The Premise
The philosophy that Chiropractic was founded upon states that the body has an amazing capacity to heal itself. As Chiropractors, our foremost goal is to reduce interference to the body’s natural healing process.
Chiropractors correct something called a vertebral subluxation. This describes a joint that has lost its normal biomechanics/movement patterns, resulting in irritation and aberrant function of joints, muscles, and nerves in contact with it. Vertebral subluxations are caused by stressors to the body in the form of repetitive microtrauma (posture while awake or asleep, poor movement patterns, work habits, chronic stress, etc.) or macrotrauma (car accidents, slips, falls, the birth process, sports injuries, etc.).
Subluxations can be present with or without symptoms.
Relief Care
Relief care is just that—the goal of this care is to reduce your symptoms and get you back to feeling better. A person is bailed out of pain for a time, and may need to return to reduce symptoms when necessary in the future. In some cases, depending on lifestyle, posture, stresses, chronicity, and the structure of your spine, there may be significant and longer-term health benefits to incorporating Corrective Care into your treatment as well.
It is important to note that while most people are under the assumption that if they don’t feel any pain, there is nothing wrong with them—this is frequently untrue. Pain is a very poor indicator of health and frequently only appears after a disease or other condition has become advanced. For example, consider a cavity in your tooth. Does it hurt when it first develops, or only after it has become serious? How about heart disease?
With many spinal issues—particularly those that start “out of nowhere” without an obvious cause, the problem has been there for a long time building up before being pushed over the edge. When you begin chiropractic care it is likely the first thing to go away will be pain, but some of the underlying problem may still need to be addressed.
Corrective Care
The goal of this care is to correct the structural cause of your problem and educate you in how to reduce the stressors that are behind it. Often times we are trying to correct long-standing problems or rehabilitate significant injuries. This by nature takes time and is a higher commitment, with far greater benefits than just decreasing pain. Biomechanics and structure are improved; therefore, the spine itself is healthier and better able to adapt to future macro- and micro-traumas. This slows down the effects of joint breakdown, sometimes referred to as the “normal effects of getting old.” Just because something is common does not make it normal or unpreventable.
This may be sounding intimidating…however, in most cases, it can be an easy process, much of which you can do at home. Most patients get rapid relief from this type of treatment and have a clear plan on how to maintain it.
The earlier the better—correcting these problems is quicker and easier if addressed soon, instead of waiting until it has advanced and worsened over many years.
Health Development
The goal of this care is to help you reach and maintain your optimum health potential. This typically begins after relief or corrective care—if they were necessary in your case. This is for people that want to be proactive about their health and come in occasionally to maintain a healthy spine, and address issues before they build up, hurt, or worsen.
It is much quicker and easier to prevent problems than to play catch up every time it gets pushed over the edge. We love seeing the great results our patients get when they incorporate spinal health development as a priority in their life.
“A doctor’s highest calling is to prevent what he treats.”