About
Chiropractic
What is it?
Chiropractic
care focuses on properly aligning the body’s structures—primarily the spine—to allow for natural, surgery-free
healing. A chiropractor’s goal is not to give patients drugs so they don’t feel pain, but to discover the source
of the pain and correct the problem.
Why chiropractic?
The nervous system controls all
of the body’s functions, and depends on the vertebrae in your spine to protect it. When your vertebrae are out of line,
they can prohibit optimal operation of the nervous system, which can lead to various physical problems.
Is
it safe?
Chiropractic treatments are incredibly safe—actually, they’re one of the safest kinds
of medical care available. And your chiropractor has studied extensively to fully understand the body’s systems. The
chiropractic-training program is comparable to the program of study for medical doctors. According to the American Chiropractic
Association, more than 30 million people visited doctors of chiropractic last year for a variety of conditions, and more and
more medical doctors are referring their patients to doctors of chiropractic.
What problems can it address?
In addition to preventative and wellness care, chiropractic can be used to treat allergies, headaches, lower
back pain, fibromyalgia, neck and shoulder pain, numbness, leg pain, scoliosis, and other health issues.
Myths of Chiropractic
Once you go to a chiropractor you have to keep going forever?
Most of the patients at TCWC get well and go on with their life. However, we do have patients that have chronic
pain syndromes, such as fibromyalgia, arthritis, or chronic low back pain, that do come back in for a period of time.
We ALWAYS try for a cure, but in some cases that just isn't possible. In that case, the pain relief from chiropractic
care is useful but must be done on a regular basis, therefore those patients do come in regularly.
Or, once you go to a chiropractor they keep you going forever. TCWC
does NOT recommend this type of care to our patients and we do not pressure our patients into this type of care. After
the treatment plan is followed and/or the patient is free of pain, any ongoing care is up to the patient and their level of
need for such treatment. It is usually based on the speed with which their pain or discomfort returns. Some patients
we only see twice a year, while others who are in more chronic pain we will see weekly. We don't regularly treat
patients who have no pain or symptoms, unless it is up to the patient.
Chiropractors get the same or more number of hours
of education as medical doctors. The classroom education of a chiropractor and a medical
doctor are very similar. There are some differences, such as chiropractors don't study pharmacology. Out of
the classroom, medical doctors receive a good deal of their education in the internship and residency programs. Chiropractors
do not have these programs. Because of this, the comparison can be misleading. Because of that, MD's do get
more hours of education/experience. But that's ok considering that chiropractors are a specialty focusing on musculoskeletal
disorders and the education is very comparable to other specialists like dentistry or podiatry.
Subject
DC Hours
MD Hours
Anatomy
570
368
Biochemistry
150
120
Microbiology
120
120
Public Health
70
289
Physiology
305
142
Pathology
205
162
Total hours*
1,420
1,200
*Source:
Center for Studies in Health Policy, Inc., Washington, DC.
