Patient Education
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The more you understand your body and how it functions, the better equipped you'll be at taking care of yourself to achieve optimal health. Our team of chiropractic professionals empower patients to take charge of your own health and future, educating you about your condition to decrease your need for future care. We've included the Patient Education section on our website to provide you with valuable, practical wellness information which you can incorporate into your lifestyle to improve the quality of your life. We hope you will turn to these pages whenever you have a question about health related issues and urge you to contact our practice at any time to make an appointment with one of our chiropractors.
The purpose of chiropractic is to improve and sustain quality of life.
This is achieved by awakening the body's natural healing ability through treatment of the musculoskeletal system, the healing power of touch and guidance in proper nutrition and exercise.
On Health
Many People think that health is how you feel. But lack of symptoms doesn't mean you're healthy. If you look good and feel great but have undetected cancer - you're sick.
True health is how well your body works mentally, physically and socially. If something isn't working right, then you're sick.
It is the purpose of your brain and nervous system to control the function of every cell, tissue, organ and system of your body. A properly working nervous system in concert with musculoskeletal integrity, proper nutrition and exercise is the key to good health.
We believe in the body's ability to heal itself. We believe healthy people are happy people.
On Chiropractic
Besides medicine and dentistry, chiropractic is the third largest doctoral health profession in the United States.
The typical applicant at a chiropractic college has already acquired four years of pre-medical undergraduate college education including course in biology, inorganic and organic chemistry, physics, psychology and related lab work. Intensive studies include course in anatomy, physiology, rehabilitation, nutrition and public health.
The curriculum includes no less than four years of classroom, laboratory and clinic experience - all aimed at preparing the doctor of chiropractic to be a portal-of-entry healthcare provider. The course of study is approved by an accrediting agency which is fully recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. This has been the case for 25 years.
Chiropractic involves the study of philosophy, science and art. Philosophy considers the fundamental nature of the existence of human beings and their interaction with the environment. The sciences deal with aspects of the universe related to human biology, and especially the relationship between spinal segments and the nerve system. Chiropractic's art is the expression of its philosophy and the concern with locating and correcting vertebral subluxations.
Instead of treating your symptoms, your Doctor of Chiropractic is primarily interested in detecting, reducing, and preventing the Subluxation.
How Chiropractic Works
To understand chiropractic, one must have a basic understanding about how the body functions. From the time you were born, an "inner wisdom" has known exactly how to keep you healthy and alive. It knows how fast your heart should beat, how often your lungs need to breathe, how to digest food and how to eliminate waste. There are millions of details controlled by this inner wisdom that keep this marvelous machine in prime functioning condition.
Every living organism in our world possesses what chiropractors call Innate Intelligence. The body machine comes out of the "factory" fully able to function, as long as it has regular fuel and adequate maintenance, thanks to this Innate Intelligence.
Innate Intelligence sends instructions to every organ and cell in your body through the nervous system housed and protected by the vertebrae. However, if these vertebrae are misaligned, even a little, those instructions can be interrupted. The result is "dis-ease" and dysfunction.
The word disease is a combination of 'dis' and 'ease'. 'Dis' is a prefix meaning "apart from" and ease meaning a "state of balance." It follows then that dis-ease is a lack of comfort, a loss in harmony in the system. When there is a lack of harmony in music, the musician adjusts the notes to complement each other. That's exactly what a chiropractic adjustment strives to do, restore body harmony, thus restore health.
International Chiropractic Association Children's Info
www.icpa4kids.com
Tennessee Chiropractic Association
www.tnchiro.com
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"Health is worth more than learning."
-- Thomas Jefferson
Untold musculoskeletal injuries occur every day when people lift heavy or even slightly heavy objects without following techniques.
Even a so-called simple task of lifting a box from the ground to place on a higher level such as a shelf or table can cause muscle and back strain.
Remember this simple rule when lifting: Never bend from your waist when standing upright to pick up something. Keep your back straight and crouch first by bending at the knees or hips, depending on where the item is that you are lifting. This allows your arms and shoulder muscles, not your back, to do the brunt of the work.
Back injuries from improper lifting techniques generally lead to three kinds of injuries to the muscles, vertebral discs, and joints. Here is a brief synopsis of those types of injuries:
- Disc injury – Improper lifting can cause the soft cushions between your vertebrae, called discs, to tear, rupture, or shift out of position. Often, the fibrous rings surrounding the soft leathery discs can bulge and even rupture. Such an injury can cause the dislocated or ruptured disc to press against a nerve, causing pain and numbness to radiate down into your buttocks and/or leg.
- Joint injury – You may be surprised to know there are numerous joints in your spinal column connecting all of the various bony structures. A bad lift can cause excessive strain on these joints, irritating tissue within them, and in some cases, causing them to lock up.
- Muscle injury – If you change your position during a lift, you place a lot of stress on your lower back muscles. This can easily strain and injure, usually in the form of a small twist or tear, a muscle or group of muscles. Muscle strain is a very common form of back injury. A muscle pull or strain is often painful and can disable key body parts such as your back, hips, shoulders, neck, and knees.
Here are some simple lifting techniques to help you avoid these kinds of injuries:
- Make sure you have a place to put the object you have lifted. Do not try to figure this out while holding the object. Position your body close to and in front of the object. Your feet should be flat on the floor and about a shoulder-width apart.
- If you need to turn during the lift, use your feet to pivot. Keep your elbows bent while carrying an object.
- Your leg muscles—not those in your back—should be the ones providing the power during your motion to stand erect.
- Keep the load as close to your body as possible to maximize the use of your arms and shoulder muscles. The further an object is from your center of gravity, the more force that is required to hold that object up.
- Keep your chest forward and bend at your hips (not the lower back) or your knees, depending on how far down the items is that you want to lift. Keep your shoulders in line with your hips to avoid twisting motions.
- When lifting, push your chest out, pointing forward. Avoid twisting or turning during the lift.
- Lead with your hips, not your shoulders, keeping your shoulders in line with your hips. If you need to change direction, move your hips first; this way, your shoulders will move in unison with your hips. If you move your shoulders before your hips, this will make it easier for your body to twist during the lift, leading to possible strains and other injuries to your back and pelvis.
- Don't lift an object that is obviously too heavy. Test the weight of the object by pushing it with your foot. If it is very difficult or impossible to push with your foot, it is likely that the object is more than your muscles can handle.