What is Chiropractic Medicine?
The chiropractic approach to health care is holistic, stressing the patient’s overall health and wellness. It recognizes that many factors affect health, including exercise, diet, rest, environment, and heredity. Chiropractors provide natural, drugless, nonsurgical health treatments and rely on the body’s inherent recuperative abilities. They also recommend changes in lifestyle—in eating, exercise, and sleeping habits, for example—to their patients. When appropriate, chiropractors consult with and refer patients to other health practitioners.
Like other health practitioners, chiropractors follow a standard routine to secure the information they need for diagnosis and treatment. They take the patient’s medical history; conduct physical, neurological, and orthopedic examinations; and may order laboratory tests. X rays and other diagnostic images are important tools because of the chiropractor’s emphasis on the spine and its proper function. Chiropractors also employ a postural and spinal analysis common to chiropractic diagnosis.
In cases in which difficulties can be traced to the involvement of musculoskeletal structures, chiropractors manually adjust the spinal column. Some chiropractors use water, light, massage, ultrasound, electric, acupuncture, and heat therapy. They also may apply supports such as straps, tapes, and braces. Chiropractors counsel patients about wellness concepts such as nutrition, exercise, changes in lifestyle, and stress management, but do not prescribe drugs or perform surgery.
Why Do I Need a Spinal Adjustment?
The goal of a chiropractic adjustment is to increase mobility in the spine. Often times, areas of the spine will become stiff and fixated due to tight, taut muscles. If your spine remains in this fixated state for a long enough period of time, degeneration accelerates. This follows the old add-age, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.”
Dr. Tihomirov utilizes a traditional chiropractic adjustment technique, often called the diversified technique. This technique is the most common form of adjustment found in the industry. If you do not like the “pop” that can occur during adjustments, Dr. Tihomirov also has lighter techniques that do not create this popping sound. The techniques used by Dr. Tihomirov include both flexion-distraction and mechanical adjusting.
If you have specific questions regarding the various adjusting methods utilized at our office, we encourage you to contact us. If the question is complex, you may also request to have Dr. Tihomirov return your phone call.
Are Adjustments Painful?
Chiropractic adjustment rarely causes discomfort or pain. However, patients may sometimes experience mild soreness or aching following treatment (as with some forms of exercise) that usually resolves within 12 to 48 hours.