Chi-ro-prac-tic
KY-roh-PRAK-tik
The brain controls the body through the spinal cord and nerves. The spine houses the spinal cord and has holes where nerves extending from the spinal cord exit to connect with the body. When joints of the spine get stuck and have limited movement, it closes down the holes where nerves exit the spine and creates irritation to the nerves. When nerves are irritated, they do not function the way they should. This leads to abnormal function of the body. Chiropractic focuses on identifying joints of the spine that have lost normal motion and works to restore normal joint motion with a treatment that is called an “adjustment.” An adjustment is an impulse into the body done by the hands of a chiropractor to restore normal joint motion and remove irritation to nerves for proper communication of the nervous system to the body for optimal function.
Chiropractic is a healthcare discipline that focuses on the functionality of the nervous system in respect to the joints of the body. Chiropractic employs doctors of chiropractic who are portal of entry providers that are trained to diagnose and treat conditions of the body, most importantly subluxations. Chiropractic was founded by D.D. Palmer in 1895. Two years later, D.D. Palmer established the first chiropractic college in Iowa called Palmer College of Chiropractic. In the profession’s formative years, those that practiced it were arrested for “practicing medicine.” The chiropractic profession gained legitimacy once the public accepted that chiropractic was not medicine or a threat. Although Kansas was the first state to license chiropractic in 1913, chiropractors still risked being arrested in order to benefit their communities with chiropractic care. Louisiana became the last state to license chiropractors in 1974. That same year the United States accredited the Council on Chiropractic Education. There are now more than 70,000 chiropractors in the United States.
Chiropractic is gaining popularity throughout the world as more people are seeing the benefits it has towards the nervous system and bodily functions. With this popularity, it is being construed that manipulations are synonymous with adjustments. Adjustments are a term that was originally used by the chiropractic profession to term the corrective thrust into a body to treat a subluxation (defined later). Guess what also entails a thrust into a body? A manipulation!
In the english language and culture, “getting adjusted” sounds much better than “getting manipulated.” It is not just our intellect that thinks one is more honoring than the other… so do our bodies! Adjustments, which are performed by chiropractors, are specific thrusts into the body to correct subluxations. A subluxation (aka vertebral subluxation complex) is defined as an abnormal relationship between two adjacent bones in the body that leads to abnormal biomechanical and neurophysiological processes in proximal structures and/or body systems. Subluxations are found by a chiropractor with a thorough examination that looks at your entire body.
A manipulation is defined as a separation of a joint by a force perpendicular to the joint. Simply put, a manipulation is used to get something that is not moving to move again. We can all agree that it is plausible that your body may keep something from moving when another part of itself is moving too much. This is called compensation. The are many other reasons why something in the body may not be moving as we think it should.
Chiropractors are licensed to diagnose and treat subluxations. We do not just get “stuck” things moving. We honor your body by only treating subluxations. This prevents compensations from being disrupted, which would further injure the body and decrease healing times.
Activator: a chiropractic technique and hand-held, spring-loaded adjusting tool used to correct subluxations
Adjustment: a chiropractic treatment to correct a subluxation or vertebral subluxation complex
Animal chiropractic: chiropractic performed on animals to correct subluxations of the spine and/or extremities by a licensed chiropractor or veterinarian trained in animal chiropractic
Chiropractic: “The science of cause of disease and art of adjusting by hand all subluxations of the 300 articulations of the human skeletal frame, more especially 52 articulations of the spinal column for the purpose of freeing impinged nerves as they emanate through the intervertebral foramen causing abnormal functions.” – D.D. Palmer
Chiropractor: a practitioner of chiropractic that has a doctorate level education in chiropractic and trained to diagnose and treat conditions of the body
Chiropractic technique: developed approaches to relieving the body of dysfunction through differences in patterns of diagnosis and treatment of subluxations
Compensation: the restoration of homeostasis by facilitation of one part when another part is malfunctioning with respect to the combination of all parts
Health: the expression of innate intelligence that is marked by a state of complete physical, mental, and social-wellbeing; not just the absence of disease
Innate intelligence: the natural intelligence within a living organism to grow, repair, and evolve
Manipulation: the separation of one joint from another by a thrust
Portal-of-entry provider: a physician that has direct access to a patient without the requirement of a referral
Style of chiropractic: refers to the way in which a chiropractor may go about practicing chiropractic techniques to better fit patients and outcomes (this can also be referred to as the ART of chiropractic)
Subluxation: a bone with an abnormal relationship to an adjacent bone that impedes the expression of innate intelligence
Universal intelligence: the intelligence within our universe that holds a boundless framework for all that has existed, exists, or will exist
Vertebral subluxation complex: any alteration of the biomechanical and neurophysiological dynamics of spinal and paraspinal structures which can cause neuronal disturbances and interrupt the body’s natural functions. This definition is almost synonymous with subluxation, but goes further to include specific physiological effects of a subluxated osseous structure in the spine.
Nervous system: the brain, spinal cord, and nerves of a vertebrate animal that controls functions of the body
Wellbeing: the state (positive or negative) of health faculties such as emotions, fitness, mentation, socialization, etc.
Wellness: the state of living a healthy lifestyle
