Frequently Asked Questions in Southern Pines NC

Spines do not just go in and out of alignment and chiropractic physicians don’t simply put bones back in alignment. If that were the case, then it would be easy to take an x-ray of your spine to prove the alignment status. The real science shows that chiropractic adjustments decompress joint pressure, send a signal to nerve receptors to cover pain, and alter the neurologic muscle memory on how each muscle should contract and relax. The feelings we get of a ”misalignment" are largely due to the disc, nerve and joint compression that results when muscles respond by pulling harder on one side versus the other. This is due to the past patterns of nerve muscle memory. Once the adjustment has a chance to alter that old memory pattern, the spine reacts with the nerves and muscles becoming more stable, and the feeling of being out of alignment is corrected.

We all have spinal and postural habits that are hard to correct without Chiropractic. Even though spinal alignments and adjustments work to correct the root of the problem, periodic adjustments must be performed to maintain the spinal alignment throughout a lifetime (It's kind of like having braces to correct teeth alignment and then needing a retainer to keep your teeth in place after the braces are removed). Various job requirements, lifestyle choices, injuries, faulty ergonomics with chairs, beds, etc., may contribute to recurrent subluxations, misalignments and pain. Remember, moving parts in all areas of life always require regular maintenance, and your spine is no different, and it's the most important moving part you own. Think about it, "motion is lotion for joints"!

Once there has been a correction in the nerve muscle memory of the spine and nervous system, just like learning a new skill in golf, gymnastics, or playing a musical instrument, and as proper nerve responses are realized, then the result is just needing regular maintenance adjustments.

Spinal subluxations (misalignments in the spine and alteration of proper nerve activity) can cause nerve interference to the parts of our body that are supplied by each nerve at each level of our spine. These nerves supply ALL the nerve energy to our organs like our heart, lungs, and liver and kidneys. These nerves tell our muscles how and when to work. These nerves keep track of everything our body needs to do to thrive. Most health problems are silent when they begin, and subluxations are usually silent for a long time. After enough damage occurs to the disc, joint, or body part, the symptom occurs. Correction and prevention of spinal subluxations should be a part of everyone’s health care before any symptoms arise.

A majority of teen and adult problems start during our formative years as kids. Typically, postural habits, falls, and hereditary postures can affect your child's spine. Having your child checked for early misalignments and spinal dysfunction is safe, easy to do, cost effective, and will save your child a world of problems and pain in the future. A host of childhood conditions like: allergies, asthma, bedwetting, colic, digestive problems, headaches, learning disabilities, scoliosis may be helped with chiropractic care. Remember, your kids may have also learned and inherited postures and traits, from the parents, which are causing them to have spine and neurological problems as well.

It takes time to correct imbalances in our spine and nervous system. The same way it takes time to re-align teeth, lose weight, learn a new skill, or build muscle from weight training. These corrections require dedication, repetition, and consistency. Repetition enables the body to adapt. As the spine gets subluxated, muscles can become imbalanced and begin to "learn" the abnormal position as the new normal. When you commit to regular spinal adjustments, and proper conditioning exercises, the neurological muscle memory is corrected to restore the spine and posture to its normal alignment.

Not really, And here's why: There are two distinct types of nerve receptors that cause nerves to fire to control posture. Fast receptors and Slow receptors. Spinal exercises trigger the slow nerves, and chiropractic adjustments trigger the fast nerves. Both nerves types must be stimulated in order to gain optimal spinal correction.

First there are two types of muscle to focus on: Postural and Phasic.

POSTURAL MUSCLES are inherently active to help us oppose gravity and keep us on our feet, particularly on one foot during the gait cycle. Being in constant use may contribute to postural muscles being a little shorter, a little tighter, always ready to act and also to have a tendency to have a shorter than normal resting length. Such shortening occurs even in normal activities and at rest. While the tendency of a muscle to be short or tight is not fully understood, the pattern of such muscle behavior has been consistently observed.

PHASIC MUSCLES generate a pattern in the body, one of weakness and inhibition. These muscles are not necessarily injured, but they are insufficiently active and may even exhibit a kind of false paralysis. Muscles in this category include the abdominals, the gluteals, the deep neck flexors and the rhomboids. These muscles seldom act alone but typically act in relation to postural muscles. These muscles respond well to Isotonic exercises.

We will recommend exercises for most people depending on their condition, and rehabilitation abilities.

Most people adhere to a belief that their structure only has to do with physical aches and pains in muscles, bones and joints. The truth is research shows that your structure dictates your overall function. If the spine is subluxated or misaligned then nerve interference is the result. As you know, the nerves carry signals and directions from the brain to to every other place in the body to control everything! Once interference occurs to any part of the body due to spinal subluxation and misalignments, that body part or system can not function optimally. Patients who have subluxations may reveal signs and symptoms not usually associated with structural health, such as: allergies, breathing disorders, digestive problems, heart disorders, and many additional conditions we usually associate with allopathic or medical problems. Nerve interference is a problem no matter where it occurs!

In short, yes! People who don’t practice a healthy lifestyle with solid health habits will be more susceptible to subluxation and misalignments. Proper diet (not the food pyramid), regular exercise (that fits your body needs), spiritual/emotional balance, and of utmost importance, trying to establish and maintain proper posture and spinal alignment with regular chiropractic adjustments will set you and your family up for optimal wellbeing!

Any mechanical system that was designed to function by moving, must stay in alignment, otherwise there will be excessive wear and tear and irreversible damage if left untreated. In the spine and attached articulations, studies show there will be progressive wear and tear to the disc, joints and nerves and associated soft tissues, which will result in loss of proper bodily function. You are only as good as your nervous system is functioning!

As soon as any subluxations are detected. Infants are often checked after birth to see how they have managed the pregnancy and birthing process. Infants sometimes show many signs of being in one position too long in utero. When they are finally born, barring any new birthing traumas such as forceps and vacuum assisted births, they may show early signs of a faulty spinal and neuromuscular pattern. The earlier you have them checked, the easier it is to correct. Infants and kids don't have the years of bad posture and imbalances to overcome.

Yes. In most cases adjustments are extremely safe. However, like any other health care procedure, there can be rare exceptions depending on underlying conditions that are unknown. Most common side effects from adjustments are mild soreness or stiffness, like beginning a new exercise routine. Even though these only occur in a small percentage of people, it's important to communicate with your chiropractic physician everything you're experiencing on your first visit. Ask all the necessary questions you need. Your chiropractor should perform an exam, explain to you what he/she is finding, what your condition is likely caused by, what home things you can do to assist the correction phase, what kind of adjustments you are going to need, and also give you an idea of how you are going to move forward with your treatment plan and expectations in the future.

Usually adjustments feel good. There may be some mild discomfort after the first visit, but this is due to the new movements, some tissue stretching and increasing range of motion. Much like starting a new exercise program you may experience areas of discomfort that you did not have initially but that will calm down quickly. Most people feel much better right away. If you do feel discomfort from your adjustment, please be sure to discuss this with your chiropractor as soon as possible.

No. Adjusting your spine is a science and an art, and it is only reliable in the hands of a qualified Chiropractic Physician. Medical Doctors are not trained or qualified to adjust you or give opinions on chiropractic adjustments.

P.T.s are trained for joint and muscular rehabilitation. They use stretching and strengthening but are not qualified to perform adjustments. D.O.s practice mostly identical to an M.D. but very few choose to do general manipulations. The D.O. manipulations are not specific and primarily done for joint mobilization and reducing local pain, not for corrective posture and spinal adjustment. Although D.O.s are aware of the great benefit of spinal manipulations for overall health and wellness and have done a significant body of research on it. Less than 1% of D.O.s do manipulations at all. D.C.s (Chiropractors) correct spinal alignment using very specific techniques aimed at reducing nerve interference and improving overall function and health.

It is a release of air in the joint due to a mild vacuum process. Think about it as separating two items that have bit of suction holding them together. Even though the joints are bathed in fluid inside the joint capsule, there is still some pressure to release.

No it does not. This is another old wive’s tale or a scare tactic used by many without any real understanding of how our joints work. In reality, the opposite is true. Adjusting and correcting dysfunctional joints increases mobility and promotes joint and overall health. As it relates to the spine, adjustments are done to restore proper spinal alignment and maximize proper function of the disc’s, joints, and nerves. Studies show that spinal adjustments and stretching are able to restore joint and disc integrity. The reason here is because discs have no blood supply and require specific movement to flush out the waste products in the joint and disc area, and the movement helps disc’s draw in or imbibe fresh nutrients. Joint trauma and misalignment are actually the root cause of discs breaking down and joints developing degeneration and arthritis.

We will usually make these decisions on a case by case basis. Each person is different on what their damage is and what exercises they can handle, and in what order we want to resume each exercise. In general, most people will be doing some exercise as part of their care plan.

Adjustments don’t put bones “in place” or “set bones”. Spinal misalignments (subluxation) occur as a combination of joint, nerve, muscle dysfunction. When trauma or repetitive changes occur, nerve receptors that control our posture are triggered to signal muscles to pull a certain direction. Over time, the posture receptors memorize the bad posture and position and hold you there. Once the Chiropractic Physician identifies the abnormal posture patterns and spinal misalignments, adjustments and exercises can be done in order to retrain the muscles to correct the spine and posture. Repetition and consistency are often necessary in order to make the corrections stay in place as the “new normal”. The more consistent the inputs, the quicker and more permanent the body adaptations are.

Absolutely, a herniated disc usually refers to a bulge in the annulus or the fibrous lining of the disc. The worst cases of disc problems occur in chronic subluxations of the spin. A spinal disc is akin to a jelly donut, soft jelly on the inside and much tougher on the outside. The disc acts like a spacer between the vertebral body, and it also acts like a shock absorber. Repetitive stress, irritation, vibration and trauma are major factors in contributing to disc herniations. When the spine is out of alignment there is adverse pressure on the disc, allowing the inner jelly-like fluid to push to one side. This stresses the outer layer of the disc, and over time the pressure of the inner jelly-like fluid causes a bulge, pushing outward into a nerve, spinal cord, or other structure and begins to cause pain or dysfunction. Chiropractic has great success reducing a disc bulge by restoring alignment of the vertebrae to establish proper disc and spinal stability. Many times the chiropractic care saves people from having surgery. In some cases, the disc injury is so severe that there is a tear, causing their inner jelly-like fluid to leak out, or the disc material itself could break loose, causing free floating tissue. In these cases, surgery would likely be recommended. In most cases, even after surgery, chiropractic adjustments would still be needed to restore spinal function and prevent the problem from returning.

Pain is a neuro-chemical perception that comes from the damaged tissue hitting a max tolerance level. As your spine is aligned and function is restored, tissues can begin to repair and heal properly. Pain relief is not only related to the degree of spinal alignment, but also to the amount of tissue repair that has occurred. This process makes predicting the length of pain staying or going very difficult to guess. Pain may disappear with just a few adjustments, but much corrective work is still needed to restore the spine to its normal alignment. On the other hand, spinal alignment could be close to optimum, and yet pain may still be present for some time. Unfortunately, a misaligned spine will eventually cause pain or dysfunction to the body.

Absolutely. In most cases, your posture reflects your spinal alignment. Tilting of the head, shoulders, chest, hips, forward head posture, rounded shoulders, and even and foot imbalances can indicate possible spinal misalignment. However, although posture may appear normal, spinal subluxations could still be present. It really is necessary to have a chiropractor on your health care team to check for spinal imbalance.