WHAT IS CHIROPRACTIC?
Chiropractic healthcare is based on the fact that your body is self-regulating, self-healing. When all systems are working properly, your body has the ability to keep you healthy. It has the ability to fight off bacteria and viruses. It has the ability to keep your musculoskeletal system working properly, and your nerves communicating the proper messages from one part of your body to another. It is when there is something out of balance in your body that it begins to show signs of sickness and pain, and to lose the ability to keep everything working the way it should.
Chiropractic treatment strives to create balance once again in the body so that it regains the ability to heal itself and remain healthy. The principle modality of chiropractic care is the ‘adjustment’. This consists of a specific force in a precise direction applied to a joint that is not moving properly. This adds motion to the joint, which is key for maintaining health in that joint, important for allowing other nearby joints to not be overworked, as well as assuring that the bones and muscles surrounding the joint are able to move in their proper path.
At the Chiropractic office of Dr. Julie Gauff, in order to provide the most thorough all inclusive care, many other treatment modalities may be used in addition to the adjustment. These include electrotherapies and ultrasound, heat and cold, traction therapy, soft tissue therapy, kinesio taping, nutrition counseling, and rehabilitative exercises.
Is Chiropractic Treatment Safe?
Chiropractic is widely recognized as one of the safest drug-free, non-invasive therapies available for the treatment. Although chiropractic has an excellent safety record, no health treatment is completely free of potential adverse effects.
The risks associated with chiropractic, however, are very small. Many patients feel immediate relief following chiropractic treatment, but some may experience mild soreness or aching, just as they do after some forms of exercise. Current literature shows that minor discomfort or soreness that sometimes follows a spinal manipulation typically fades within 24 hours.
Manipulation is a remarkably safe procedure. While some reports have associated neck adjustments with a certain kind of stroke, there is not yet a clear understanding of the connection. The occurrence appears to be very rare—1 in 5.85 million manipulations— based on the clinical reports and scientific studies to date. These same strokes have been reported at barber shops and spas while getting your hair done.
