“what’s this chiropractic thingy all about?”
With three easy steps, you’ll soon be up to speed on what every chiropractic patient needs to know.
Watch The Video
Grab the popcorn! The short video below is an entertaining explainer about how your body works and how chiropractic can help keep yours working properly and feeling good.
The Key Points
Do chiropractors treat symptoms? Does your body heal itself? Review these and other key points from the video. (You can find these on this page below the video).
Expect A Question
Heads up! You can expect Dr Greg to ask you a question (or two) to check what you’ve discovered from watching the video. (Tip: What is a subluxation?)
Note that the video was created a few years ago now. So, yes, the clothing and hairstyles are a bit retro. But the content is really good. We promise it will be worth the 12 minutes!
Here is the video:
Key Points From The Video
Why it matters
Your nervous system is the master system of your body, controlling and regulating all the other parts. If your body isn’t working properly, you can be certain that the nervous system is involved.
Nerves
Pairs of nerves branch off from the spinal cord and pass out from the spine between each of the movable vertebrae (spinal bones).
Delicate
Your central nervous system is extremely delicate, a little like wet pasta.
Anatomy
Your central nervous system is made up of your brain and spinal cord. The spinal cord is a long bundle of nerve tissue which extends from the lower part of your brain down through your spinal column.
Communication
The nervous system is a communication network that relays messages back and forth between the brain and different parts of the body via the spinal cord.
What protects it?
Your skull and spine protect your central nervous system.
Why it matters
Your spine protects the delicate spinal cord and the nerves and allows you to bend, twist and flex freely without compromising the nerves.
Spinal Curves
A healthy spine has 3 primary curves. A graceful forward curve in the neck. A backward curve in the midback. And another forward curve in the low back. Proper curves give the spine strength and allow it to move well.
Anatomy
Your spine has 24 movable vertebrae, each working with the one above and below it.
A disc separates the vertebrae and acts like a shock absorber and spacer for the nerves.
Posture
Good posture is important as it helps to protect your spine form accelerated damage and decay. Regular chiropractic care for you and your family, plus some simple exercises, can help keep the spine in a normal, healthy posture.
What is a subluxation?
This is when two or more vertebra have lost their normal motion and/or position; causing an interruption to the normal nerve flow and interfering with communication from the brain to the body… and from the body back to the brain.
What happens to the messages?
A subluxation can alter the quality or quantity of the nerve messages. They can speed up. They can slow down. Or it can distort the nerve messages to and from the brain.
What is a ‘silent’ subluxation?
Interruption to the normal nerve flow can occur without pain. You can have multiple subluxations present in your spine and be feeling good. This is why your chiropractor will often recommend routine check-ups, even when you feel fine!
Does it affect my health?
A communication break-down within the nervous system from subluxation can compromise the proper function of your body. This lack of ‘harmony’ has the potential to cause many health problems.
What causes a subluxation?
Our patients sometimes try to figure out what THE cause of their subluxations may be. “Did I sit too long?” “Did I lift something too heavy?” The reality is…there is rarely a singular cause of subluxation. They are usually the result of an accumulation of many of everyday life’s physical, chemical, and emotional stressors.
Physical stressor examples
Sitting more than 2-3 hours a day, gardening, sport, car accidents, falls, pregnancy, improper lifting, birth, and poor posture.
Emotional stressor examples
Arguments, financial stress, job dissatisfaction, lack of purpose, negative self-talk, fear and anxiety, loneliness, hectic life demands , frustration, lack of sense of self worth, not feeling loved, not feeling supported, and a lack of feeling of belonging. Many of these negative thoughts repeat without your awareness.
Chemical stressor examples
Food additives, cosmetics, cleaning products, medications, alcohol, tobacco smoking, environmental pollution, and work related chemical exposure.
Subluxation degeneration?
When you have a subluxation, this area can begin to degenerate in as little as two weeks. Scar tissue (“rust”) develops, motion is reduced, and the area progressively decays.
Is an “old person” problem?
Spinal degeneration has nothing to do with how old you are. You can be 60 years old and have a healthy spine. Or you can be 10 and already have a spine is showing signs of degeneration. It all depends on when and how the subluxation occurred.
Is it preventable?
The degeneration from subluxation can be prevented. Adjustments from your chiropractor break up the scar tissue and retrain your spine. This can slow or stop the decay .
Why spinal x-rays?
Your chiropractor will often want x-rays of your spine to determine the presence and severity of any subluxation degeneration. If detected, it will be graded from Phase I to Phase III depending on the degree of degeneration present.
What is a symptom?
Symptoms are a way for your body to let you know that something is wrong. If, for example, you have nerve interference from subluxation in your cervical spine (neck), then you may experience headaches, migraines, lowered immune function, brain fog, chronic tiredness, or sleep difficulty…just to name a few.
Do chiros treat symptoms?
Wellness chiropractors do not treat the symptoms. Rather, they remove the nerve interference caused by subluxations. This allows your body to do what it does best…which is heal itself!
What about no symptoms?
You can have no symptoms (i.e. feeling good) and NOT be healthy. Think about when a person has a heart attack or a stroke. They don’t actually feel the arteries blocking up and often don’t feel anything is wrong until it is too late. At The Wellness Chiropractor, we don’t rely on symptoms to determine if care is required.
But some chiros do treat pain!
That is correct! Not all chiropractors are wellness chiropractors. Some chiros have lost their way and choose to offer treatment for pain and symptoms.
A modern healthcare team
These days, you should have a health care team made up of a chiropractor, dentist, optometrist, exercise and nutritional coach, and a medical doctor.
You need two doctors
Consider having a health care team that includes a wellness doctor and a sickness doctor. Your GP, for example, is important in taking care of your trauma, sickness and disease issues. While your wellness chiropractor is trained to guide you along the path to better health and wellbeing.
What is a wellness chiropractor?
A wellness chiropractor has completed additional post-graduate studies and become an expert in providing evidence-based wellness lifestyle education. Dr Greg has been recognised by the International Chiropractic Association as a Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner.
Chiropractic and your family
Research shows that families involved in regular chiropractic care experience less pain, get sick less often, miss less school and work, and function a higher level of health. In other words, they have a better quality of life.
Safety of chiropractic
After 18 months of research, the New Zealand Commission of Inquiry into chiropractic released their report and concluded that ‘spinal manipulation in the hands of a registered chiropractor is remarkably safe.’
Less need for medical services
A study by a US insurance company, showed that clients who use chiropractic used far fewer medical services. On average, hospital admissions were down by 60%. Hospital days by 69%. Outpatient procedures down by 85%. And pharmaceutical costs down by 56%
Chiropractic and children
The Journal of Paediatrics found a chiropractor is the most used alternative healthcare for children.