Chiropractic is the Art, Science and Philosophy of correcting spinal fixations to allow for optimal spinal and nervous function; enabling the best expression of health
Fixations (blockages / subluxations) arise at areas of spinal misalignment.
These are areas where the spine is not in the correct position. There is increased mechanical stress to the backbones and the body reacts by tightening up muscles and by blocking normal movement of spinal joints (as a result of spinal disc derangement). The result is asymmetrical loading of spinal joints and other structures of the body and overcompensation of areas of the spine, which can cause many possible problems as a result.
Causes of spinal misalignment:
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Bad sitting or standing habits
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Faulty Posture / Anterior pelvic tilt / Forward head carriage / Rounded back / Shrugged or forward shoulders
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Loss of the normal S-curve of the spine (as seen from the side) / Straightened or reversed lumbar or cervical lordosis / Increased thoracic kyphosis.
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Scoliosis / Leg length difference / Torqued pelvis / Knee Valgus / Winged scapula
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Trauma / Improper lifting
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Poor muscular stability during daily tasks / Doing sports in the wrong way
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Bad coordination
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Lack of physical activity / Obesity
" The best possible scenario is to prevent spinal misalignment and spinal fixations from happening in the first place by preventative Chiropractic spinal check-ups and adjustments as well as healthy daily habits and regular adequate sport. At Kiro Klinika we will help you to move your spinal health and therewith health overall in the right direction so you can express your maximum inner potential"
Pascal Sanderse, Master of Chiropractic
A healthy spine, a healthier nervous system
The function of your spine is to carry the weight of the body, allowing for movement and yet safeguarding the delicate nervous system. Your nervous system is dependent on a healthy spine. Everything in the body is controlled by the nervous system (in coordination with the endocrine system). Nerves and their respective function can be compromised by disc hernia, spinal canal narrowing or degenerative changes. Typically muscle strength and the sensation of the skin are affected. Spinal misalignment and fixations are a big contributing factor towards spinal degenerative changes. Moreover; spinal fixations may have a negative influence on nerves innervating the organs (heart, lungs, intestines), possibly affecting their respective function. In other words, taking care of your spine is taking care of health in general.
Chiropractic is a Preventative method
The Chiropractic Principle is to improve the bodies and minds function by targeting the underlying cause of the dysfunction or disease. NOT to suppress the symptoms (as you to with taking pain killers). Operative interventions are in our opinion the very last option and should be avoided when possible. Rather, we should take care in a preventative way of our health. The area of symptoms often do not correlate with the area of dysfunction. We have to look at the nervous and muscular skeletal system as a whole in order to correct the problem from its roots. To give an example: We do not just look at a knee x-ray and conclude a local knee pathology. Rather: we look at the ankle and hip and back; as well as at the knee and address the secondary factors which made the knee overcompensate. Only when all the stress factors which indirectly affected the knee are taken away; the knee can start to regenerate and/or further degeneration can be prevented or slowed down.
Time is needed to fix your spine
Spinal problems appear over time. The longer the body has been compensating and has been under increased mechanical stress, the longer it takes to get corrected (if fully possible at all). The earlier you start to take care of your spine, the easier it is to correct problems or prevent them. At all stages of spinal dysfunction Chiropractic care is recommended. Babies and infants react very well and quickly. From adolescence problems can already be more severe. The management plan varies from individual to individual. Usually good results can be seen with sessions one time a week (acute case) or once every two weeks (chronic case) over 3-6 weeks (intensive care). However some cases can be more challenging. Chiropractic does not just help with symptoms but the goal is to achieve a stable spinal condition, so there is less chance of a relapse or for other future problems, once symptoms are significantly less; adjustments every 2-3 weeks are recommended (stabilizing phase). Once your spine is stable, further care to continue improving spinal function is recommended (optimization phase). This could be once a month, every two months or if your spinal health is good and you are exercising properly with even more time in between. With every individual, we will reach a certain limit up until which we can help. Usually most positive changes happen within the first 5 Adjustments, after that the right time between Adjustments - with your feedback - has to be determined for Chiropractic to still be affective in maintaining and further improving your condition. The reason why the improvement is logarithmic rather than linear is because problems with your spine are for a large part structural, meaning that not just your bones have set in a certain non-optimal spinal alignment but also the ligaments, tendons and muscles have set to this compensatory condition. As well as neurological conditioning, in terms of how your bodies reflexes and coordination are working. The outcome also depends on the continuous daily stresses you may experience and with what determination you work on exercises to improve your daily coordination as well as muscular stabilizing ability. In other words we can help you to move your spinal health forward but you are the chief of your body and to a large extend it is up to you as well to improve.
Who can undergo Chiropractic care?
Everybody may qualify for a Chiropractic adjustment: Babies from 4 weeks old up until elderly of 85 years and older. For babies and elderly much more gentle techniques are applied but the basic correction principle can be applied just as well. Athletes undergo Chiropractic care for performance enhancement and some clients without symptoms come in for preventative purposes. Pregnant women can also be adjusted for problems with the Musculo-skeletal system. Care is taken to avoid pressure on the stomach. Adjustments are possible up until 4 weeks before the due date and again 1 month after delivery. Most people initially come with pain. Better is to come preventatively, before there is any big pain.
ART
At the core of Chiropractors skills is the practical -hands on- experience they have from day one of their Master education. A great deal of skills and training are needed to be able to perform good spinal adjustments. On a daily basis; most successful Chiropractors may adjust 20 or more people. It is a true art and takes a lot of practice to be able to perform a good and safe adjustment. The purpose is to free the spine of fixations / blockages / subluxations. This enables the spine and nervous system to work at its fullest potential. The techniques involve a very specific thrust on the spine in a certain direction, with a certain amplitude and velocity to stimulate joints and the nervous system to function optimally. The Chiropractic Adjustment goes accompanied with a clicking or cracking sound and is not painful
SCIENCE
Chiropractors have a 5 to 6 year University degree with Medical subjects at equivalent level to basic primary medicine Doctors. They are in a position to make the right decisions in regard to clinical management plan and know when to refer for the right scan or specialist. The combination of the highly specific adjustment techniques and the Medical background allows the Chiropractic profession to be the leading profession in its field. The Chiropractic profession is recognized by the World Health Association. The European Chiropractic Union as well as many other large national and international Chiropractic associations are active in the research field; developing Chiropractic techniques and showing the efficacy of Chiropractic to improve corporation with Primary Medicine. In Europe the highest accredited University where you can study is the Anglo European College of Chiropractic.
PHILOSOPHY
There is an Innate Intelligence in each and every one of us; it is the power which at the subconscious level simultaneously organises and controls the millions of processes which happen every moment automatically in our body. When there is interference with our Innate Intelligence, there cannot be 100 percent expression of health. There can be interference due to Mechanical stress factors such as faulty posture. When your mid-back is too round for example, the upper lumbar spinal curve could get too straight as a result, putting more pressure on these segments and compromising nerve function over time. The nervous system is essential to coordinate complex systems (i.e: reflex and organ systems) in the body and when this pathway is blocked, the natural functioning of the body is impeded, the Innate Intelligence cannot express itself to a maximum and the body starts compensating. Interference can also happen due to chemical stress, such as taking nutrition which the body is not innately programmed to deal with, like processed genetically modified grains or artificial sugars. And there can be interference due to emotional stress. Innate Intelligence works within the boundaries of Universal law. Universal law contains all possible laws of physics; including how many chemical reactions happen at the molecular level in the body. [Universal law cannot be broken]. Too much mechanical loading on the back and nerves will push bodies’ tissues to their maximum until symptoms arise. In the same way, too much fatty or processed food will push the cells in our digestive system till the point that chronic inflammation results in bowel problems i.e..The Innate Intelligence will always keep on working at its best capacity but when the body is unable to compensate; we will start to experience clinical symptoms. Most people think that a diagnosis happens to them, but in fact in most cases it has taken many years of compensating from the body before it manifests as disease. Once the symptoms of the disease appear, it gets labelled with a diagnosis. Lets not forget the cause of disease which -in most cases- develops due to improper input into the organism in the form of improper movement, nutrition and or thought. Chiropractic is a profession concerned with improving the cause of the problem and not with merely pain reduction.The influence of mechanical stress on the body causes fixations in the spine, which can interfere with normal body movement and nervous function. These fixations can be improved with the Chiropractic adjustments, allowing the spine and thus the nervous system -which is contained in the spine- to function more optimal, therewith preventing symptoms.