Chiropractic Care Works - It’s As Simple As That
Chiropractic is the leading drugless healing profession in the world. In the United States, it is overall the third largest health care discipline after medicine and dentistry. In fact, in this country alone, chiropractors help more than 20 million people each year.
Chiropractors help the body to heal itself by trying to correct the source of a problem, not just eliminate symptoms. Many times the source of a health problem is a spinal misalignment, which interferes with the nerve supply to a tissue or organ. This nerve interference can lead to pain, immune system malfunctions, and ultimately disease. As a chiropractor, Dr. Pickens is a specialist in detecting, correcting and preventing these nervous system interferences. Which means he can help you live without pain, improve your range of mobility, increase your resistance to disease, and maximize your body’s ability to heal.
How Chiropractic Care Helps Restore Your Health
The nervous system is composed of the brain, spinal cord and the nerves which branch off and go to and from tissues and organs. The brain is protected by the skull, and the spinal cord is protected by 24 movable bones (the vertebrae) which make up the spinal column. Your nervous system is in direct control of all of your organs, tissues and cells.
Pairs of nerve roots exit the spine from between each two vertebra. When a vertebra becomes misaligned or doesn’t moved properly, it can irritate and damage a nerve. This is called a subluxation.
Interruption of the nerve supply affects corresponding organs, tissues and systems in the body. It can cause back pain, neck pain, headaches and radiating pain down your arms or legs, and countless other symptoms from diminished energy to insomnia, menstrual cramps and indigestion.
So, what contributes to the improper movement and positioning of the vertebrae? Many things, including sports injuries, car accidents, and improper lifting. Daily stress, poor diet, sitting too much and everyday activities can also cause subluxations. Even the process of birth many times causes injury to a baby’s fragile spine.
As a chiropractor, Dr. Pickens is trained to identify and correct subluxations in your spine. Once he detects nervous system interference, he will recommend a chiropractic care program tailored specifically for you. To help restore your health, Dr. Pickens will give you specific adjustments to restore proper movement and position of the vertebrae in your spine.
Q: What does my spine have to do with my general health?
A: When vertebrae in the spine become misaligned and lose normal movement, it results in nerves being irritated, stretched or compressed. This nervous system interference can affect how you move, how you feel and how effectively your immune system works. It can cause pain and make you prone to chronic ill health and disease. By eliminating the cause of this interference, Dr. Pickens can help your body heal – without drugs or surgery.
Q: What conditions can benefit from chiropractic treatment?
A. Typically, any health problem caused by pressure or irritation on a nerve exiting the spinal column can be treated using chiropractic techniques. This includes neck pain, headaches, tendonitis, bursitis and pain in the back, legs and arms. Many times, other conditions – bladder, liver, kidney, heart, lung, digestive and blood sugar problems – can also be helped using chiropractic methods. This is because the nerves emanating from your spine control the functions of all the organs, tissues and systems in the body. So, by correcting subluxations, Dr. Pickens can help you overcome your symptoms and achieve good health. Chiropractic adjustments can also be performed on most of the other joints in the body, such as the knees, shoulders and wrists, to relieve pain and restore normal function.
Q: If I’m not in pain, why would I need chiropractic treatment?
A. Most of the nerve roots coming from your spinal column do not carry the sensations of touch and pain, they control the functions of muscles and organs. Which means by the time you feel pain, the condition often has become serious and you may be experiencing severe nerve irritation. Dr. Pickens can detect early signs of abnormal function before permanent damage is done. Because many times there is no pain signal early on to warn you of misalignments, regular visits to the chiropractor for spinal check-ups should be a part of your preventive health care program – just like seeing your dentist, optometrist and primary care physician.
Q: Is chiropractic safe?
A: Yes, it’s very safe. In fact, research shows that the risks to patients receiving chiropractic care is considerably lower than it is with medical care, because of the risks associated with prescription drugs and surgery. Another sure sign of its safety: on average, the malpractice insurance premiums for medical doctors are 10 to 14 times higher than those for doctors of chiropractic.
Q: Do chiropractic adjustments hurt?
A: Most patients say spinal adjustments – the mobilization and realignment of your vertebrae – are not painful. In fact, many experience immediate relief, even when they come in with severe pain. Often, patients say they perceive pressure being lifted from their spine. Many feel a sense of total relaxation after an adjustment.
Q: How long will I need chiropractic care?
A: To care for your teeth and vision, you regularly visit the dentist and the eye doctor. Taking care of your spine should be the same type of lifelong process. Even when you don’t feel pain, regular chiropractic check-ups are important, because problems can be detected before they lead to pain and greater dysfunction. If you want to stay active, healthy and energetic, monthly chiropractic visits can help keep your spine trouble-free for years to come.
Q: Are chiropractors really doctors?
A: Absolutely. Dr. Pickens is a highly trained and licensed professional. After completing his undergraduate requirements, Dr. Pickens completed a four-year degree program at a well-respected chiropractic college. He also completed several hundred hours of post graduate studies through the world renowned Gonstead Clinic in Wisconsin. In addition, he had to pass rigorous State and National Board Examinations to meet stringent licensing requirements. A minimum of 24 hours of continuing education is required each year in Ohio to retain licensure, but Dr. Pickens takes more than the required number of hours yearly.
Q: Is chiropractic care expensive?
A: Chiropractic care has been shown to be far more cost-effective than traditional medical care for spine and related nerve problems. And when you consider the improvements to your health and productivity, it is a true bargain. Many insurance plans cover chiropractic services, and Dr. Pickens offers dependent children’s discounts and cash discounts to patients who pay at the time of service.
The Discovery of Chiropractic Health Care
The discovery of “modern” chiropractic health care occurred just over a century ago in Davenport, Iowa, by a Canadian immigrant named Daniel David “DD” Palmer.
However, the principles of spinal care and adjustment date back thousands of years.
- The earliest records on tissue manipulation date to 2700 B.C.
- Later documentation indicates spinal techniques were used by ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Indian cultures in North and South America.
- Among the books written by Hippocrates, the Father of Modern Medicine, two were: On Setting Joints by Leverage and Manipulation and Its Importance to Good Health.
- In the late Middle Ages, spinal manipulation and bone-setting became very popular.
Yet, until September 18, 1895, when DD Palmer restored a deaf man’s hearing using “vertebral manipulation,” this treatment procedure was never really refined – or even named.
Prior to his discovery, Palmer practiced “magnetic healing,” a technique that involved restoring a patient to health using external magnetic fields. One day, Palmer learned that the janitor in his office, Harvey Lillard, had suddenly lost his hearing after feeling a pop in his lower neck area. The injury occurred 17 years earlier, when Lillard was cleaning in a stooped position.
Intrigued, Palmer asked Lillard if he could examine the injured area. One of the vertebra felt twisted out of position compared to the other bones above and below. Palmer had a theory: if he could undo the original injury by realigning the vertebra, maybe Lillard’s hearing would be restored.
Sure enough, after Palmer’s “adjustment,” Lillard jumped up from the examination table and declared, “Dr. Palmer, I can hear again!” And following several more adjustments, Lillard’s hearing was completely restored within a week.
Word of DD Palmer’s success spread quickly, and although he couldn’t improve everyone’s hearing, he did notice that many other health problems began to respond to this treatment. That’s when he began to refine his methods and techniques, and asked a friend to help him name this type of medical care.
Combining the Greek words “chiro ” meaning hand, and “practos” meaning done by, they coined the term chiropractic, which literally translates to “done by hand.”
DD Palmer’s history-making discovery and further developments grew into the renowned Palmer School of Chiropractic, where the science and philosophy of this medical revolution has been tested, proven and taught to thousands of chiropractors over the last 100-plus years.
It wasn’t a miracle, but the results for Harvey Lillard – and countless other patients since – have been miraculous indeed.
