Facts About Chiropractic

Chiropractic is an approach to health that focuses on the body as a whole. Doctors of Chiropractic treat conditions relating to bones and joints, nerves and muscles. Doctors of Chiropractic consider many factors that can affect your health and overall well-being such as your work, your lifestyle, and your family history.

Doctors of Chiropractic use natural methods to help the body heal. They do not use drugs or surgery. They look at the body’s structure and function, focusing on the spine, muscles, and nerves.

They assess how these systems are working together. To determine what is causing the symptoms of your chief complaint and how to best treat it, the Doctor of Chiropractic will:

• Take a medical history
• Do an exam, focusing especially on nerves and bones
• Assess your posture
• Order other tests if needed, such as x-rays or laboratory analysis

Some other little known facts about chiropractic health care are:

• Chiropractic was established in 1896

• Chiropractic is the second largest of the three primary health care professions in the United States and is growing each year

• Chiropractic health care is provided for in such federal programs as Medicare, the Government Employees Hospital Association Benefit Plan, the Mail Handlers Benefit Plan, and the Postmasters Benefit Plan

• Medicaid Acts in most states include Doctors of Chiropractic as primary health providers

• All Federal agencies accept sick-leave certificates signed by Doctors of Chiropractic, and fees paid to Doctors of Chiropractic are allowable deductions as expenses for “medical care” for Federal income tax purposes.

• The typical Doctor of Chiropractic’s training includes a seven and a half year program of undergraduate and professional college study and clinic internship prior to entering private practice. The areas of science studied are those pertinent to the health care of human beings, including diagnosis, anatomy, microbiology, pathology, physiology, biochemistry, pediatrics, geriatrics, spinal manipulation, x-ray, nutrition, physical therapeutics and other health subjects.

 

• The G.I. Bill of Rights covers education in chiropractic colleges for qualified veterans.

• Since 1995, a series of Congressional actions has expanded the availability of chiropractic care to our nation’s service men and women. Doctors of Chiropractic are now treating soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines in over 42 military treatment facilities across the United States. Chiropractors are actively providing health care to troops deploying to protect the U.S. and helping to rehabilitate those returning from war time operations. The inclusion of chiropractic services in the military will undoubtedly continue to expand.