In the US, a significant percentage of the population visits the chiropractic doctor for treatment purposes. But, what actually is chiropractic treatment? Many people living in the US are of the opinion that the treatment is effective which is why it is one of the natural mainstream treatment options in the country.
There are a few important things for an individual to know about chiropractic care and the services that are offered in many chiropractic wellness clinics.
Many chiropractors offer physical rehabilitation in addition to spinal manipulation which is the primary method of treatment in a chiropractic clinic. Most Doctors of Chiropractic actually undergo specialized training in physical therapy, offered by the school and other post-graduate courses. The chiropractic student must pass a physical therapy exam required by the National Board Of Examiners. One of the primary staples of physical therapy is to provide specific exercises for the patient in order to restore the biomechanical function of the joints, this is done by stretches, stabilization exercises, core strengthening, and other core stabilization exercises. A lot of chiropractic doctors as well as physical therapists use a stability ball, medicine ball, and or a wobble board to assist with balance and coordination.
A chiropractor who is well-trained in physical therapy may offer therapies such as: ice, heat and electric stimulation, whirlpool, paraffin wax and others.
Besides physical rehabilitation, the main objective of the chiropractor is to provide spinal manipulation or adjustments. The aim is to restore proper alignment of the spinal structures hence decreasing nerve pressure and irritation. This provides pain relief, increase mobility, and an overall sense of well-being. Some doctors offer spinal decompression as a treatment for the relief of pain related to disc injuries. Spinal decompression has proven effective for bulging and herniation of the discs, spinal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal), and others.
Chiropractic care combined with physical therapy is amongst the best natural ways for pain management.
On many occasions, chiropractic-treatment allows patients to avoid surgery. Those patients who are afraid of surgical procedures, in many instances, by consulting a good chiropractor can choose to avoid it. Based on the patient’s clinical presentation, the chiropractic doctor may choose whether to treat conservatively with chiropractic care or refer out to surgery.
In the past few decades, because of a large number of positive feedback from patients and clinical success, chiropractic-treatment has become very popular and for many, a first choice method before going under the knife. Major insurance carriers including Medicare cover chiropractic care due to the overwhelmingly positive effects of chiropractic treatment on pain, muscle spasm, stiffness, and mobility.
It is often so, that after a chiropractic adjustment, pain is quickly diminished almost immediately post-treatment. Chiropractic-treatment also helps to reduce stress, increase overall function by improving the nervous system.
There are infrastructures in the form of professional institutes that teach the most up to date information on the science of chiropractic through continuing education courses for chiropractic doctors. This ensures that the doctors are providing safe and quality treatment to the public. Nowadays, such treatments require highly sophisticated, chiropractic tables, instrument adjusting tools, therapeutic modalities, spinal traction and decompression tables, diagnostic procedures for radiography and other diagnostic instrumentation.
There are approximately 50-60 thousand chiropractic doctors in the US alone! Each physician is different in their methods and treatment options. There are over 100 different chiropractic techniques, about 20 of them are mainstream.
Some doctors of chiropractic rely heavily on instrumentation while others are more manual, in essence, they use their hands to perform an adjustment, while others combine both. The term mixer has become synonymous with a chiropractor who uses other therapeutic modalities in addition to the chiropractic adjustment. The ones who use only the hand adjustment that is strictly to the spine, are considered to be a purist or “straight chiropractor”. The feud still stands today between the “straights and mixers’. The fact of the matter is that both are helping and serving people to live better healthier lives.
The Bay Clinic of Chiropractic provides exceptional chiropractic treatment and services to patients in need. They have their own website where they highlight the different medical treatment services that they offer to their patients.
