Like conventional medicine, chiropractic is based upon scientific principles of diagnosis through testing and empirical observations. Treatment is based upon the practitioner's rigorous training and clinical experience. Unlike conventional medicine, which focuses on attempting to treat disease once it occurs, chiropractic attempts to improve the health of the individual in an effort to avoid illness in the first place. Most people would rather be healthy and avoid illness, if they could. This is one of the main reasons for the big upsurge in the popularity of chiropractic. People are recognizing the benefit of seeking an alternative to traditional medicine; one that will help them achieve and maintain optimal health.
What truly differentiates doctors of chiropractic from any other healthcare professionals is the fact that chiropractors are the only professionals who are trained to diagnose and treat what are called spinal subluxations. The word 'subluxation' comes from the Latin words meaning 'to dislocate' (luxare) and 'somewhat or slightly' (sub). So the term 'vertebral subluxation' literally means a slight dislocation (misalignment) of the bones in the spine. Although this term was adequate in the 1800s when much was still misunderstood about the human body, today the word 'subluxation' has changed in meaning to capture the complex of neurological, structural, and functional changes that occur when a bone is 'out of place.' For this reason chiropractors usually refer to subluxations of the spine as the "Vertebral Subluxation Complex", or "VSC" for short.
The chiropractic approach to healthcare is holistic, meaning that it addresses your overall health. It recognizes that many lifestyle factors such as exercise, diet, rest, and environment impact your health. For this reason, chiropractors recommend changes in lifestyle' eating, exercise, and sleeping habits in addition to chiropractic care.
Chiropractic is so much more than simply a means of relieving pain. Ultimately, the goal of the chiropractic treatment is to restore the body to its natural state of optimal health. Since the body has a remarkable ability to heal itself and to maintain its own health, the primary focus is simply to remove those things which interfere with the body's normal healing ability.
This section explains more about the background of chiropractic care, how it works, who it can benefit, and more!
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Viscoelasticity: The Hidden Ingredient
Category:
Newsletter Library, Injury Rehab & Prevention
Most of us have experienced a painful bout of low back pain brought on by a seemingly innocuous movement such as bending over to pick up a pencil or a dropped set of keys. These painful episodes may last a couple of days or be more severe and last more than a week. We're left wondering, "What exactly
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When Bad Things Happen to Good Exercisers
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Newsletter Library, Injury Rehab & Prevention
"There I am," a very fit patient is saying, "out on my five-mile run, motoring my way up a steep incline. Suddenly, I feel a throbbing pain in the middle of my right shin. Oh, no, I think, not again." As things turned out, the patient recovered from the shin splints1 quickly, but he knew he'd dodged
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Whiplash - Getting Well Naturally
Category:
Newsletter Library, Injury Rehab & Prevention
You're driving to work and stop for a red light. You're minding your own business and - bam! - your car rocks forward and backward, slammed in the rear by another car driven by some guy yakking on his cell phone. Or you're a passenger in a New York City taxi. The driver's cruising down Fifth Avenue when
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Your Fellow Travelers
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Newsletter Library, Nutrition & Healthy Eating
It has long been known that over evolutionary time the human organism developed in tandem with a vast host of microbial fellow travelers. The 100 trillion microorganisms inhabiting our gastrointestinal tracts assist in numerous physiological processes critical to our health and well being. The intestinal
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Why Are Super Foods So Super?
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Newsletter Library, Nutrition & Healthy Eating
In recent years, media pundits around the world have proclaimed the extraordinary value of so-called super foods. Blueberries, broccoli, and especially kale have been described as possessing remarkable, almost magical, properties. What is it about these foods that makes them so good for you?
From a
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Vitamins for Vitality
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Newsletter Library, Nutrition & Healthy Eating
People often wonder about taking vitamins. Should I bother? Are they worth the money? Which ones should I take? In order, the answers are yes, yes, and ask your chiropractor to recommend the brand best for you. Why take vitamins at all? The purpose of supplementation is to cover all bases -- to make
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The Three Ps
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Newsletter Library, Nutrition & Healthy Eating
Pasta, pizza, and peanut butter. We've all been there. For some of us, these three delicious, yet nutritionally limited, pantry items constituted our three main food groups for months, if not years of our 20s and 30s, possibly even our 40s. But there comes a time when the party's over and we need to
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The Sunshine Vitamin
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Newsletter Library, Nutrition & Healthy Eating
We all know that Vitamin D is a critically important component in building strong bones and strong teeth. It turns out that Vitamin D has a vast number of additional functions.
For example, recent research shows that low Vitamin D levels is related to increased risk for diabetes as well as cardiovascular
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The Platonic Ideal
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Newsletter Library, Nutrition & Healthy Eating
Plato's Ideas were perfect templates, of which everything we perceive are tangible representations. But the Ideas were not to be found in the world around us. Rather, they were conceptions of rational thought, transcendental objects of knowledge existing in a realm beyond our own. And yet, Plato's Ideas
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Should I Go Gluten Free?
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Newsletter Library, Nutrition & Healthy Eating
It is now well-known that gluten intake is frequently associated with various serious conditions such as celiac disease, diabetes, and fibromyalgia. Years ago, most people had never heard of this substance or its related medical problems. But today, supermarkets as well as organic markets contain gluten-free
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How Many Fruits and Vegetables are on Your Plate?
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Newsletter Library, Nutrition & Healthy Eating
The human body evolved to consume a diet that is high in fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables contain a number of plant compounds that your body needs in order to operate correctly. If you don't consume enough of these plant compounds, your energy level will suffer along with your overall health.
Everyone
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Harness the Power of Hybrid Vigor
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Newsletter Library, Nutrition & Healthy Eating
Certain things in life just go together naturally. In the kitchen, peanut butter and jelly is a classic combination. Another such pairing is apple pie and ice cream.Other categories of life experience, such as human performance, prize the association of freedom and creativity. And in the field of health
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Gluten Intolerance - What Do I Need to Know?
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Newsletter Library, Nutrition & Healthy Eating
Approximately 40% of Americans have the genetic potential to become gluten intolerant. More than 1% of Americans have celiac disease. In fact, this percentage may be a low estimate because most physicians are unfamiliar with the signs and symptoms of celiac disease, which can be a "great masquerader".
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Gluten Freedom
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Newsletter Library, Nutrition & Healthy Eating
The concept of the value and benefit of gluten-free food has been gaining momentum for the last 10 years. Discussion related to gluten-free diets goes back to the mid-1950s, but those peer-reviewed articles were primarily focused on the treatment of celiac disease and related gastrointestinal disorders.
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Fitness: How Chiropractic Can Help
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Newsletter Library, Nutrition & Healthy Eating
Efficiency. It is something we all look for in home appliances or cars. How much energy will this thing take to run? Does the system have any weaknesses? If it's a used car, we want to know if the car had its oil changed regularly and if the parts have been properly cared for. We know that when one thing
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Eat Your Veggies!
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Newsletter Library, Nutrition & Healthy Eating
Kids don't have that strong a relationship to vegetables. Kids will go through the motions, pushing broccoli spears and lima beans around their plate a few times, but few veggies actually reach the inside of a kid's mouth. And yet, we want our kids to eat vegetables on a regular basis. The best way
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