What is Chiropractic Treatment?

Chiropractic is the world’s third largest healthcare profession after medicine and dentistry.

Chiropractic is a regulated primary healthcare profession. Chiropractors are trained to diagnose, treat, manage and prevent disorders of the musculoskeletal system (bones, joints, and muscles), as well as the effects these disorders can have on general health.

They have a specialist interest in neck and back pain, but when they assess patients, they take their entire physical, emotional and social wellbeing into account.

Chiropractors use a range of techniques to reduce pain, improve function and increase mobility, including hands-on gentle adjustment (highly specialised manipulation) of the spine. Chiropractors are also able to offer a package of care which includes advice on self-help, therapeutic exercises and lifestyle changes.

Chiropractors are best known for manual treatments such as spinal adjustment, where they use their hands to gently encourage movement in stiff or restricted joints, or mobilisation, which is a slower technique, very gently moving of joints - often used for patients with osteoporosis. They may also use certain types of acupuncture, stretching exercises and rehabilitation and offer lifestyle advice to help prevent repeated episodes of neck pain.

The main complaint that patients have when consulting us is pain. We specialise in assessing, diagnosing and managing conditions of the spine and are highly trained in finding the cause of pain in the spine. For further information on chiropractic qualifications and training please see this page.

Chiropractors are renowned for helping patients with their back pain, but we also regularly help people with pains, pins and needles, numbness or weakness in all parts of the body. For example, c.10% of Scott’s patients initially consulted him complaining of headaches or migraine. The results of chiropractic treatment, proven in clinical trials, can be amazing.

British Government CSAG guidelines in 1994 and the 2004 European Guidelines stated that patients with low back pain should, if they have not responded to simple anti-inflammatory drugs, be referred for a short course of expert manipulation.

The exact diagnosis is initially made by careful case history; orthopaedic and neurological examination; and expert palpation of the relevant region. Sometimes further medical tests may be necessary. These can include MRI, blood tests or occasionally X-rays.

Once the diagnosis has been made, it becomes obvious to the chiropractor which type of treatment is the most appropriate for that individual problem. When appropriate, treatment can be started immediately.

If the problem requires another specialist’s opinion or concurrent GP’s advice, then with the patient’s permission, we will write a report to send to the patient's GP recommending the most appropriate further investigations/treatment.

Scott has a standard protocol for the vast majority of patients - regardless of whether their pains are short or long-term. This protocol is very simple, the vast majority of patients should be feeling better and able to pass the orthopaedic and neurological tests more easily within four treatments.