Clear Lake Chiropractic Healthcare

Chiropractors diagnosis and treat, and also seek to prevent, mechanical disorders within the musculoskeletal system. The Association of Chiropractic Colleges describes chiropractic as “a health care discipline.” Part art and part science, the practice “emphasizes the inherent recuperative power of the body to heal itself without the use of drugs and surgery.” Instead of relying on pills or the knife, chiropractors “focus on the relationship between structure (primarily the spine) and function (as coordinated by the nervous system) and how that relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health.”

Chiropractors are primarily concerned with locating and treating vertebral subluxations, that is, complexes of functional, structural, and/or pathological articular (joint) changes that compromise neural integrity and potentially influence organ system function and general health. Employing unique and highly refined skills, the chiropractor checks the patient’s spine for any misalignments or abnormalities and then applies a gentle, corrective force to the affected area. Chiropractors use many specialized techniques to identify and treat these spinal abnormalities and optimize overall health, including spinal adjustments, massage, nutritional counseling, physical therapies, and lifestyle modification programs.

While chiropractic treatments are primarily applied to the spinal region, chiropractors do not merely treat back and neck ailments. Rather, they focus on restoring and optimizing human health. Part of this process often includes effectively eliminating back and neck pain, but the goal of a chiropractor is much larger than that.

How Does Chiropractic Work?

If you’re wondering how chiropractic treatment can optimize your health, then consider that the spinal column encases and protects the nervous system. The nervous system, in turn, is the master controller of all living cells, tissues, and organs. It orchestrates and coordinates the cellular functions. Consequently, bio-mechanical and structural problems in the spinal column can irritate parts of the enclosed nervous system. Direct mechanical pressure as well as noxious inflammatory biochemicals released during tissue injury may cause such problems, thereby negatively influencing the nervous system and the functioning of the cells, tissues, and organs that are supplied by the affected nerve(s). Given that the body’s innate recuperative powers are affected by the nervous system, correcting spinal abnormalities that irritate the system can lead to a variety of favorable outcomes for patients who suffer from health conditions that, on the surface, seem to have nothing to do with the spine.

Chiropractors and medical doctors approach health ailments in significantly different ways. The chiropractor takes a holistic approach that includes identifying and correcting the cause(s) of the patient’s health ailment. Conversely, medical doctors tend to treat the symptoms of a condition rather than zeroing in on the actual cause(s). Chiropractors strive to provide substantial, lasting benefits by addressing root causes rather than merely treating symptoms.

Patients who visit a chiropractor on a regular basis can expect to experience many of the following benefits:

• relief from spinal and
• extremity pain
• improved range of motion
• increased mobility
• headache relief
• decreased stiffness
• fewer muscular spasms
• enhanced joint health
• an uptick in performance and energy
• a greater sense of well-being and relaxation
• improved balance and coordination
• reduced degeneration
• a smaller risk of injury alleviation of arthritic joint pain
• enhanced tissue healing
• decreased tissue inflammation