General Chiropractic
Chiropractic care is a holistic health care approach that primarily involves the assessment and treatment of the spine and neuromusculoskeletal system.
Chiropractic assessment looks closely at the function of the nervous system and in finding spinal/ joint misalignments that chiropractors refer to as subluxations.
A subluxation causes nerve irritation that can be seen locally as pain, but can also cause referred pain presentations like pain down the arms , legs, or towards the head eg headaches.
A chiropractic adjustment is a gentle force, by hand or instrument, that helps correct the joints that are subluxated. This is coupled with appropriate stretches and corrective exercises. Your chiropractor at BCNC can help reduce pain, increase joint mobility and thereby improve your health. This is part of a structured care plan that is customised to every patient.
General chiropractic looks at optimizing the function of the spine of adolescents, adults ,elderly and special groups like pregnant women.There is often co management with our Myotherapist Daniel - and Remedial Massage Therapist Danny and Michelle , as the centre works as an integrated team. The best results occur when the attending practitioners work as a team to help the patient reach their health goals.
What causes a Subluxation of the spine?
Subluxation, or the misalignment of the spine, or even the arms or legs, can be caused by multiple stressors. These physical stressors are categorized as follows;
- Accidents
- Falls
- Slips
- Car accidents
- Sport injuries
- Prolonged 'abnormal' postures (eg, sitting at work desk for several hours on a daily basis)
- Repetitive overuse movements or positions (eg, lifting, bending, twisting)
- The birth process.
How do I know if chiropractic care is for me?
Chiropractic care usually starts with individuals that have back pain, neck pain, headaches or reduced spinal movement. Chiropractic helps to promote proper function of the spine and nervous system. Professional assessment by one of our chiropractors helps determine if you will respond well to chiropractic care.
Some of the key signs that your spine would benefit from a chiropractic assessment:
- When observing yourself in the mirror, noticing unlevelled shoulders, hips or one side of your body is higher than the other
- Unable to turn head equally on both sides or uncomfortable turning your head when checking your mirrors in your car.
- Frequently getting headaches
- Have had an accident or experienced trauma of some kind (fall, trip etc.)
- You are sufferer of chronic back or neck pain and Chiropractic has never been utilised.
What are the health benefits of general chiropractic care?
Most clients come in to reduce back or neck pain, headaches, pains or altered feelings down their arms or legs. We help lessen pain and improve function naturally by using Chiropractic adjustments, often with nutritional support. We also go a further step by rehabilitating and strengthening the spine with a combination of a flexibility and/or stability programs. We find that when we conduct our reviews of patients and measure their progress, those who comply with our recommendations generally have improvement in their overall health and well-being and can perform better with their activities of daily living.
What are the common conditions that are treated?
Some other common conditions, apart from neck pain and low back pain, that chiropractic can help include jaw pain, migraines, dizziness, tendonitis of elbow or shoulder, thoracic outlet syndrome, rib and breathing difficulty, knee and foot/ankle pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, pins and needles and/or numbness down arms or legs. We work as an integrated team as there is often co management with our Myotherapist - Daniel - and Remedial Massage Therapists, Danny and Michelle.
How long is a consultation?
Initial consultation is 30 minutes, this includes history taking, a full thorough assessment and treatment, if applicable. Our new patient form can be downloaded from here
Follow up visits take approximately 10 minutes where treatment is provided, as well as take home advice, with heat or cold recommendations or an exercise prescription. If needed, we have long consultations, if the chiropractor and the patient feels this is required.
What is involved in a consultation?
Initial consultation includes a full spinal and systems history, a thorough spinal assessment, orthopedic and neurological tests. If applicable, a chiropractic treatment is also implemented. If X-rays are required, we bulk bill spinal X-rays at Knox Private Hospital.
In history taking, information is gathered relating to your chief complaint, and other general questions are asked in relation to your overall health, diet, sleep and posture. This is done in order to gather as much information as possible to assist us in correctly diagnosing and providing the best management plan as possible.
The spinal assessment requires the chiropractor to check global movement as well as local movement patterns. The tissue is further challenged by completing orthopaedic testing. Neurological assessment involves checking different windows of the nervous system using, for instance myotomes, dermatomes and reflex testing.
This most importantly leads to the best results for the patient as it is a complete, thorough examination.
How long do I need treatment?
Treatment duration will vary. After the first consultation you will know the ballpark of how long you will need to be seen at the centre. In the second consultation, we often will also check Balance with a quantitative computer analysis or feet by a Foot Levelers platform. On our third consultation, we complete a Report of Findings where we detail a structured care plan. A progressive review would be completed after approximately six weeks of management.
What is a Chiropractic Adjustment and is it safe?
Adjustments are a specific, non-invasive force or motion applied to the spine to restore movement, improve function and stimulate the nervous system. Adjustments are safe. The New Zealand Government's "Commission of Inquiry into Chiropractic" concluded that; "spinal adjusting is a vital, very safe and clinically effective form of health care".
Chiropractors have completed a five years of university training to be able to diagnose, manage or where appropriately refer, any patient that walks into our rooms. Furthermore, our chiropractic practice is evidence informed. All practitioners are engaged in monthly professional development with either in-house and/or guest speakers from outside the clinic, regularly updating the practitioners of latest treatment advances. Each practitioner is also undergoing ongoing external professional development to stay current and contemporary to better help our patients.
Will health insurance cover me?
Most health funds recognise chiropractic in their extras cover. The centre houses the on-the-spot Hicaps claim facility so patients simply pay the gap on the consultation. The rebate varies with different funds and the level of your extras cover. We recommend you speak to your health insurance provider if you want to determine your actual gap payment.
The centre also works with GPs with the Chronic Disease Management Plan (CDM). The new medicare allied health item means for suitable patients they would be out of pocket for $52.95 for up to the first five consultations, if an enhanced care plan recommending this schedule, is written by the GP. This medicare benefit only applies for complex, chronic spinal cases.