Health Topics

What is Chiropractic?


Chiropractic is a health care profession that focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, and the effects of these disorders on general health. Chiropractic care is used most often to treat neuromusculoskeletal complaints, including but not limited to back pain, neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, and headaches.
Doctors of Chiropractic – often referred to as chiropractors or chiropractic physicians – practice a drug-free, hands-on approach to health care that includes patient examination, diagnosis and treatment. Chiropractors have broad diagnostic skills and are also trained to recommend therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises, as well as to provide nutritional, dietary and lifestyle counseling.

The most common therapeutic procedure performed by doctors of chiropractic is known as “spinal manipulation,” also called “chiropractic adjustment.” The purpose of manipulation is to restore joint mobility by manually applying a controlled force into joints that have become hypomobile – or restricted in their movement – as a result of a tissue injury. Tissue injury can be caused by a single traumatic event, such as improper lifting of a heavy object, or through repetitive stresses, such as sitting in an awkward position with poor spinal posture for an extended period of time. In either case, injured tissues undergo physical and chemical changes that can cause inflammation, pain, and diminished function for the sufferer. Manipulation, or adjustment of the affected joint and tissues, restores mobility, thereby alleviating pain and muscle tightness, and allowing tissues to heal.

Chiropractic adjustment rarely causes discomfort. However, patients may sometimes experience mild soreness or aching following treatment (as with some forms of exercise) that usually resolves within 12 to 48 hours.

In many cases, such as lower back pain, chiropractic care may be the primary method of treatment. When other medical conditions exist, chiropractic care may complement or support medical treatment by relieving the musculoskeletal aspects associated with the condition.

Doctors of chiropractic may assess patients through clinical examination, laboratory testing, diagnostic imaging and other diagnostic interventions to determine when chiropractic treatment is appropriate or when it is not appropriate. Chiropractors will readily refer patients to the appropriate health care provider when chiropractic care is not suitable for the patient’s condition, or the condition warrants co-management in conjunction with other members of the health care team.

To read ACA’s official description of chiropractic as presented in its master plan, click here.

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Research Explores Chiropractic's Effect On Diabetes

Main Category: Diabetes
Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience
Article Date: 07 Feb 2007 - 0:00 PST

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Diabetes is the fifth deadliest disease in the United States and a growing epidemic worldwide. Now, researchers are finding evidence that chiropractic adjustments might be able to make a valuable contribution to an overall program of wellness care to help diabetes sufferers.

A study published in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research (JVSR; http://www.jvsr.com), focused on the positive response to chiropractic when used as part of an integrative treatment in the care of a patient with adult onset diabetes. The disease was diagnosed by a medical doctor.

Along with chiropractic care, the patient also received nutritional and exercise guidance.

The chiropractic care was directed toward correcting misalignments in the spine, called vertebral subluxations, which affect the relationship between the nervous system and organs.

After one month of being on the program, the patient's glucose blood and urine levels had normalized and remained stable. His medical doctor, who monitored his progress, said the patient would not need insulin if the condition remained stable.

According to the author of the research paper, Charles Blum, DC, president of the Sacro Occipital Technique Organization-USA, "It is unclear how much impact chiropractic care might have on the primary or secondary care of patients with diabetes. Further study is necessary to determine if there is a subset of patients with diabetes that might respond to chiropractic care incorporated in a system of other integrated methods of care."

The study was one of several recent research projects exploring the impact of vertebral subluxations on human health and well-being and the potential benefits of chiropractic. In the past, chiropractic was thought to be of help mainly to adults suffering back pain or headaches but current research is showing it has far broader applications.

"This type of study is popping up everywhere," stated JVSR Editor Matthew McCoy, DC. "For more than 100 years, chiropractors have maintained that what they do affects organ system function and general health. Case studies like this demonstrate the urgency for more research funding from the public and private sector on chiropractic and its effects beyond neck and back pain."

The potential for chiropractic to help people with diabetes is a particularly important line of inquiry. Between 1990 and 1999, incidence of disease increased by more than 40 percent. By the year 2000, nearly seven percent of the population was affected. Unless something changes, the future looks bleak. Roughly one out of every three men and two out of every five women born in the year 2000 will suffer from diabetes in their lifetime.

The life expectancy of men diagnosed with diabetes at age 40, is shorted, on average, by 11-13 years. For women, the figures are even more disturbing: their life expectancy is cut by 12 to 17 years of life. The disease also takes a huge financial toll, accounting for about $132 billion of the $865 billion spent in health care in 2002.

"Given the devastating effects of diabetes on people's health and the economic implications it is well worth investigating other treatments like chiropractic for diabetes," Dr. Blum pointed out. "We need to examine if chiropractic can help with improving a patient's sugar handling difficulties or even just help a patient under medication improve their quality of life and only further research and investigations will uncover these answers."

JVSR, a peer reviewed scientific journal devoted to subluxation-based chiropractic research, is affiliated with the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA), an international organization representing doctors of chiropractic. The WCA promotes traditional, drug-free and non-invasive chiropractic as a means of correcting vertebral subluxations that cause nerve interference. An abstract of the research report is available at http://www.jvsr.com.

World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA)
Chandler, AZ 85224
United States
http://www.worldchiropracticalliance.org