How Long Will I need Chiropractic Care?
People’s approach to health is perhaps two-fold: “crisis management” or “preventative care”.
Crisis management is when patients seek chiropractic care only when their aches or pain becomes unbearable. While this style of management is usually more costly and time consuming, we are ready to help all patients, regardless of their health goals. If you see our company logo, we have the slogan- “it’s your health”. We realise that you are the boss of your health, so it’s always up to you to determine how long you want to benefit from chiropractic care.
For optimal spinal and nerve function, we recommend ongoing supportive chiropractic care. Our clinic members find a schedule of preventative chiropractic adjustments help keep them in optimal shape.
Patient’s frequently ask, “how long will I need chiropractic care?”. Perhaps the real question you should be asking yourself is, “how long do I want to be-well, feel-well and do-well?”.
When Should I See A Chiropractor?
The most common reason that an individual will seek chiropractic care is for some form of relief. Statistically, seven out of ten singaporeans will experience back pain at some point in their life. When the level of pain reaches to a point where it causes interruptions and restricitons in the activities of daily life, we scream for help. Chiropractors call this, “crisis management”.
Many of us practice preventative care when it comes to taking our cars for regular servicing, or regularly brushing our teeth for dental hygiene. However, when it comes to looking after our spines- it takes the “back” seat. Why? The spine protects your most precious system in your body- the nervous system. If one can fathom this, then preventative spinal care makes sense!
On the back of our clinic member heatlh cards is written, Be Well-Feel Well-Do Well. So if an individual was to ask me, “when should I see a chiropractor?” my reply is: “when they want to be well or stay well.”
What Can Chiropractic Help?
As chiropractors, it is not unusual to be asked by a prospective patient, “do you treat headaches?”, “do you treat sciatica?” or “do you treat so and so?”.
Our clinic members that have been with us for a long time, may have heard me say, “chiropractic analyses and corrects only one condition and that′s subluxation”. When a patient comes in with a headache, the chiropractor will look for the location of the nerve interference or what we call subluxation that is possibly causing this headache. When a patient comes in with sciatica we locate the involved subluxation and correct it. Every single time, the goal is to locate and correct the subluxation so that your nervous system can function optimally.
If you have attended our spinal-health talks, you may have heard Dr Allan talk about “Above-Down, Inside-Out”. The brain via the spinal cord that runs down the spine and out via the network of nerves is the master system that controls all other systems in your body. If there is an improper flow of this message because of a subluxation in the spine, then you get malfunction of tissue and organs that can manifest as conditions like headaches, sciatica or lower back pain depending on which nerve is involved. As chiropractors, we specialise in locating which nerve is involved and correcting it, so that it gives the body the chance to heal itself.
So when a patient comes in to our office with a headache and after a series of adustments, their headahces resolves, then they will call us “headache doctors”. When a patient comes in with a lower back pain and we fix this, then they will call us “back pain doctors”. The truth is, we don′t do the healing – You do! We just reduce the nerve irritation via a series of chiropractic adjustments.
To screen your family or friends for subluxation, contact our office to arrange an appointment or go to the Clinic members page and follow the instructions given.
Is Chiropractic Safe?
Can you remember taking that first step to visit our office?
We realise that there may be some reserve when considering taking the first step in any process, especially when it relates to our health. This may be what′s stopping somebody you care about from being under chiropractic care.
The goal of this column is to remove the most common internal dialogue, “is chiropractic adjustment safe?” which may be causing apprehension.
A recent research conducted in 2008 in the journal Spine provides the strongest support for the extremely high safety of chiropractic care. Chiropractic is a drug-free, natural approach to optimal health and enjoys an excellent saftey record. However, no form of health care is completely free of potential adverse effects. To put things into perspective, you are no more likely to suffer a potential adverse effect after a visit to a chiropractor than you are after taking an over-the counter drug.
Chiropractic adjustment rarely causes discomfort. However, some may experience temporary soreness (as with some forms of exercise) that are typically mild and short-lived. Naturally, chiropractic adjusting procedures are modified for children, particularly babies.
It is a fact that if you fully understand who we are, what we do and why we do it, you will enjoy the best results possible.
What Is Chiropractic?
Let me begin by defining chiropractic, and in the process, perhaps dispel any myths. Let me preface by explaining that, commonly, chiropractic is wrongfully thought to be about “they crack bones….”. I can see how this incorrect notion may have entered into people′s mind because admittedly I was one of them before enrolling in to chiropractic college. My specific goal for this column is to discuss the pure definition of, chiropractic.
Chiropractic is a health care profession based on the premise that our body is a self regulating and self healing mechanism, and these important functions is controlled by the master system of the body – Your “nervous system”. An interference or disruption of this nervous system can lead to tissue and organ malfunction. Doctors of Chiropractic call this, “vertebral subluxation”. What we do as chiropractors is locate and correct “subluxation(s)” in your spine through a natural procedure called a “chiropractic adjustment”. By removing this nerve interference in your body, your body can then do what it does best- Heal!
In conclusion, I may have changed your perception of chiropractic by now. I guess, it wouldn′t be incorrect to call your chiropractor a “nerve” doctor as oppose to a “bone” doctor, for our primary goal is for you to have optimal health through an optimal functioning nervous system.
I hope that my goal was achieved and fully equiped you with the correct information. Thank you to spread the truth about chiropractic.
Do you have any effective treatment to ensure my pain would be gone and not recur back again?
Chiropractic is effective for the relief of back pain as well as other musculoskeletal conditions because unlike other therapies, chiropractic treats the root cause of the problem. As a result, it does provide a longer term solution.
With that said, no treatment I’m aware of can ensure that the pain will not recur back again otherwise known as relapse and this includes chiropractic therapy. The reason for this is because, in life, we are subject to day to day stresses such physical stress, chemical stress and emotional stress to name but a few.
This can cause the joints of our spine and the adjacent connective tissues to have altered alignment, abnormal motion and changes in physiology which can in turn affect the surrounding spinal nerves. The good news is, once you’ve recovered from your back pain condition, you can do things that will help you from reducing the risk of re-occurrence or relapse.
What Kind Of Education and Training Do Chiropractors Have?
One the most gratifying moments of any chiropractor’s career is when a mother asks, “how does my son/daughter become a chiropractic doctor like you so that he/she can help as many people as you do?”
This months issue is to inform our members about the kind of education and training that chiropractors have. Seeing as Dr Allan and myself graduated from Macquarie University in Australia, I’ll take Australia as the example.
Doctors of chiropractic are required to adhere to strict and extensive educational requirements and standards to become registered health professional in Australia. To become a registered chiropractor in Australia you must have studied an accredited 5-year chiropractic program conducted at a University within Australia that satisfies the requirements set by the Australian Chiropractors Registration Boards.
One of the goals at CSG is to inspire school aged children to be checked by a chiropractor and to eventually be one.
Is Chiropractic Evidence-based Health Care?
Did you know that few other health care interventions have been assessed as extensively as chiropractic adjustment. There have been at least six formal government studies into chiropractic worldwide over the last 25 years and all have concluded that chiropractic care is safe and effective. Moreover, there have been countless scientific clinical studies assessing the appropriateness, effectiveness, and/or cost-effectiveness of chiropractic adjustment, most notably for lower back pain.
In summary, chiropractic is a health care discipline firmly grounded in evidence-based science.
Is Chiropractic Care Appropriate For Children?
Did you know that most back problems we suffer as an adult is due to spinal problems neglected since early childhood?
The first significant trauma can occur during the birthing process. Later, children experience many types of falls and blows from childhood activities as well as from participating in sports that can cause spinal problems. The unseen damage to the child’s spine and nervous system is the unique specialty of a chiropractor.
A simple chiropractic check-up aims to detect these early problems and help avoid many of the health complaints manifested later in adults. Have you had your child/children checked yet?
And yes, chiropractic is safe for children too!
What Is Scoliosis?
In primary schools that promote spine awareness, a spinal screening program is usually implemented. It is through this program that children or parents have learned that that their child has signs of scoliosis.
Scoliosis is an abnormal curvature of the spine and the usual medical interpretation is a sideways bending of the spine greater than 10 degrees. According to the SRS (scoliosis research society), curves of 11-20 degrees should be watched for progression, and that if the curve progresses, some form of action can then be taken. If the curve is 21-40 degrees, bracing is recommended. Braces are designed to maintain and not for reduction of curve. For curves greater than 41 degrees, surgical intervention may be necessary.
The AAOS (American academy of orthopaedic surgeons) states that if the curve is greater than 20 degrees at 10-12 years of age, there is a 68% that it will progress. Therefore, I suggest that it is best to seek care as soon as the curves are detected rather than wait until they start getting worse.
If your child has not been screened for scoliosis, make an appointment for a complimentary screening at our office. CSG would like to remind you that these screenings are preliminary and inconclusive. If any abnormalities are detected, we will advise you for further testing and treatment if necessary.
I've Had A Whiplash Injury. Can Chiropractic Help?
Do you know anyone who is suffering from a whiplash injury because of an automobile mishap?
Recently, we had to reactivate care for a former patient because she was involved in a recent car accident. Lisa, I hope you and any passengers with you are on the mend, and that any car repairs are complete.
Since we help a lot of patients who have been injured in motor vehicle accidents, I’d like to share some information you should know:
1. Many people trivialize the damage they’ve suffered because their cars has been hardly damaged. Research shows that in low-impact collisions, since the car sustains a relatively modest damage, energy instead is transferred to the passengers!
2. Because you and I are so adaptive, it can take weeks, months and sometimes years for undetected spinal damage to show up as chronic headaches, backaches, and stiff neck.
If we can be of any help, even fielding some questions on the telephone, please give us a call on 6789 8515.
What Does A Subluxation Do To Me?
A vertebral subluxation can create a type of interference within a person’s nervous system which can impede that individual’s overall level of health. During a comprehensive chiropractic spinal examination, chiropractic doctor’s objective is to locate, analyze and correct (reduce) vertebral subluxations in a person’s spinal column.
Chiropractic does not attempt to deliver individual cures for specific health conditions but instead looks to reduce a type of interference occurring in the nervous system which ultimately inhibits the body’s innate ability to self-regulate and self-heal.
There are many instances where patients are not aware that they are subluxated. Regardless of the presence or absence of a perceived symptom by the patient, the existence of a vertebral subluxation in the individual’s spine and its ability to interfere with the person’s nervous system is reason enough for that individual to consider chiropractic care.
In my professional opinion, there has never been a situation where a person directly benefited from the existence of vertebral subluxations in his or her spinal column. The vertebral subluxation, always and without exception, presents a challenge for the human body to be able to adapt properly to its ever changing environment.
Watch videos for more information.
We’ve compiled a playlist of video’s to help you get an even greater appreciation for how a Chiropractor can help.
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