek words cheir (meaning ‘hand’) and praktos (meaning ‘done’ or ‘action‘), i.e. Done by Hand.
Chiropractors are specialists of the neuro-musculo-skeletal systems.
What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic is a natural form of health care where practitioners take a different approach from conventional medicine in diagnosing, classifying, and treating health concerns.
Chiropractic focuses on the relationship between the body’s structure (bones, muscles, organs, nerves) and the body’s function (breathing, digestion, metabolism, reproduction, repair).
What causes Back Pain and Discomfort and Problems with the Body?
Both outside and internal occurrences can affect how the muscles, bones and nerves function. An accident such a fall, or lifting something heavy can bruise or strain a muscle, it could break a bone or sprain a ligament. This type of damage to the body may result in swelling, tenderness, redness and pain of the injured area, however a different area could also experience pain. Remember that “the hip bone’s connected to the knee bone…”. When the body responds with its own healing mechanisms, sometimes this is sufficient to restore the area back to proper functioning, but often functioning is interrupted and the area remains painful for too long, or favoring of the non-painful side leads to incorrect posture or mechanics.
A chiropractor will perform a detailed physical exam and determine what types of dysfunction may be affecting you.
Types of Dysfunction
- Alignment and Motion Irregularities – Bone and muscle movement and alignment
- Affected Nerve Function – Numbness, tingling, burning sensations, twitching, weakness
- Muscle Texture and Function – Spasm, trigger points, ropiness, adhesions, scar tissues
- Internal Injury Response – Inflammation, swelling, bruising
- Previous Injury Assessment – Movement patterns, excess or insufficient nerve signaling from previous injuries that could have contributed to current dysfunction, posture, wear patterns on shoes, atrophied muscle, scar tissue
Your Lifestyle and Nutrition can also affect how your Body Responds to an Accident
If you often feel emotionally stressed due to work, relationships, or finances for example. If you do not have an opportunity for regular exercise, or if you eat mostly processed, poor quality inflammatory foods, your body will have more difficulty healing and returning to normal functioning. Inflammation and pain will likely be increased because more pain generating molecules are available when we are stressed, or when we eat foods that are highly processed. Foods that are fresh, bright and colorful provide the body with nutrients and anti-inflammatory properties that can help to reduce the intensity and the duration of pain.
Although many foods can be placed into general categories – each person is unique and not all foods may be well tolerated by your body. An assessment can help to determine which foods and lifestyle modifications might be most appropriate for you and your current health concerns.
Is the training of a Chiropractor as Rigorous as that of a Medical Doctor?
Today’s doctor of chiropractic receives an extensive educational background beginning with at least four years of pre-chiropractic study. From there they advance into a 10 semester program that requires a minimum of 4,200 hours of combined classroom, laboratory, and clinical experience – the same hours requirement as medical students.
A student of chiropractic spends as many hours in the study of human physiology as that of a medical doctor.
Comparison of MD and DC Curriculum
