– Dr. Brown
Chiropractic care focuses on restoring, preserving, and optimizing health by hands-on care. The word: chiropractic, comes from the Greek words cheir (hand) and praxis (action), and simply means “done by hand.”
According to The Association of Chiropractic Colleges: “Chiropractic is a health care discipline which emphasizes the inherent recuperative power of the body to heal itself without the use of drugs and surgery. The practice of chiropractic focuses on the relationship between structure (primarily the spine) and function (as coordinated by the nervous system) and how that relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health.”
Conventional medicine focuses on curing illness through surgery and pharmaceuticals, where as Chiropractic care optimizes health with a non-invasive approach. Chiropractic’s primary avenue of treatment is manipulation of the spine and other joints, manual therapy, and rehabilitative exercise programs.
The spine is an important structure that houses and provides protection for the spinal cord, while providing mobility. This dual requirement of strength and flexibility makes the spine a very complex structure. The spine has multiple joints at each spinal segment (vertebrae). When these joints are not moving or functioning normally, the nerve roots exiting the spine can be affected. This can cause inflammation and can lead to issues like pain, tingling, sciatica and radicular pain. Manually mobilizing these irritated joints using chiropractic care attends to the issues.
At Core Chiropractic and Physical Medicine, your Flower Mound Chiropractor, our adjustment process involves applying a controlled gentle force in a corrective manner to the affected spinal area. This procedure improves spinal motion, decreases inflammation and pain, and improves your body’s physical function.
Chiropractic schools have some of the most rigorous educational standards in the health care industry. Chiropractic College applicants are required to have completed four years of pre-medical studies. This includes: physics, biology, organic/inorganic chemistry, and laboratory studies. In order to earn a degree they must obtain a minimum of 4,200 classroom, lab, and clinical training hours. Lastly, in order to become fully licensed and earn their Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree, chiropractic students must pass (4) National Board Examinations administered and approved by an accredited agency that is fully recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Chiropractors are educated as primary contact health providers. They are licensed to diagnose and refer patients to the appropriate health care specialist when needed. They specialize in the treatment of conditions related to the muscles, ligaments, nerves, and joints, and as such, Doctors of Chiropractic receive advanced training in the spine, nervous and musculoskeletal systems. Chiropractors are also extensively trained in orthopedics, neurology, physiology and clinical diagnosis.
Chiropractors receive extensive training in anatomy, and they spend a good portion of their first year in the lab studying human cadavers. Students are given an in-depth understanding of how the body works. Extensive study in biomechanics further teaches them how the body and joints move, which is essential for properly performing a chiropractic adjustment. Chiropractors also receive advanced training in subjects such as nutrition, exercise, and rehabilitation.
Chiropractors are well versed in laboratory procedures and diagnostic imaging. They are licensed to interpret x-rays, CT scans, and MRIs.