Chiropractic FAQ
Who can benefit from NUCCA?
Short Answer: Anyone who wants their body to function
effectively should be assessed. Treatment will only be provided to
those who are found to have a measurable need for care.
Long Answer: Although upper cervical chiropractors often end
up seeing patients with fairly significant discomfort, the assessment
that occurs allows the practitioner present. The postural
rebalancing created by the upper cervical adjustment allows for the
body to have less gravitational stress and therefore the person can
direct that now unused energy to self-healing, maintenance and thinking.
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Can children benefit from NUCCA procedures?
Short Answer: Yes, we believe all children should have the benefit of a properly balanced body.
Long Answer: Children can be adjusted using the NUCCA
procedure right from birth. Often children do not need the full NUCCA
assessment as their many simple reflexes that can be checked, allowing
for a modified exam. Due to the tendency for a child's misalignment to
have been present for a relatively short period of time the
misalignment is typically less complex. Children also generally respond
more quickly to adjustments and usually require fewer adjustments to
attain spinal stability. A fabulous textbook on kinematic imbalances in
children, their effects and treatment was published by the German
medical physician Heiner Biedermann (Manual Therapy in Children).
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What makes NUCCA chiropractic spinal care unique compared to other care?
Short Answer: There are many forms of spinal health care
today. Many focus on addressing local joint function mobility by
administering a short, quick thrust to a localized area. NUCCA
Chiropractors influence the entire spinal columns postural balance by
returning the heavy head to a more balanced position on top of the
narrow neck.
Long Answer: Generally the approach to the care of the spine
is in two different ways. The majority of practitioners attempt to
influence the spine in areas of segmental or local fixations to
increase mobility and hope for improved structural stability. NUCCA,
(as well as a few other chiropractic techniques), approach the spine
with the ability to improve structural and sustained postural balance
that leads to improved spinal stability along with balanced mobility.
The benefit of NUCCA care is that long term spinal balance is
maintained and that produces improved overall health and well-being.
All spinal practitioners agree that spinal care is important. The
approaches vary from localized segmental care of many providers to the
NUCCA practitioners that offer upper cervical care that affects the
whole body balance and the long term spinal stability.
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How can I tell if I need an adjustment?
Short Answer: Be assessed by a NUCCA trained chiropractor so that it can be determined whether or not an adjustment is indicated.
Long Answer: By paying attention to your body, you may become
more sensitive to whether or not you are in alignment. Although some
rely on the return of their symptoms to tell them when they've lost
their alignment, we recommend patients to pay attention to their
reflection in the mirror; paying attention to head tilt or a low
shoulder for example. Other cues may include where they feel their
weight distributed on their feet, or if a change in gait is observed.
More subtle indications may even include having to adjust your car
rearview and side mirrors. Even with all of these clues, it is still
recommended that periodic chiropractic assessments be performed to
verify proper balance.
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My neck feels fine but my low back is sore. How can NUCCA help my lower back?
Short Answer: When posture is corrected, the entire body rebalances resulting in less stress to all areas including your low back.
Long Answer: Your postural muscles are constantly working to
maintain an upright posture. Postural distortion results in uneven
weight distribution over all of your joint surfaces. The muscles
throughout your neck, back, arms and legs will compensate for this
shift in weight. Pain will show up in the area of greatest breakdown.
The reduction of postural distortion provided by the NUCCA procedure
decreases the stress on all areas of the body and allows for the
possible relief of pain and proper healing. For detailed statistics on
the likelihood of positive response to a variety of conditions click
here.
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What can I expect after my adjustment?
Short Answer: NUCCA has been shown to be very effective in
reducing postural distortion. Whether or not a person's postural
distortion is related to symptoms they are exhibiting can only be
determined by improving the posture and observing changes.
There are three possible effects that are demonstrated after an adjustment;
- Person feels no significant change.
- Person feels a change in symptoms with immediate improvement.
- Person experiences new short-term symptoms associated with functioning in a new structural position.
Long Answer: Responses to the adjustment vary from nothing,
to muscle soreness, and from fatigue to a feeling of euphoria. Due to
these individualized responses all patients are given a list of things
they may experience so they are familiar with what responses are normal
to expect. Due to the significant postural rebalancing that occurs with
the upper cervical adjustment people will often feel stiff and sore for
2-4 days as the body adapts to its new position. This discomfort is
usually associated only with the first and/or second adjustment.
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How can such a light pressure make such dramatic changes?
Short Answer: For the same reason why one is able to move a pile of heavy bricks with a light push of a wheelbarrow: leverage.
Long Answer: Although the patient feels only a slight
pressure behind their ear while being adjusted, there is adequate force
being put into the neck. Using the first vertebra and the weight of the
head to gain a biomechanical advantage, the doctor places their own
body on a calculated angle to ensure the adjustment is specific to the
patient's individual misalignment. The force generated by the doctor is
transferred to the patient in such a gentle and precise fashion that
many patients are unaware of any intervention whatsoever.
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Do I get adjusted each visit?
Short Answer: You are only adjusted when the objective
findings indicate you are subluxated (i.e. postural distortion, a
contractured/shortened leg).
Long Answer: How often you get adjusted is directly related
to your body's ability to maintain your alignment. You will be given
recommendations throughout your period of care in the office which is
intentioned to help you achieve and maintain an aligned state. Our goal
is to adjust you as few times as possible, however quarterly to
semi-annual assessments are usually recommended to assure that any
progress isn't lost along the way.
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What can cause me to lose my alignment?
Short Answer: Thoughts, traumas, and toxins are all stressors that can contribute to a misaligned state.
Long Answer: After your first adjustment in our office you
will be given recommendations regarding daily activities to help
maintain alignment. The three T's (thoughts, traumas and toxins) are
all contributors to maintaining or losing alignment. Thoughts include
negativity or stress Ð think about the tightness in your shoulders
after a long day at work. Have you ever considered what those muscles
are connected to? Traumas are a more obvious cause, however doesn't
necessarily have to be a car accident or fall. Daily repetitive
postures or movements can be considered an ongoing traumatic event.
Toxins can be dietary or environmental and can also play a role in
maintaining or losing alignment due to the stress they place on your
body's systems.
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How long until I am better?
Short Answer: Healing is individual and there are many
contributing factors. The more personal responsibility the patient
assumes in this process, generally the better the results.
Long Answer: The healing process takes time. If you were to
break an arm, the medical physician would cast it and you would be
instructed to keep it in the cast for approximately six to eight weeks.
That is because this is the typical healing time for bone. When dealing
with spinal misalignment, the integrity of the musculature and
ligaments has been compromised and you must allow adequate time for
these structures to heal in the aligned position. The longer your spine
has been out of alignment, the more possible damage has occurred and
therefore the more required healing time.
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Is it true that if you see a chiropractor once you have to go for the rest of your life?
Short Answer: No, however often people who experience
chiropractic recognize the health benefits and choose a lifestyle that
includes lifelong chiropractic care.
Long Answer: There is a misconception that once one begins
seeing a chiropractor, they need to see one for the rest of their life.
A possibility for this perception may be due to the fact that the
healing process requires time and multiple visits to the Chiropractor
may be indicated to stabilize the spine until the body knows how to
hold the spine in an aligned position on its own. The longer your spine
has been breaking down (which is usually much earlier than the initial
onset of symptoms), the longer it will typically take to attain a
stabilized state.
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If I feel relief, why do I need to come back?
Short Answer: You don't. Ongoing assessments are advised if
you want to allow for optimal healing to minimize recurrence and
optimize function.
Long Answer: Many feel significant relief in discomfort
following the first few visits. Our goal is not just to provide relief
but to create a situation where the spinal stresses that caused the
issue are minimized, stabilized and you no longer need to be adjusted
regularly. This level of care can involve significant work on your
part. Although we can't always achieve this status with a patient, it
is this situation that provides optimal long-term benefit.
Symptoms are the last to show up and the first to leave (think of
how cancer or heart attacks occur). A symptom-free state does not
necessarily mean healing has completed or that you are in your optimal
alignment. Once your body begins showing signs that it is stabilizing
and holding alignment for an extended period of time, recommended time
between visits will be lengthened.
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Why should I get checked when I'm feeling fine?
Short Answer: Symptoms can occur after years of altered
function. We feel prevention and optimization is better that reactive,
distress care.
Long Answer: Our assessment includes objective measures that
are independent from subjective symptoms. It is best to be assessed
periodically to ensure that if you are misaligned but non-symptomatic
you can be adjusted to prevent your body from being accustomed to a
misaligned state once again and avoid the spinal deterioration that
often involves a return to pain.
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Why are you looking at my feet if you are adjusting the top of my neck?
Short Answer: A leg length difference can be an indication of
imbalance tone in your body's musculature and therefore is one of our
objective measures to determine whether or not you are in need of an
adjustment. After an adjustment we will often check leg-length again
and find that legs to be of balanced length.
Long Answer: There are many postural muscles that are
constantly contracting and relaxing in response to normal body
movements to prevent us from falling over and allow us to maintain an
upright posture. When our first vertebra is misaligned, the weight of
the head is no longer evenly distributed over the neck and the rest of
the body. The body therefore reflexively responds to this imbalance by
contracting different postural muscles in its attempt to maintain an
upright posture. It is the reflexive contractions of the postural
muscles that result in the contracted/ shortened leg.
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Is it possible for me to go in and out of alignment on my own?
Short Answer: No, a true subluxation will not realign on its own.
Long Answer: Many times patients may feel that they were "out
of alignment" and they were able to regain alignment on their own. A
true subluxation can only be corrected by a third party. What the
individual likely felt was the adaptation of the body to stress that
they were able to manage without assistance. Our goal in this office is
to maintain the body in a state of reduced stress so the body can adapt
to the stresses and strains of everyday life without requiring
assistance to manage a breakdown.
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Why are so many things positively affected by one procedure?
Short Answer: The body is self-healing and its healing
capabilities are infinite. With your energy no longer being excessively
re-directed to fight gravity, often the body will manage to deal with
other issues as well.
Long Answer: By improving spinal alignment people experience
improved posture as correction of non-adapting reflexive contracture of
skeletal musculature is attained. This postural balance leads to better
body-weight distribution which improves the position of internal organs
and helps protect those structures acting to stabilize the spine. As
less energy is required to oppose gravity, you will have more energy to
think, function, heal and maintain yourself.
