Chiropractic- What it is and what it can treat.
Chiropractic is the 3rd largest primary healthcare profession
in the world. Chiropractors are musculo-skeletal and neurological experts
who are able to treat a wide variety of conditions using a range of joint
corrections or ‘adjustments’, soft tissue and muscle relaxation techniques
and rehabilitative exercises.
Recent research(1) has shown that in order to treat and prevent episodes
of low back pain, a combination of manipulative therapy, such as chiropractic, and exercise is most effective. Chiropractors can also treat
children, pregnant women and the elderly. A more comprehensive list of conditions that can be helped can be found by clicking here.
(1) UK-BEAM Trial, British Medical Journal, 2006
Techniques Used
If you ask 10 people to describe their treatment, you will get 10 different answers! That's because there
are many different techniques for the Chiropractor to choose from. Our Chiropractors select the technique which will most effectively restore normal function and improve your alignment with a minimum of force. The "art" of
adjusting requires skill and training rather than brute strength.
Click on a title from the list below for more information on a particular subject.
Sacro-Occipital Technique (SOT)
Soft tissue/trigger point therapy
Craniopathy and Cranial Chiropractic
Sacro-Occipital Technique (SOT)
SOT and Cranial Chiropractic are methods of chiropractic care that identify the
cause of a patient's symptoms. SOT practitioners understand the mechanics
and neurology of the body in an organised and practical way.
An SOT chiropractor knowledgeably analyses a patient's body to determine underlying
spinal, cranial and organ-related problems.
The SOT practitioner determines the cause of a patient's problems and corrects
it using very specific and effective methods. SOT chiropractors integrate large
amounts of information, using several different techniques and approaches
simultaneously, as SOT integrates easily and seamlessly with other chiropractic
systems.
SOT patients are also routinely given guidance regarding home care, diet,
and nutrition.
Patients seeing SOT practitioners can relax and know that they are in the
best hands in chiropractic. SOT doctors understand a patient's problems
and use a systematic and comprehensive approach to chiropractic care.
In a nutshell, SOT practitioners are thinking chiropractors willing and
able to deliver quality care.
Diversified Adjusting
This is the classic technique Chiropractors use to improve the movement
and function of restricted spinal joints and the extremities. Practitioner’s
hands deliver a quick, highly accurate impulse to restricted joints, which
may produce the characteristic ‘popping’ noise. The pop is caused by lubricating
fluids that separate the bones of each spinal joint. This has been likened
to the opening of a champagne bottle or removing a suction cap.
Chiropractors study for a minimum of 4 years full time. They are the only
health professionals trained to perform these painless and highly accurate
‘adjustments’ to restricted spinal joints. This helps to remove interference
to the nervous system, reducing pain and improving health.
Soft tissue/trigger point therapy
Slow, constant pressure is exerted on an area of muscle that is in spasm
or hyper-irritable (trigger points). These areas of tight muscles often
refer pain into another area of the body. By applying pressure in a very
specific manner we can slowly relieve the tension in these muscles. This
allows a joint to move more freely.
Musculo-skeletal techniques
There are different techniques applied to the musculo-skeletal
framework. These techniques can be applied to:
- The joints (using manual adjustments or mobilisation)
- Their surrounding soft tissues (soft tissue techniques)
- The muscles
- The fascia
When combined, for example in the case of a sprain, these forms of treatment allow the therapist to restore the normal contact within the joint and with other structures. This eliminates muscular spasms and tensions in the ligaments, thereby restoring complete mobility to the joint.
Visceral Techniques
Based on the specific placement of soft manual forces to encourage the normal mobility, tone and motion of the viscera (organs) and their connective tissues. These gentle manipulations can potentially improve the function of individual organs, the systems the organs function within, and the structural integrity of the entire body. By complementing the body's natural healing processes, visceral technique is increasingly used as a preventive health measure for its ability to bolster resistance to disease, and is effective for a wide range of medical problems associated with pain and dysfunction. We find visceral techniques are particularly useful after surgery if adhesions are present, during pregnancy when there is extra stress on a mother’s organs and people who hold a lot of tension in their diaphragm and abdominal region.
Craniopathy and Cranial Chiropractic
Could Craniopathy Help Me?
Dave had a bad knee. He couldn’t jog for more than 10 minutes before the pain made him stop. This was bad news for Dave because he was a keen 20-miles-a-week man. He went to his GP, who referred him to the orthopaedic department at the hospital. They said there wasn’t much wrong with his knee, it just needed rest. Then a friend suggested physiotherapy. The physiotherapist was good. She thought his hip was the problem and he started doing a few miles again, but the pain kept coming back. Another friend suggested he see a chiropractor. This chiropractor, who was also a craniopath said, yes the hip was indeed involved and needed an adjustment, and this would help the problem with his knee but the man also mentioned something about a temporal bone and he needed some work doing on his skull bones. His head? There was nothing wrong with his head, was there??....
Craniopathy is a specialist field in chiropractic which deals with the micro-motion available at the sutures of the skull. These sutures form the junction between the eight bones that make up the cranial vault and other bones that make up the face. A sac-like membrane called the dural membrane covers the brain and spinal cord and contains cerebro-spinal fluid in which the brain and spinal cord are immersed. This fluid acts as a cushion, protecting this delicate mechanism, transports nutrition, removes waste products and provides an ideal medium for essential nerve energy conduction. A mechanism within the body that is essential for good health is the circulation of cerebro-spinal fluid around the brain, down the dural membrane surrounding the spinal cord and then back up to the brain again. This mechanism relies on breathing to provide the pumping force. On inhalation fluid is forced up to the brain which in turn expands. On exhalation the brain can contract forcing fluid down towards the sacral bulb, the lower attachment of the dural membrane in the pelvis. The fact that the lower attachment of the dural membrane is in the pelvis explains why it is vital to stabilise the pelvis as part of craniopathic treatment. In order for this mechanism to work, there must be a small amount of motion at the sutures of the cranium and if the function of the sutures is compromised, fluid does not flow efficiently leading to ill health.
Cranial distortions occur when the body is subjected to stresses to which it cannot adapt. These stresses can take the form of physical stress (birth trauma, sports injuries, car accidents, poor working posture), chemical stress (food additives, drugs), environmental pollution and emotional stress. Because of the close relationship between the cranium, the spine and the pelvis, craniopathy is very useful in the treatment of the range of conditions usually seen by chiropractors such as low back pain and neck pain, but it can also be effective for the treatment of migraine headaches. There are also a variety of, so-called, specific techniques which can be used to treat specific conditions. In combination with organ system treatments, craniopathy can relieve stress on important nerve pathways descending from the brain down to the organ systems, helping to relieve these conditions.
As mentioned before, birth trauma can have a profound effect on the newborn. Even an apparently normal delivery can have trauma associated with it, for example, if the baby’s presentation is not ideal. But birth trauma can seriously affect cranial health, causing problems for the baby. Plagiocephaly is thought to be a factor in educational problems in later life.
At the heart of craniopathy is health. Health relies on a healthy nervous system. Every organ and gland, every cell in the body is controlled by the nervous system. If this controller system is compromised by abnormal cerebro-spinal fluid flow then health is compromised. It may not manifest then and there as symptoms but it does require body resources to adapt and compensate for it. Over a period of time the body runs out of the ability to adapt and compensate and that’s when ill health catches up with you. Craniopathy on a regular basis helps maintain health.
Dave is happy. He’s running again. He has even just sent in his application for the Great North Run.