What is Chiropractic?

What is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic stresses the idea that the cause of many disease processes begins with the body’s inability to adapt to its environment. It looks to address these diseases not by the use of drugs and chemicals, but by locating and adjusting a musculoskeletal area of the body which is functioning improperly.

The conditions which doctors of chiropractic address are as varied and as vast as the nervous system itself. All chiropractors use a standard procedure of examination to diagnose a patient’s condition and arrive at a course of treatment.

Doctors of chiropractic use the same time-honored methods of consultation, case history, physical examination, laboratory analysis and x-ray examination as any other doctor. In addition, they provide a careful chiropractic structural examination, paying particular attention to the spine. The examination of the spine to evaluate structure and function is what makes chiropractic different from other health care procedures.

Your spinal column is a series of movable bones which begin at the base of your skull and end in the center of your hips. Thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves extend down the spine from the brain and exit through a series of openings. The nerves leave the spine and form a complicated network which influences every living tissue in your body. Accidents, falls, stress, tension, overexertion, and countless other factors can result in a displacements or derangements of the spinal column, causing irritation to spinal nerve roots. These irritations are often what cause malfunctions in the human body. Chiropractic teaches that reducing or eliminating this irritation to spinal nerves can cause your body to operate more efficiently and more comfortably.

Education of a Chiropractor

Chiropractors attend four-year academic institutions where they receive the same amount of classroom instruction, or more, as one would in a medical school program.

The courses of study for a Doctor of Chiropractic focus on anatomy, physiology, chemistry, neurology, orthopedics, and various other health and biological sciences. In addition, Chiropractic training includes an internship in which the student doctor assists in caring for patients in a clinical setting, under the direct supervision of licensed doctors of Chiropractic.

After graduating from Chiropractic College, a new Doctor must pass national board exams and state license exams before he or she is allowed to practice in that state. Once licensed, a Chiropractor is required to take up to 50 annual hours of continuing education in order to maintain a license to practice.

Course hour comparison of Chiropractic training vs. Medical training.