FAQS

No medical referral is necessary: you can call directly for an appointment.

Chiropractors are considered primary access practitioners (along with medical doctors, dentists and optometrists). They are allowed by law to diagnose your problems and either treat you or send you to the most appropriate health care practitioner.

That said, more and more medical doctors are recommending that their patients see a chiropractor. In fact, many MD’s see a chiropractor themselves! In our clinic we regularly treat MD’s, who have also sent their family, friends, and patients to us for chiropractic care.

Chiropractors receive an education similar to Medical doctors in some respects and different in others. The letters D.C. after a chiropractor’s name stand for Doctor of Chiropractic.

Yes. Your chiropractor will take your bone strength into consideration when developing a treatment plan. There are many ways to adjust the spine, and some of them are very gentle and appropriate for people who have osteoporosis.

Yes, chiropractic care is safe throughout the pregnancy and has significant beneficial effects. Chiropractors are uniquely trained to treat you during pregnancy. They can alter their treatment methods for your comfort throughout the pregnancy as your body changes. They understand how the increased weight and the hormonal changes can affect your spine.

Benefits that women report with regular chiropractic care during pregnancy include pain relief, easier and quicker deliveries, and in some cases, control of morning sickness.

Absolutely! If a vertebral subluxation is part of your pain pattern, only a chiropractor will help you! A thorough chiropractic examination to find the root of your problem is the beginning to a solution. Your chiropractor will then discuss what treatment options would be best for you.

Yes, but your chiropractor must be told of it! Most patients can receive chiropractic care without undue worry as your chiropractor will be very careful with you and choose the most appropriate treatment techniques.

Surgery can cause instability above or below the actual surgical site. Your chiropractor will focus on these areas of instability and avoid the levels that have been surgically modified.

Many “Failed Back Surgery” cases do respond to chiropractic care.

No, it is not addictive and no, you don’t have to go all the time. How long you benefit from chiropractic care is always up to you.

Some people know that regular maintenance care keeps them feeling great and doing everything they want to in their lives. Some people want to prevent problems from occurring, similarly to getting their teeth or eyes checked regularly. And some people come to the chiropractor only when they are in acute pain. Chiropractors respect each patient’s decision for care type (although we may personally disagree with the choice.) Most experienced chiropractors know they are more than glorified aspirin.

Chiropractic patients become much more “body aware” after receiving care; they now know that what they previously thought was a “tight muscle” is actually a subluxation which can be corrected by the chiropractor. So, rather than putting up with the discomfort, they are much more likely to continue to receive care. Since they can stop at any time, it certainly isn’t an addiction!

No. An adjustment only moves the joints millimetres. It is not enough to permanently stretch the supportive tissues (ligaments and joint capsules) and make anything loose.

Our chiropractors have years of daily experience and training to properly adjust the spinal joints in the specific direction, at the exact place, and with the right amount of pressure.

Many athletes from all sorts of sports, who are exercising regularly and in great muscular shape, still go to the chiropractor regularly. They find they perform at a higher level (better muscle co-ordination, better balance, better power, less “nagging” injuries, and a general sense of well-being.)

Famous athletes who regularly see chiropractors (or even bring their chiropractors with them when on-the–road) include; Tiger Woods (golf), Lance Armstrong (cycling), Donovan Bailey (running), Emmitt Smith (football), Kate Pace (downhill skiing), Dan O’Brien (decathlon) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (weight lifting) .

No matter what your athletic ability chiropractic care can be of benefit to you.

No. An adjustment mobilizes a locked joint, reduces irritation of a nerve, and improves the biomechanics and muscle balance of an area. Exercise only strengthens or stretches the muscles of an area.

Often when patients start exercising, they feel much better and that’s because they are strengthening the supporting musculature. But they are not mobilizing a locked joint. That’s why athletes with well-developed musculature still see their chiropractor.

No. There are many variables that the doctor must consider before she decides which techniques to adjust a patient with. Age, size, prior health conditions, inflammatory conditions, patient preference, actual tissues injured, and spinal subluxation findings must all be taken into account.

Yes, absolutely! When you “crack” your back, you are not manipulating the same immobile joints that the chiropractor will adjust. (Often you ‘crack” the joint right beside the truly locked one.) Because there are so many nerve interconnections, you feel better for a while, but you need to repeatedly “crack” your back because the truly locked joints are not being mobilized..

When you follow a chiropractic treatment plan, you will find the need to repeatedly “crack” your back goes away – you no longer feel you need to do it! Further, if the desire to crack your back starts again, it’s time for a proper chiropractic adjustment again!

No, not even a chiropractor can adjust himself. Most chiropractors get checked and adjusted regularly because they know the benefit of maintenance care. Just because you can make a joint “pop”, doesn’t mean you are adjusting yourself.

No. Generally there should be no major pain with an adjustment. If you do experience a painful episode, be sure to tell your chiropractor so your treatment plan can be modified. The doctor can certainly work within your comfort zone.

No. Ultimately you and your chiropractor together will decide on the best approach to help with your particular condition.

A neck adjustment may seem “scary” to someone who has never experienced one. However, if you need a neck adjustment, the sense of relief you feel after, usually surpasses the fear of hearing a small “crack”.

Yes, “Remarkably Safe” according to a New Zealand government study. Three other recent reviews found that spinal manipulation was of proven benefit and appropriate for various conditions including neck pain and headaches, when compared with the risk involved.

Research also shows that there is a very remote risk of stroke following neck manipulation, (1stroke per 2-5 million manipulations). In susceptible people, stroke can also occur with turning your head to back out the car, getting a shampoo at the hair salon, bouts of violent coughing or normal sporting activities. Your chiropractor will ask you questions to find out if you are at greater risk for stroke and modify the treatment plan accordingly.

To put the risk into perspective: use of anti-inflammatory drugs (like aspirin and Tylenol) cause 100-200 deaths per million cases. Surgeries for neck pain cause 15,600 cases of paralysis or stroke per million cases and 6,900 deaths per million cases.

Our doctors will be happy to discuss any concerns or questions you may have.

When the joint shifts suddenly (like when you “crack” your knuckles) a vacuum phenomena in the joint occurs. The lubricating fluids and gas within the joint also shift suddenly because of the vacuum, creating the popping noise, similarly to the pop of removing a suction cup.

Not all chiropractic adjusting techniques result in a popping sound. Some make no noise at all. So, although the sound is interesting, it isn’t a guide to the quality or value of the adjustment.

Some patients don’t like to hear their joints “pop”, so alternative sound-less techniques can be used to make their treatment more comfortable for them.

A chiropractic adjustment is a quick,small movement, in a specific direction that adds motion to a spinal joint which isn’t moving correctly. An adjustment is directed at fixing the subluxation. (see above)

There are many different chiropractic techniques to adjust a subluxation. Some methods involve direct placement of the chiropractor’s hands on the spine. Others involve a small instrument, a specially-designed table or the force of gravity. Your chiropractor will chose a technique of adjusting that will be best suited to you and your condition.

Sometimes spinal adjustments are also called “spinal manipulations”.

Sometimes you can’t! Just like early tooth decay, early heart disease or early cancer you may not even know it! There may not be any obvious symptoms.

A thorough chiropractic examination will indicate if you have any subluxations and where they are located.

Some early symptoms of subluxations are pain, stiffness, nagging aches and pains, headaches, and numbness.

The effects of subluxations are often gradual and slowly eat away at your wellbeing in tiny increments. For that reason, a regular spinal check-up by a chiropractor is advisable.

Subluxations are often called “locked joints” “immobile joints” “vertebral subluxations”, “fixated joints” or “vertebral joint dysfunctions”.

Chiropractic is the health care discipline which emphasizes the inherent power of the body to heal itself without drugs or surgery.

Your body is controlled by your nervous system. Millions upon millions of nerve impulses travel from your brain through your spinal cord, and out between the vertebrae to every organ, tissue and cell of your body. Improper motion or position of the vertebra (which chiropractors call a “subluxation”) can irritate, pinch or choke the nerves and affect the transmission of those nerve impulses. The result for you is pain, numbness and/or compromised function of the affected organs and tissues.

Chiropractors “adjust” the vertebral subluxation, taking the irritation off the nerve, which allows the body to heal itself.

Chiropractors are neuro-muscular-skeletal specialists – they understand the relationships between the nerves, muscles, bones and joints and can work with you to find solutions to your health concerns.

Although chiropractors are best known for relieving neck and back pain, recent scientific research shows that chiropractic adjustments can enhance many body functions, by normalizing the nerve impulses to those areas. Seemingly unrelated problems, like heartburn, colic in babies, or bedwetting respond well to chiropractic treatment, if the cause is a subluxation irritating the nerve supplying the affected organ.