Sometimes, it can feel like one big soup of secrets when you speak to someone about a recommendation for a chiropractor.
How do you sift through all the b.s. and get down to what really matters?
How do you get a recommendation that you can trust?
How do you ask the right questions to get the answers that will help you the most?
Here at Life Chiropractic of Grass Valley, we don’t believe in keeping secrets, which is why this guide will tell you everything you want and need to know about Chiropractic: 10 Secrets Edition.
Chiropractic Definitions
Before we do a deep dive on the 10 secrets to finding a chiropractor, let’s ensure we’re all on the same page by defining key terminology.
Traditional Chiropractic
Traditional Chiropractic is focused more on short term pain relief rather than correcting an underlying problem. Typical traditional chiropractic visits are almost identical with the same adjustments each visit. Often the same adjustments are given to almost everyone.
Traditional Chiropractic is important because this is not the chiropractic you are looking for if what you desire is long term correction of your problem.
Additionally, understanding the differences in chiropractic will help you define what you want.
Corrective Chiropractic
Corrective Chiropractic is focused on the correction of the underlying imbalance with a focus on 3 things:
- Restoring balance to the pelvis and spine
- Restoring alignment of the pelvis and spine
- Restoring proper joint motion to the joints of the pelvis and spine
Most of the issues that bring people to chiropractors – neck pain, headaches, anxiety, arm pain, back pain, sciatica – are caused by mechanical imbalances. Unless these mechanical problems are corrected there is little chance of eliminating the problem.
For example:
While traditional chiropractic will often adjust the area of pain and offer some relief, corrective chiropractic searches for the primary imbalance.
A patient of mine came in with hip pain that had been diagnosed by both her primary care doctor as well as an orthopedic surgeon as hip arthritis. In the end the problem was more in her lower lumbar spine than her hip. By correcting the lumbar problem her hip pain resolved.
Adjustment or Manipulation
The chiropractic adjustment is the service of corrective chiropractors. Many traditional chiropractors call their service manipulation.
The chiropractic adjustment is very specific, seeking to correct the alignment or motion of a single joint. Manipulation is much more general with little focus on correcting anything.
For example:
If you’ve heard of someone experiencing increased pain following a visit to a chiropractor, it is very likely that they were manipulated.
Subluxation or Mechanical Lesion
The subluxation (or mechanical lesion) is a spinal or pelvic bone that is misaligned and not moving properly. When this happens it causes a chain reaction of:
- Joint tenderness
- Muscle tightness and spasm
- Nerve irritation
- Increased joint stress leading to degeneration
Since the vast majority of headaches, neck and back pain, are mechanical it is important to find a chiropractor skilled in the correction of mechanical problems. Unless you locate a problem you are unlikely to fix it.
Secret #1. If You Delay Seeking Chiropractic, You Will Increase the Long Term Consequences
We’re starting simple here on our list of 10 secrets about Chiropractic.
The reason this is important is that most problems that people present to chiropractors have been going on for months, even years. Sometimes the pain is constant, other times it comes and goes.
It’s not the pain that’s most important, even though that might be your motivation to get chiropractic care.
The more important issue is one that could impact you over a much longer time.
When the joints of the spine and pelvis get misaligned, stop moving properly, and get out of balance it causes a chain reaction over time:
- Tightness and loss of motion
- Muscle tension and pain
- Intermittent and eventually constant neck or back pain
- Increased wear and tear to the small joints of the spine
- Development of degenerative arthritis (osteoarthritis)
Two clients of mine come to mind. One a woman, the other a man, both in their fifties. They both came in with longstanding neck pain. The woman was convinced she had nothing more than a “pulled muscle” in her neck. My exam told me otherwise and x-rays revealed fairly advanced arthritis in her neck.
The gentleman had been “fired” from his last chiropractor who did not believe he could be helped. His x-rays showed very advanced arthritis that had me question how much we could help him.
Both of these patients have done incredibly well and have little to no pain.
Even though they both did well they would have been much better off seeking regular chiropractic care years ago. Then they might have avoided much of the arthritic degeneration.
Here’s a an online review of myself and Life Chiropractic of Grass Valley:
Before you discount this because you don’t think your problem is that bad or has been happening for that long, consider getting everything checked out and base your decision on more than just how you feel.
Secret #2: Make Sure You Match Your Goals with the Right Chiropractor
Whether you decide to seek chiropractic care to help you with your headaches, neck pain, or back pain, you should always have a clear understanding of what you are looking to achieve.
In chiropractic as well as all of healthcare it is vital that you first identify your goals and then find a practitioner with the philosophy and skills that match up with your goals.
Are you only interested in short term pain relief without any concern for the long term ramifications of not correcting the underlying imbalance?
Are you looking to use chiropractic like tylenol, only when you have pain?
Are you committed to correcting your problem so that you don’t have to experience recurrent episodes?
Are you motivated to improve your performance in all areas?
Are you wanting to avoid or minimize the development of degenerative arthritis?
To help you out with this, we have a post on the benefits of chiropractic that dives into the depths of these other benefits. Check it out here Discover 5 Benefits of Chiropractic that Have Nothing to do with Pain!
If you are struggling with matching your goals with a matching chiropractor, you may want to consider things like:
- Am I satisfied with short term benefits and the risk of progressive worsening?
- Am I willing and able to commit to a program with the goal of correction?
- Am I willing to take responsibility and actively participate in my own care?
Secret #3. Use Reviews and Referrals
There are loads of so-called success stories that you can access online. My practice, Life Chiropractic, is in Grass Valley, CA.
Simply do a Google search for Grass Valley Chiropractor or Chiropractor near me.
- Look for practices with a good number of 5-★ reviews. You have to question if there are no reviews or less than 10. A large number of reviews is good but often it simply reflects an office that is active in requesting reviews.
- Read some of the longer reviews. People take the time to leave a detailed review if they have had an outstanding experience.
Reviews are a good place to start but these are people you do not know.
The next step is to ask friends and co-workers for referrals. Ask them about their experience with the doctor. Why did they go? How successful was the care? Do they like and trust the doctor?
These stories are hugely helpful to say the least. Especially, if you are clear on what you are looking for. There’s no greater waste of your time and money than to go to a practitioner whose skill set, practice style, and experience do not match up with what you desire.
Get clear on your goals for chiropractic care.
Identify the qualities of a practitioner you would like to see.
Create a list of a few questions you can ask of people you know as well as the doctor and their staff.
Secret #4: Understand That Health and Healing is a Process
We live in an instant gratification culture.
And, our medical system is purely focused on symptom relief with only a distant secondary goal of healing.
Think of all the commercials for medications:
- Excedrin for headaches
- Prilosec for acid reflux
- Zyrtec for allergies
- Imodium AD for diarrhea
- Preparation H for hemorrhoids
- …and the list goes on.
I can’t think of a single medication that actually corrects the underlying imbalance. Perhaps the closest are antibiotics.
But, the infection is not the core problem. The real issue is the body’s inability to fight off the infection with its immune system. You might wipe out an infection with an antibiotic but if that is all that is done, nothing has changed the deficiency in the immune system that allowed it to occur.
It’s easy to put all the attention on the uncomfortable symptoms, especially when they are interrupting our daily life.
What we fail to consider is that every aspect of health outside of trauma is a process. What do I mean by that?
You don’t lose your health over night! (outside of trauma)
You don’t get healthy overnight!
Your level of health is much more dependent on what you do day in and day out.
Everything that contributes to your overall health and well being is something that needs to be repeated with some regularity. Some things like drinking water and eating healthy need to be almost daily.
Some things like movement and exercise need to be repeated almost daily.
Chiropractic requires some consistent repetition in order to benefit fully from it. It took time for the imbalances in your body to manifest as symptoms and it will take time to correct the imbalances.
If you want to improve your health and maintain it you should look at your health related practices and:
- Identify all those things you know are beneficial to your health and fit them into your schedule on a regular basis.
- Identify those things that you know either do not contribute to health or are harmful and minimize the frequency of those practices.
Corrective Chiropractic Care is a process. I look at it that we are changing a pattern that is destructive and causing symptoms and restoring a healthier, more balanced pattern.
This takes time!
This is a process!
Secret #5. Importance of the Autonomic Nervous System
Maybe you’ve heard of people experiencing tremendous improvement in conditions that you wouldn’t ever associate with chiropractic.
Things like….
- Allergies
- Asthma
- Acid Reflux
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
- Menstrual irregularities
What do any of those have to do with back pain or headaches or the spine?
It’s been said by science that over 90% of all illness and disease is stress related. The reason for this is the impact that stress has on the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).
The ANS is the connection between the brain and our organs. When our spine is misaligned, when we have unhealthy habits, when we are under significant stress….
…it causes an imbalance of the ANS resulting in overactivity of the Sympathetic “fight or flight” System and a corresponding inhibition of the Vagus Nerve.
Corrective Chiropractic Care puts attention on the areas of the spine that have a significant influence on the ANS:
- Upper Cervical Spine misalignments often cause a lowering of Vagus Nerve function.
- Pelvis Misalignments also cause a lowering of Vagus function.
- Upper, Mid, and Lower back misalignments tend to increase activity of the Sympathetic Nervous System.
Let me give you an example. A young man in his 30s came to see me with complaints of mid back pain from a snowboarding fall. In the course of his history it was revealed that he had suffered from exercise induced asthma since childhood.
I did nothing specifically for his asthma but in adjusting him his asthma improved. About 4 months later he related that he hadn’t used his inhaler since his first visit.
Here’s an article related to this: Stress and the Vagus Nerve
Secret #6. Health is About Balance
The philosophy of chiropractic holds that all health and healing comes from within the body. That seems logical and reasonable but that’s not how our culture or healthcare system views health.
The body is self-healing. Whether or not you put a bandaid on a cut is unlikely to make a difference in its healing. That bacitracin ointment doesn’t make it heal any better.
If the body is self-healing and you are experiencing some chronic issues then it is evident that some imbalance in your body is greater than it’s ability to return to balance.
The goal of healing is to assist the body in a return to balance so that it can resume its job of healing and maintaining health.
This is what Corrective Chiropractic is all about…..BALANCE. The purpose of chiropractic care is to return the spine to alignment and remove stress and interference from the nervous system so the body can restore health.
This is why Corrective Chiropractic is such an advantage over traditional chiropractic. The purpose is to help return the body to a place of balance where it can do what it does best, heal and maintain health.
Secret #7. Imbalance leads to Dis-ease then to Symptoms and eventually Illness and Disease
Our focus is understandably on the annoying symptoms that are interfering with our enjoyment of life. Our healthcare system is focused on reducing or eliminating symptoms and while on the surface that sounds like a great idea, what is missing is correction of the imbalance causing the symptoms.
The body is amazing in its ability to adapt and compensate. As a result we can have an imbalance for months or sometimes years before the symptoms show up.
If all we do is focus on reducing the symptoms without correcting the problem, it gets worse over time.
Eventually the symptoms lead to illness or a named condition like “arthritis”. Over time these conditions become diseases. The farther along this path you travel the more difficult it becomes to correct the problem.
The body needs help and support to stay healthy. Those practices that support health and healing will benefit the body when they are done on a regular basis. Things like:
- Eating healthy
- Drinking water
- Sleep
- Exercise
- Chiropractic care
- Massage
The real benefits of anything that helps resolve your pain goes far beyond pain relief. If you have removed the reason for the pain you are helping your body work better. This supports you in staying healthy and recovering from any challenges.
Wrapping it Up
If you are looking to heal chronic issues like headaches, neck and back pain, anxiety, insomnia, then corrective chiropractic should be on your list.
Chiropractic helps the nervous system function better and do the job it was designed to do. The nervous system controls and coordinates all body functions. Interference to the nervous system interrupts the communication network of the body.
Life Chiropractic of Grass Valley is all about helping people in our community overcome chronic limiting pain and return to their life without limitations. Our hope is that this post gives you everything you need to consider the role of chiropractic in your healthcare.
If you are ready to schedule your first appointment at Life Chiropractic in Grass Valley you can do that here: Schedule Here