What is Chiropractic Care?

What is it NOT?

There are a lot of differing opinions and misconceptions that surround medicine, in particular the field of chiropractic medicine. This so-called “fake news” and misinformation derived from social media, people, and providers (unfortunately many other chiropractors as well) can lead to a lot of confusion for patients, making it difficult to trust chiropractors and or find one that is worth their money and time. These difficulties alongside a poor standard of care have unfortunately tainted the field of Chiropractic as a whole and created a bad reputation for those few quality providers that exist in their respective fields.

Hence why memes like this exist…

 
 

What Chiropractic Care is Not!

Chiropractic care is a profession, not a technique. 

It is not the adjustment, manipulation, bone-cracking, or whatever you may call it. Granted, while manipulation is an amazing tool to have as a provider, it should not be utilized on every single person or case that walks through the door.

Traditionally chiropractic care was defined by using spinal manipulation with the intent of creating “alignment” in the spine or body. Research since then has disproved this “bone out of place” theory. Chiropractic adjustments are creating motion in joints that are limited or restricted in a plane of motion, with the goal of increasing movement, improving joint function, and decreasing pain.

As the saying goes “If all you have is a hammer, everything is a nail.” If your chiropractor only treats you with chiropractic adjustments, it is most likely because they don't have any other treatment tools in their tool belt or they are electing to chase a quick 5-minute service and collect your $30-$50 payment. Your chiropractor should have an array of treatment strategies and choose the right one for each individual.

It is not becoming dependent on a Doctor to fix you. 

A great doctor of any sort in the medical field should have the focus on educating and empowering patients to self-manage and self-treat. Those who do this best are usually the ones who know more than the bare minimum on a topic. Patient education is a form of treatment and you deserve to understand what is going on with your own body and also what you can do for yourself. You should not have to feel as if you’re relying on someone else to fix you or instill the idea that you're broken and fragile and need their special care to help cure you. Side note: You do not always need X-rays, MRIs, INSIGHT scans, or any other images on your first visit. This is usually a tactic to get you to buy into a plan. People like to see visuals to understand the point of what the doctor is trying to do, but those resources have unfortunately been used improperly to get patients to buy into a trial of care.

It is not passive care. 

Passive care is lying on the table and doing nothing other than letting the provider do the work for you. It includes cold packs and heat packs, E-Stim, roller tables, massages, and adjustments. While sure these things have a time and place, if that is all you are doing, you are becoming dependent on those things, In all honesty, most of those things feel nice and relaxing, but they are not the things that will fix you or the root cause of your symptoms. Those things are a service, and if you are looking for long-term fixes and results then most of those things will not do you justice. You need to become an active participant on your road to recovery and that is where the magic happens. Not only will you get better, but you will also know how to do it for yourself!  In fact, insurance companies are trending towards no longer wanting to reimburse for such passive treatments and research also shows that passive treatments are not the best model of care for musculoskeletal pain.

It is not a one-size-fits-all practice model. 

Every single person is different, pain is complex and multifactorial. Some people have back pain due to mobility issues, some people have back pain due to stability issues, some people have back pain due to trauma/injury, some have back pain from repetitive movements and sustained postures, or their central nervous system is more sensitive than normal, etc.. All these people can present with the same low back pain but the root cause is very different. You deserve to be treated as an individual and be given the time to figure out what you individually need. 

It is not resetting bones or putting things back “in place”.

Granted you may feel like this is the cause or that you're “out of place” due to being told these things in the past, but feel and real are not the same thing. Joints become dysfunctional whether they move too little or too much. When joint dysfunction occurs, your brain will perceive this as not normal or even a threat. When this occurs, it’s a normal response to let you know with stiffness, muscle tightness, spasm or guarding, trigger points, and pain. If your bones were truly out of place, that is termed a dislocation. (You’ve all seen the person have their shoulder dislocation reduced…) If your bones are dislocated then the Emergency Room is the place for you, not the chiropractic office. Do not let people tell you you are out of place, or that your bones are twisted and that’s why you’re having pain.

It is not a fake Doctor. 

To become a Chiropractic Physician you need to obtain a Doctorate Degree which is approximately another 4 years beyond undergrad. The curriculum consists of 250 credit hours of courses in Foundational sciences just as in medical school, then 2 years of Clinical Sciences and Clinical Practice in clinics or internships. Upon graduating, each person can pick and choose how they’d like to treat patients and what treatment styles they want to utilize as the scope of practice varies from state to state. Not everyone is the same and not all treatment styles are actually proven to be of any benefit. That's why we follow the research and implement evidence-based care, as they have been proven to work.

It is not endless care and stretched-out treatment plans.

People in pain need guidance and a plan in place to fix the root cause of their issues. There is a normal progression from reducing pain, improving function, and meeting their goals. There has to be a clear plan in place to properly progress a patient from pain to performance. It doesn't happen overnight but it should happen usually within the traditional timeline of what each condition needs. Some conditions like joint-based injuries usually take days to weeks to recover and some other tendon/ligament-based injuries may take months of rehab. The traditional model is a trial of care of at least 4-6 weeks before jumping ship. Fun Fact: Most disc-related issues self-resolve within 6-8 weeks. If your pain and function don’t change within the timeframe, then the treatment you were getting was not fixing anything. There needs to be consistent assessment, intervention, and re-assessment to deliver the proper treatment needed. Each visit should not be the same thing over and over. If you are not making progress then a different alternative needs to be initiated. 

What should I do then?

If you are struggling with pain or injury, you want to find an office or provider who is focused on getting you better. But how do you identify a good office or doctor? Look for several things:

  • A thorough history of your problem and your overall health.

  • A cause-and-effect assessment based on your symptoms and movement to identify what makes you better or worse

  • Education about what is wrong and what you can do to help yourself

  • Home exercise and stretches to treat yourself in addition to passive care, like adjustments, and manual therapy.

  • If imaging is necessary, it’s not used as a scare/sales tactic to sell you a long-term treatment plan, but rather as gathering more clinically important information so you can be treated properly.

If you need help with your pain and are struggling to find the right provider, reach out to our office. Dr. Christian and Dr. Rob will thoroughly assess to find the root cause and teach you how to treat yourself in addition to chiropractic care. They are able to help the vast majority of people and will refer you in a timely fashion if they can’t help.