Chiropractic
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If you are a little confused about what chiropractic care actually entails, you are most certainly not alone. Many people are confused about the nature of chiropractic treatment and the somewhat poor reputation associated with chiropractic care.
Let's find out more about this highly successful form of alternative medicine that offers relief to millions of Americans every year.
Various forms of manipulation have been used therapeutically for centuries. However, it wasn’t until the 1800s that scientific basis for the practice was instituted, and the word ‘chiropractic’, a translated form of the Greek words cheir and praktos, which essentially mean ‘done by hand’, was established.
Chiropractic care refers to the manual manipulation of the body with the purpose of alleviating problems with the musculoskeletal system. The musculoskeletal system is comprised of the bones, muscles, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, joints and other connective tissues that provide shape, support, stability and movement in the body. When there are problems within the musculoskeletal system, it can cause mild, chronic or extreme pain, limited mobility, and difficulty in carrying out our usual day to day tasks.
A chiropractor can treat a variety of spinal conditions and their side effects by manipulating the spine by hand – a process that sounds much more intense and painful than it really is. In fact, spinal manipulation is a precise, swift adjustment that aims to release the pressure on the nerves in your back in order to allow the body to begin to heal itself.
Chiropractic care has been successfully used to treat a wide range of spinal conditions with most problems occurring either in the lower back (lumbar) or neck (cervical spine). Some of the most commonly seen conditions treated by chiropractors include:
Arthritis in the spine
Herniated disc
Pinched nerves
Sciatica
Scoliosis
Spinal stenosis
Whiplash, usually as a result of an automobile accident