Payson Chiropractic

Welcome new, veteran, and prospective chiropractic patients!

Thank you in advance for taking the time to discover chiropractic and its powerful effects on human health.

Each year, more than 15 million North Americans choose chiropractic for safe, natural, and effective relief from concerns such as back pain, neck pain, headaches, extremity pain, poor overall health, and low energy levels which affect their day-to-day activities.

What is Chiropractic?

According to The Association of Chiropractic Colleges, “Chiropractic is a health care discipline which emphasizes the inherent recuperative power of the body to heal itself without the use of drugs and surgery. The practice of chiropractic focuses on the relationship between structure (primarily the spine) and function (as coordinated by the nervous system) and how that relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health.”

The Goal of Chiropractic

Because chiropractic treatments are primarily applied to the spinal region, many individuals incorrectly assume that chiropractors treat only neck and back ailments. While we do quickly and effectively eliminate back and neck pain, these areas are not the only regions treated. The objective is to restore and optimize human health. In fact, according to a statement from The Association of Chiropractic Colleges, “The purpose of chiropractic is to optimize health.”

How Chiropractic Works

You may be wondering… how can the same chiropractic treatment which effectively treats my back pain also optimize my health? The answer can be found by looking into the relationship between the spine and the nervous system.

As you may already know, the nervous system is the master controller of all living cells, tissues, and organs, orchestrating and coordinating all cellular functions within our bodies. The spinal column encases the nervous system (spinal cord and nerve roots) and is responsible for its protection.

Because of this intimate relationship, biomechanical and structural problems in the spinal column can irritate parts of the enclosed nervous system. This irritation can result from noxious inflammatory biochemicals released during tissue injury, or may result from direct mechanical pressure. In either case, the functioning of the nervous system is negatively influenced, further influencing the functioning of the cells, tissues, and organs which are supplied by these affected nerves.

The resulting ailment(s) depends on the cells, tissues, and organs affected, as well as the full extent of nervous system compromise.

In short, because the body’s innate recuperative powers are affected by and are integrated through the nervous system, correcting spinal abnormalities which irritate the nervous system can lead to a number of favorable results in patients suffering from various, seemingly non-spinal health conditions.

What Chiropractors Do?

Practically speaking, chiropractors are primarily concerned with locating and treating vertebral subluxations.

A vertebral subluxation is a complex problem of function/structural/pathological articular (joint) changes that compromise neural integrity and may influence organ system function and general health.

Using a number of unique and highly refined skills, the chiropractor checks the patient’s spine for any misalignments, fixations, or other abnormalities (vertebral subluxations). If subluxations or other abnormalities are detected, the chiropractor will generally apply a gentle force in a corrective manner to the affected spinal area.

Chiropractors use many specialized techniques to identify and treat these spinal abnormalities and optimize overall health. In addition to spinal adjusting techniques, soft tissue techniques such as massage, dietary and nutritional counseling, physical therapies, and lifestyle modification programs are commonly employed.

How Chiropractic Differs

There is a significant and very important difference between the way chiropractors and medical doctors approach health ailments.

When evaluating and treating patients, chiropractors take a holistic approach which includes identifying and correcting the cause(s) of the patient’s health ailment. In contrast, the medical approach tends to focus more on the treating of the symptoms of a condition rather than focusing primarily on the actual cause(s).

Chiropractors believe that correcting the cause of the problem provides significant long-term benefits over only treating the symptoms.

The Benefits of Chiropractic

• Short-term and regular chiropractic care have a number of benefits including:
• Spinal and extremity pain relief
• Headache relief
• Increased mobility and range of motion
• Decreased stiffness and muscular spasms
• Arthritic joint pain relief
• Increased joint health
• Increased performance and energy
• Increased sense of wellbeing and relaxation
• Increased balance and coordination
• Reduced degeneration and risk of injury
• Enhanced tissue healing
• Decreased tissue inflammation