Does Everyone Need to See a Chiropractor?

When people first find out I'm a chiropractor, there are two common responses.  First, is that they have been to a chiropractor and want me to "crack" their back or neck for them, often implying I should do it right there in the restaurant or wherever we may be.  Second are people who say, "I don't need to see a chiropractor.  I don't have back pain."  Should people who don't have pain go see a chiropractor?

It wasn't all that long ago that people only saw medical doctors when they were sick.  They only consulted a dentist when they had a tooth ache.  I'm old enough to remember those days.  The idea of consulting a health professional for prevention of problems is a fairly recent phenomenon.  Most of our society now sees the logic in seeing an MD, dentist, or optometrist before problems arise for either prevention or early treatment.  Using the same logic, it also makes sense to see a chiropractor before back pain, neck pain or headaches become problems.

Since every person has a spine, everyone has the potential to develop spinal problems.  Statistically, 80% of Canadians will experience back pain over the course of their lifetime.  For many of those people it will be debilitating; interfering with their ability to work or perform activities of daily living.  But the effects of spinal problems are not limited to pain.  Abnormal function of spinal joints results in irritation to adjacent spinal nerves.  This produces alteration of nerve function through the entire path of that particular spinal nerve.  The result can be health problems distant from the spine itself.  A person can suffer detrimental effects of spinal problems without actually having pain in their spine.

Chiropractors use the term, Vertebral Subluxation, to describe abnormally functioning spinal joints with associated nerve irritation.  It may or may not be accompanied by pain.  Chiropractors are uniquely trained to detect and correct Vertebral Subluxations.  Like most conditions, Vertebral Subluxations can be most effectively treated when they are detected early.  Once abnormal spinal joint function becomes chronic, associated muscles adapt patterns where they are either too tight or too lax.  The ligaments of the joints are weakened.  Blood supply to the joints is altered as well.  It's also significant that chronically irritated spinal nerves heal very slowly.  Consequently detecting and correcting Vertebral Subluxations early, even before there is associated pain, makes a lot of sense.  Seeing a chiropractor when you don't have back pain, neck pain or headaches is as logical as seeing a medical doctor when you aren't sick or a dentist when you don't have a toothache or an optometrist when you can see well.  

If you are the type of person that only consults a health professional when they have an obvious problem, you likely won't grasp the logic of seeing a chiropractor when you don't have pain in your back, neck or head.  But that doesn't mean that you don't have spinal problems.  Waiting until you have pain can result in much more damage to the tissues and prolonged treatment.  As well when treatment is delayed the outcomes are often much less desirable.

As always whether you choose to see a chiropractor when you don't have pain is up to you.  But the logical approach is to get checked and assure your spine is working as well as it can so you don't end up with debilitating or chronic spinal problems.  Regular chiropractic adjustments should be part of your healthy lifestyle.

What Makes Chiropractic Adjustments So Powerful?

A chiropractic adjustment is a very simple procedure.  The chiropractor analyzes a patient's spine for an area that has lost its proper position and motion.  Then a very quick, light thrust is applied in a specific direction to this area.  This may be done to one or several areas of the spine and the patient's spine has been adjusted.  Both the analysis and the procedure are quick and simple.

Most people visit chiropractors because of pain in the back or neck.  It's easy for them to make the connection between pain in the spine and the benefits of adjusting the spine.  But many of these people, who've come for relief of back and neck pain, find other positive things happen after receiving chiropractic adjustments.  Some examples from my practice over that past few weeks are:

• the child who is no longer constipated
• the man who no longer gets heartburn at every meal 
• the lady who now sleeps comfortably through the night
• the gentleman who no longer has constant hiccups
• the baby who nurses without vomiting everything back up
• the woman who can walk with her friends again without discomfort
• the fellow whose jaw no longer "cracks" so loudly that it annoyed his family
• the boy who no longer has chest pain and shortness of breath when he runs

There are many more examples I could list of positive, unexpected benefits patients in my office have experienced recently.  In each case, the person was analyzed for spinal problems and given simple chiropractic adjustments.

That a chiropractic adjustment can produce such a wide range of positive effects can seem amazing.  The power in the adjustment is not in the technique the chiropractor uses or even in the force that the chiropractor puts into the spine.  The power comes from what the body does with that force.  When areas of the spine have lost their proper position and motion it means that a Vertebral Subluxation is present.  Vertebral Subluxations also involve irritation of the adjacent spinal nerves.  Once the nerves are irritated, all areas of the body that depend on those particular nerves are negatively affected.  A chiropractic adjustment applied to a Vertebral Subluxation restores normal position and motion which then results normalization of the spinal nerves.  Once nerve function returns, truly amazing things can happen in the body.  The body can again function the way it was designed to.  The chiropractic adjustment can be likened to turning on a switch that gets the body working again.  Chiropractic adjustments turn the nerves on.  It's that simple.  That's why chiropractic adjustments are so powerful!

Chiropractic & Neck Pain

About three quarters of our population will be plagued with neck pain at some point in their lives.  At any point in time approximately 10% of the population is experiencing some type of neck pain.  It certainly is no small problem for our society and it is a big problem for sufferers.  As with any condition, finding the best treatment is crucial.

The January 2012 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine published a study by Bronford et. al. entitled Spinal Manipulation, Medication, and Home Exercise with Advice for Acute and Subacute Neck Pain. (You can read the complete study at: http://www.annals.org/content/156/1_Part_1/1.full.pdf+html )  This randomized study looked at people who had neck pain for 2 to 12 weeks.  Having pain for that time period is what is considered to be acute or subacute pain. The people in the study were given either spinal manipulation (chiropractic adjustments), medication or home exercises with advice for a period of twelve weeks.  Their pain levels were evaluated at 2, 4, 8, 12, 26, and 52 weeks.  

The findings showed clearly superior results for the manipulation group over the medication group at each evaluation after week 4.  Even though initially the people taking medication showed improvement, at 8, 12, 26, and 52 weeks their results were far inferior to the manipulation group. The results for the home exercises combined with advice was similar to the manipulation group.  Although it was not part of this study, it would be interesting to see what the results would be when chiropractic adjustments and home exercises are combined.  That's what I generally recommend.


Chiropractic care is effective because instead of just numbing the symptoms, it addresses the cause of the pain.  A large portion of neck pain cases are caused by vertebral subluxations.  A vertebral subluxation is when the joints of the spine have lost their proper motion and position resulting in irritation of the surrounding nerves.  Chiropractors specialize in the detection and correction of vertebral subluxations.


The Bronford study adds to the long list of research papers which show chiropractic care is superior to medications for both neck and low back pain.  We have a number of other studies summarized on our website at http://www.powers-jans.com/index.php?p=228152 .  It's important however to keep in mind that chiropractic is about more than just pain relief.  It's about allowing the body to function normally.  It's about health.

Massage Therapy

To say I was over due for a good massage was an understatement.  I usually have a therapeutic massage every 3 - 4 weeks.  It had been almost 8 weeks.  When I go that long been massages, the experience is not usually real pleasant.  My muscles tighten up too much over that length of time.  It is easier on both me and the therapist when I get massaged regularly.  The massage therapists at Powers & Jans Centre don't usually have mercy on me either, so I try to avoid neglecting my massages.

There are good reasons to get a massage regularly.  Therapeutic massage produces a host of beneficial effects in the body.  These include improving flexibility, muscle tone, blood flow, and lymphatic drainage.  This helps promote soft tissue healing.  Massage helps to increase dopamine and serotonin levels in the body enhancing a person's sense of well being.  The immune system is also stimulated.  Massage is also extremely beneficial in stress reduction.

As chiropractors we find that therapeutic massage works very complementary to our chiropractic adjustments.  We regularly coordinate massages and adjustments for a variety of conditions including headaches, neck pain, back pain, and sprains/strains.  Shoulder, arm, hip, knee and leg problems also benefit from combined treatments.


From my personal stand point, I function better when I get a therapeutic massage on a regular basis.  Not only are my muscles less tense, but my overall motion is improved.  As part of an overall strategy to maintain health, all of the benefits listed above are important.  Having a healthy lifestyle involves putting together many pieces, all of which lead to the end result of health.  No one thing will make us healthy.  Therapeutic massage can be a very valuable component of a healthy lifestyle.  It certainly is for me.


Even though I regret that it was so long between massages, Amanda was kind to me.  There were a few areas that were quite sore as she worked on them but I felt so much better when she was done.  I promise Amanda, I won't go so long between massages again. 

Vomiting

Here's a question for you: If you throw up, does that mean your body is sick or healthy?  Think about it.

Let's look at this a little more closely.  Say you and your friends went out to a not so fabulous restaurant and ate some potato salad that wasn't properly stored.  Later that night all of you get stomach cramps.  What's the best thing for your body to do?  Throw the bad food back up; get rid of it, right?

What should your body do if the digestive tract is overrun by a pathogenic bacteria or virus?  How about if you lose track of how many beer you've consumed and the alcohol in your system is becoming toxic?  The best response for your body in both these scenarios is to vomit.  That's the healthiest reaction for the body.  A healthy body expels toxin substances from the upper digestive tract by vomiting.  Even though you may not feel perky, the body is not sick.  It is protecting you from becoming sick.

Too often we look at symptoms as being the problem rather than looking for the cause of the symptoms.  Just suppressing symptoms can be dangerous.  What if you stopped the vomiting in the situations mentioned and the toxins remained in the body?  Far more serious damage would occur. 

Back pain, neck pain, headaches, fatigue, sleeplessness, numbness, weakness; they are all just symptoms.  What is causing the symptoms?  That's what chiropractors try to find.   Our primary job is to find vertebral subluxations that are interfering with the proper functioning of the nervous system.  A variety of symptoms, not just pain, can occur when the nervous system is not working optimally.  The key is to look to the cause of the symptoms and not just mask the symptoms.  Just like inhibiting vomiting can be dangerous, covering up or numbing any symptom can also produce greater problems.


Symptoms, like vomiting, are a healthy body's signals to you that there is a problem.  You need to fix the cause rather than eliminate the symptoms.

Quack, Quack

Growing up I remember my older brother referring to the local chiropractor as the "Town Quack".  The term quack can be defined as someone who fraudulently pretends to have a medical skill.  This has often been used to describe chiropractors.  Chiropractors did not pretend to be medical doctors or possess the same skills as a medical doctor, rather we have developed our own particular skill set.  Chiropractors were seen as being unscientific and the chiropractic approach was labelled unorthodox.  Even though countless people were helped with chiropractic care, chiropractic was ridiculed and chiropractors labelled as quacks.

There has been a significant shift in attitudes in the past two decades as science has caught up to what chiropractors have observed clinically for a long time.  Independent researchers and policy makers are acknowledging the benefits of the unique chiropractic approach.  For the great majority of patients with both acute and chronic low back pain, neck pain, and cervicogenic headaches spinal manipulation (chiropractic adjustments) is recommended by authoritative groups who establish treatment guidelines in both Europe and North America.  These include the UK Evidence Report (2010), Joint Clinical Practice Guidelines from the American College of Physicians and the American Pain Society (2007), European Back Pain Guidelines (2004), Bone and Joint Decade Neck Pain Task Force (2006), and Evidence-Based Practice Center at Duke University (2001).  As recently as May of this year the British Medical Journal was arguing that primary care for patients with back pain and musculoskeletal problems should be transferred from general practitioners to chiropractors, osteopaths, and physiotherapists.

The reason for the wide acceptance of the chiropractic approach is that there is now a great abundance of research showing that chiropractic adjustments are amongst the most effective treatments available for neck pain, back pain, cervicogenic headaches, and other musculoskeletal conditions.  More of what we do as chiropractors is validated every year.   More of what we do still needs to proven.  But just because something is not scientifically validated doesn't mean it should be discontinued.

Even as chiropractic struggles to prove itself, much of what we consider to be scientifically accepted medical procedures actually remain unproven.  The Office of Technology Assessment, a branch of the United States Congress, with the help of an advisory board of eminent university faculty, has published a report with the conclusion that, " . . . only 10 to 20 percent of all procedures currently used in medical practice have been shown to be efficacious by controlled trial."  The British Medical Journal puts give the figure 15%. Therefore, 80% to 90% of medical procedures routinely performed are unproven.  Should all these procedures be discontinued until they are scientifically validated?  Probably not and neither should chiropractic procedures.  The very nature of scientific analysis and the vagaries of the human body may mean some very effective procedures may never be scientifically validated.

Only rabid sensationalist continue to call chiropractors quacks.  The term still doesn't apply because we are not medical doctors and we don't pretend to do medical procedures.  We practice chiropractic; a scientifically validated branch of the healing arts.

Pain in the Neck

Do you suffer from a pain in the neck?  I'm not referring to your neighbour, child, spouse or parent (bad joke, forgive me), but to a physical pain in the upper part of your spine.  The pain may be an ache, a stab, a burn, a throb or a shock.  It can be an annoyance or debilitating.  Regardless of the nature of the symptoms you are experiencing, neck pain shouldn't be ignored.  Pain is your body's signal that something is wrong.  Ignoring the pain is like ignoring a warning light on the dash of your car.  Ignore either your body's signals or your car's signals and there can be long term consequences.  (It's okay to ignore other people who are being a pain in the neck).

There can be many causes of neck pain, some quite serious.  The most common cause is a vertebral subluxation.  This is a condition where the joints of the spine lose their proper motion and the nerves next to joints become irritated.  There is associated damage to the surrounding muscles and ligaments along with swelling.  The pain can be localized in the neck or can travel into the arms, upper back and chest.  Subluxations in the neck are a frequent cause of headaches.

Chiropractors are specifically trained to find vertebral subluxations and correct them with spinal adjustments.  We are the only profession with this specific training.  Should the neck pain be caused by something other that a subluxation, we are also trained to determine other problems.  If there is a more serious condition, that is beyond our expertise, we will refer you for appropriate care.

If vertebral subluxations are not corrected, they can lead to accelerated joint degeneration, muscle atrophy, chronic pain, loss of mobility, and nerve degeneration.  These are not things any of us want to experience.  At our office we use Activator Methods to correct subluxations.  This is a very specific and comfortable procedure which restores normal joint function allowing healing of all the associated tissues.  During correction pain is usually the first thing to disappear.  Getting rid of the pain in the neck is the starting point.  Rehabilitating the muscles, ligaments and nerves can take much longer.  We will assist you through the entire process if you desire.  At our office it is always the patient's choice on how they proceed with their chiropractic care.

Don't ignore neck pain, or any other pain.  Pain is your body's way of telling you to do something.

Auto Accidents

Summer, winter, spring, fall - there are auto accidents in every season.  The amount of damage done to occupants can be great even when little damage is done to the vehicle.  The human neck is particularly vulnerable in a motor vehicle accident but the low back, shoulders, jaw and knees are also commonly hurt.  When symptoms occur immediately, it can be a sign of significant injury, but often it can be several days before symptoms appear.  Even with a large amount of soft tissue damage, symptoms may not be severe initially.

To understand how damage occurs in an accident, basic physics needs to be considered.  The force from the mass of the impacting vehicles is transferred to the occupants who are of considerably less mass.  The result is a tremendous amount of stress on the soft tissues, particularly in the spine.  The head which weighs about the same as a 10 pin bowling ball is whipped backward, forward, or sideways depending on the location of the impact.  The term whiplash is used to describe these forceful, sudden motions.  The tissues of the neck are not nearly strong enough to withstand the forces from even a minor accident.  Damage is usually not limited to the neck.  The entire spine is usually affected and the extremities may be as well.

Because of the extensive damage, correcting the injuries can take a considerable length of time.  Chiropractic adjustments, low level laser therapy, therapeutic massage, nutritional supplementation, and exercise programs may all need to be employed to get proper healing of the injured tissues.  The sooner treatment can be started after the injuries occur, the better the results usually are.  Delayed or untreated injuries will heal with scar tissue which is less elastic and less functional than the original tissue.  This can result in accelerated degeneration and increased susceptibility to future injury.  Many chronic conditions can result from improperly treated whiplash injuries.  I can't tell you how many times patients have told me they wished they had looked after their injuries better following auto accidents that had occurred years earlier.  These people have come to realize too late that not properly rehabilitating the accident related spinal injuries has resulted in ongoing health issues.

In Alberta, only chiropractors and physiotherapists are authorized to establish treatment plans for injuries sustained in motor vehicle accidents.  This is because insurance companies recognize that physical treatment is far more effective than drug therapy or rest for the type of soft tissue injury incurred in auto accidents.  The insurance industry in conjunction with the government and health care providers has established a very streamlined system to assure accident victims received proper care.  All persons involved in an accident, regardless of who is at fault, are pre-approved to receive 10 or 21 treatments from recognized practitioners after assessment and recommendation by a chiropractor or physiotherapist.  Obviously I'm biased, but I think you should consult a chiropractor first.  I say this because we are the only profession specifically trained to find and adjust subtle spinal joint injuries called vertebral subluxations.  Unless the subluxations are corrected the spine cannot function properly.  Without a well functioning spine, a person cannot be healthy.

If you, or someone you know has been in a motor vehicle accident,  get your spine checked by a chiropractor as soon as possible.  The sooner treatment can begin the better the prognosis.