Chiropractic is a healthcare profession that focuses on restoring homeostasis through the restoration of joint mobility and reduction of nervous interference. Chiropractic care is used most often to treat neuromusculoskeletal complaints, including but not limited to, back pain, neck pain, extremity pain, and headaches. Additionally, Chiropractic recognizes that the body, being an integrated system of functions, works together to restore balance through an innate desire to remain in balance with the world around, which it can only do if unencumbered by nervous interference. Chiropractic, therefore, works to help remove any nervous interference that inhibits the body's effectiveness in restoring health.
Doctors of Chiropractic (DC) - often referred to as chiropractors or chiropractic physicians - practice a drug-free, hands-on approach to healthcare that includes patient examination, diagnosis and treatment. Chiropractors have broad diagnostic skill and are also trained in many other adjunctive techniques to assist their patients achieve optimal health and wellness. Some of those techniques may include use of physiological therapeutic modalities, exercise therapy, nutrition, and the like.
The most common therapeutic procedure performed by Doctors of Chiropractic is known as the "chiropractic adjustment" (also called spinal manipulation). The purpose of the adjustment is to restore joint mobility by applying a controlled force into joints that have become hypomobile (or restricted in their movement) from injury or illness. Tissue injury can be caused from a singular traumatic event or through repetitive trauma. In either case, injured tissues undergo physical and chemical changes that can cause inflammation, pain, and diminished function. Adjustment of the affected joint and tissues restores mobility, thereby alleviating pain and muscle tightness, and allowing tissues to heal.
Holistic Chiropractors not only employ the basic tenets of chiropractic, but also employ other modalities which allow for greater opportunities to create a healing atmosphere in the patient. Some of the other modalities used may include, but are by no means limited to, nutrition, homeopathy, kinesiology, reflexology, hypnotherapy, herbology, acupressure/acupuncture, laser therapy and others. The idea is that the bigger the "toolbox" of the chiropractor, the greater their ability to meet the unique needs of the more complicated diagnosis of the patient.
This also means that Holistic Chiropractors will see patients who express other conditions outside of the traditional model of chiropractic, such as allergies, digestive problems, weight management, smoking cessation, vitamin/mineral deficiencies, and the like.