Frequently Asked Questions about Chiropractic.

What is chiropractic?
Chiropractors treat pains emanating from joints, nerves or muscles, whether it be in the spine or from other parts of the body like the shoulders, legs or arms. Chiropractic is based on the idea that your body is a self-regulating, self-healing organism. These important functions are controlled by the brain, spinal cord, and all the nerves of the body. Chiropractic is now State Registered and is the third largest primary health care profession in the world, after medicine and dentistry.

How does chiropractic work?
Chiropractic works by restoring your own inborn ability to be healthy. When under the proper control of your nervous system, all the cells, tissues, and organs of your body are designed to resist disease and ill health. The chiropractic approach to better health is to help you reach a natural state of health. With improved spinal function there is often improved nervous system function. Your chiropractic can help remove interferences that may be impairing normal health.

What does the treatment involve?

Treatment consists of gentle manipulative techniques, known as adjustments, to restore correct function, mobility and alignment to the joints. As a result, nerve and muscular function will then be improved. After years of training and clinical experience, each chiropractic doctor becomes highly skilled in the delivery of a variety of adjusting approaches. There are many ways to adjust the spine. Usually, the doctor uses his hands or a specially designed instrument (Activator) to deliver a brief and highly-accurate thrust.

This clinic mainly adopts gentle ‘low force’ techniques. Occasionally adjustments of a chronic or severe problem may cause transient mild discomfort, whilst your body adjusts to its ‘new’ alignment. We will tell you if this is likely to happen and will advise of self-help remedies in between treatments.

Chiropractic has an excellent safety record. It is the result of a conservative approach to health that avoids invasive procedures or addictive drugs. Chiropractic is very safe when treatment is carried out by a qualified practitioner. Your chiropractor is trained to recognise conditions which require referral elsewhere.

A full new patient appointment takes approximately 60 minutes. This will include a consultation whereby the chiropractor takes a full medical history from you and then performs a thorough examination. The chiropractor will then give you a Report of Findings, a diagnosis and then discuss a treatment programme with you. He will then give you your first treatment. This appointment will also last 60 mins, but future treatment visits will only last 30 mins.

Each patient is assessed individually and your chiropractor will explain your treatment programme to you prior to starting. Your recovery is dependent on many factors - the frequency of your presenting ailment, the length of time you have had symptoms and your own commitment to any rehabilitative exercises and treatment visits.

Your pains may be gone but the painful condition that brought you to this clinic has probably taken years to materialize, so treatments to stabilize the area may be required. If you have a lifestyle or occupation that caused the original condition, then regular treatments should also be considered.

Yes, chiropractic can help to prevent discomfort and pain, and is suitable for everyone. It is appropriate to visit a chiropractor even if you have no pain, as restrictions in movement can often be detected before symptoms appear.

Technically, a disc can't "slip." The inter-vertebral disc is a pad of cartilage-type material situated between spinal bones. Each disc serves as a connector, spacer, and shock absorber for the spine. A soft, jelly like center is contained by outer layers of fibrous tissue. Healthy discs help allow normal turning and bending. Because of the way each disc is attached to the vertebrae above and below, a disc cannot "slip." However, trauma or injury to the spine can cause a bulging disc, herniated disc, or worse, a rupture disc. This can be quite painful, as the soft center of the disc leaks, putting pressure on the adjacent nerve roots and spinal cord. 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.

In 1995 the British Medical Association concluded that patients with low back pain treated with chiropractic derive more benefit with long term satisfaction than those treated by hospitals. Following on from this, GPs were advised in 1996 by the Royal College of General Practitioners to recommend manipulative treatment within the first six weeks for patients with low back pain. More recently the National Institute for Health and Clinical Evidence (NICE) has approved chiropractic treatment for patients with low back pain. However, you do not need a GP referral to visit a chiropractor.

Absolutely! Recent research has indicated that patients who perform rehabilitative exercises in conjunction with their chiropractic treatment improve more quickly than those who do not. During your treatment we will instruct you on what exercise will help your condition.

There are some philosophical and clinical differences between chiropractor, physiotherapist and an osteopath, as well as many similarities. Similarly, two chiropractors could have two very different approaches to how they treat their patients. One chiropractor may even use osteopathic or physio techniques. The important factor is that the practitioner is well qualified. Chiropractic, physiotherapy and osteopathy professions now have statutory regulation. The Chiropractors Act received Royal Assent in July 1994. Resulting from it, the General Chiropractic Council was announced in January 1997. It is responsible for setting standards of both education and conduct within the profession, and requires all Chiropractors to be registered to practice legally in the UK.