I know chiropractic undergoes a lot of scrutiny and there are a lot of misunderstood concepts behind chiropractic and their health principles. Today I’d like to clear up one of the concepts behind “regular chiropractic care”.
It may first be helpful to understand that there are many types of chiropractors, some prefer to focus on rehabilitation, some prefer practice in sports or athletic settings, and there are others, like myself, who’s primary focus of health is about overall body functioning and healing. A question that I get a lot by those who first come into my clinic or whom I meet at a health show is, “why do those who go to a chiropractor need to see them on a regular basis”. That’s a good and a very legitimate question. All of my patients see me on a regular basis and I know they have friends or family who probably ask them if they still have back or neck pain or some other symptom. And they’re always surprised to hear their answer that they go for maintenance or for optimal wellness. Being preventative, in one’s health always sounds like a good idea, but for some reason the actual practice of it can seem very foreign.
Below is a research paper (one of many) supporting the logic behind wellness care:
*In animal studies, fixation of facet joints for 4-8 weeks causes spinal degenerative changes and osteophyte formation of the articular surfaces with facet articular surface degeneration beginning at less than 1 week. Spinal facet joint fixation resulted in adhesions that “progressed to mild adhesions in 4 weeks, moderate in 8 weeks, and severe adhesions after 12 weeks.
*In humans, it can be hypothesized that there is a period where the adhesions are forming WITHOUT CLINICAL SYMPTOMS. This would support the common weekly to monthly spinal adjustment despite the presence of symptoms.
*4 weeks of joint immobilization has been found to cause a time dependent loss of neurons that become progressively worse thereafter.
*Joint immobilization has also been shown to cause muscle weakness, atrophy, and fatty infiltration and deposition into the muscle.
*It is demonstrated that the spinal adjustment gaps the facet joints which may break up adhesions, preventing the fibrotic or degenerative process to continue.
*There may be a possibility of reversal of the neuronal degeneration and muscular weakness through adjustments and remobilization of the joint.
Therefore, based on the above study it is both logical and scientifically accurate that regular spinal adjustments prevents the progression of joint adhesions, joint degeneration, neuronal changes, and changes in muscular strength and recruitment.
There is one consistent pattern that I have noticed in my practice and it’s those patients who have been consistent with their chiropractic care year after year who have noticed the greatest improvements in their health and who are living a life worth living. I don’t know what you believe, but I believe you were designed to live an extraordinary life!
Journal of Chiropractic Humanities. 2011 Dec; 18(1): 74–85.
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Dr. Tyler A. Kong