Chiropractic Info
Chiropractic was founded as a healthcare profession in 1895. The founding premise was the body had an innate ability to heal and this ability could be compromised if there was nerve impingement obstructing the flow of nerve impulses. Another term that could be used to describe this compromise is, subluxation. Subluxation in this case, refers to an interference to the body. This could be caused by nerve interference, toxic insult, trauma, and much more. Subluxation in this reference, is not used in the medical sense of an incomplete dislocation.
Doctors of Chiropractic today, are physicians who look at man as an integrated whole being. Special attention is given to the physiological, biochemical, nutritional, emotional, neurological, vascular, musculoskeletal, and environmental relationships of the whole body.
There are two basic styles of Chiropractic. One group, the limited scope practitioner, feels that wellness can be achieved only from manipulation of the spine. The other group, the full scope practitioners, feel that spinal manipulation is important in health, but improved results can be achieved from addressing the entire body, using approaches that will help to gain optimal health.
From 1975 to 2000 we have seen a significant increase in cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. With these negative health trends, America currently spends more on health care than any other nation, around $1.55 trillion, roughly 15% of U.S. gross domestic product.
Every day we see more and more problems with a drug based society. Conservative estimates show that approximately 107,000 patients are hospitalized annually a year for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drug complications with at least 16,500 related deaths.
160,000 adverse cardiovascular events (including stroke, myocardial infarction, and death) may have resulted from the use of Vioxx.
Chiropractic uses a more natural, non drug approach to wellness care. In a randomized trial involving 741 patients, Meade et al , showed “Chiropractic treatment was more effective than hospital outpatient management, mainly in patients with chronic or severe back pain…Secondary outcome measures also showed that chiropractic was more beneficial.” A three year follow up study by the same authors in 1995 showed that, “those treated by chiropractic derive more benefit and long term satisfaction than those treated by hospitals.”
More recently in 2004, Legorreta et al reported a significant cost savings among 700,000 patients with chiropractic coverage compared to 1,000,000 patients that were limited to allopathic medical treatments.
Review of literature by Dabbs and Lauretti showed spinal manipulation is safer than the use of NSAIDs in the treatment of neck pain. Rosner noted that the rates of manipulation-associated cerebrovascular accidents compared to the dangers of medical and surgical treatments for spinal disorders, show chiropractic 400 times lower than deaths from non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and 700 times lower than the overall mortality rate for spinal surgery.
With the wide body of research, publications in peer reviewed journals and widely available textbooks, those that say chiropractic is unscientific or unsupported by research are unfounded and must have selective ignorance.
I am constantly amazed by the progress of patients in our office. I see patients in pain, decreased mobility, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and much more. These patients often improve without the use of drugs or surgery.
Currently in our office we offer a variety of treatment benefits. Chiropractic Manipulative Therapy may be provided by manual adjusting, table adjusting, or low impact instrument manipulation. This makes the adjustment safe for almost any age. We also offer nutritional counseling, combined with blood work to see what nutrition the body is lacking. Acupuncture is wonderful with chiropractic, and historically has been used to treat thousands of diseases. For those patients that have a fear of needles, cold laser or electricity can be used instead of needles. We currently offer cold laser therapy by itself. This is a painless laser treatment used for a variety of problems. This is the same laser treatment used on the seven-time Tour De France winner, Lance Armstrong, by his chiropractor.
It is malicious to continue degrading the modern chiropractic profession based on scientific shortcomings that were inherent in all healthcare professions 100 or even 40 years ago. Remember, when Chiropractic was developed, medical doctors of the time were using treatments such as, bloodletting and “therapeutic” mercury. Currently Chiropractic is the largest licensed, non-medical health care profession in North America, with approximately 60,000 practitioners in the United States. Chiropractors are doctors. They earn a Doctor of Chiropractic degree after a three to four year undergraduate degree and a 5½ year academic program in professional school. After graduation they must pass further exams to obtain a license to practice. This is comparable to a medical doctor’s schooling.
Doctors of Chiropractic today, are physicians who look at man as an integrated whole being. Special attention is given to the physiological, biochemical, nutritional, emotional, neurological, vascular, musculoskeletal, and environmental relationships of the whole body.
From 1975 to 2000 we have seen a significant increase in cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. With these negative health trends, America currently spends more on health care than any other nation, around $1.55 trillion, roughly 15% of U.S. gross domestic product.
Every day we see more and more problems with a drug based society. Conservative estimates show that approximately 107,000 patients are hospitalized annually a year for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) drug complications with at least 16,500 related deaths.
160,000 adverse cardiovascular events (including stroke, myocardial infarction, and death) may have resulted from the use of Vioxx.
Chiropractic uses a more natural, non drug approach to wellness care. In a randomized trial involving 741 patients, Meade et al , showed “Chiropractic treatment was more effective than hospital outpatient management, mainly in patients with chronic or severe back pain…Secondary outcome measures also showed that chiropractic was more beneficial.” A three year follow up study by the same authors in 1995 showed that, “those treated by chiropractic derive more benefit and long term satisfaction than those treated by hospitals.”
More recently in 2004, Legorreta et al reported a significant cost savings among 700,000 patients with chiropractic coverage compared to 1,000,000 patients that were limited to allopathic medical treatments.
Review of literature by Dabbs and Lauretti showed spinal manipulation is safer than the use of NSAIDs in the treatment of neck pain. Rosner noted that the rates of manipulation-associated cerebrovascular accidents compared to the dangers of medical and surgical treatments for spinal disorders, show chiropractic 400 times lower than deaths from non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and 700 times lower than the overall mortality rate for spinal surgery.
With the wide body of research, publications in peer reviewed journals and widely available textbooks, those that say chiropractic is unscientific or unsupported by research are unfounded and must have selective ignorance.
I am constantly amazed by the progress of patients in our office. I see patients in pain, decreased mobility, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and much more. These patients often improve without the use of drugs or surgery.
Currently in our office we offer a variety of treatment benefits. Chiropractic Manipulative Therapy may be provided by manual adjusting, table adjusting, or low impact instrument manipulation. This makes the adjustment safe for almost any age. We also offer nutritional counseling, combined with blood work to see what nutrition the body is lacking. Acupuncture is wonderful with chiropractic, and historically has been used to treat thousands of diseases. For those patients that have a fear of needles, cold laser or electricity can be used instead of needles. We currently offer cold laser therapy by itself. This is a painless laser treatment used for a variety of problems. This is the same laser treatment used on the seven-time Tour De France winner, Lance Armstrong, by his chiropractor.
It is malicious to continue degrading the modern chiropractic profession based on scientific shortcomings that were inherent in all healthcare professions 100 or even 40 years ago. Remember, when Chiropractic was developed, medical doctors of the time were using treatments such as, bloodletting and “therapeutic” mercury. Currently Chiropractic is the largest licensed, non-medical health care profession in North America, with approximately 60,000 practitioners in the United States. Chiropractors are doctors. They earn a Doctor of Chiropractic degree after a three to four year undergraduate degree and a 5½ year academic program in professional school. After graduation they must pass further exams to obtain a license to practice. This is comparable to a medical doctor’s schooling.