
© COPYRIGHT 2009 BLUEGRASS CHIROPRACTIC, 1132 WINCHESTER RD,
SUITE 125, LEXINGTON, KY 40505 • 859.254.0059
Site Design by RaeHouse.com
What type of education is required to become a licensed Chiropractor?
Can I Speed The Healing Process?
What part can I play at home in the assistance of my pain
management?
Am I Too Old For Chiropractic Care?
If I already crack my own back and neck, will a chiropractic
adjustment do anything more for me?
Do I have a herniated disc?
What Is An Adjustment?
What type of education is required to become a licensed Chiropractor?
After undergraduate studies, today's chiropractic physician completes an additional four-year curriculum of over 4,500 college classroom hours of health sciences.
Today's Doctor of Chiropractic is well educated. The science of chiropractic
requires a special emphasis on anatomy, physiology, pathology, neurology,
biomechanics, X-ray, spinal adjusting techniques and related subjects. This
demanding curriculum prepares chiropractic doctors to locate the Vertebral
Subluxation Complex and help correct the resulting nervous system dysfunction.
To graduate with a Doctor of Chiropractic degree, each candidate passes the
demanding National Board Examination. Then, doctors apply to a governmental
or state professional licensing board and pass a still more difficult test
before being granted a license to practice in their particular state.
A chiropractic education never ends. Doctors complete postgraduate instruction
for license renewal every year to stay current on the latest scientific research.
(Top of Page)
Can I Speed The Healing Process?
Proper rest, exercise, life style changes and good nutrition are especially important during the healing process.
The body needs time to heal. By doing all the right things, you not only
speed up the healing process, you can truly improve the quality of healing
and hopefully reduce the chance of flare-ups.
(Top of Page)
What part can I play at home in the assistance of my pain management?
Chiropractic treatment obviously serves an important role in patient care
but can be limited based on the activities or lack of activities outside the
office. It is extremely important that care also includes in home activities
such as strengthening, coordination, endurance and posture exercises. By combining
rehab exercise and chiropractic treatment you will maximize your body’s chance
to heal and function properly.
(Top of Page)
Am I Too Old For Chiropractic Care?
Regardless of your age, chiropractic care can help improve flexibility and
help decrease joint pain. Most all people over the age of 50 have some sort
of degenerative arthritis. Improving mobility and function of the joints in
these patients can increase quality of their life. There are also many chiropractic
techniques for older individuals who have osteoporosis (bone loss).
(Top of Page)
If I already crack my own back and neck, will a chiropractic adjustment do anything more for me?
Many people that come into my office perform their own brand of chiropractic
to themselves by “popping” their own neck or back. They do this to relive
spinal pressure and pain that is being caused by an underlying spinal condition.
As time goes on they find themselves doing it multiple times throughout the
day because this pressure continues to build up. Eventually they find the
relief is just not the same as it used to be. Having a true chiropractic adjustment
is much different than randomly twisting your spine to cause popping. Since
a chiropractic adjustment is a specific force, applied in a specific direction,
to a specific spinal joint, it is virtually impossible to adjust oneself.
An adjustment typically feels very different than popping your own back and
gives much greater relief.
(Top of Page)
Trauma or injury to the spine can cause discs to tear, bulge, herniate, or
even worse, rupture. This can be quite painful, as the soft center of the
disc leaks, putting pressure on the adjacent nerve roots and spinal cord.
Typical symptoms with a disc condition can be one or more of the following:
numbness/tingling, pain and weakness into arms or legs, groin pain, lower
back pain, neck pain and in serious cases bowel or bladder dysfunction.
While results cannot be guaranteed, many patients have avoided needless surgery
or a dependency on pain pills, by choosing chiropractic care for their disc-related
health problem. Disc conditions are primarily diagnosised using a MRI or CAT
scans, which are routinely ordered by office for patients who display the
above symptoms.
(Top of Page)
A chiropractic adjustment is the art of using a specific force in a precise
direction, applied to a joint that is fixed, "locked up", or not
moving properly. This adds motion to the joint, helping the bones gradually
return to a more normal position and motion. The purpose of this safe and
natural procedure is improved spinal function, nervous system function and
health.
(Top of Page)