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
Abstinence from the kind of activity that caused you pain in the first place is a necessary first step in treating pain symptoms. But in some cases of mild pain, it pays to return to normal physical activity when you can without enduring severe pain. The reason is simple: strained muscles, while painful, can restore themselves quicker when they are conditioned.
It has been shown that in general, physically fit people tend to heal faster from mild sprains and other kinds of musculoskeletal injuries. This is especially true when it comes to avoiding back injury. A strong and healthy back is much better equipped to handle the stresses and strains of modern life.
A good form of exercise helps your body stay flexible and strengthens the muscles of your low back, abdomen, pelvis, and thighs.
In addition, mild forms of aerobic and strength exercises may help you on the road to recovery, once you can safely get back on your feet. If exercise is too painful, try a brisk walk or swim.
Forms of aerobic exercise such as swimming, fast walking, or cycling (including stationary) are recommended because they work your body's large muscle groups. Of course, any form of aerobic exercise that raises your heart rate for at least 30minutes, three times a week, is beneficial. Caution: Do not undertake any form of physical exercise if you are feeling pain unless your doctor advises.
Avoid exercises such as weight lifting or climbing as a remedy for pain or a form of rehabilitation after an injury. These kinds of activities generally do more harm than good to a strained muscle.
Robin McKenzie, a New Zealand physical therapist, endorsed the repeated flexing or extension of the lower back as a way to treat a wide variety of back, or more specifically, spine, problems. McKenzie based his notion on the fact that a healthy spine was one that stayed mobile and flexible. Many health care professionals involved in spine health believe the "McKenzie Method," as it has come to be known, can be an effective self-treatment plan for lower back pain.
Another form of therapy is called Pilates, an exercise program named after Joseph Pilates, who developed the resistance-training regimen in the early-20th century to rehabilitate soldiers injured during the World War I. He incorporated springs into machines that later became the foundation of the famous Pilates equipment used today.
Pilates centers on rehabilitating and strengthening key muscles involved in posture. At the heart of the Pilates program is the belief that keeping the spine in its natural, or neutral, position can help mitigate and even prevent back pain.