Chiropractic Treatment - What is it and how does it work?

As a chiropractor I am passionately interested in the health of the body especially the balance of the musculo-skeletal system and improving spinal function.

What can chiropractic treatment help? The gentle nature of the McTimoney chiropractic method, makes it suitable for people of all ages, including babies, older people and pregnant women. The following conditions often benefit from treatments:

• Back, neck and shoulder pain
• Pain, discomfort and stiffness in the bones and joints
• Migraine and tension headaches
• Muscular aches and pains
• Sciatica
• Whiplash injury
• Sports injuries

The skeleton is made up of bones, while the muscles, tendons, ligaments and fascia hold everything together, enabling us to stay upright and move.

Chiropractic treatment is a straightforward method of subtly adjusting the bones in your body to maintain the correct alignment and improve the functioning of the spine, thus ensuring that the nervous system works more efficiently. Through these subtle adjustments, chiropractic treatment can relieve pain and discomfort, increase mobility and provide a route to better health.

The spine is an amazing biomechanical structure, made up of 24 moveable vertebrae, the sacrum and the coccyx. It has shock absorbing discs in-between each bone. If the spine is in good working order we can get a good range of movement and strength.

The pelvis is the key stone of our skeleton. Its balance and biomechanics affect the spine and structures above and the alignment of legs, knees, ankles and feet below it.

The nervous system is essential for life as it controls every cell, tissue and organ in your body, sending messages which enable them to carry out their various functions. The spine houses and protects the spinal cord, while the spinal nerves go through the holes in between the vertebrae, transmitting nerve information to and from the body and the brain.

The bones are a vital store of minerals. People often think of our bones as something "fossilised", but they are very much alive, with an amazing blood supply. Our bones are constantly remodelling themselves in response to the external and internal forces that are put on them, thus enabling our body to renew it's skeleton every year.

While the spinal column maintains correct alignment, nerve information is passed accurately. However, if any of the vertebrae of the spinal column become even slightly misaligned, this can affect the nerves as they may become impinged, compressed or stretched, distorting the information that passes along it. This can lead to pain, spasms, discomfort and restricted mobility.

A misalignment of the vertebrae or bones in the skeleton through dysfunction of the joints can occur for many reasons, including incorrect lifting, road traffic accidents, falls, traumas, poor posture, repetitive one-sided use and stress.

Assessment: When a client arrives seeking chiropractic care, a full case history is taken regarding their general health, background and lifestyle and details of their presenting symptoms. On physically assessing a client I am interested in the balance or imbalance in their musculo-skeletal structure, which could be causing the presenting symptoms.

Chiropractic treatment: After taking these assessments we are then ready to carry out a treatment. The treatment is adapted to the individual's needs. For example, babies need a feather light touch, but for a large rugby player my touch may need to be firmer. The client lies on a bench and the treatment begins by mobilising and balancing the body's joints and muscles using soft tissue massage, passively stretching and gently manipulating their joints. The treatment ends with a back massage.

I always look at the person and their body as a whole, taking great care to help balance the pelvis, spine and rest of the skeleton. If one area is out of alignment it will affect other areas of the body.

The treatment given is holistic: time is spent with clients helping them to make positive lifestyle changes, including changes to diet, ergonomic advice, showing exercises to promote health, improving posture.

It is important that people are empowered to take responsibility for their own body and to improve their own health.

If a problem is detected that requires medical investigation or an X-ray the client will be referred back to their GP.

Responses and reactions to the treatment: During a course of treatment most clients feel physical changes as their body re-aligns. These may include a brief period of stiffness or tiredness, but more often a feeling of wellbeing and relief from physical stress.
How many sessions will you need? The number of sessions varies considerably on many factors, but notably:

Your age - you generally heal more slowly as you get older.

The nature of the problem - a simple backache will often clear more quickly than a sciatic problem.

How long you've had the problem - generally yesterday's injury will resolve a lot faster than one of 20 years standing.

Prevention is better than cure: Chiropractic treatment is very beneficial as a preventive therapy. When used in this way it greatly improves bodily health and well being, avoiding long spells of discomfort. Regular check ups are recommended to ensure that your body maintains a healthy balance in all aspects of its daily functioning.

Think of it as having an MOT service for your BODY.

Chiropractic treatments should be used to maintain our health rather than waiting for specific problems to arise.

Personal history: My passion for natural therapies began when I was training to be a registered general nurse. After qualifying I felt I wanted to use my hands to help people and administer more natural ways of healing for my patients. In fact, the word "chiropractic" comes from two Greek words and translates as "done by hand".

I studied at the McTimoney Chiropractic College. John McTimoney set up his college in the 1970's, having devised a unique gentle chiropractic treatment that puts emphasis on a treatment for the whole body.  I qualified in 1997 and today run a busy practice both from home and from a local GPs' surgery.  I am continually updating my knowledge through study days and reading and I qualified to practise traditional Thai Massage 3 years ago.

Chiropractic history: About 100 years ago in America DD Palmer was one of those men selling healing potions from town to town. He had a good understanding of anatomy but was not a qualified doctor. Palmer was approached by a man who had lost his hearing after a fall from a ladder. Using his insight into anatomy, he adjusted the misaligned vertebrae in the top of the man's neck and the man's hearing was restored.

Out of this experience he started to analyse what had happened and how it had worked. He established that when the nerve pathways are impinged from a misalignment of the vertebrae, it leads to disruption in the flow of information to and from the brain, leading to physical symptoms.  DD Palmer then started to teach others, including his son BJ Palmer, who set up a college. We have come a long way since then. In this country we now, like doctors and dentists, have our own government-regulated body called the General Chiropractic Council.

Article written for Summer 2008 issue by

Claire Amos - Claire is a registered chiropractor working in Crowborough using the McTimoney chiropractic technique. If you would like to discuss anything in this article or find out more about the chiropractic care she offers,  please contact her on: 01892 668852