Chiropractic Treatment Techniques

Many chiropractic treatment techniques are available for use by chiropractors. They primarily specialize in manual and manipulative therapies with an emphasis on spinal manipulation. The medicinal use of spinal manipulation can be traced back over 3000 years to ancient Chinese writings. Hippocrates, the "father of medicine" used manipulative techniques, as did the ancient Egyptians and many other cultures. A modern re-emphasis on manipulative therapy occurred in the late 19th century in North America with the emergence of the osteopathic medicine and chiropractic medicine. SMT gained mainstream recognition during the 1980s. Spinal manipulation/adjustment describes techniques where the hands are used to manipulate, massage, mobilize, adjust, stimulate, apply traction to, or otherwise influence the spine and related tissues. It is the most common and primary intervention used in chiropractic care; In North America, chiropractors perform over 90% of all manipulative treatments with the balance provided by osteopathic medicine, physical therapy and naturopathic medicine. Manipulation under anesthesia or MUA is a specialized manipulative procedure that typically occurs in hospitals administered under general anesthesia. Typically, it is performed on patients who have failed to respond to other forms of treatment.There has been considerable debate on the safety of spinal manipulation, in particular with the cervical spine. Although serious injuries and fatal consequences can occur and may be under-reported, these are generally considered to be rare when spinal manipulation is employed skillfully and appropriately. Manual therapy is defined as a clinical approach utilizing skilled, specific hands-on techniques, including but not limited to manipulation/mobilization, used by the physical therapist to diagnose and treat soft tissues and joint structures for the purpose of modulating pain; increasing range of motion (ROM); reducing or eliminating soft tissue inflammation; inducing relaxation; improving contractile and non-contractile tissue repair, extensibility, and/or stability; facilitating movement; and improving function. It can also be defined as procedures by which the hands directly contact the body to treat the articulations and/or soft tissues. Chiropractors may also use other conservative therapies such as exercise, electrical modalities, health, nutrition and wellness counselling and ergonomic advice in a holistic paradigm espoused by in traditional/complementary and alternative medicine.