Chiropractic Care
What is Chiropractic Care?
Chiropractic literally means “treatment by hand”. Chiropractic is an art, science, and philosophy of how spinal function and the nervous system affect one’s overall health and well-being. Chiropractic works by restoring your inborn ability to be healthy.
When under the proper control of your nervous system, the body as a whole is designed to resist disease and ill health. The central nervous system is composed of the brain and the spinal cord. Its primary purpose is to control behavior and allow the body to function.
The spinal cord begins at the brain and extends down, passing through the spinal column. The spine is to protect the spinal cord. However, nerves that branch through the openings between the spine's vertebra feed to different parts of the body, such as organs, muscles, and skin.
When there is a loss of normal motion or position of the spine, it can irritate or impair the nervous system's function and affect the discs and the surrounding soft tissues. Since your care's primary focus is improved nervous system function, chiropractic can positively affect many health conditions not normally thought of as “back” problems.
A Doctor of Chiropractic specializes in detecting and correcting the joints with a restrictive range of motion and spinal dysfunction to alleviate the interference so the body can function at its fullest potential.
There is a time and place for every healthcare professional. Chiropractic is a conservative approach to allow the body to heal without the influence of drugs, medicine, and surgery.
However, we have no problems co-treating or referring out to fellow healthcare providers when it is necessary. Our main interest is doing what is best for each patient.
If healthcare professionals work together, our patients can respond better. Many back specialists consider chiropractic an integral part of an overall care plan towards treating injury and disease.
Techniques
Diversified
A precise, manual force in a specific direction to correct and restore the spine or joint's normal position and motion.
Active Release Technique (ART)
A hands-on, soft tissue technique treats muscle, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and nerves.
Webster Technique
A safe, gentle means of removing the restriction and allowing biomechanical balance in the pelvic/sacral structure, muscles, and ligaments. This can decrease intrauterine constraints and allow the baby to drop into the pelvic basin more easily for birth.
Thompson Drop
A low force technique which utilizes a segmental drop table to assist in the movement of the spine.
Cox Flexion-Distraction
A gentle, low traction movement helps open up the vertebra's space to relieve nerve pressure and disc pain.
Activator
A low force, a high-speed technique using a specific adjusting tool to assist in a chiropractic adjustment.
Cold Laser Therapy
A treatment that utilizes super pulsed lasers to deliver light energy to tissue to reduce pain and increase circulation to help accelerate the healing process.
Softwave
Softwave therapy uses acoustic sound waves to active the body's natural healing process. The broad focused shockwaves helps reduce inflammation, increases the blood flow and activates the body to repair itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Chiropractic is an art, science, and philosophy of how spinal function and the nervous system affect one’s overall health and well being. Chiropractic works by restoring your inborn ability to be healthy. When under the proper control of your nervous system, the body as a whole is designed to resist disease and illness.
Your first visit normally takes 45 minutes to an hour. This allows us to fully evaluate your complaint and take a case history about your health and condition.
After reviewing your history and discussing your specific problem, a thorough orthopedic, neurological, and chiropractic examination is performed. X-rays may be taken if medically necessary, which will help uncover structural and functional problems.
Then, once the examination is complete, Dr. Kim Miley will explain the findings and outline a treatment plan.
I think this is a misunderstanding. If you are suffering from pain and finally get relief, do you ever want to suffer that pain again? Some patients return to the office when they have a new problem. Others like to be set up on a maintenance program; they may return every 4-6 weeks just to have a “tune-up”, like a car, to make sure that their body moves properly to avoid pain from sneaking back upon them. As a chiropractor, I will help treat whatever is causing your complaint. However, now that you know what it is like to feel good, you will want to address any issues as soon as they present to avoid any long term problems. It is up to you to take care of your body. You know how to contact us; we will be here to help you.
The program to become a Doctor of Chiropractic is very extensive. Chiropractic science requires a special emphasis on anatomy, physiology, pathology, neurology, biomechanics, X-ray, spinal adjusting techniques, and related subjects. Before beginning chiropractic school, chiropractic students need to complete 3 years of undergraduate education (some states require an undergraduate degree prior) to obtain the necessary prerequisites. A chiropractic student then completes 4 years of graduate school to receive a Doctor of Chiropractic degree. Each candidate must then pass both National and State Board examinations to receive a license to practice chiropractic. Chiropractic education never ends. In Kansas, chiropractors are required to take 50 hours of continuing education to maintain their license.
Don’t worry. It is not how strong an individual is that provides for effective care. Chiropractic care is more of an art; it relies on technique, speed, and precision. Individuals from little newborn infants to big, strong football players have all received effective care and enjoyed chiropractic care benefits from our practice.
A chiropractic adjustment is an art of using a specific force in a precise direction, applied to a fixated joint or not moving properly. An adjustment adds motion to the joint, helping the bones gradually return to a more normal position and motion. The purpose of this safe and natural procedure is improved spinal function, improved nerve system function, and improved health.
This is a very serious condition. When seeking any healthcare, always go to your appointment prepared. The provider needs to know when, how, and what happened that lead to this condition. Your doctor needs a full explanation of your current condition and needs to see any films and read any reports related to this condition. A well-informed chiropractor may help decrease the pain and discomfort you may suffer from due to a disc injury. Several surgeons have referred patients for chiropractic care before surgery to see if conservative care can help decrease the pain or even avoid surgery.
No, each patient is adjusted according to their complaint, history, and size of the individual. No two patients respond the same; therefore, Dr. Miley will decide which technique is best to treat your ailment. Pain is a sign from the body to indicate that something is not right. Many times a patient will experience pain in areas that the nerves will refer to pain too. Each case is evaluated individually, and treatment is addressed accordingly.
I love this question. It is a good indication that an individual is willing to be involved in the healing process. First and foremost, follow your provider’s instructions (home therapy, exercises, and treatment plan). The information provided to you is based on what we know and have seen to be helpful in your situation. Learn proper posture, ergonomics, and exercises to help maintain proper biomechanics. Rest, nutrition, weight, and health habits all affect your healing process.
Children are just as prone to injury as you are. Listen to your child. When they tell you they are having problems, they most likely are telling you the truth. Just as with adults, chiropractic can help children with several different problems. Children normally respond faster than adults because they have not been dealing with the problem for as long and are younger, so their bodies heal faster. Address their issues now; don’t let their problems become a life long issue. Please refer to our Pediatrics page for more information.