There are a lot of misconceptions about chiropractic care and chiropractors floating around… Today, I am going to tackle 3 of the Chiropractic Myths I hear most often:
Once you go to a chiropractor, you have to go FOREVER.
Most people seek out chiropractic care when they are in a lot of pain or have an issue they would like to resolve. Chiropractors are fantastic at taking care of low back pain, headaches, whiplash associated disorder, thoracic outlet syndrome, etc. Usually, these conditions can be taken care of with a single treatment plan combined with exercises, chiropractic adjustments, and nutrition.
But what happens then?
Once you have seen a chiropractor, you become more aware of your body and how it moves. Often, the condition that brings people into the chiropractor have been a long time coming and they don’t even remember what it’s like to truly feel good.When things are moving well, you are feeling great. This is a common awareness in chiropractic patients. These patients progress from acute care- where we target a major condition or problem- to corrective care.
Corrective care focuses on helping to identify, target, and eliminate movement patterns or postures that were behind the low back pain or headaches. This type of care can take a bit of time to work through, depending on how diligent home exercises are performed and how long the problem has been going on.
Following this, some patients elect to continue seeing their chiropractor periodically to prevent future issues and to be checked for wellness. This is the part where people tend to say that you go FOREVER. However, as humans, we are very complex machines that come into contact with all kinds of challenges from long flights, to tech neck from working on computers, to falls and athletic injuries. Many people choose to get checked periodically to ensure that they are doing well and have nothing brewing underneath the surface. But this is their choice!
Chiropractors aren’t REAL doctors.
Chiropractors undergo graduate education to achieve the degree Doctor of Chiropractic (DC). While chiropractors do not treat patients using drugs or surgery, our education is comparable to that of Medical Doctors (MD). In fact, our core studies are just about the same! Click here for a breakdown of the course requirements for DC vs MD students.
Chiropractors are trained in anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pathology, clinical diagnosis, etc; however, our training in treatment involves learning how to adjust the spine and other joints of the body, work with soft tissues, and implement clinical nutrition.
One thing that I feel it is important to emphasize is that chiropractors are especially well trained in recognizing when pain is not coming from the joints or the spine, but from another area. For example, sometimes right shoulder blade pain is referred from a hot gallbladder. In this case, the patient is often referred to an MD, DO, or ND for further evaluation and intervention. This is especially important because many common organ conditions cause back pain, causing people to seek chiropractic care.
In conclusion, Chiropractors are REAL doctors, just not medical doctors 🙂
Chiropractic Adjustments HURT
As I mentioned above, many times pain is the main driver that causes someone to seek out chiropractic care. If you have ever had back pain, you understand that sometimes it is painful to even have your clothes touch the area that is injured. It is understandable, then, that a chiropractic adjustment may be uncomfortable in that area.
However, an adjustment is not, generally painful. I have made a point, in my education, to learn many techniques. This includes one that uses less pressure than you would be comfortable with on your own eyelid (Did you just push on your eyelid?) as well as instrument adjusting.
When a patient is in pain, I work to make my adjustment as comfortable as possible- sometimes using cold or heat to relax the area before adjusting.
Most patients report mild to no discomfort throughout their adjustments- in fact the majority experience a sense of relief almost immediately.
What is something that you have heard about chiropractic care?
Stay tuned for more Myth-Busting about Chiropractic care!
Your Chiropractic Home in the Heart of Fremont 