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Hunter Chiropractic Wellness Centre!

I want the best for my family. How can we deal with our health-related issues without resorting to more drugs or surgery?

An often overlooked fact in health care is that our bodies are designed to treat ill health, pain and disease without drugs. This “innate intelligence” is the same process our body uses to heal a cut or mend a broken bone. The ensure that all systems are functioning properly, our bodies require an uninterrupted flow of nerve impulses from the brain and spinal cord.

What causes us to get sick?

When nerve flow to a particular area of the body is compromised, organs and cells cease to function optimally. This leads to a lowered state of health. It can also affect the immune system, your body’s defense against foreign cells (e.g. bacteria, viruses and cancers).

But I FEEL fine, … I’m not sick

Many diseases begin long before symptoms appear. In fact, only 10% of your nerves have the ability to carry pain messages. Two of the many examples are heart disease and cancer, where too often the first indications of trouble are heart attacks and tumors.

But I’m in PAIN, … I’m not sick.

Pain in the hips, knees, feet, shoulders, elbows, hands and lower back is often accepted as bad luck or part of the normal aging process. However, such pain is often caused by misalignment of joints in these areas, which abnormally stress muscles and tissues. Examples are: carpal tunnel syndrome, heel spurs and tennis elbow. These misalignments can be corrected.

How does the body heal itself?

Our immune system is ingeniously designed to fight disease, and our bodies are constantly producing new cells to replace those that die. A stunning 98% of the atoms in our bodies are replaced every year. That translates into a new stomach every 5 days, a new liver every 6 weeks, and a new skeleton ever 3 months. This normal process requires a nervous system free of interference in order to produce healthy new cells and to ensure an effective immune system.

Why is my spine important?

Our spinal cord and nerves carry millions of messages every minute between our brain and cells. Our spine is vital to protecting this pathway. The spine’s 26 joints allow is to move, but also make the spine highly vulnerable to misalignment (vertebral subluxation).

What causes the spine to go out of alignment?

Obvious causes are car accidents, falls, and sports injuries. However, many misalignments are caused by micro-traumas, which accumulate over time. This damage often goes undetected and uncorrected. Micro-traumas are caused by poor work conditions, repetitive motions, poor sleeping positions, poorly- designed pillows, emotional and dietary stress (which can lead to muscle tightening and joint misalignment), and even the birthing process for mother and child. (see picture)

Okay, but some things, like arthritis, are simply a reality of aging, right?

No; this is one of the most commonly encountered myths in our profession. As chiropractors, we seek to evaluate spinal degeneration, or arthritis, to determine just how long the misalignments have been left uncorrected. We see many examples of elderly patients with little degeneration (spinal arthritis). The issue is not age, but the time that passes following misalignment. Spinal arthritis is a wearing down of the misaligned joint, similar to the uneven wear of a misaligned tire on your car. Once degeneration begins, it is a continual process unless your spine is corrected. This makes early detection and correction crucial.

So what does a chiropractor do?

As a chiropractor, my primary goal is to ensure that every family is examined for spinal misalignment. Detection is done using a thorough consultation, clinical examination, and x-rays, if necessary, to determine: 1) whether the patients problem is related to nervous system interference, 2) the degree of spinal misalignment, and 3) how much degeneration is already present.

This drug free approach uses specific adjustments to gently realign tour vertebrae. Chiropractors are highly trained to become experts in the detection and correction of spinal misalignments. This training includes more that 4,400 hours of classroom work (often more than physicians undergo) in everything form anatomy, physiology, chemistry, diagnosis, neurology, nutrition, obstetrics, geriatrics, etc. As well, training includes many hours of spinal adjustments techniques and advanced x-ray techniques.

What can you help me with?

Chiropractic treatment has produces amazing results for many health conditions that people suffer from every day. However, we do not heal specific conditions. What we do is remove what interferes with the body’s ability to heal itself. Conditions we treat range from migraine headaches to back pain, childhood ear infections, attention deficit disorders, and hyperactivity, to menstrual and bowl problems, and numerous other chronic and acute conditions.

Should children and seniors go to chiropractors?

Yes. Children experience frequent traumas. It is estimated that children fall 2000 times before they reach the age of 2. Learning to ride a bike and other childhood activities cause additional micro-traumas that are often ignored or passed off as “growing pains”. Seniors can often enjoy heightened quality of life through regular chiropractic treatment. Chiropractic adjusting procedures are modified for children and seniors, and are extremely light and gentle.

Why do I sometimes hear a cracking sound during treatment?

The “cracking” sound you may hear is not bones rubbing together. The sound is produced by shifting of gas and fluids in the joints. The presence of this sound has little meaning and varies with each patient.

I have my doubts about chiropractic

Chiropractic results have been scientifically confirmed. Nerve impulses flow from the brain and down the spinal cord to control every organ and cell in your body. Misaligned spinal bones interfere with this process, and ill health can result. Chiropractic treatment reduces nervous system interference caused by spinal misalignment, thus allowing your body to function properly.

Is chiropractic safe?

Chiropractic care has an outstanding safety record due to our conservative approach to health that avoids invasive procedures or the use of drugs. Critics mislead by suggesting that adjustments to the neck subject patients to unnatural stress. Statistics show that the risk of complications during care is less that when checking your car’s blind spot while driving or getting your hair washed in a hair salon. The risk is far lower that taking prescription medication. drug-related adverse effects is the 4th leading cause of heath in united states (Journal of American Medical Association).