Dr. Steven Remillard, M.A., D.C.

What is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic started in 1895 right here in the US. Chiropractic is based on several premises:

1) Health is more than not being in pain or being sick— true health is when all the parts of your body are working together in harmony.
2) To be in harmony, your body uses your nervous system to connect all parts to each other in a communication network with your brain, which is the master controller.
3) A large and important part of your nervous system travels through your spine to reach all parts of your body.
4) Irritations in your spine can adversely affect your nervous system leading to symptoms such as pain, tingling, burning weakness, and many other illnesses.
5) Doctors of Chiropractic study the spine and the rest of the body to determine what the root of the problem is and if Chiropractic treatments can help. If indicated, treatment involves careful, safe, and specific spinal adjustments, done mostly by hand, which are designed to reduce the spinal irritation and restore proper function in your body.
6) No drugs or surgery are ever used in a Chiropractic office.

Is Chiropractic safe?

Chiropractic care is very safe. In fact, while the medical profession is raging about high malpractice premiums, we in Chiropractic are not complaining so loudly because we pay much lower premiums. These premiums are based on risk to the patient, so obviously Chiropractic care is much safer.

Additionally, Doctors of Chiropractic are well trained to know when to refer patients for other types of care and do so in a professional manner.

Is Chiropractic effective?

Yes! Studies worldwide have come to the conclusion that not only is Chiropractic effective for lower back pain, but many other spinally related conditions also often do better. These conditions include:

In fact, the US armed services have recently added Chiropractic care to their health care system! This came after nearly 10 years of rigorous study and testing.

Chiropractic Education and Training

Today, to become a Doctor of Chiropractic you must first complete a pre-chiropractic undergraduate program. Then, the actual chiropractic school curriculum is a 4 year program which includes as many if not more hours of the basic health care sciences as in medical school curriculums. Of course this does not include studies in pharmacology and surgery. The chiropractic curriculum also includes hundreds of hours in spinal biomechanics and adjusting techniques. This far exceedes the curriculums in medical school and osteopathic school. Chiropractors are also trained in the general understanding of the human body and are well prepared to examine and refer patients if necessary.

Who can benefit from Chiropractic care?

As Chiropractors we often say that our care can help people from birth through their golden years. You see, at all stages of our life we are exposed to life's stresses which often lead to spinal irritation. These stresses include gravity, which constantly compresses our spine, accidents, poor posture, and other injuries. Some examples include:

Children- From the stress of actual birth, to the falls of learning to walk, to the stress of growth, back packs and sports, children's spines are constantly under pressure. The reason for pains and illness in later life can often be traced to childhood stresses gone untreated. In fact, 7 out of 10 girls grow up to have a spinal condition called scoliosis which is an unwanted curvature of the spine. This most often starts in youth. Early Chiropractic examination and needed care can help children grow up healthier. In fact, we often hear mothers comment on how much healthier their children are while under Chiropractic care and how they have less illness and miss less school time. These parents are very happy not to be giving their children so many drugs like other parents, and can raise their family more naturally!

Athletes- The physical demands of sports place a great demand on the body. The need for speed, strength, flexibility, durability, and coordination are central to the success of the athlete. These qualities are all controlled by the nervous system. Proper spinal integrity can play a huge part in the success of any athlete. From golf to soccer, basketball, baseball, and football, many teams and most players use Chiropractic care to give them a winning edge… without drugs and their side effects. In fact, the US Olympic team has a Chiropractic consultant.

Work/Auto Injuries- Most work and auto injuries involve back or back-related complaints. These injuries result in millions of hours of lost work time, as well as lost personal and family time. Chiropractic care has been shown to be very effective in treating these injuries not only to reduce pain, but more importantly to heal and strengthen damaged tissue in the body.
In fact, all people can benefit from Chiropractic care because of our attention to the cause of problems rather than just covering up complaints with drugs. Is there any wonder why there is a drug problem in the US with over 1 million prescriptions written every year?