Chiropractic is a branch of the healing arts which is concerned with human health and disease processes. Doctors of Chiropractic are physicians who consider man as an integrated being and give special attention to the physiological and biochemical aspects including structural, spinal, musculoskeletal, neurological, vascular, nutritional, emotional and environmental relationships. Reference: American Chiropractic Association, 2005. For more information visit www.amerchiro.org

When you call our office to schedule your first visit, we will set up an appointment for you at your earliest convenience. Before you visit our practice, we recommend that you download our patient information forms and fill them out at home.

At the scheduled time of your first visit, you should provide our receptionist with your completed paperwork and your insurance card. Make sure your are on time for your visit so we will be able to do a complete examination and provide you with a detailed treatment plan.

During your first visit you're your chiropractor will review your past health history and discuss your main complaints or reasons why you are seeking treatment. Your interview may include information about what is hurting, what aggravates or eases your condition, the severity of the problem, the stage of this problem (is it a relatively recent/acute problem or is it ongoing /chronic in nature), and how your problem(s) are impacting your life.

You will then undergo a thorough examination. We will look at the following in detail:

1. Your range of motion - we assess your joint and spine mobility by having you bend your spine in different directions. By doing so, we are able to identify limitations in your joints which provides us with key information as to the causes of your problems.
2. Soft Tissue Palpation - we will palpate or touch your soft tissues (skin, muscles, vertebra, and other soft tissues) in order to identify muscle tightness, local areas of swelling, warmth, tenderness, and inflammation.
3. Postural Assessment - a thorough postural assessment is carried out to determine if abnormal curvature of the spine exists and its contribution to your condition.
4. Neurological Screening - a complete neurological screening is typically part of your examination. We will look at your reflexes, muscle strength, and sensation to touch.
5. Spinal Assessment - we will assess your spinal joints for symmetry and mobility. Limited or excessive mobility may contribute to your condition.
6. X-ray Assessment - for some patients, x-rays may be necessary. We may use our state-of-the-art imaging equipment to assess the structural integrity of your spine.

Assessment and Treatment Plan

After a review of your medical history, current complaints, and the results of your exam, we will present to you the probable causes of your condition and discuss your treatment plan. If chiropractic intervention is likely to help you we will initiate treatment at that time with your consent. In the unlikely case that chiropractic care will not help you with your problems, we will immediately refer you to the appropriate physician that can help.

At the conclusion of your first visit, we will schedule follow up visits. Often we recommend two to three visits per week for a four-week period of time. Before and after each visit, we will assess the effects of the treatment on your condition. We may modify the treatment plan as is necessary.

Treatment may be initiated at the end of your first visit or your second visit.

It isn't uncommon for low back and neck pain to resolve fairly rapidly. However, continued treatment may be necessary to completely correct the spinal subluxations and prevent reoccurrence of pain.

Chiropractic treatment often consists of a series of adjustments to correct your spinal alignment and help restore normal health to your spine and nervous system. There are a variety of hands-on adjustment techniques that might be beneficial and chiropractors are educated and experienced with most of these techniques. Our variety of adjustment techniques range from gentle manipulations for a child to specific techniques for the skilled athlete or retired senior.

We often compliment the adjustment techniques with treatment modalities to help decrease pain, stiffness, and inflammation. Heat, ice, ultrasound, electrical stimulation, and spine traction are examples of modalities that can assist with your recover. Therapeutic exercise is often incorporated into your treatment plan to help maintain spinal alignment and reduce the likelihood of reoccurrence of your spinal problems. Specific exercises may be prescribed based on your strength, endurance, and flexibility.

Nutrition is a key component of a complete treatment program. Your body has the innate ability to heal itself and chiropractic care can facilitate recovery. However, if you body does not have the right building blocks or nutrition available to heal itself, your problem could be ongoing or chronic. We will discuss your nutritional needs with you and may recommend supplements to aid in the healing process.

At the conclusion of your treatment plan, we may recommend ongoing adjustments and treatment sessions to help maintain the health of your spine and to modify your individualized home program. Our recommendations are specific to the needs of our individual patients.

• Auto Accident Injuries and Whiplash
• Scoliosis
• Sacroiliac Injuries
• Pregnancy-related Low Back Pain
• Headaches
• Shoulder Pain
• Neck Pain
• Work-related Injuries
• Low Back Pain
• Radiating Pain
• Mid Back Pain
• Allergies
• Disc Herniation
• Knee and Ankle Injuries
• Leg Pain
• Bronchitis
• Arthritis
• Digestive Disorders
• Constipation
• Sports Injuries
• Asthma
• Tingling or Numbness
• Hypoglycemia
• Colitis
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• TMD (Jaw Disorders)
• Foot Disorders
• Stress
• Wellness and Injury Prevention
• Proper Lifting Techniques
• Proper Ergonomics
• Back Flexibility Exercises
• Phased Back Strengthening Exercises
• Neck Flexibility Exercises
• Phased Neck Strengthening Exercises
• Muscle Strain/Pain

A degenerative disc is a disc that is wearing out. With the wear and tear of daily activities, it may become herniated or bulge. Subluxations can cause abnormal wear and tear and contribute to the degenerative process.

A disc is a lot like a jelly donut. It is composed of a fibrous cartilage covering called the annulus fibrosus and a jelly center called the nucleus pulposus. When a disc "slips", "herniates", or extrusion occurs, the nucleus breaks through the walls of the annulus fibrosus. Think of it as the jelly coming out of the donut.

No. Every patient is different. We have a variety of techniques that we use to treat each individual's condition.

X-rays may be appropriate for you based on your condition. X-rays have been used for over one-hundred years and are safe and cost-effective. They may help in the process of identifying conditions such as fractures, spondylolysis, spondylolisthesis, flattened (degenerative) discs, bone spurs, and other conditions that will help guide us in the application of chiropractic treatment.

When vertebrae have subluxed, there may be some discomfort associated with realigning them. Adjustments discomfort, in almost every case, will resolve within 24 hours. Let us know if you have excessive pain so we can modify your treatment plan.

Millions of chiropractic adjustments are performed every day without doing harm to patients. Chiropractic adjustments are safer than many over-the-counter medications. Three well known reports make the following conclusions:

The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) released its Guidelines on Acute Low Back Problems in Adults. This report identified adjustment (defined as certain specific techniques used to re-align or re-adjust a joint) as the preferred method of treatment for relief of acute back pain.

The New Zealand Commission Report concluded that spinal manipulation can be effective in relieving musculoskeletal symptoms such as back pain, and other symptoms known to respond to such therapy, such as migraine.

The MANGA Report concluded that there was no clinical or case-control study that demonstrated or even implied that chiropractic spinal manipulation was unsafe in the treatment of low-back pain.