A chiropractor is a health practitioner who focuses on diagnosing and treating neuromuscular disorders. They treat these disorders by the manual adjustment and manipulation of the spine to eliminate misalignments that may be causing health problems. With that in mind, their goal is to re-create normal spinal mobility. That said, not all chiropractors focus exclusively on the spine, but can also specialize in an array of areas such as: prenatal chiropractics, massage therapy, and chronic and acute soft tissue injury.

Among the most rigorous of educations, chiropractors are designated as a physician-level health provider. This requires an extensive pre-medical undergraduate degree as well as a 4-5 year stint at a chiropractic college. A significant amount of time is spent in the clinical training phase because of the nature of the job, and with the intricate, hands-on techniques. Lastly, a chiropractor must test to obtain a license in their state of practice before ever seeing patients.

Chiropractors are often educated in the following fields:

• Neurology
• Human Anatomy
• Orthopedics
• Physiology
• Exercise
• Clinical diagnosis (including laboratory procedures)
• Nutrition

What Does A Chiropractor Do?

As briefly stated above, a chiropractor is a healthcare professional who manually adjusts and manipulates the spine to relieve a variety of ailments. The intent is to use non-surgical, minimally invasive treatments and procedures to reduce pain and bring relief to patients. The primary purpose of performing these adjustments is to improve function, correct alignment problems, alleviate pain, and to support the body’s ability to naturally heal itself.

An adjustment is a manual procedure that utilizes the thoroughly refined skills obtained during the extensive chiropractic education process. Patients can expect their chiropractor to use their hands to adjust the joints in the body. The procedure is, of course, adaptable to the particular needs of the patient. Be warned, however, that patients will likely hear their bodies make popping noises as they are being adjusted. This is simply the result of a change in pressure within the joints as gas bubbles are being released and is also the same noise that can be heard when knuckles are popped.

How Can A Chiropractor Help Me?

If you experience chronic pain in your neck or back and have yet to find a solution to bring you comfort, you may consider visiting a chiropractor to discuss your problems. Visiting a chiropractor could result in discovering a long-term solutions and proper treatment to the following areas of pain:

• Neck and back pain
• Headaches
• Shooting pain down your legs
• Recurring tingling and numbness
• Carpal tunnel
• Sciatica
• Auto accident and personal injury
• Pregnancy aches and pains
• Fibromyalgia/arthritis

Although this is not an exhaustive list, seeking chiropractic help for any number of these conditions is a no-brainer. What’s more, most chiropractors will provide their patients with on-going treatment to build up strength around injured areas; this will decrease the chances of the problem returning in the future.

To finish, it never hurts to weigh options, but it is possible to live a pain-free life as a result of regularly visiting the chiropractor. Visit us at Core Chiropractic + Wellness and take advantage of our free consultation for new Bakersfield chiropractic patients.