Key Questions to Consider When Searching for the Right Chiropractor

1. What type of conditions do you treat in your office?

Chiropractic physicians are health care professionals dedicated to practice non-surgical treatments relating to disorders of the nervous system, and/or musculoskeletal system. Chiropractic doctors will detect restrictions with the spinal column which decrease motion and nerve function through out the entire body. By improving spinal hygiene and restoring joint motion your body has a better chance to heal and function at a more optimal level. All our doctors at Police Family Chiropractic have many years of treating patients who dealt with multiple symptoms and learned how to improve their conditions with the help and understanding of powerful, natural chiropractic care!

2. Which chiropractic techniques does the office use and why?

Diversified Technique

This is a widely used type of chiropractic manipulation/adjustment that includes most of the procedures taught in chiropractic institutions. This technique is the most commonly used of all chiropractic techniques and is the one probably most familiar to patients. The Diversified manipulation/adjustment entails a high velocity, low- amplitude thrust delivered by hand and possibly with assistance from a table or block. This usually results in a cavitation of a joint (quick, shallow thrusts that cause the popping noise often associated with a chiropractic manipulation/adjustment). As the name implies, the Diversified Technique can be used to treat many of the joints in the body and is the primary technique used by the doctors in our office.

*Doctors note… The old saying of “I went to my chiropractor and he put me back in place” is not what happens with the adjustment. Joints rarely “go out of place.” Instead, the adjustment is designed to restore normal joint and neurologic function to the area that is being addressed. With restored function comes pain relief and decrease in symptoms.

The Drop Table Technique

Requires a drop table which has sections that can be raised about three quarters of an inch and then “dropped” down with the weight of the patient and adjustment. This system takes advantage of the spine’s inherent design of the joints in order to move the spinal segment in the direction that will improve the motion.

The patient lies on the table, and upon a gentle but quick thrust downward by the chiropractor’s hands, the portion of the spinal column positioned above the table section is accelerated downward as the table segment is quickly dropped. At the end of the drop, the body’s inertia transfers force into the affected joint and the soft tissue of the body, producing the desired change in the joint or the affected fibers of the musculature. This technique allows us to keep the patient stationary during the adjustments without them feeling any discomfort from the adjustment.

Impulse Adjusting Instrument

Chiropractic adjustments with the Impulse instrument feels like a light tapping sensation on the area that is being treated. In most cases the treatment is painless and after the adjustment many patients feel relief of pain and improved mobility. Others report a sense of well-being or a soothing calm feeling. Of course, results vary from case to case and chronic conditions, inflammation or muscle spasms may delay these positive effects.

3. Does the office offer any other services?

Rehabilitative Exercises

Everyone is in agreement that exercise is a key component to optimal health. The reality is that the human body requires movement to increase oxygen consumption, increase muscle mass, and the brain actually thrives on exercise as well. Chiropractic adjustments are a crucial part of a healthy lifestyle because they increase movement in the spine. This movement in the spine is called “mechano-reception” which describes positive communication between the brain and the rest of the body. Rehabilitative exercises are especially good because they help to retrain the spine to adapt to the changes made through the corrective chiropractic process.

Lifestyle Education

Many chiropractors will claim to be experts in “lifestyle modification”. The truth is that many of them are experts in this field of health, which is essentially the process of educating and empowering people to take control over their own health. Mass media has brainwashed the majority of the population through advertising and marketing of unhealthy foods, a sedentary lifestyle, and a disastrous over-utilization of pharmaceuticals to believe that disease happens to “unlucky” people. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. If a person lives a lifestyle that breaks the laws of nature, then they will suffer the consequences. Key components to any health transformation are: modifying one’s lifestyle by eating healthier, exercising, reducing stress, getting proper rest, and correcting ones spine for optimal nerve system function. It has been said by many of the most respected medical doctors in the world, that chiropractors should be the leaders in lifestyle modification.

Proper Referrals

A good chiropractic office welcomes working with other health care professionals in order to restore health to the patient the safest and fastest way possible. Whether it’s co-managing with a medical doctor, physical therapist, massage therapist, acupuncturist, natural path and/or surgeon, we will help you to find and work with the best fields that’s right for you and your health.

Digital X-rays & Spinal Analysis Unit

We have a digital, laser aligned x-ray unit in our Kona office to help us identify the problem. We also have a S.A.M. unit or spinal analysis machine to carefully track your postural changes as you make your way back to health.

4. Who can be adjusted?

Children

Chiropractors have been adjusting children’s spines for more than 100 years. When considering the use of any health care procedure, the benefits must be weighed against the risks. Chiropractic care has many proven benefits and malpractice insurance coverage has identified chiropractic as having an excellent safety record with low risk.

Click to read more about the benefits of chiropractic care for infants and children.

Pregnant Women

During pregnancy, there are several physiological and endocrinological changes that occur in preparation for creating the environment for the developing baby.

The following changes can result in a misaligned spine or joints:

• Protruding abdomen and increased back curve
• Pelvic changes
• Postural adaptations

Establishing pelvic balance and alignment is another reason to obtain chiropractic care during pregnancy. When the pelvis is misaligned it may reduce the amount of room available for the developing baby. This restriction is called intrauterine constraint. A misaligned pelvis may also make it difficult for the baby to get into the best possible position for delivery.This can affect the mother’s ability to have a natural, non-invasive birth. Breech and posterior positions can interfere with the natural ease of labor and lead to interventions such as c- sections.

The nervous system is the master communication system to all the body systems including the reproductive system. Keeping the spine aligned helps the entire body work more effectively.

Click to read more about the benefits of chiropractic care during pregnancy.

Seniors

Seniors experiencing problems related to misalignment of the spine may benefit from chiropractic care. While there are many myths regarding the safety of chiropractic care, in reality this type of medical treatment is very effective and quite safe, particularly in comparison to alternative treatments such as surgery and drug therapy. There are a wide number of benefits and advantages available to seniors through chiropractic care, such as: pain relief, increased range of motion, increased balance and coordination, decreased joint degeneration, increased health and well being, decreased incidence of falling, and keeping seniors out of nursing homes.

Click to read more about the benefits of chiropractic care for seniors.

5. What type of treatment plans does the office offer?

While it’s always patient and condition dependent, there’s a balance here as well. If it takes 72 visits to get you better, that might not be exactly what you and your health need at the time. On the flip side, if you’re told you’ll be healed in only 4 visits, and you’ve had this problem for at least 4 weeks, the treatment plan is purely symptomatic, and not really getting to the functional cause. The clinical guidelines for spine care for your typical acute neck or back pain patient should be out of pain and have significantly improved function within 12-18 visits. Chronic conditions, and patients with other health disorders and co-morbidities (arm/leg pain/weakness/ numbness/tingling) may take a little longer to improve and resolve.

Certain plans can’t possibly pertain to everyone, because we are all separate and distinct individuals with our own functional, chemical and values makeup, I hope this sheds some light on selecting the doctors at Police Family Chiropractic to help you regain your health. Chiropractic is an amazing field. We help people naturally, and the overwhelming preponderance of evidence and clinical guidelines supports what we do.

Corrective care

One of the biggest criticisms of chiropractic is that adjustments don’t last forever. People say, “I felt great for a couple of days, but then I felt lousy again.” The truth is, that to really correct your spine it takes time and repetition. Just like working out or eating a healthy diet; change takes time. One of the laws of healing is time. Dr. B.J. Palmer (the developer of chiropractic) said that “there is no process that does not require time.”

The good news is our chiropractors provide something called “corrective care”. Corrective care is a highly effective type of chiropractic care that begins with a thorough evaluation of the spine using x-ray analysis when needed. The doctors then customize their adjustments for that patient, as well as prescribe corrective exercises to be performed in the office and at home. The main difference with this type of care is that it takes the patient well beyond symptomatic relief and brings them to a place of long-term stabilization and a highly functioning nervous system. The same laws apply to all forms of healthcare when it comes to maintaining the positive changes. If someone begins exercising and improves their diet and they lose 50 lbs., will they maintain that improvement if they go back to living the same poor lifestyle that they were living prior to making those changes? Of course not. You need to provide ongoing attention to that part of your body in order to continue to experience optimal health.

At Police Family Chiropractic, we will taylor your specific care plan based on our findings and provide the correct type of treatment you need, and give you options to make your choice pressure free. You’ll understand why you’ve made this healthy decision for better health.