Their education continues into the advanced clinical sciences including orthopedics, neurology, examination procedures, differential diagnosis, and X-ray interpretation. During this entire process, aspiring doctors of chiropractic gain knowledge of the philosophy and practice of health care and chiropractic.


Doctors of chiropractic refine their technical adjusting skills in technique classes. During clinical internships student doctors perfect these skills.

Finally, all doctors of chiropractic must pass the rigorous national board exams and state exams before entering the field.

Palmer laid Lillard on his table and noticed a lump on Mr. Lillard’s back – it appeared that one of his vertebrae was out of place. Palmer pushed the vertebrae into place, and suddenly Lillard could hear for the first time in 17 years!


Palmer realized that he had discovered something more far-reaching when patients with various problems began improving in response to his “hand treatments” (as he first called them):

• Digestive problems
• Sciatica
• Menstrual troubles
• Migraine headaches
• Epilepsy
• Heart problems
• Back pain

And there was a long history of manual spine manipulation to support Dr. Palmer’s new field of  Chiropractic. Evidence of manual manipulation of the body has been found among the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Babylon, Syria, Japan, the Incas, Mayans and Native Americans.


Ancient writings from China and Greece dating between 2700 B.C. and 1500 B.C. mention spinal manipulation to ease low back pain. In fact, Hippocrates, the famous Greek physician who lived from 460 to 357 B.C., published a text detailing the importance of manual manipulation.

As with any product or service, fees vary by provider and location, but you can find more cost-of-care information at Costhelper.com.


Compared with complementary and alternative therapies as a whole (few of which are reimbursed), coverage of chiropractic care by insurance plans is extensive.

As of 2002, the following plans covered chiropractic treatment:

• More than 50 percent of health maintenance organizations (HMOs)
• More than 75 percent of private health care plans
• All state workers’ compensation systems

Chiropractors can bill Medicare, and more than 24 states cover chiropractic treatment under Medicaid.


If you have health insurance, you should check to see if chiropractic care is covered before you seek treatment. Your plan may require care to be approved in advance, limit the number of visits covered, and/or require that you use chiropractors within its network.

photo credit: Daniel Y. Go via Flickr.com

Many people use chiropractic as part of a preventive health care routine, scheduling chiropractic appointments on a regular basis to keep their bodies functioning at their best.


Others seek care and treatment for specific conditions with the primary goal of treatment being pain relief.

It is important for you to discuss your objectives with your chiropractor in order to develop a treatment plan that works best for you.

Keep in mind, healing rates vary from person to person. Children tend to respond more quickly to treatment, whereas adults and seniors may respond more slowly. A good rule of thumb is that the longer the spine has not been working properly, the more extensive the care plan may be to achieve desired results.


Dr. Petrucci will meet with you and determine the best treatment plan for your specific condition. At first, treatments will be more frequent and regular, tapering off as your body makes progress toward the goals you and Dr. Petrucci establish.

Following consultation and examination, a program of care will be designed for your specific needs. This program is centered around the chiropractic “adjustment,” a method of treatment unique to chiropractic, which corrects spinal subluxations and dysfunction.

Dr. Petrucci will likely use a variety of methods to properly adjust your spine, including manual adjustment or instrument-assisted adjustment with the ProAdjuster™.

The chiropractic adjustment results in:

• Increased range of motion
• Reduced nerve irritability
• Reduced muscle spasm
• Reduced pain
• Improved function

You may feel immediate improvement after an adjustment, although most people experience gradual, progressive relief of symptoms.

Since adjustments restore motion to previously locked joints, ligaments and tendons begin to stretch back to their normal length. This lengthening may cause slight muscle soreness similar to that brought on by rigorous exercise.

Using special chiropractic “spinal adjustment” techniques, your chiropractor safely, gently and painlessly corrects them, ridding your body of this dangerous condition. People generally like chiropractors because they approach health in a natural, safe and drug-free manner.


The cause of many disease processes begins with the body’s inability to adapt to its environment. The chiropractic approach to treating illnesses is not to look for the cure in drugs or chemicals, but to locate an area of the body which is receiving an improper nerve supply and, therefore, is not able to function properly.

Doctors of chiropractic are specially trained in the evaluation and treatment of spinal conditions, which is why an increasing number of back pain sufferers are turning to them for fast, effective, and reliable care. Similarly, more and more hospitals and private practices are now working closely with doctors of chiropractic in order to ensure the best quality of care for patients who suffer from spine-related injuries and dysfunction.


The benefits of chiropractic care have also been shown to extend beyond reduction of back and neck pain. In fact, chiropractic has proven itself as useful in the reduction of:

• Headache pain
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Jaw pain
• Sciatica
• Tingling in the arms and legs

The rewards of chiropractic care are numerous. People under chiropractic care report better health and well-being and many families have realized the benefits of chiropractic care for their children.

Serious side-effects of Chiropractic manipulative therapy occur with approximately one out of every one million adjustments.


Compare this to the serious side-effects of medicines and surgical errors to put safety in perspective:

Research reveals that some 100,000 people die each year from effects of prescription drugs that were prescribed by their doctors. This isn’t meant to be “M.D. bashing,” it’s just the simple truth about the safety of prescription medications, as reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (April 1998).

The article continues to say, “Discovering new dangers of drugs after marketing is common. Overall, 51% of approved drugs have serious adverse effects not detected prior to approval. Merely discovering adverse affects is not by itself sufficient to protect the public. Each year prescription drugs injure 1.5 million people so severely they require hospitalization and 100,000 die, making prescription drugs the 4th leading cause of death in the United States.”


So the question was about the safety of Chiropractic care?

Yes, chiropractic is safe! Its non-surgical, drug-free approach to health places chiropractic among the safest of all health care practices. Remember, chiropractic takes nothing out of the body and puts nothing in.

As a result, chiropractors enjoy one of the lowest malpractice rates of all health care professionals.

For over a century, doctors of chiropractic have successfully helped millions of individuals recover from spine-related health problems.

As a result, chiropractic has earned its place as the largest drugless and non-surgical health care profession in the United States.


The human body possesses a natural ability to restore itself, which depends on a healthy nervous system. Life’s events such as automobile accidents, sports injuries, repetitive work, and home stress are just some of the factors that can overwhelm the body’s ability to adapt.

The joints of the spine ‘lock up’ when these sorts of events occur, limiting range of motion. Spinal joint restriction and/or misalignment results in irritation and/or pressure at the spinal nerve.

Chiropractic care can correct these structural distortions, known as subluxations, restoring the body to its optimal form and function. Subluxations may cause these local symptoms around the joints of the spine, back, and neck:

• Pain
• Tenderness
• Swelling
• Tingling
• Numbness
• Spasms

Many times these sensations extend further into the shoulders and arms, around the rib cage, or into the hips and down the legs. Subluxations can even lead to headaches, stomach and digestive problems, and loss of overall health

Impaired nerve coordination causes the whole body to suffer. Vital instructions flow between the brain and the body by way of spinal nerves. These instructions inform and direct the body as to when, where, and how it needs to heal itself. By irritating nerves, subluxations interfere with the essential brain/body exchange, thereby compromising the normal function of the body’s organs and tissues.


Chiropractic care clears the path for the body to maintain its own health.

Subluxation cause problems in the body by:

• Causing a narrowing of the space between the bones through which the nerves pass, often resulting in irritation of the nerve itself.
• Disrupting the normal flow of energy along the nerve fibers, distorting the signals that travel along the  nerve.
• Irritated nerves can also cause muscle spasms that can further distort the alignment of the vertebrae.
• The surrounding tendons and ligaments can become stretched out or scarred, leaving the spine with either a permanent instability or restriction.

These changes get progressively worse over time if they are not treated correctly, leading to:

• Chronic pain
• Inflammation
• Arthritis
• Muscle trigger-points
• Bone spurs
• Loss of movement
• Muscle weakness and spasm

Good health depends, in part, upon a normally functioning nervous system. In order to be truly healthy, it is vital that your nervous system be functioning free of interference from subluxations.

Regular chiropractic care can minimize this interference and improve the way you feel.

photo credit: Katie Bowden via Flickr.com