Chiropractic is a health care discipline that believes your body has the natural ability to maintain a disease free state. It works with your body’s already existing tendency toward good health, your body’s normal condition.
How Can Chiropractic Keep Me Healthy?
The demands of everyday living are often quite taxing on your spinal column and can lead to misalignment and loss of normal movement in your spinal segments. Such problems interfere in the normal functioning of your nervous system. The nervous system includes the brain, the spinal cord and all the nerves that regulate millions of processes going on inside of you all of the time. Chiropractic works to ensure this system is functioning at its best by the use of periodic postural assessments, adjustments or spinal manipulative therapy and lifestyle consultations. When you think of the nervous system as the master system of the body you can understand why chiropractic care is so important.
What is an Adjustment?
Spinal Manipulative Therapy (SMT)
An adjustment or SMT is the main tool of the chiropractor. Your spine may not be functioning well due to injury, misalignment or lack of movement. Normal alignment and movement is restored by the application of a specific force delivered in a precise direction. Chiropractors spend many years in training to develop this highly skilled therapy.
Does an adjustment hurt?
You may feel light pressure on your spinal joints and/or hear a popping sound, the result of joints opening quickly. Adjustments rarely hurt, instead you may have immediate pain relief and feel more relaxed.
Is chiropractic safe?
Our procedures are safe and natural ways to improve the functioning of the nervous system and optimize health. In fact, the most recent research on mechanical low back pain indicates that chiropractic is the most effective and the safest first treatment option.
Chiropractic Education
Chiropractors are doctors who undergo a rigorous education process. After completing their university degree, they spend four years and over 5,000 hours of chiropractic academic and clinical training. If you compare chiropractic college to medical school, you will see that the requirements and core curriculums are very similar.
The Whole Family Can Benefit
Not only adults benefit from chiropractic care. Children often experience aches, pains and postural problems related to the bumps and bruises of childhood. At FHO from infancy through senior years, we provide care for many functional ailments for your entire family including:
Neck and back pain are amongst two of the most prevalent musculoskeletal injuries worldwide. Those who have suffered from neck or low back pain know that it can hinder job performance, sleep, social life, athletic performance, and many more daily activities. Not all neck and low back pain are the same. Typically, you may feel symptoms close to the spine, however in some cases neck pain can begin to radiate to the shoulders, arms and hands, while low back pain may begin to radiate to the hips, legs and feet. Chiropractors are musculoskeletal experts and are commonly known for assessing and treating spinal conditions. At Family Health Options, we will provide a thorough examination to determine where the pain is originating, treat you with the highest level of care, and provide you with strategies to reduce or prevent your pain in the future.
Many people may suffer from an occasional headache, but when a headache or migraine becomes more frequent or intense, you may find daily tasks more difficult to complete. There are many different types of headaches, but tension-type, migraines and cervicogenic headaches are the most common. Tension-type headache presents as a band-like tension around the entire head, whereas migraines will typically be on one side and cause nausea, light or sound sensitivity. Cervicogenic headaches are caused by the muscles and joints in the neck referring pain to the head or face. A proper diagnosis is crucial for choosing the appropriate management strategies as it relates to each type of headache.
Arthritis is a persistent and painful condition that affects the joint and the surrounding cartilage, bone, ligaments and muscles. There are several types of arthritis, but the most common type is osteoarthritis. You may hear of osteoarthritis affecting the knees, hips or back, but this chronic inflammatory condition can affect any joint in the body. Individuals can start experiencing arthritic symptoms around 55-years of age. This can vary depending on previous injuries, lifestyle, genetics and many more factors. Those suffering with osteoarthritis will present with persistent joint pain lasting longer than 3-months and morning stiffness which tends to become more manageable about 30-minutes after waking up. Chiropractic treatment, acupuncture, exercise therapy, and pain management strategies are all beneficial to controlling osteoarthritis symptoms which can be provided by the chiropractors at Family Health Options.
Almost all athletes have experienced some type of sprain or strain injury during a sporting activity. Acute sports injuries may occur with fast, explosive movements, whereas those nagging and persistent injuries are likely due to repetitive activities or incorrect movement patterns. Although most people think chiropractors only treat spinal conditions, all chiropractors have extensive knowledge and training in anatomy and biomechanics for the entire body. Chiropractors are equipped to assess and treat your sports injuries. Treatment may include pain control strategies and rehabilitation exercises to get you back to training or competing.
Chronic pain is defined as persistent, on-going pain that never really seems to go away. It is a complicated problem with multiple causes. When people have chronic pain, the problem is as individual and unique as the person experiencing the symptoms. At Family Health Options we will take the time to do a thorough history and examination, listen carefully to the patient so that we can truly understand what they are experiencing and develop an individualized treatment plan to address the unique characteristics of the patient’s profile.
Fibromyalgia is a complicated condition that has been considered controversial at times. The reality is that patients who are diagnosed with fibromyalgia are in chronic pain. A multi-disciplinary approach to treatment is usually considered best practice for helping those with this condition. Manual therapies such as chiropractic, massage therapy, acupuncture and physiotherapy can be helpful in managing the pain of fibromyalgia. Further, careful instruction on patient centered activity, nutritional counselling and lifestyle management strategies can also be beneficial.
Motor vehicle accidents can involve a variety of injuries including whiplash, back pain, headaches, concussions, andvarious other types of injuries. Chiropractors are musculoskeletal experts who are well trained and authorized to assessand treat most injuries resulting from motor vehicle collisions. It is important to note that you do not need a medical referral to see a chiropractor after your accident. You can come directly to us after your accident. We deal directly with the insurance companies and manage all the necessary paperwork. We are very familiar with the legislation andrequirements to help you navigate through this difficult time.
Tennis elbow, repetitive strain, carpal tunnel syndrome, Achille’s tendonitis and plantar fasciitis are all examples of overuse types of sprain and strain injuries. Many of us are industrial athletes, meaning that we use our bodies to make our living. Repetitive factory work, long hours sitting or standing, thousands of steps on the factory floor are all examples of the stresses and strains that we place on our bodies on a daily basis. These stresses and strains can lead to the painful conditions listed above as well as many others. We can help with these conditions using a variety of treatment protocols that have been proven effective. We can also help you navigate through the requirements of the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) if these injuries have occurred at work.
We also encourage regular spinal check-ups to help prevent injury and promote good health.
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