FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS IN GALESBURG IL

Chiropractors are trained like nobody else to perform the adjustment of the spine and other joints. The fact that our professional Mal-practice insurance is so low indicates just how safe it is to attend a chiropractor. Insurance companies deal with risk, and statistically risk for a patient in a chiropractic office is quite low. At our clinic, we practice the Activator Method of adjusting. This is the administration of thrust to the spine with a small, hand held tool that is very controlled. We do not latch onto the head and twist. What mother would want their child’s neck twisted and “cracked”? Yes, it all works, but good luck explaining this to moms and dads.

Some say that they get a bit sore after the adjustment. Some say that the character of the original pain has changed from sharp to sore, and this is quit normal. Some just become quite tired. Some very common side effects of the spinal adjustment are better breathing, deeper sleep, less tension, and better bowel function. Why would this be? Because all spinal nerve roots also send nerve fibers into organs. Yes, you usually come to us for your immediate pain, but benefits of adjusting are surely full body and mind. The spine is the key to so many health problems. Remember Hippocrates, Well he is famous for saying “In all disease, look well to the spine for the root of the cause.” Now you know why.

Good question! Truthfully, no one can answer this question, but it is asked a lot. Need is a strange word in health protocols. What does a person need for what level of result? Are we talking to become pain free? Are we talking to get the problem solved or fixed or aligned better, AND FOR HOW LONG? Are we talking to be able to work again only with mild medication. I once had a person tell me “I’d get adjusted every day if I had the time and the money.” This becomes quite nebulous, and I apologize for that! In medicine we are told to take the drug FOREVER, not for 7 months until the problem is solved. In my experience, many spinal joint problems get much better in 8-12 sessions. The elderly with bad arthritic degeneration will take much longer, and some of these folks simply have permanent joint damage. Once a person improves in spinal health the forces of life (gravity and stress) are always bombarding the body. So, we recommend REGULAR spinal adjusting to keep from going way down hill. This would equate to an adjustment check up every month or two. Good health habits are ongoing for a lifetime!

Who hasn’t tried this one? And Failed! You think if you can just get a joint to make noise you have corrected the problem. Wrong! A joint must set in the proper direction and free up the nerve. This can only be done via a force coming from outside of you. Chiropractors are trained extensively in anatomy and biomechanics in order to deliver a safe and effective spinal adjustment. Heck, I even earned a Masters degree in Anatomy. I know this flies in the face of some of the junk that you have seen on the internet. But, how much do YOU really know about anatomy and physiology? The self adjuster indeed puts himself at risk of tearing a joint capsule. Wow, does that ever hurt! Chiropractic has become a profession because of its specificity and its different philosophy of healing. Let the pros adjust you! You can do your own exercises and take your own supplements.

They crack your back, right! The sound of a spinal adjustment administered many times gives off an audible release noise that does sound a lot like the cracking of the knuckles.

But why? The audible that is heard during an adjustment is actually a gaseous release from the affected joint. Joints under pressure do build up a gas. At our clinic, we adjust spines with a small, hand-held tool that delivers a quick force into the joint. With this technique there is no audible.

Bottom line, is you want your problem solved. It could be Sciatica, Migraine Head Ache, Severe Tension, Back or Neck Pain, or even Constipation. All of these conditions can be traced back to a spinal origin at a nerve root. If the nerve root gets irritated by a misaligned bone the body part served by that root will suffer.

The chiropractor is trained to locate the irritated spinal nerve root, and adjust the vertebrae so that the nerve restores normal signal to the body part in question. When a body part receives unhindered brain signal via the spinal cord, normal function can be restored. The body part can finally stop hurting and perform its innate duties.

That’s what a chiropractor does.

In this era, people want to be the best they can be. Anti-aging has become a hot phrase. What can one do to lower the risk of disease and premature aging?

Well, the spinal column is referred to as Grand Central Station for a reason. It carries all the brain signals to all the body parts. Period!

Keeping a good spinal alignment benefits the body by allowing maximum immune resistance. Another benefit is yielding maximum muscle strength and joint mobility. And yet another benefit is preparing the body for the best chance of quality adaptation to the stresses of life. The organs must respond to stress intelligently.

Walking, sleeping, thinking, digesting, eliminating, working, playing, and performing all the daily duties of life are enhanced more efficiently when the spine is kept mobile and in good alignment.

I have come to realize over the years that many Chiropractors do not take spinal x-ray films in their clinics. I don’t understand this logic, and I want to explain just why.

We shoot the standing x-ray films on a high majority of our patients.

A person can actually look great from the outside, and not so great from the inside on the x-ray film.

I know I am going to be adjusting the spine of a patient in an area of pain or complaint, and I do not want to be guessing about what is deep inside this person. Diagnostically, I want to be sure just what I am dealing with at the spinal level. Many degenerative issues such as narrow discs and bone spurs can be witnessed on the film. It sure behooves me to know all of this before proceeding with care.

I am always interested in viewing actual alignment in the spinal column. Standing x-ray film will yield this information. This really confirms exactly where I need to be for the spinal adjustment. Position of the vertebrae seen on a film indeed helps the doctor focus in on where he/she needs to be for the Chiropractic care.

Yes, Everybody wants to be out of pain and fully functional in 10 minutes. No system I know of does this!

I surely get excited when people share that they are sleeping much better and their range of the motion has improved. A powerful drug may knock out pain for the short term, but has anything really changed deep inside the body? Has the cause of the exhausting pain been addressed and acted upon? This is the nature of the chiropractic care. Find a nerve impingement, and make a structural change in the skeletal system so that the nerve transmission normalizes.

The young patient will change faster the old patient. Smoking and poor eating habits will indeed slow down the healing process. Those who regularly exercise will change better and faster than those who never exercise. If the condition has been in the body for decades versus 3 weeks makes a difference. Chronic problems do take longer to repair. And some conditions are permanent. Repetitive care is the norm for the long term, chronic sufferer. The 9 year old that fell in the yard usually responds quite well in a few short weeks.

The bottom line is that we are all similar yet vastly different due to our habits, age and history. My experience shows me that people usually get expected results within 4-12 weeks of Chiropractic care. The patient will always be the judge of just how effective any plan of care has been in their life.

You know exactly where your pain or discomfort is. And you have been trained to take something or apply something to the area of the body for RELIEF. But, have you considered the possibility of your pain originating at one place and showing up at another place? This concept is called referred pain, and it is quite common.

The Chiropractor is trained to trace your pain back to an origin at the spinal level. These lesions in the spine that refer pain to a remote area are called SUBLUXATIONS.

In order to pinpoint a subluxation the Chiropractor usually evaluates with 5 things in mind.

First, we take x-rays in order to see mal-positioning of bone on a film.

Second, we will perform a thermal scan to witness areas of inflammation out to the skin level.

Third, we palpate the spinal segments for tenderness to deep touch. Many people aren’t tender until they are palpated deeply at a problem area.

Fourth, We evaluate back motion to see if any restriction is present.

Fifth, we evaluate your symptom pattern and trace it back to the nerve that runs that body region.

This gives some insight into just how a Chiropractor focuses in on the cause of your problem.