Modern chiropractic originated in 1895 with D.D. Palmer, but chiropractic can even be seen thousands of years ago in the writing of the ancient Egyptians and the Tang Dynasty in the orient. Chiropractic is a science, art and philosophy that combine to correct the cause of the body’s problem, not just mask the symptoms. Our bodies are built with a main control network: the nervous system. The nervous system is made of the brain, spinal cord and nerves that reach all tissues and organs. These structures are so important that they are surrounded by bone, the skull and the vertebral column.
The vertebrae are separated by discs that allow for movement. Conditions like injuries, trauma, repetitive movements and congenital defects often misalign the vertebrae and create nerve irritation and joint dysfunction. When the nerves become irritated, warning signs appear such as pain in the lower back and neck, pain in the arms and legs, headaches and organic problems. Chiropractic philosophy embraces the fact that our bodies have an innate ability to heal and fix itself.
Chiropractors use a system to locate and correct the misalignments in the spine to reduce the nerve irritation and restore proper motion to the joints. A chiropractic adjustment is done by hand and a specific line of correction is used to re-align the vertebrae and allow for proper joint motion. The art of the adjustment is specific for each patient due to the differences in age, conditions, and spinal structure. By removing spinal misalignments, with an adjustment, the body has less interference to the nervous system, thus allowing the body to heal itself. Most medications, like pain pills, only cover up symptoms instead of healing the body and often have side effects that cause other problems.