Spine
Chiropractic primarily focuses on correcting the misalignments that occur in the spine. The spine is made up of 33 individual bones (24 of which individually articulate) and houses the spinal cord. The spinal cord is the information highway for the body. The communication signals that govern and control the body travel to and from the brain via nerves that travel through the spinal cord. When misalignments occur in the vertebrae, known as vertebral subluxations, irritation can occur to the spinal nerves. This irritation can impede the Brain-Body communication. This is often referred to as a “pinched nerve”. This irritation isn’t as much a bone pinching or entrapping the nerve, but rather swelling and cell byproducts building up around the spinal nerve irritating and impeding it. It is similar to road construction on a highway. As lanes are closed due to the interference of the construction traffic is slowed and hindered; sometimes the roads are closed altogether. Similarly, as nerves are irritated and impinged signal pathways in the nerves are reduced and sometimes blocked. As this happens the communication in the body is slowed, interrupted, and potentially stopped. Chiropractic care identifies and corrects these vertebral subluxations to restore proper communication and function to the body.
When spinal misalignments occur any number of symptoms can be associated with it, the most common of which is pain. Lower back pain is on the three most common health problems in the US. Sciatica is just one of several very common lower back conditions. It is a very common condition associated with pain in the lower back and into the buttock or leg, which is most commonly a byproduct of spinal misalignment. Similarly, other lower back conditions such as a “slipped disc” are associated with spinal misalignments , also known as vertebral subluxations. By correcting these subluxations we can restore the body back to its full function and alleviate the pain along the way.
Another common lower back and neck condition is a disc injury. There are several different types of disc injuries including a bulging disc or a herniated disc. Chiropractic care can non-invasively treat a disc injury via spinal adjustments and spinal decompression with a high level of effectiveness and success. Conservatively treating a disc injury is more cost effective than surgery with better long-term outcomes. Some disc injuries require surgery, but most can be treated conservatively with tremendous success.