Chiropractic is a holistic health profession that focuses on function of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems to decrease pain, prevent injuries and to promote overall wellness without the use of drugs or surgery. Chiropractors utilize a variety of techniques and modalities to help people achieve optimal health naturally. Chiropractors are specifically trained to adjust the spine. The vertebrae in the back form the spinal canal inside which lives the spinal cord. The spinal cord along with your brain form the central nervous system of your body. The central nervous system controls all the organs and tissues that make up your body and therefore is responsible for all of the day to day functions your body performs. Adjusting the spine keeps the skeletal system aligned which allows for the nervous system to function properly and efficiently communicate messages between the brain and body as a result. Improving overall function is crucial to achieve long term pain relief and to achieve optimal health.

Chiropractors use specific adjustments to help restore proper function. An adjustment is a controlled force used to overcome restrictions around joints that can be caused by muscle spasms, inflammation of tissues, scar tissue and pain. By performing an adjustment, the restriction is eliminated and proper information can flow from the brain to the rest of the body which allows for a decrease in pain and restoration of normal function.

There are several different techniques that are utilized to deliver an adjustment. There are high- velocity, low-amplitude adjustments performed by the chiropractor using their hands to deliver a high energy impulse to overcome a restriction. There are also low-force techniques that involve using pelvic blocks, contacting ligaments or using small instruments to make an adjustment by affecting the nervous system in an alternative way.

Overall, the adjustment is the most powerful tool a chiropractor utilizes to make lasting change in a person’s overall function. The adjustment is what makes chiropractors nervous system doctors and not simply “bone doctors” or “muscle doctors”. Each adjustment has a global impact on a person because of its influence on the body’s nervous system which controls the body as a whole.