Chiropractic Care

Any care you receive from a Doctor of Chiropractic might be considered to be “chiropractic care”. However, we’ll focus on those procedures specifically delivered by a DC (Doctor of Chiropractic).

Most notably, a DC provides an accurate diagnosis of your condition, treatment for pain, and restricted movement of the joints (eg. spinal joints and joints of the shoulders, hands, wrists, knees, hips, ankles)  All joints have in common basic components such as cartilage, nerve endings, muscle attachments (tendon), ligaments, and blood supply (vessels).  Therefore, all joints can be subject to common problems when injury or “wear and tear” occurs.

A chiropractor is trained to diagnose, evaluate, and treat the pain and dysfunction of joints that everyone will experience sometime in their life.  One treatment method used is the chiropractic adjustment, another is called mobilization, which is a general therapeutic pressure or movement of joints to “loosen up” tight and restricted areas.  When the body is not moving in a smooth and coordinated way, a stress reaction occurs in joints, muscles, and nerves, alerting us with pain to a need for rest, and possibly stretching, cooling down, and sometimes expertly delivered joint alignment by a chiropractor.

For more information on the other services available at our clinic, see our web page Chiropractic Services.

Joint Alignment Techniques

Joint alignment (adjusting) can be accomplished through unique techniques developed by pioneering chiropractors over the last 100+ years.  Although some DCs might use only one technique as their specialty, most DCs employ various techniques to fit a variety of patient preferences, ages, sizes, and conditions.  You would never use the same technique to help a larger pro-athlete that you might choose when helping a small baby or an elderly person; at least not the same technique and the same amount of pressure.  The adjustment aims to normalize proper joint movement, break up restrictions, and calm irritated nerves.  Almost all the time, the adjustment feels good and often brings a smile to the face of the patient.

Safe and Effective Care

Due to the importance of protecting the parts within a joint, as part of delivering safe and effective care, the doctor has undergone rigorous study and practice of anatomy and adjusting techniques.  It is well known that some people (non-chiropractors) will “crack” their joints and even feel better after doing this, at least temporarily. Not knuckles, but spinal joints.  We strongly recommend against doing this because “self-manipulation” can lead to torn components of the joint complex, eg, cartilage, nerves, and even blood vessels.  Also, non-professional joint manipulation can cause a joint to become over-stressed and unstable over time.  The joint may gradually loosen, losing its ability to stay in place. The body may then try to stabilize it by spasming muscles and creating mineral deposits within the joint.  A well-trained Doctor of Chiropractic is the perfect choice to enroll in helping you prevent joint injury, premature degeneration, and the effects of improperly or untreated joint conditions.  For more discussion of self-manipulation see our blog post, “Is It OK to “Crack” My Own Joints?”

A Little Joint Physiology

Did you know that joint cartilage requires proper movement for ongoing regeneration of the cells that make it up?  That’s right!  Joint movement assures a constant movement of joint fluid past the cartilage. This constant bath of fresh, nutrient-rich joint fluid supplies cartilage cells the means to rebuild themselves in the ongoing loss of old and damaged cells.  An improperly moving (stuck) or misaligned joint will slowly lose its healthy supply of new cartilage cells and degenerate over time.

Here is a picture of chicken cartilage.  Do you see how white the end cap of cartilage is?  That indicates a poor blood supply and the need for fresh nutrients by joint fluid passing over the cells. Keeping your joints healthy through good nutrition, plenty of water, exercise, and chiropractic care will help ensure your joints will serve you well for a lifetime and not degenerate early.

Call us to schedule your complimentary consultation on the phone or in person or

to discuss whether chiropractic care may be right for you.

We are hoping to help you too!

(952) 474-1777