Benefits
Through chiropractic care, you can:
- Increase Energy and Strength
- Improve Flexibility and Mobility
- Decrease Pain and Discomfort
- Improve Balance and Body/Posture Awareness
- Enhance Vitality
Chiropractic can also be beneficial to pre and post-natal women, infants and children.
Chiropractic & Headaches
Headaches are a common problem for most North Americans, but they are not normal to have. There are many types and causes of headaches. A cause of headaches can be from spinal bones in the neck that aren't supporting your head properly. This can affect nerves, muscles and even the blood supply to your head.
Chiropractic doctors locate areas of the spine that aren't moving properly. With chiropractic adjustments it can help you normalize spinal function, help restore essential spinal curves, improve circulation and reduce nerve irritation. Dr. Wilkie has had a high success rate of treating patients who get chronic headaches.
Back Pain
Every type of pain including back pain has some cause. The nerve-rich facet joints on the back side of each spinal bone are a common cause of back pain. If these pairs of interlocking "fingers" aren't moving right, they can cause painful symptoms. The discs between spinal bones can also be another source of back pain. These rings of fibrous tissues act as spacers, connectors and 'shock absorbers' for the spine. Trauma can cause the soft, pulpy material in the middle to bulge putting pressure on delicate nearby nerves.
Back pain affects people of all ages and body types. While overexertion can cause back pain to flare-up the underlying problem may have gone undetected for years. Specific chiropractic adjustments can help improve spinal function and correct any problems that you may have.
Neck Pain
Your neck is the most vulnerable part of your spine. Not only does it support your 10 to 12 pound head, maintain a gentle forward curve and permits head rotation, but must also allow the free flow of nerve impulses to the head, face, hands and the rest of your body.
There are many causes of neck pain such as improper use of the telephone, watching TV, using your computer, reading a book or falling asleep in a chair of on an airplane. The most common cause of neck pain is functional distortions in the spine resulting from vertebral subluxations. These subluxations are seen in cases of reverse cervical curve, whiplash and joint instability. The body responds by tightening muscles in the neck, "splinting" the joint to protect it from further insult.
Most of the pain-sensing nerves in the neck are located in the pairs of facet joints on the back side of each vertebra. These smooth, interlocking surfaces allow you to rotate your head and bend your head up and down. If these joints are locked or fixated, neck pain can result.
Our response to stress is another common cause of neck pain. Deadlines, rush-hour traffic, over commitments, work pressures and family obligations. Chiropractic care can help improve your ability to handle and tolerate stress without drugs or surgery - it improves function and structure.
Whiplash
Most whiplash injuries occur while sitting stationary in your car. Upon impact, your body pushes deeply into your seat. Your head, momentarily isolated by your neck, delays its reaction. Then your body instantly changes directions, moving forward to the limits of your seat belt. Now your head starts moving backward in the opposite direction. Unrestrained by a seat
belt your head is jerked back and then forward beyond its normal limits.
Don't minimize your own injuries because your car has sustained little or no damage. An immediate chiropractic examination is essential. Specific chiropractic spinal adjustments, because they can help restore proper motion and position of individual spinal bones, can help assure proper healing. Dr. Wilkie can help you get well and stay well after the trauma of a whiplash injury.
Whether you've been in an accident, stressed at work or overexerted yourself in the garden, your body is constantly adapting to the environment. When your capacity to adapt is exhausted, symptoms can appear. Often times there is a significant delay before the symptoms actually appear. It is important to seek treatment as soon as possible to correct
the problems.
Leg Pain – Sciatica
Sciatica can be a distracting pain that starts in the lower back and extends down into one or both legs. The pain usually worsens with long periods of sitting or standing.
Sciatica is often the result of cumulative damage. Years of bad posture, poor muscle tone, excess weight or countless other causes set the stage. Spinal decay can be another cause. Instead of disc thinning that puts pressure on the sciatic nerve roots, arthritic bone spurs can intrude into the space normally reserved for the nerve.
Sciatica often worsens with extended bed rest. Improving joint motion with a series of chiropractic adjustments has produced results for millions. It helps to restore the way your spine works, reduces nerve irritation and revitalizes your own healing ability.
Pregnancy & Chiropractic
Chiropractic offers many benefits to pregnant and post natal
women. During your pregnancy, chiropractic care can help:
- improve alignment and flexibility – both during pregnancy and delivery
- reduce pain due to stresses of pregnancy
- maximize your body’s efficiency during labor, improving contractions with proper signals between the brain
and nerves - promote regular menstrual cycles and uterine function by improving nerve supply to reproductive organs, ensuring maximum fertility
After baby is born, chiropractic care can:
- Ensure baby has proper neck alignment for breastfeeding, lessen or eliminate colic symptoms for your baby.
- Relieve neck and back pain from improper spine alignment experienced during breastfeeding.
Adjustments to infants and children are gentle and adapted specifically to a child’s spine. Pediatric adjustments are gentle, with chiropractors knowing just where to adjust and applying no more pressure than you’d use to test a ripe tomato.
For more information on how Dr. Wilkie works with children, see Children and Chiropractic.
Children & Chiropractic
Chiropractic is safe and gentle for children, and is known to:
- Reduce Colic – chiropractic lessens or eliminate symptoms of colic by maximizing nerve supply to all body systems, including stomach and intestines, allowing them to function properly
- Reduce or Eliminate Pain – pain in children is not normal and shouldn’t be categorized as “just growing pains” – chiropractic can identify if subluxations in the spine or neck are causing your child pain. If your child has been in accident of any sort, a chiropractic check-up is recommended.
- Improve Attention Span – chiropractic can improve attention span and improve a child’s general health by eliminating misalignments in the spine that can disrupt natural body function and decrease immunity
- Lessen Asthma and Allergies – chiropractic improves natural body function and immunity, reduces muscle spasms, increases diaphragm strength and improves breathing, improves lymphatic function
- Improve immunity – chiropractic improves general health by eliminating misalignments in the spine that can disrupt natural body function and lessen immunity
Chiropractic healing isn’t instant – it can take weeks or months time to reestablish normal body function, depending on the extent of misalignment. Many childhood illnesses can be linked to abnormal body function caused by subluxations. Chiropractic fixes subluxations.
Chiropractors adjust treatment techniques to suit each patient’s size, age, and spinal problem. With children, chiropractic adjustments are gentle, comfortable, and effective. Regular chiropractic checkups help ensure normal spinal development as your child goes from newborn, to sitting, crawling, walking, running and “being a kid”.
Should I consult my doctor? You may, but it’s not necessary. You don’t need a doctors’ referral before making an appointment with a chiropractor for yourself or your child.