FAQ

One of the most common reasons patients come to The Fix is for back pain.  When the bones are misaligned or are not moving as they should be, the muscles attached will become spastic and that is where the pain often comes into play.  Chiropractic is often one of the most effective ways to correct this mechanical problem.  We don’t just treat the symptom of pain, but we find the mechanical issue, which is the actual cause of the pain, and fix that!

Can a disc truly “slip?”  Because of the way each disc is attached to the vertebra above and below it, a disc cannot “slip” as commonly thought.  However, trauma or injury to the spine can cause discs to bulge, herniate, or worse, rupture.  This can be quite painful, putting pressure on the spinal cord and nerve roots, often interfering with their function.

The chiropractic approach to disc problems is to help restore better motion and position to the spinal joints.  This will allow optimum movement and function to the affected disc and the body can then heal itself.

The best way to treat a disc problem is to get regular maintenance adjustments to prevent ever having a disc problem in the first place!  It’s all about prevention!

One of the most important times to be under chiropractic care is during pregnancy. This period of rapid development, hormonal changes, the laxity of connective ligaments, and shifting of weight-bearing structures, causes most pregnant women to experience aches and pains they never experienced before. Besides helping to relieve this discomfort, chiropractic helps to normalize nervous system function, leading to an easier pregnancy.

Regular chiropractic adjustments during pregnancy make for an easier delivery at the time of birth. Research has shown a reduction of delivery time and amount of back labor pains during delivery for women who received chiropractic care during pregnancy. This is because the adjustments will ensure perfect pelvic alignment when it is time for delivery.

Chiropractic is very effective at correcting structurally generated vertigo.  Vertigo is mostly caused by two possible mechanisms.  One is a misalignment of the upper neck, which will interfere with the function of the 7th and 8th cranial nerves.  This by itself can cause vertigo and is easily corrected with the chiropractic adjustment to the atlas, or top vertebrae.  The second most common cause of vertigo is fluid in the inner ear which causes the canaliths or ear crystals, to move out of their normal position.  This is commonly diagnosed as benign positional vertigo.  This can usually be cleared by doing a canalith repositioning maneuver.  We provide both of these procedures at The Fix on a regular basis.

Scoliosis is a curvature of the spine. There are two types of scoliosis, functional and structural. With functional scoliosis, the body is often compensating for a leg length inequality.  With structural scoliosis,  the bones actually change shape causing the curvature to occur.  Both types can be helped with the chiropractic adjustment.  If the scoliosis is functional, the chiropractor will identify what is causing the compensation and correct that.  If the scoliosis is structural, the chiropractor will maximize the movement of the involved vertebrae and prevent worsening of the condition.  Either way, chiropractic is a safe and effective way to manage scoliosis.

Pain and weakness in the wrist is often attributed to carpal tunnel syndrome.  The carpal tunnel is formed by bones in the wrist.  The median nerve, tendons, and blood vessels pass through this opening.  If one or more of the bones that form this tunnel should “collapse,” inflammation, nerve pressure, and pain can result.

The median nerve that passes through the carpal tunnel originates in your neck and travels down the arm to your hand.  A misalignment in the neck, shoulder, elbow, or wrist can all cause the symptoms of carpal tunnel. Chiropractic can address all these areas to correct nerve pressure anywhere along the path of this nerve.

Chiropractic adjustments to the wrist, elbow, shoulder, and neck can all affect any “carpal tunnel” symptoms and along with proper ergonomics, can fix the problem.  Surgery that involves cutting structures around the carpal tunnel is often an unnecessary and expensive procedure.  Try a non-invasive chiropractic approach first!

When your spine has misalignments the body has to compensate for those misalignments.  These compensations in the musculoskeletal system waste energy in your body.  When the misalignments are corrected by the adjustment, your body can take that energy it was wasting compensating, and use it for other body functions, thus improving overall energy and function.

Another component is the nerve compression that can result from the misalignment of the spine.  These misalignments cause muscle spasms that compress nerves.  The function of the organs and muscles that are fed by these nerves can be reduced because of the compression on the nerves.  When the spine is adjusted, the tone of the muscle returns to normal and the function of the muscles and organs returns to a more normal state.  This normalized state can lead to more energy overall.  Get adjusted for optimal energy!

Of course they should!  Please don’t neglect your children’s health while you work on your own.  People often take their children for routine check-ups for their teeth, eyes, ears, nose, etc., but when it concerns their spines, they think it isn’t necessary!  Have you ever watched how often a child falls, or thought about the trauma of the birthing process itself?  Children undergo the same types of stressors as adults and more.  It is extremely important to have your children checked regularly to make sure their bodies are working at 100% capacity

Chiropractic adjusting techniques are modified to fit a child’s size and weight and often a low force adjusting instrument is used to make it less intimidating to children.  Many spinal problems seen in adults begin in childhood. This could easily be avoided with regular spinal adjustments as children.  Bring your children in for an adjustment.

Chiropractic can be very helpful for constipation when there is a structural issue underlying the problem.  The nerves in the low back feed the small and large intestines.  When there is a subluxation or misalignment of the vertebrae in the lower back, it can cause a disruption to the nerves feeding the intestines.  This in turn can lead to constipation or lack of normal peristalsis.  When the subluxation is corrected, the nerve flow is normalized and the intestinal function returns to normal, thus clearing the constipation.  A similar effect is often found with young children who are bed wetter’s.  They are often helped by adjusting the same area.  Try chiropractic for these often easily corrected issues before you turn to medications.

Have you ever heard this one?  “I hear that once you start going to a chiropractor, you always have to go!”  My favorite answer to this is, “I hear that once you start eating right, you always have to eat right,” or “I hear that once you start working out, you always have to work out.”  Chiropractic adjustments will allow your body to work better than if you didn’t get adjusted.  Just like your car, your spine needs alignment and maintenance, or it won’t work as well as it can.  With your spine, structure leads to function.  The better you are aligned and the better your spine is moving, the better your nervous system will work and the better you will feel.  But the choice to get adjusted is always up to you.  Chiropractic is not addictive, but being healthy definitely is!

Chiropractors don’t treat colds directly, but indirectly via the neuromusculoskeletal system.  When you are sick, your immune system kicks in and your body works to fight off the virus or bacteria attacking your body.  It is essential that the immune system is working at full function.  That is where the chiropractor comes in.

When you are correctly adjusted, your nervous system, which runs the immune system, is working better than before you were adjusted.  So, the chiropractic adjustment helps with the cold by improving the overall function of the immune system via the nervous system, which the chiropractor addresses via the musculoskeletal system.

Get adjusted for better immune function overall!

Many people think that chiropractic is just for bones, but a primary effect of the adjustment is to restore normal function and tone to the muscles.  This is done by making sure the joints are moving properly and that the nerves that feed the muscles are not being effected by misaligned bones.  The function of the nerves, bones, and muscles are all interrelated and inseparable.

Chiropractic adjustments address all of these structures all at once with the power of the adjustment!

A popular response to neck pain is taking drugs to cover up the problem.  But neck pain isn’t caused by a lack of aspirin!  The chiropractic approach to neck pain is to locate its underlying cause.  Chiropractic will help restore a more normal motion and position to affected spinal bones.  This is fixing the cause instead of treating the symptom!

Best of all, in conjunction with restoring proper movement to the neck, the adjustment will also restore normal nerve flow through all nerves that exit the spine within the neck.  So if you’re having trouble looking over your shoulder to back out of the driveway, you know what to do.  Pop in for a quick fix!

When you tell others about the positive experience you’ve had at The Fix, you are helping us to achieve our goal. We seek to affect the lives of thousands through the healing power of the natural and chemical-free chiropractic adjustment. If you value your chiropractic care, please share your knowledge with others. Many still remain unaware about the full potential of health that chiropractic care has to offer. It is up to you to spread the word.

Thanks for your support.

A chiropractic adjustment is a specific force, applied in a specific direction, to a specific spinal joint. It is virtually impossible to adjust oneself with the precision needed to make an accurate spinal correction.

It is possible to turn or bend or twist in certain ways to create “popping” sounds, like the sound that sometimes accompanies a chiropractic adjustment. Unfortunately, this type of joint manipulation is usually counterproductive, often making an already unstable area of the spine even more unstable. Adjusting the spine is for professionals, so don’t try this at home kids!

Chiropractic is based on the scientific fact that the nervous system controls every cell, tissue, organ, and system of your body. The spinal cord is covered by 24 moving vertebrae. When these bones lose their normal position or motion, they can irritate the nervous system. This disrupts the function of the tissues and organs that the nerves control and is what chiropractors call a subluxation.

Chiropractic is the science and art of locating and correcting the areas of spinal joint dysfunction and restoring them to normal. This allows the body to work at 100% capacity and leads to a total expression of the body’s innate ability to heal itself. The doctor doesn’t heal the patient, but simply removes the interference to the patient’s nervous system and the body heals itself!

The Fix believes in providing affordable, convenient chiropractic care for the entire family. It shouldn’t cost a fortune to receive superb care that will improve the quality of life for everyone in your family. We have removed all barriers to receiving care: Low-cost, no appointments ever, no x-rays, no contracts, no insurance companies dictating your care, and no gimmicks!

Did you know chiropractic care can increase your overall performance in sporting activities?  Spinal misalignments can restrict range of motion, reduce muscle strength, slow reflexes, diminish endurance, and decrease performance.  Professional sports teams, Olympic trainers, and competitive athletes regularly utilize chiropractic to stay on top of their game.

If you want to take your performance to another level, utilize chiropractic to get 100% function from your body and nervous system.

Chiropractic is highly effective for treating sciatica.  Sciatica is an impingement of the sciatic nerve, which causes pain most often in the back of the leg and can make it all the way down to the foot.  It is commonly caused by misalignment of the lower back vertebrae and can also be cause by an issue with the discs in the lower back.  At The Fix, we take pressure off the nerve by adjusting the misaligned vertebra, which will relax the muscles in the area that are compressing the nerve.  We then stretch the associated muscles, which will further relax the area and remove more pressure off the sciatic nerve.   Over time, with specific adjustments and stretches, the symptoms will resolve.

There are over 150 different chiropractic techniques.  Since everyone is different, it is good for your chiropractor to employ several techniques so there will be a variety of ways to address the different issues patients may have.  The Fix utilizes multiple techniques including manual adjustments, where the doctor moves the bones with his hands and drop table technique, where the doctor uses the table and gravity to move the bones.  An instrument may also used for low force adjusting.  This is often used with children, babies, and the elderly, where bones are softer and need to be moved with less force.

If you are new to chiropractic, allow the doctor several treatments with you to give him adequate time to determine which techniques will work best with your body.  Only then will you receive the full benefit of the chiropractic adjustment, when it has been properly modified to fit your situation.

Arthritis is often just the body’s reaction to abnormal stressors being placed on it.  It is essentially a negative response to the pull of gravity on bones.  Bones are dynamic structures and they will change shape over time according to stressors placed on them.  Abnormal stress on bones from poor posture or improper ergonomics will result in destructive changes in the bones over time.  Degenerative changes are also common with improperly moving spinal joints caused by misalignments.  These degenerative changes often begin without symptoms or pain or other warning signs.  By the time pain is felt, it has often been degenerating for a long time.

With early detection, chiropractic has been shown to slow, stop, or even reverse the early stages of arthritic degeneration. Do yourself a favor and receive regular chiropractic care to avoid degenerative arthritis in your body.  You will live a longer and much more comfortable life in a well adjusted body!

Ribs can be adjusted like any other bone in the body.  The ribs articulate with the vertebra of the spine and can often misalign by over twisting your torso.  One of the most painful experiences is when a rib misaligns.  The most common symptom is a stabbing pain and an inability to take a deep breath.  This pain can often be felt in the back or the front near the sternum.  These symptoms often send people to the ER because it can mimic a heart attack when on the left side.  The adjustment is simple and the relief is immediate.  Unfortunately many spend time and money at the ER first, trying to figure out what is wrong.  Next time you have stabbing pain that makes it difficult to take a deep breath, stop by for a quick adjustment to make sure it isn’t simply a rib out of place.  It will save you time, aggravation, and lots of money at the ER!

Patients often feel more relaxed after an adjustment and even sleep better.  The adjustment has also been known to lower blood pressure.  How does this occur?  The upper neck partly houses an area known as the brain-stem, which is where the cranial nerves originate from.  One such nerve is cranial nerve 10 or the Vagus nerve.  This nerve is partly responsible for the parasympathetic (rest and digest) innervations to many digestive organs as well as the heart and lungs.

When the upper neck alignment is off, it is thought that the Vagus nerve can be affected in a way that makes us more tense or uptight.  When the misalignment is adjusted, the function of that nerve is normalized and a feeling of relaxation is a common result.  It is this same mechanism that likely is reducing blood pressure as well.  Try chiropractic the next time you need to take the edge off!

The answer is different for everyone.  Some people only get adjusted once in a while when something starts to hurt.  The pain issue can typically be resolved in a short period of time.  Some prefer to use chiropractic for general health and will get adjusted more regularly even when they have little or no discomfort.  That is the best way to use chiropractic in order to maintain better overall health.  How often someone gets adjusted will vary a lot because of the different lifestyles people lead.  Misalignment of the spine is caused by mental, physical, and emotional stress or a combination of these.  So, how often one is adjusted is typically a reaction to how stressed someone is.  Ultimately, each person will have to determine what works best for them by working with their chiropractor to achieve the best results.

Your posture is a reflection of the integrity of your spine and the health of your nervous system.  Have you ever looked at an older person who has nice straight posture versus an older person who is hunched over with a hump on their back?  You will notice that the one with the good posture will be moving around faster and will have better energy overall.  The person that is hunched over  will be moving along slower and show less balance and energy overall.  If you ask them how they feel, they will likely tell you their back hurts all the time.  Getting adjusted will help correct postural distortions and will help you to live a more energetic and pain free life.

Chiropractic is very effective for ear infections.  The direct effect is to open the Eustachian tube from the inside so it can drain out relieving the pressure caused by the infection.  This is done by adjusting the upper neck and sometimes the jaw.  Another effect is to improve the overall function of the immune system so that the body can better fight off the infection.  This is done by removing any subluxations of the spine, a specialty performed exclusively by doctors of chiropractic.

Most people think that a massage before an adjustment will loosen up the muscles and allow for an easier adjustment.  In my experience it is usually the opposite.  A certain level of joint tension needs to be present to allow for a clean adjustment. The massage tends to make that joint tension more rubbery and this makes the adjustment more difficult to achieve.

It is better to get a massage after the adjustment.  Your massage therapist will thank you because they will have a lot less to work on during the massage as well!

A subluxation is what chiropractic doctors are exclusively licensed and educated in fixing.  A subluxation is a term used to describe a bone of the spine that has lost its normal motion and position.  This restricts your ability to move normally, causes muscle spasms, and interferes with your nervous system function.  The primary goal of the adjustment is to correct the subluxation and restore normal nerve function to the body, thus restoring your body’s function to 100%.

Your nervous system controls every cell, tissue, organ, and system of your body.  Correcting vertebral subluxations leads to a total expression of the body’s innate ability to heal itself.  Remember, the doctor doesn’t heal the patient, but simply removes the interference to the patient’s nervous system and the body heals itself!  It’s a beautiful thing!

Pain is only a symptom that may be present when spinal misalignments are present.  Oftentimes, pain is the last thing to show up when the misalignments have been there for a while.  Regular check-ups will address these misalignments before they start to cause discomfort.  Getting adjusted before you start feeling pain will insure that the nervous system is working the way it should be all the time.  Waiting until you are in pain is only treating the symptom and is not a way to maintain optimum health.  Getting adjusted when you are in pain only is like popping an aspirin.  This approach to health will not keep your body working optimally as it was meant to work.

Get regular adjustments for optimum health!

We all have chemical, emotional, and physical stressors coming at us every day.  For some, it manifests as an upset stomach.  For others, recurring headaches, back pain, or muscle stiffness.  Still others respond with nervous twitches, allergic reactions, or sensitivities to chemicals.

The chiropractic approach to stress is to help normalize the function of your nervous system by removing interferences caused by stressors to your body.  The adjustment will correct the “weak links” in your spine and help restore better function overall.  This is a superior way to fight the effects of stress in our life.

Is it true that hands, feet, elbows, knees, shoulders, and the jaw can be adjusted?

This is absolutely true! Every bone in the body can be adjusted. We pride ourselves on our sub-specialty of extremity adjustments at The Fix. If you ever have issues with any joints outside the spine, please be sure to tell the doctor at The Fix and the issue will be addressed during your next visit.

Some estimates suggest 25% of the population has a headache right now!

A frequent and overlooked cause of headaches is the malfunction of spinal bones in the upper neck and back. When bones of the spine lose their normal position and motion, sensitive nerves and blood vessels to the head can be affected. Aspirin may cover up these warning signs, but does not correct the underlying cause of the headache.  Remember, headaches are not due to a lack of Aspirin in our bodies!

Specific chiropractic adjustments will correct any misalignment or lack of movement that may be triggering the headaches. This will fix the dysfunction that results from chemical, emotional, and physical stresses we encounter every day.