What is Chiro?
The following explanation of Chiropratic & 'The McTimoney Way' is taken in part from an article written by and reproduced with the kind permission of Dr Christina Cunliffe, Principal of the McTimoney Chiropractic College.
Chiropractic is a straightforward method of adjusting the bones of the body to maintain the correct alignment of the spine, and to ensure that the body's nerve supply works efficiently. As the largest healthcare profession in the world after medicine and dentistry, and in the light of the new legislation regulating its practice in the UK, chiropractic is fast becoming one of the most popular methods of treating neuromusculo-skeletal problems today.
Chiropractic is increasingly popular because it is highly effective. As a result of research both overseas and in the UK, it is now widely recognized as an important treatment for the alleviation of low back pain. The Royal College of General Practitioners recommended to doctors as early as 1996 that they refer to chiropractors, or other musculo-skeletal specialists, in cases of acute low back pain, but clinical evidence also supports its use for neck and shoulder pain, as well as headaches.
This is a long way from the early days of chiropractic where practitioners were prosecuted and jailed for practising medicine without a licence, though, interestingly, there are still countries in Europe where chiropractic is not legal unless medically licensed. The medical profession in the UK is increasingly supportive of chiropractic care, and the recent legislation regulating chiropractic has also meant that private medical insurance companies are recognizing it as a legitimate and beneficial treatment..
What Chiropractic Is and What It Does
The principles behind chiropractic treatment are simple and easily understood, based on the underlying sciences of anatomy, physiology and biomechanics. The term chiropractic comes from the Greek 'done by hand', and chiropractors will normally only use their hands to adjust spinal misalignments.
The spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae, the sacrum and the coccyx. This column also houses the spinal cord through which nerve information is transmitted to the rest of the body. When the spinal column maintains correct alignment, nerve information is passed correctly to all parts of the body, but if any part of the spinal column becomes misaligned or subluxated, then interference can distort the information that passes along it. Chiropractic uses a specific short lever adjustment to re-align vertebrae, unlike osteopathy which uses long lever manipulation.
These subluxations can have a wide variety of causes, including accidents, one-sided sporting activities, poor posture at home or at work, childbirth or stress. Any interference to the nerve supply can lead to pain, discomfort, restricted mobility, or even adverse effects on the workings of the internal organs of the body.
The majority of patients seek help from chiropractic for neuromusculo-skeletal problems such as back, neck and shoulder pain, as well as headaches, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, sports injuries and whiplash injuries. Although there is no clinical research evidence to support its effectiveness in other areas, patients do also seek help, and get relief from, a wide range of problems such as irritable bowel syndrome, dysmenorrhoea, asthma and eczema.
But health is more than the absence of pain, and chiropractic's philosophy is based on the belief that removing interference to the nervous system will allow the body to function to its optimum potential. Although chiropractic has rightfully gained a reputation for symptomatic pain relief, there are many chiropractors, including those trained in the techniques and approach developed by the late John McTimoney, that believe that chiropractic has more to offer. As an holistic therapy, chiropractic has an important role in promoting what has become known internationally as 'wellness' care, concentrating on maintaining health rather than treating pain and dis-ease.
Chiropractic is also a preventative therapy, and when used in this way greatly improves bodily health and quality of life. Regular care is recommended to ensure the body maintains a healthy balance in all aspects of its daily functioning.
The McTimoney approach to chiropractic is based on a whole body assessment of the individual, concentrating not only on structural misalignments and subluxations, but also on their general well being and quality of life. As the body works as a whole, it seems clear that it should be treated as a whole, and whilst it is certainly true that people usually seek relief from pain, the aim of a McTimoney chiropractor is to stimulate the body's own self-healing mechanism and facilitate a return to optimum health.
The way this is achieved is through a series of fast, low-force adjustments of not only the spine, but also, unusually for most chiropractors, the sacrum, pelvis and the cranium. The arms and legs are also routinely mobilized at every treatment. This series of light re-balancing adjustments are very comfortable for the patient to receive, and mean that the approach is suitable for all age groups from the very young to the old and frail. McTimoney chiropractors will always give postural advice to help adjustments hold, and to ensure that people know how to change the things they do, in order to minimize recurrences of problems in the future. X-rays are not routinely used,3 and McTimoney chiropractors rely on their finely-tuned sense of touch to palpate subluxations in the spine.
Patient satisfaction to McTimoney chiropractic care was measured in a recent survey4 commissioned by the McTimoney Chiropractic Association (MCA). Some 89% of patients rated their satisfaction with McTimoney treatment as either extremely or very satisfied, and 85% felt that it had been very beneficial in the management of their painful condition. Over 93% of patients had recommended McTimoney treatment to their friends and family.
