Sound scientific principles.

The existence of the nervous system as the primary control mechanism of the body is an undisputed scientific fact. It controls and coordinates the function of your muscles, heart, lungs and every other cell, tissue, organ, and system of your body. Your brain communicates with your body by sending and receiving messages though your spinal cord.

The bones of the spine, the vertebrae, house and protect the spinal cord. Spinal nerves exit between spinal bones and take the messages from the spinal cord to all the parts of your body, and from the body back to the brain. It’s this relationship between the brain, spine, and nerves that forms the very focus of the chiropractic profession.

When vertebrae of the spine become misaligned through trauma, repetitive injury, poor posture, or other forms of spinal stress, two major consequences will result: 1) range of motion becomes limited, and 2) spinal nerves emerging from the spinal cord are compromised. Chiropractors use the term subluxation to describe such disruptions.

Interference in the nervous system’s ability to communicate with the body may not cause noticeable symptoms; however, in some people it can lead to pain and disability. Any aspect of health may be impaired by nerve interference. Whether your subluxations cause pain or not they will lead to dysfunction and an overall decrease in your quality of life and can even lead to disease and disability. If left uncorrected, subluxations can get worse, spinal degeneration or decay takes place. Often the only indication of a childhood injury can be the degeneration present in a 30 year old spine.

It is important to understand that the doctor of chiropractic does not treat conditions or diseases. The expertise of the chiropractor is in checking the spine for misalignments that impair nervous system function therefore affecting overall body function. The removal of subluxations and the interference to the nervous system has been shown to have significant, lasting health benefits.

Through chiropractic adjustments, the doctor of chiropractic reduces the subluxations and allows your body to restore normal nerve expression. The body is then able to respond appropriately to any imbalance in the system, thus allowing proper healing to take place and a restoration of health. The overall effect is an improvement in your body’s ability to function and an increased quality of life.

Kids and Chiropractic.

More and more parents are seeking chiropractic care for their children. Subtle trauma throughout childhood will affect the future development of the spine leading to impaired nervous system function. Any interference to the vital nerve system will adversely affect the body’s ability to function at its best.

If neglected, the injuries during this period of rapid growth may lead to more serious problems later in life. Many spinal problems seen in adults begin as early as birth. Even so-called 'natural' birthing methods can stress an infant's spine and developing nerve system.

The resulting irritation to the nerve system caused by spinal subluxations often does not cause symptoms but can be the cause of many health complaints. Colic, breathing problems, asthma, nursing difficulties, sleep disturbances, allergic reactions, chronic infections, bed wetting, and ear infections can all be signs of nervous system stress.

To prevent more serious problems as kids grow and develop, today’s parents are having their children’s spines checked after birth and on a regular basis as their child grows and develops.

Chiropractic adjusting procedures are modified to fit a child's size, weight, and unique spinal condition. They are both gentle and specific to the child’s developing spinal structures. Most parents report that their children enjoy their chiropractic adjustments and look forward to their visits. They also report that their children experience a greater level of health while under regular chiropractic care.

For more information about pediatric chiropractic please visit http://www.icpa4kids.org/why.htm

Pregnancy and Chiropractic.

Expectant parents today are discovering that chiropractic care during pregnancy is an important component of their prenatal care. Pregnant women benefit from chiropractic care much the same as anyone who has spinal stress and subluxations. There are, however, special reasons why prenatal chiropractic is important.

Pregnancy is one of the stages in life where there are rapid physical, chemical, and emotional changes. Just like in infancy, childhood and puberty, these rapid changes put stress on your spine. With rapid weight gain, changing hormones, and changes in centre of gravity pregnant women are prone to experiencing spinal subluxations or misalignments. This may lead to spinal pain, sciatica, headaches, or other symptoms or may cause no noticeable symptoms at all.

Chiropractic care can help a women’s body cope with these changes allowing for increased comfort and body function throughout this stage of life.

Preventing uterine constraint is another important reason for prenatal chiropractic care. Due to the ligamentous connection between the pelvis and the uterus, pelvic misalignments can cause the uterus to become torqued reducing the amount of space for the baby to move and develop. This constraint can lead to problems with the baby such as torticollis or problems with birth such as breech positioning or other non-ideal positions.

Regular chiropractic care during pregnancy has been shown to reduce length of labor and have resulted in less need for pain medication. Chiropractic care throughout pregnancy can give you and your baby the opportunity for a more comfortable pregnancy and a safer, easier birth!

For more information about prenatal chiropractic please visit http://www.icpa4kids.org/why/pregnancy.htm

Doctors of Chiropractic receive extensive, demanding professional education.

To receive a degree to become a chiropractor, one must complete extensive undergraduate prerequisites and four years of graduate-level instruction and internship at an accredited chiropractic institution. To be licensed in Canada all chiropractors must pass two rigorous national board exams and a provincial licensing exam.

As primary health care providers, chiropractors all require and receive comprehensive knowledge of all systems of the body and diagnostic procedures to thoroughly evaluate a patient, address disorders relating to the spine and determine the need for referral to other healthcare practitioners.

High satisfaction rate.

The Manga Report, an extensive independent report commissioned by the Ministry of Health (Ontario) in 1993, reported that in comparable patient groups, patients were far more satisfied with chiropractic care than medical care. A 1992 study further determined that patients generally considered chiropractors to be more attentive and caring, more accessible, convenient and available, much less reliant on drug therapy, and less likely to create new problems or make existing problems worse.

Who should see a chiropractor?

Everyone. Chiropractic is best known for its treatment of back pain, neck pain, and headaches, everyone, whether they have symptoms or not, should be checked for subluxations, or misalignments of their spine. A spine with subluxations is not a healthy spine, just as a tooth with a cavity is not a healthy tooth, whether or not it hurts.

To review research about chiropractic please visit http://www.icpa4kids.org/research.htm

Chiropractic is safe and effective.

The chiropractic adjustment is a safe, effective and cost effective procedure which is performed each day nearly one million times. Chiropractic care is natural, non-invasive, and therefore the body's response is far more predictable than its reactions to drug treatments or surgical procedures. Your doctor of chiropractic is trained to recognize any situations that would prevent you from becoming a chiropractic patient and will give you the appropriate referral to another health care practitioner. Chiropractic, in fact, is one of the safest forms of health care available.

Did you know?

Chiropractic is the fastest-growing and second-largest primary health care profession in the world. Millions of Canadians routinely choose chiropractic services as a natural means to fulfill their health care needs. In order to service this demand, approximately 6373 Doctors of Chiropractic are actively practicing in Canada.