What Exactly Does a Chiropractor Do, and why are They So Popular?


When you take a look at natural and alternative forms of medical treatments, the chiropractic profession comes pretty much close to the mainstream scheme of things. Chiropractors themselves have to study and then receive recognised medical degrees from specialised schools, and their skilled services are normally even covered by most health insurance if it is prescribed by a doctor.

However, chiropractors still happen to spend a lot of time having to defend their profession from banal critics in and outside of the medical arena.

  • Chiropractors have to study a general education on human physiology and biology, but their major focus is on and around the spinal column.
  • Chiropractors maintain that the vertebrae of the spine and neck area are periodically stressed and pulled out of alignment, and that these misalignments (called subluxations) are in fact the main cause of an abundant physical and mental maladies.
  • By skilfully manipulating individual vertebrae or rearranging the whole spine, professional chiropractors in Melbourne do their very best to diminish pressure caused by subluxations.
  • Chiropractors frequently generate new business by providing free spinal exams to the general public.
  • During the course of these examinations, specific measurements are taken to uncover any kind of imbalances in spinal alignment.
  • Someone’s shoulder might be somewhat higher than the other, or an arm will provide more resistance to stress than the other.
  • Clients of chiropractors will frequently stand upon two scales to ascertain a heavier side of someone’s body.
  • Critics claim that practically all humans have some type of spinal imbalance, but it doesn’t necessarily indicatebeing in bad health.


Chiropractic treatments come some place between those given by a trained spinal doctor and the physical therapist. The term chiropractic actually means in Greek, ‘through the hands’, so most of what the profession does is hands-on manipulation or adjustment of a patient’s spine and back.

Specialised tables allow for a chiropractor to put patients in either “traction” or “compression”. Sometimes the spine is ‘popped’ with the application of pressure between every successive vertebrae. Other times chiropractors utilise a twisting motion to help in adjusting the neck vertebrae back into their correct place.

Critics and Detractors

Those who are critics of the chiropractic profession reckon that all of the spinal manipulation is a dangerous practice and claim that neck vertebrae are vulnerable to fractures which can lead to paralysis and therefore make the risks of injury outweigh any health benefits.

Chiropractors Reply

Chiropractors, protect their skilled profession by making note of the huge number of dangerous and often deadly practices, such as medicinal prescriptions, and surgeries carried out on a day to day basis by spinal surgeons and physical therapists. Chiropractors declare that their patients benefit from much longer-term advantages of spinal manipulation, and not from a one-time visit.

Also, that physical manipulation of the spine and neck are both connected to the effects of deep tissue massage techniques, both of which will lessen stress and repair any damaged nerve pathways.