People of all ages can enjoy healthier living through chiropractic care. When the body is changing through growth or through aging, maintaining good spinal and nervous system health is especially important.
Children and even infants can also benefit from chiropractic. Because spinal trauma can occur at birth, and later childhood activities may cause spinal problems, many parents have their children's spines checked regularly. For seniors, improved spinal function can mean better mobility, endurance, appetite, and an improvement in many age-related ailments.
The safe, natural chiropractic approach to health makes sense for people of all ages.
People often seek chiropractic care for relief from injury, stress, or chronic pain. Chiropractic treats the underlying causes of these problems, rather than just relieving the symptoms. The chiropractic approach to better health is to locate and help correct problems that interfere with your body's natural state of good health.
Your body's self-regulating and self-healing functions are controlled by your nervous system. The spinal cord is the central message carrier for your nervous system. Problems with the bones that protect the spinal cord can impair nerve flow. When the nervous system is impaired, tissues and organs throughout the body may not work correctly. Doctors call this degenerative chain reaction the 'vertebral subluxation complex'. It is an underlying cause of many health problems.
Today's Doctor of Chiropractic is highly trained in identifying and evaluating functional problems associated with the spinal column. He or she is also skilled in restoring proper spinal biomechanics and nerve function.
With a program of regular spinal maintenance, many patients recover their health and vigor, and often feel better than they did before their problem occurred.

When performing an adjustment, your doctor applies precisely directed force to a spinal joint that is out of alignment or not moving properly. Restoring normal motion to spinal joints can allow spinal bones to return to a more proper position, allowing your body to again function as it should. This safe, natural approach to restoring proper spinal and nervous system function can improve your overall health.
Not all adjustments are the same. Often, the doctor's hands or a specially designed instrument are used to deliver a quick therapeutic thrust to the affected joint. Other techniques require slow, constant pressure. Based on years of training and experience and careful evaluation of your unique spinal problem, your doctor will recommend a program of care designed for you and your specific needs.
Imagine a garden hose as a nerve and the water flowing through the hose as nerve impulses. When the hose is lying straight without any kinks, water flows through it freely. If the hose gets compressed or kinked, water flow is reduced or even stopped. If the compression or kinking isn't fixed, the hose can eventually be damaged.
Like removing the kink from the hose, a spinal adjustment can ease pressure on a nerve, allowing nerve impulses to flow and protect the nerve from further damage.
A pop or click sound is often heard during an adjustment. Doctors call this cavitation. Much like opening a can of carbonated soda, the sound is caused by a rapid change in pressure acting on the fluids within the joint. Cavitation often occurs during an adjustment, but it does not have to occur for the adjustment to be effective.

This depends on your problem and your body's needs. Long-standing or neglected problems often require ongoing care to restore and maintain good spinal health. You wouldn't expect just one of the many pills of a prescription to provide a cure. Similarly, you shouldn't expect only one adjustment to heal you. Healing often takes time.
Some patients seek chiropractic care only when pain is unbearable. This "crisis" approach can be time-consuming, costly, and uncomfortable. Most patients find that the best results come from an individual care program and periodic chiropractic checkups. Discuss your expectations for care with your doctor and ask questions about how you can optimize your spinal health. Your course of treatment is ultimately your decision.

Chiropractic has an excellent safety record. While it's not unusual to hear about injury due to drug interaction, overdose, or misuse in the medical profession, it is EXTREMELY rare to hear of a problem resulting from chiropractic care. According to a government study in New Zealand, chiropractic care is "remarkably safe."
Chiropractic doctors are trained to practice and perform hundreds to thousands of manipulations before delivering them to a patient. To become a Doctor of Chiropractic, the candidate must first pass the demanding National Board Examination. Then, to apply for a professional license, the doctor must pass an even more rigorous test before being given the privilege to practice as a Doctor of Chiropractic.
Guided by a thorough case history and examination, your doctor will evaluate your individual needs and determine a course of treatment. This conservative, natural approach to better health avoids the dangers associated with invasive procedures and addictive drugs.

Chiropractic and massage therapy are two holistic therapies that share a common goal: to to treat the whole person rather than symptoms through natural, hands-on, drug-free techniques. When used in combination with each other, these therapies are preventative and restorative, helping to address the source of stress and pain so that you may achieve optimal health. Those that add massage therapy to their chiropractic care program, for example, will generally enjoy a faster recovery. And since multiple components of the pain are being addressed, the recovery is usually also more complete. Chiropractic adjustments will often proceed more easily when the soft tissue has already been relaxed by massage. And the massage is also helpful because it helps to relax the patient before chiropractic care, making them less anxious and relaxed and ready to receive chiropractic adjustment. The adjustments frequently last longer, too, because muscle tension has been released and joints are less likely to pull themselves out of alignment again.

Chiropractic care is based upon the fact that the body is self-regulating and self-healing. These functions are controlled by the body's nervous system, with the skull protecting the brain and the flexible bones of the spine protecting the fragile spinal cord. But when this system becomes impaired, malfunctions of the tissue and organs may follow, called Subluxation Complex. A chiropractic adjustment can help to restore the nervous system back to proper functioning, giving the body the ability to heal itself again. A chiropractic adjustment can do wonders for the body, improving everything from range of motion and increased circulation to reducing or eliminating pain and swelling. Massage therapy is based upon the same premise of the body having the ability to self-heal and regulate. If the muscles of the body become imbalanced, for example, it can lead to a variety of problems. If muscles are shortened and tightened and one side, the muscles on the opposite side may become overstretched, which can cause pain, weakened circulation, and other problems. But worse, this tightness may also pull the bones the muscles are attached to, sabotaging the work of the chiropractor to realign the body. A massage therapist can soften and stretch the muscle groups, relieving stress on the opposing muscles groups and strengthening weaker muscles, which complements the work of the chiropractor.

Those that are seeking massage therapy for pain but are still suffering should consider chiropractic care, especially if the pain goes away briefly but recurs or, in more serious cases, worsens. If your pain is caused by subluxation, for example, your chiropractor may be able to provide you with immediate relief by realigning and mobilizing your joint. And when it's not being subjected to the stress of being misaligned, the soft tissue around your joints will likely heal much more quickly. The joint movement that takes place during chiropractic adjustments is sometimes able to relax deep layers of soft tissues that are usually too difficult to reach during a massage, and chiropractors have other manual diagnostic techniques and x-ray equipment at their disposal that can help evaluate the causes of your pain, allowing them to make an informed referral, if necessary.

Chiropractors and massage therapists generally agree that the chiropractic adjustment and massage should be scheduled as closely together as possible, so consult your chiropractor to see, in your case, which should be first.