Frequently Asked Questions in Frederick MD

Chiropractic care is a natural comprehensive, hands on approach to optimal health that is focused on removing interference to the nervous system, and therefore bodily function through postural correction.

Chiropractic is well known for its effectiveness on muscular-skeletal complaints like neck and back pain and sciatica. However, chiropractic care can also help improve your nervous system function, optimizing your overall health. It has been shown to help with sleep quality, energy, immune system health, and systemic disorders. Some of the other conditions we see patients with include: headaches and migraines, degenerative disc problems, numbness/tingling in hands, scoliosis, digestive problems such as acid reflux and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel, temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, colic, and ear infections.

Chiropractic adjustment is a specific technique where a chiropractor uses their hands or an instrument to apply precise and gentle thrust to the vertebral joints of the spine in order to correct subluxations or misalignments.

Yes. A New Zealand government inquiry found that chiropractic adjustments are “remarkably safe”. Chiropractic adjustments are about a hundred times safer than taking common over-the-counter pain relievers.

The number and frequency of adjustments vary from patient to patient depending on their condition and doctors recommendations. Most patients will see some progress within a week or two; however, it is not unusual to see a dramatic improvement in just one adjustment. As muscles, ligaments, joints, and nerves heal, visits become less frequent. Corrective care in more difficult long-standing cases may take months.

You are a self-healing organism controlled and regulated by your nervous system. Billions of instructions flow through your brain, down the spinal cord, and out of your spine to every organ and tissue. Signals are then sent back from your organs to the brain telling your brain that the job is done and everything is working correctly. Improper position or motion of the bones of the spine or vertebrae may interfere with this vital nerve communication and tissues they control. Precise chiropractic adjustments improve this mind-body communication allowing return to optimal health.

The most common side effect associated with a chiropractic adjustment is muscle soreness, similar to what you would experience after going to the gym for the first time in a while. This usually occurs at the beginning of chiropractic care, however most people do not experience any soreness at all. Other side effects are extremely rare, and a thorough examination would help identify the rare individual for whom chiropractic care might not be suited.

The most common side effect associated with a chiropractic adjustment is muscle soreness, similar to what you would experience after going to the gym for the first time in a while. This usually occurs at the beginning of chiropractic care, however most people do not experience any soreness at all. Other side effects are extremely rare, and a thorough examination would help identify the rare individual for whom chiropractic care might not be suited.

Chiropractic adjustments are not painful. As a matter of fact, most patients experience a sense of relief right after the adjustment. However, some individuals may feel some soreness in the next day or two afterwards. Similar to how you may feel after exercising for the first time in a while.

I love helping patients with their health challenges in a natural, non-invasive way through chiropractic care, and I am fortunate to be able to do just that for more than 2 decades! My goal for you is not only to help you get rid of your symptoms, but to improve your overall health. Chiropractors are specially trained to locate and free your body from any severe abnormalities that interfere with your proper function called subluxations. These subluxations are misalignments or distortions of your structural system, especially the spine. These subluxations or misalignments can affect your nerves, discs, ligaments, and ultimately affect your whole body.

Initial visit is about an hour long because a comprehensive exam is performed, and follow up visits are usually about 10-15 minutes long.

Doctors of chiropractic complete 4 years of undergraduate studies in sciences before attending 4 years of chiropractic school.

Yes. While it’s always best to have a properly working nervous system, it is especially helpful during pregnancy. Mothers seek chiropractic care because it is drug free and many report shorter and easier births. Specialized adjustment techniques and belly pillows are used to make the patient comfortable at any stage of pregnancy.

Chiropractic care is not addictive, but feeling good and being healthy sure is.

Synovial fluid lubricates spinal joints. Some spinal adjusting methods can make a sound as the gas and fluids in the joint shift. It’s like releasing the pressure in a bottle of champagne and the sound it produces is called a cavitation. Whether the adjustment makes a popping sound or not, is not an indication of quality or effectiveness of an adjustment.

No. Some people may be able to make their joints “pop”, but that is not the same as an adjustment! Over time, repetitively popping your own spine can lead to damage in the joints, muscles, and ligaments. Chiropractic adjustments take years to master and even chiropractors consult their colleagues in order to benefit from chiropractic care.

Yes, back pain is one of the most common health complaints in the world where nearly everyone will suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. Chiropractic has helped millions of people with back problems and saving them from pain, disability, drugs, and surgery. Many studies show chiropractic care to be more effective than other approaches to back pain. The reason why chiropractic is so much more effective than other approaches for back pain is because pain killers, muscle relaxants, braces, physical therapy, and surgery are not designed to correct subluxations or misalignments, chiropractic is! The goal of chiropractic is to free your body from subluxations permitting realignments of your entire structural system and releasing stress on your nervous system so your entire body may function at its optimum.

Your cervical (neck) spinal nerves travel through small openings between your vertebrae. These nerves can become irritated, stretched, inflamed, compressed or pinched. Imagine carrying a bowling ball with you everywhere you go, but instead of holding it close to your side you hold it just a few inches away from your body. You would get tired quickly, and that is the same with your head (our heads weigh between 8 and 15 pounds). If it’s just a tiny bit off center, that can cause head, neck, shoulder, arm, elbow, wrist, hand and finger pain, numbness, pins and needles, and abnormal sensitivity. The most common cause of this nerve, spinal cord and blood vessel pressure is a condition chiropractors call subluxation, where your vertebrae are slightly out of position causing your nerves to be irritated.

Your brain can not feel pain. Most headaches come from structures like blood vessels, membranes surrounding your brain and cranial nerves and the brain stem. It’s when these structures are stretched, compressed, irritated or inflamed that headaches often result.
Millions of headache sufferers utilize chiropractic services because it’s a natural, drugless approach to health. Chiropractors are the only health professionals trained to analyze your body for a serious condition that can damage your nerves, cause tissue inflammation, muscles to tighten, joints to degenerate, weaken your body and set the stage for sickness and disease. This condition is called a subluxation and it is a distortion or misalignment in your spine and structural system that stresses your nervous system. Any physical or emotional distress that your body can not resists or cope with can cause your spine and structural system to develop a subluxation. These subluxations are frequently asymptomatic and it can be causing harm to your body for many years without your knowledge.

Yes it is. Studies have shown that chiropractic care is safe and effective for children and can improve overall health by supporting healthy nervous system function.
Childbirth methods can stress an infant’s spine, even with natural childbirth. Frequent ear infections, poor appetite, colic, and abnormal sleeping habits may be signs of spinal distress from birth process. Adjustments for babies are gentle and the amount of pressure applied is no more than you would use to test the ripeness of a tomato.
Since it’s possible to have subluxations yet be symptom free all children need periodic spinal checkups. Some of the warning signs in children indicating that the spinal column may be out of alignment are;

• Neck tilt and poor posture.
• One hip or shoulder higher than the other.
• One leg looks shorter than the other.
• Uneven shoe wear.
• One foot turned in or out.
• One arm looks shorter, or is in front of the other.
• Shoulder blades flare out.
• Frequent falling, joint aches, fatigue, and hyperactivity.