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What is a Chiropractic Neurologist?
Within the chiropractic profession, there are specialists in radiology, orthopedics, neurology, and physical rehabilitation. A chiropractic neurologist is a licensed chiropractor who has completed an additional 3-year course of study in neurology, including coursework and residency-based clinical training, and has passed a comprehensive certification examination administered by the American Chiropractic Neurology Board. There are currently only about 400 board-certified chiropractic neurologists in the world.
A chiropractic neurologist is qualified to diagnose and treat a range of nervous system disorders, just as is a regular medical neurologist. An important difference between the two is that the therapies a chiropractic neurologist prescribes do not include drugs or surgery. Typical dysfunctions treated by a chiropractic neurologist include a variety of movement disorders, including the painful involuntary muscle contractions known as dystonia, stroke, hemispheric brain lesions, and radiculopathy, commonly known as a “pinched nerve.” In addition to providing therapies and treatments, a chiropractic neurologist can provide counseling about diagnostic dilemmas and offer advice about the appropriateness of care a patient may already be receiving.
What Therapeutic Perspective does
a Chiropractic Neurologist Offer?
There’s an old-fashioned belief that brain development takes place early in childhood and then stops by the time we reach maturity. In fact, recent research has shown that the brain never stops changing in response to input from the environment. Sensory information gathered by receptors in the muscles and joints, for example, can alter the function of brain systems, which in turn affect the function of those receptors. The chiropractic neurologist is a specialist in “brain-based” therapy modalities, that is, therapies informed by an understanding of the brain’s role in joint and muscle dysfunction.
Humans have many kinds of sense receptors, which we use to gather
information about the world around us and within our own bodies.
You’ve probably heard, for example, about the rods and cones
in the eye’s retina, which we use for detecting color, shape,
and movement. You may not know about mechanoreceptors, receptor
cells sensitive to mechanical stimulation such as touch, pressure,
and tension. We have mechanoreceptors not just in our skin (for
the sense we think of as touch), but also in our muscles and joints
for a less-well-known sense called proprioception. Proprioception
is the largely unconscious sense that allows your brain to know
at all times where your body parts are and what they’re doing,
even if you’re
not looking or paying attention. If you close your eyes and touch
your finger to your nose, your sense of proprioception is at work.
All of the sense receptors connect to nerves that in turn connect to the spine and brain. As sensory input is routed through the nervous system, it alters the function and structure of the brain on an ongoing basis. The brain in turn uses sensory input to regulate the body that houses it, constantly sending information and instructions back to all body parts, including the receptor cells that gathered the sensory information in the first place.
All of the sense receptors, joints, muscles, and nerves, together with the spine and brain, form a single, integrated system in constant communication with itself. Even such a seemingly simple act as walking requires a complex exchange of information among all parts of the system. As you step forward, mechanoreceptors send information to your brain about the position and movement of your joints, which your brain then uses to perform precise calculations, formulating commands to send back to your legs. At exactly the right moment, some muscles contract while others relax, and your weight is shifted in just the right way to let you take another step without falling. You’re never conscious of the information your mechanoreceptors are sending to your brain or the calculations your brain is performing to send the right instructions back to your muscles. All of those instructions depend ultimately on the position and movement of your joints, which are thus integral to your nervous system.
In this integrated system, a change in one part can’t help but affect all the others. For example, the biomechanics of a joint can be altered by injury, poor posture, or repetitive stress, resulting in a condition known as subluxation. When that happens, a cascade of harmful structural and physiological consequences may follow:
1. Decreased mechanoreceptor stimulation in and around the joint results in inadequate information sent to relay centers in the brain, which leads to poor control of the muscles. That in turn can lead to weakness in muscle groups such as postural muscles, due not to lack of exercise but to inadequate activation of the nervous system. Given that the brain adjusts itself constantly in response to environmental input, decreased stimulation by the mechanoreceptors can actually result in degeneration of the brain’s relay centers.
2. Lack of movement of a joint results in atrophy of surrounding muscles. The deep layer of muscles around a joint can be activated only when the joint moves. If those muscles become too weak, the joint itself becomes less stable, perpetuating a vicious cycle.
3. In an attempt to compensate for deep-muscle atrophy, muscles closer to the surface tighten and are liable to spasm painfully.
The chiropractic neurologist specializes in assessing the health
of every part of this loop connecting the joints, muscles, and nervous
system, and in identifying imbalances in each part that can lead
to problems with the others. What Kinds of Treatment does a Chiropractic
Neurologist Prescribe?
Depending on the location of dysfunction, the chiropractic neurologist may work directly on the muscles, joints, or nervous system. Treatments may include chiropractic adjustments, neuromuscular re-education exercises, or stimulation of the auditory, visual, vestibular (balance), or other sensory systems.
What Special Skills does the Chiropractic
Neurologist bring to the Art of Joint Manipulation?
Many physical medicine practitioners -- including physiatrists, osteopaths, physical therapists, and massage therapists -- have become aware of the benefits of joint manipulation or mobilization. What does a chiropractic neurologist have to offer that the others don’t?
Any practitioner should have a comprehensive understanding of the patient’s condition before performing joint manipulation. Of all the practitioners just mentioned, only chiropractors receive four years of formal training in both the art of joint manipulation and the science of the biomechanics of joints. In addition, only chiropractic neurologists have specialized advanced training in the neurological systems interacting with the musculoskeletal system.
As an additional aid in evaluating the patient’s condition before performing joint manipulation, Azzolino Chiropractic Neurology Group uses stress radiographs — x-rays taken while, for example, the spine is fully extended, flexed, and bending sideways — to determine the precise axes of rotation of a joint. This technology allows both the doctor and the patient to obtain an objective visualization of the abnormal biomechanics of the joint being manipulated, as well as the normal biomechanics of healthy joints.
We are a 100% referral-based clinic, and we strive for complete patient satisfaction. We will be honored to serve you in any capacity possible.
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What is the History of Chiropractic Care?
© American
Chiropractic Association
The roots of chiropractic care can be traced all the way back to
the beginning of recorded time. Writings from China and Greece written
in 2700 B.C. and 1500 B.C. mention spinal manipulation and the maneuvering
of the lower extremities to ease low back pain. Hippocrates, the
Greek physician, who lived from 460 to 357 B.C., also published
texts detailing the importance of chiropractic care. In one of his
writings he declares, "Get knowledge of the spine, for this
is the requisite for many diseases".
In the United States, the practice of spinal manipulation began
gaining momentum in the late nineteenth century. In 1895, Daniel
David Palmer founded the Chiropractic profession in Davenport, Iowa.
Palmer was well read in medical journals of his time and had great
knowledge of the developments that were occurring throughout the
world regarding anatomy and physiology. In 1897, Daniel David Palmer
went on to begin the Palmer School of Chiropractic, which has continued
to be one of the most prominent chiropractic colleges in the nation.
Throughout the twentieth century, doctors of chiropractic gained
legal recognition in all fifty states. A continuing recognition
and respect for the chiropractic profession in the United States
has led to growing support for chiropractic care all over the world.
The research that has emerged from " around the world"
has yielded incredibly influential results, which have changed,
shaped and molded perceptions of chiropractic care. The report,
Chiropractic in New Zealand published in 1979 strongly supported
the efficacy of chiropractic care and elicited medical cooperation
in conjunction with chiropractic care. The 1993 Manga study published
in Canada investigated the cost effectiveness of chiropractic care.
The results of this study concluded that chiropractic care would
save hundreds of millions of dollars annually with regard to work
disability payments and direct health care costs.
Doctors of chiropractic have become pioneers in the field of non-invasive
care promoting science-based approaches to a variety of ailments.
A continuing dedication to chiropractic research could lead to even
more discoveries in preventing and combating maladies in future
years.
What is the Chiropractic Philosophy?
© American
Chiropractic Association
As a profession, the primary belief is in natural and conservative
methods of health care. Doctors of chiropractic have a deep respect
for the human body's ability to heal itself without the use of surgery
or medication. These doctors devote careful attention to the biomechanics,
structure and function of the spine, its effects on the musculoskeletal
and neurological systems, and the role played by the proper function
of these systems in the preservation and restoration of health.
A Doctor of Chiropractic is one who is involved in the treatment
and prevention of disease, as well as the promotion of public health,
and a wellness approach to patient healthcare.
What is a Chiropractor's Scope of Practice?
© American
Chiropractic Association
Doctors of Chiropractic frequently treat individuals with neuromusculoskeletal
complaints, such as headaches, joint pain, neck pain, low back pain
and sciatica. Chiropractors also treat patients with osteoarthritis,
spinal disk conditions, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis, sprains,
and strains. However, the scope of conditions that Doctors of Chiropractic
manage or provide care for is not limited to neuromusculoskeletal
disorders. Chiropractors have the training to treat a variety of
non-neuromusculoskeletal conditions such as: allergies, asthma,
digestive disorders, otitis media (non-suppurative) and other disorders
as new research is developed.
A variety of techniques, treatment and procedure are used to restore
healing which will be the topic of future education releases.
What sort of Education do Doctors of Chiropractic
have?
© American
Chiropractic Association
Doctors of Chiropractic must complete four to five years at an accredited
chiropractic college. The complete curriculum includes a minimum
of 4,200 hours of classroom, laboratory and clinical experience.
Approximately 555 hours are devoted to learning about adjustive
techniques and spinal analysis in colleges of chiropractic. In medical
schools, training to become proficient in manipulation is generally
not required of, or offered to, students. The Council on Chiropractic
Education requires that students have 90 hours of undergraduate
courses with science as the focus.
Those intending to become doctors of chiropractic must also pass
the national board exam and all exams required by the state in which
the individual wishes to practice. The individual must also meet
all individual state licensing requirements in order to become a
doctor of chiropractic.
An individual studying to become a doctor of chiropractic receives
an education in both the basic and clinical sciences and in related
health subjects. The intention of the basic chiropractic curriculum
is to provide an in-depth understanding of the structure and function
of the human body in health and disease. The educational program
includes training in the basic medical sciences, including anatomy
with human dissection, physiology, and biochemistry. Thorough training
is also obtained in differential diagnosis, radiology and therapeutic
techniques. This means, a doctor of chiropractic can both diagnose
and treat patients, which separates them from non-physician status
providers, like physical therapists. According to the Council on
Chiropractic Education DCs are trained as Primary care Providers.
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