Chiropractic isn’t magic, chiropractic isn’t some super complicated, mystical treatment that magically aligns your “energy” to help you reach a higher “state of being”. I’m not saying those other things don’t exist, I’m just saying they’re not chiropractic.

Simply put, chiropractic is a way to improve the range of motion in your spinal (and other) joints which will in turn improve your movement patterns an avoid the increased susceptibility to injury you have while walking around with a movement disorder. Improve the way your body articulates and you’ll decrease your chance of mechanical breakdown. The other side effect of chiropractic care is the improved nervous system function that although is often difficult to prove, is often reported in anecdotal reports from chiropractic patients. Improving nervous system function while improving range of motion during the recovery period of an injury will certainly help you recover faster especially when adjunctive modalities like LASER, ultrasound, dry-needling and other techniques are included.

Decompression/traction therapy is by far superior and a much safer technique to treat disc injuries, specifically disc herniations than chiropractic manipulation ever has been or ever will be which is the reason I use the Kennedy Decompression Technique to treat disc injuries in my clinic.

I’ve been to countless seminars and workshops that encourage short treatment sessions (under 5 minutes) that focus primarily on spinal manipulation with the promise of improved wellness and longevity. All I can say to these sorts of claims and treatment techniques (often involving scare-mongering) is that they have nothing to do with patient care and everything to do with the doctor’s bank balance. In my mind, high volume practices that preach these claims with little or no objective reasoning or backup should be illegal. Patients should ask reasonable questions of their practitioner and in return should receive reasonable answers and explanations. If your doctor cannot provide a reasonable explanation to his or her treatment I suggest you find a new doctor.

Your body is a marvellously complicated piece of engineering, whether you believe in God, Universal Intelligence or the Tooth Fairy…..your body is not a motor-vehicle, it’s not something that goes out of alignment which your chiropractor magically “puts back in”. It’s not that simple, so don’t settle for that explanation. Expect more from your doctor, take responsibility for your health and inform yourself before you put your health in someone else’s hands.