What is Chiropractic?

In the 100 years of its development, chiropractic science has grown to major stature in the field of the healing arts and has reached millions of people. With the rate of growth steadily increasing, the chiropractic profession has found a continuing need to acquaint new patients with the nature of chiropractic care.

The modern chiropractor works both directly and indirectly with the nervous system. Every function of the body is controlled by nerve impulses traveling from the brain to all parts of the body. Nerves make possible all movement. Nerves transmit all sensations to the brain. Nerves make possible all sense; sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing. Nerves maintain balance and keep the body temperature at 98.6. Nerves make it possible to swallow. Nerves make the bowels move. Nerves control the liver lungs, spleen, pancreas, gallbladder, and kidneys. In fact, the nervous system is the master system which controls all other systems of the body, including the glandular, reproductive, digestive, eliminative, respiratory, circulatory and immune systems.

Every science of healing has what is known as an avenue of approach. For example, in the field of medicine a hypodermic needle injects drugs through the skin or a pill is swallowed and goes into the stomach. They are the avenues through which the drugs gain access to the body. In the field of chiropractic, the avenue of approach is the spine. The spine houses and protects the spinal cord - this "switchboard" of the nervous system, through which nerve fibers pass from the brain to different parts of the body.

For every effect there must have been a cause. If a person is ill, then the condition of pain, regardless of the name applied to it, is an effect for which there must have been a cause. The nerves leave the spinal cord through the openings between movable spinal bones called vertebrae. When vertebrae, through injury or posture problems, become misaligned they may interfere with the normal function of these nerves. This misalignment causes pain and malfunction of the nervous system and is called a "subluxation". The subluxation then becomes the cause of pain.

The objective of chiropractic care is to determine, through x-ray films and a through examination, the exact degree of spinal misalignment producing the subluxation. Proper "adjustments" are given to remove these subluxations and thus remove the cause of pain and malfunction.

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