If you seek chiropractic care, you are using a form of treatment that has a long and successful history.
Chiropractic care as we know it today was founded by D.D. Palmer in the 1890s, and expanded by his son B.J. Palmer in the early part of the 20th century.
Thus, although chiropractic care is often considered a form of alternative medicine, it actually has a history far longer than many western (allopathic) forms of treatment.
Chiropractic care focuses on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mechanical disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Although the main emphasis is on the spine, treatment is appropriate for all the joints in the body.
In addition, this treatment is appropriate for soft tissue injuries, to the muscles and tendons, in which case the practitioner uses a variety of massage and stretching techniques to speed recovery.
The traditional belief in this field is that if the spine is out of alignment, it can interfere with the body's natural, or innate, ability to heal itself. Realigning the spine (manipulation) is believed to improve the efficiency of the nervous system, and allows the body to release the natural healing chemicals that can speed recovery.
Although it has spent most of the past century outside of mainstream western medicine, this form of treatment is very well established in countries like the USA, Australia and the UK - indeed, it is now possible to get treatment of this kind on the NHS, though it will depend on the policies of your local GP and Primary Care Trust.
