Chiropractic is a system of health and wellness that holds the belief that the skeleton and muscular structure of the body, in particular the spine has an effect on every part of the body. It is the mission of a chiropractor to realign the body in an effort to relieve pain and to improve the body’s ability to self-heal.
The mainstay of chiropractic in Shorewood WI is the spine and spinal manipulation it also includes other forms of treatment which include education in posture and exercise, ergonomic training to teach the patient the correct way to walk, stand and sit and an introduction to good nutrition. Today, chiropractors are an integral part of main stream medicine and they frequently work in conjunction with doctors and other pain experts.
The majority of research in the field of chiropractic is focused on manipulation of the spine. This does not mean that other treatments have also been studied; chiropractic can also be beneficial for those suffering from migraine headaches, asthma and other musculoskeletal pain.
The term “spinal manipulation” is simply a generic term that is used for any movement of the spine for therapeutic reasons. To be more precise it actually applies to the quick but strong pressure applied to a joint between a pair of vertebrae. The chiropractor, through thorough knowledge of the spine uses this application of pressure to twist or rotate a joint beyond its normal range of motion; it is this that creates the cracking noise heard by the patient. It is thought that this noise is caused when a vacuum is broken; this in turn releases a bubble into the thick fluid that lubricates the various joints in the body, including of course the spine.
There are two basic approaches that the chiropractor can take when manipulating the spine, one is direct where the chiropractor pushes on the vertebrae in question; the other is indirect where the chiropractor twists the head, neck and upper body. The treatment is done one vertebrae at a time. Those who practice chiropractic accomplish this by placing the patient in a particular attitude on a specialized bench, this ensures that the applied force is focused on the correct joint while the parts of the spine located above and below the problem area is held still. It normally takes the chiropractor between ten to fifteen minutes to perform the manipulation, in most cases the treatments are schedules every few days and there will be significant improvement in a week or two.
The goal of chiropractic in Shorewood WI is to aid in relieving pain and to give patients the information they need to best manage their condition.
