About Chiropractic

While chiropractic care can help with any number of symptoms and problems, we have listed out some of the more common conditions that you may recognize in yourself or others. If you are experiencing any of these problems, please contact us for an appointment today. Allergies Millions of people who suffer from a wide variety of conditions, allergies included, have benefited from chiropractic care even though chiropractic is not an allergy treatment, Why? Because chiropractic is a method of healthcare that permits your body to function at its best. That is especially important if you suffer from allergies. But first, let's find out, what is an allergy? Your immune system keeps you 100% natural, organic, unadulterated! It recognizes and destroys anything not supposed to be in you: bacteria, and viruses, pollutants, dust, pollen, drugs, tumors, dead pieces of your own skin cells, and even artificial hearts and donor organs (Metal and plastic, however, don't trigger an immune reaction.) A healthy immune system means high resistance to disease and infection, better ability to deal with stress and greater health and well being. By releasing stress on the nervous system, chiropractic permits the immune system to function more effectively-something all allergy sufferers need. A nervous system without stress functions more efficiently. Recent understandings in psychoneuroimmunology reveal that when the nervous system functions better the immune system benefits. Chiropractors correct a basic cause of body malfunction to improve the function of your immune system. Please note that the chiropractic approach is to remove vertebral subluxations, a common spinal distortion that puts stress on your nervous system. Freed of nervous system stress, your body will work more effectively to neutralize the allergy causing chemicals in your environment. Disc problems The disc is a small cartilage pad that is situated between spinal bones. The soft jellylike center is contained by layers of fibrous tissues. Each disc serves as a connector, spacer, and shock absorber for the spine. When healthy, discs allow normal bending and turning. Since spinal discs have a very poor blood supply, they depend upon the circulation of joint fluids to bring nutrients and expel waste. If a spinal joint loses its normal motion and this pumping action is impaired, the health of the disc deteriorates. Like a wet sponge, a healthy disc is flexible. A dry sponge is hard, stiff, and can crack easily. This is how many disc problems begin. 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, herniated, or worse, rupture. This can be quite painful, putting pressure on the spinal cord and nerve roots, interfering with their function. While results cannot be guaranteed, many patients have avoided needless surgery or a dependency on pain pills, by choosing conservative chiropractic care. Whiplash Whiplash is most commonly received from riding in a car that is struck from behind or that collides with another object. When the head is suddenly jerked back and forth beyond its normal limits, the muscles and ligaments that support the spine and head can be overstretched or torn. The soft, pulpy discs between spinal bones can bulge, tear or rupture. Vertebrae can be forced out of their normal position, reducing range of motion. The spinal cord and nerve roots in the neck can get stretched and irritated. While occupants can suffer considerable soft tissue injury, the car may only be slightly damaged. The resulting instability of the spine and soft tissues can cause headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, pain in the shoulder, arms and hands, reduced ability to turn and bend, and even low back problems. As the body attempts to adapt, symptoms may not appear for weeks or even months later. The chiropractic approach to these types of injuries is to use specific chiropractic adjustment to help return spinal function. After a thorough examination and case history, Dr. Johnson will recommend a series of visits to help restore proper motion and position of the spinal bones. If caught early enough, inflammation can be reduced and scar tissue can often be minimized. Joint Dysfunction Joints of the body need to move. When this movement becomes restricted and normal motion is altered several problems arise. Most commonly joint dysfunction results in pain, stiffness, muscle tightness, cartilage breakdown/degeneration, and movement compensation leading to undue stress on other areas of the body. Joint dysfunction are common in the spine and the extremities and can commonly occur with injury, poor posture, muscles tightness, scar tissue, or muscles imbalance. Dr. Johnson will assess movement of the joints to feel for areas of altered or restricted movements. Once identified, the abnormal movement can be restored using a combination of chiropractic joint adjustments and ART.  Whenever possible simple home exercises are demonstrated to facilitate and maintain proper motion in key areas. Underlying factors such as poor posture and muscle imbalance often need to be addressed in cases of chronic or recurrent joint dysfunction. Neck/Low Back Pain Subluxations (misalignments of the spinal column) are one of the most common causes of neck and low back pain. When vertebrae are misaligned, they put pressure directly on spinal nerves, causing pain. Muscle spasms may set in, which can increase the pressure further. This extra pressure can cause even more inflammation and irritation, which leads to more pain. And the cycle continues.  Often times stretching and massage may only temporarily relieve the pain, because the cause (subluxation) has not been addressed. A chiropractic adjustment focuses on correcting the cause. Headaches Eighty of headaches originate from the neck. Usually an increased amount of stress and tension held in the shoulders causes contractions of all of the surrounding neck muscles. When these muscles contract, vertebrae can become misaligned causing pressure on spinal nerves, and ultimately pain. With a typical cervicogenic (neck origin) headache, a person usually feels pain starting at the base of the skull which radiates into the temples, eyeballs, and forehead.  There may be several other causes of headaches, so a proper examination is needed to determine the actual cause. Sciatica The sciatic nerve is a long nerve originating in the lower back and extending down the back of the leg. When this nerve is irritated, it can cause pain, numbness, weakness, or other symptoms in the lower back and down the leg. There are several possible causes of this condition. A misaligned vertebra can cause inflammation of the joints, putting pressure on the nerve. Bulging discs and muscle spasms can also cause pressure on the sciatic nerve.  Several other conditions may cause this symptom, so a complete evaluation would be needed to correctly asses the exact cause. Pinched Nerve A pinched nerve is just that. It is a severely compressed nerve, usually caused by a misaligned vertebra. When nerves get pinched they become severely inflamed and muscles may spasm, causing even more discomfort. The pain is usually so severe that you can't move that part of the body and it can cause other symptoms as well.  There can be several causes of the pinched nerve; a proper examination is needed to determine the exact cause. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome These days millions of Americans have jobs which can have damaging effects on the hands and arms. Repetitive movements which are not performed with good ergonomics in mind can cause micro-trauma to the hands and wrists. This trauma combined with joint dysfunction and spinal problems may result in a condition known as carpal tunnel syndrome. The median nerve which is affected travels from the tips of the fingers through the wrist up the arm and into the neck connecting to the spinal cord. If one or more of these structures are affected, symptoms of wrist pain, numbness, weakness, burning and loss of muscle function can occur. Chiropractic can assure that all of the joints and muscles along the path of the nerve are free of obstruction and functioning normally, thus reducing nerve irritation. Maintenance Care What many people don't know is that you don't have to be injured to benefit from chiropractic care. By staying well adjusted with maintenance chiropractic care you can help prevent injury. Some other possible benefits of maintenance care are: optimal nerve output for optimal physical performance, improved posture, decreased stiffness, increased mobility, energy, strength, circulation, and immune function just to name a few. Everybody benefits from chiropractic a little differently, but one thing everybody has in common is that they just feel better. Fibromyalgia Fibromyalgia is a controversial and complicated condition to understand. For proper diagnosis and treatment, a wide variety of factors need to be considered including "head-to-toe" joint and muscle function, nutrition, and lifestyle issues. A thorough examination including orthopedic and neurologic testing, as well as other specialized tests, will help to determine the exact causes of your symptoms and your individualized treatment plan. Very often, a comprehensive treatment program addressing all of these issues leads to significant improvement. Joint and soft tissue manipulation is often very helpful in relieving the aches and pains of fibromyalgia and related conditions. Other treatment options may include ultrasound or electrical muscle stimulation, acupuncture, therapeutic exercises, and massage therapy & myofascial release techniques. These procedures, combined with nutritional and herbal medicine, and/or homeopathy constitute a comprehensive, holistic approach. Although researchers are still a long way from finding a "cure" for fibromyalgia, chiropractic care is usually very successful in the effective management of this condition. However, if after examination we conclude that your case cannot be helped with conservative care, a prompt referral will be made. Chiropractic and Holistic Care? Holistic care is the non-traditional means of treating symptoms or disease. It involves understanding the cause of disease prior to treatment. When you come in contact with an allergen or virus, do you initiate an immune response? When you cut yourself do you tell your body to begin the clotting action so the bleeding will stop and form a scab? Of course not, because these functions are performed automatically without the conscious mind thinking about it. Our body's nervous system is a complex of fibers that constantly monitor our voluntary functions within the body and make appropriate changes when needed to keep the body in balance. Messages are sent from the body to the brain such as when we touch a hot stove; we feel pain and a signal is sent to pull the hand away to eliminate the pain. Our brain makes a decision and the body follows. Optimally, this is how our bodies are supposed to work. But because the world we live in today is surrounded with toxins, our bodies have a strenuous time adapting (find a state of balance). We consume meats and dairy from animals injected with overwhelming amounts of hormones; our garbage is compiling with little concern for what it is doing to our environment; we eat processed dead food; take synthetic vitamins; overload our bodies with caffeine; load our children up with sugar and drink far to little good clean water. It's no wonder illness and autoimmune diseases are on the rise. Unfortunately, we are spending so much time trying to treat the problems that we are missing the source of them. Many times patients are told to go to a psychologist because they can't figure out what is wrong with them. Fortunately, we have options in our health care today. Holistic care is on the rise and not only by the general public, but by the medical professional as well. The combination of both eastern and western medicine can create ideal results for our patients today. Holistic care is the non-traditional means of healing the body. It begins with the patient wanting to take responsibility of his or her health. It does not break the person down into pieces attempting to treat one piece at a time, but rather strives to treat the person on the whole- emotional, structural, nutritional, spiritual and physical. Did you know that emotions affect your health just as much as processed food, drugs and alcohol? In fact, many of our structural complaints stem from emotional traumas. Emotions such as fear, anger, grief, sadness and many others can negatively affect us long after the original event that caused them. When our body fails to let go of these emotions we can find ourselves with unexplained aversions, self-sabotaging behaviors, destructive beliefs, phobias and many chronic problems. People used to think emotions resided entirely in their brain. Now we know other parts of the body can hold emotions too. Ever felt butterflies in your stomach before a speech, referred to something as a pain in the neck or felt a lump in your throat? Clearly emotions happen in our body, not just our brain! If we are in a weakened state due to poor nutrition, stress or physical trauma, everyday emotions may not resolve naturally. Later in our lives when we experience a similar situation, the old emotional response kicks in. Dr. Johnson uses his techniques to clear these emotional pathways in order for the body to heal itself.

Science, Art and Philosophy The Science Chiropractic is based on the scientific fact that the nervous system, your brain and spinal cord, controls the function of every cell, tissue, organ and system of your body. Your body is much like the Internet: your brain is your computer, your spinal cord is the information highway, your spinal vertebrae which houses nerves, arteries and veins are the links to your organs, such as heart, lungs, intestines, reproductive organs. The disruption of the function of these tissues or organs and the nerve control is called V.S.C. or Vertebral Subluxation Complex. Chiropractic is the science of finding these areas of spinal malfunction, the art of correcting them and the philosophy of all things natural as we have been created. The Art Our doctor masters the adjusting "art" of chiropractic which includes a comprehensive evaluation, a review of health history, and arrival at a clear diagnosis and a recommended specific treatment plan customized for each patient. This includes specific spinal adjustments. Adjustment describes many hundreds of ways and techniques of directed and controlled pressure to restore spinal segments to a more normal position and range of motion, aiding in increased flexibility, increased immunological function and increased life energy. Chiropractic is truly an art. The Philosophy Chiropractic philosophy recognizes that the power that created the body can heal the body - as long as there is no interference. The doctor does not heal you, he is a co-facilitator with you for your body to be put in the correct environment to heal itself. The main purpose of the chiropractor is to reduce interference to your inborn, innate healing ability. History of Chiropractic Many chiropractic patients ask, “How did chiropractic get started?”  Well, Chiropractic got started in Davenport Iowa a little over 100 years ago.  In 1895 a “magnetic healer” as he was called, by the name of DD Palmer operated an office on the corner of Second and Brady street in downtown Davenport.  Dr. Palmer, as he was known, noticed on that day the janitor who worked in his building was nearly totally deaf.  This janitor was a black gentleman by the name of Harvey Lillard.  Upon questioning, (probably very loud questioning) Harvey explained to Dr. Palmer that he had lost most of his hearing 17 years earlier when he was bending over and felt a “pop” in his upper back or neck.  Dr. Palmer examined the area and noticed a bump which he determined to be a spinal vertebrae out of position.  It seemed that Harvey noticed this bump right after he lost his hearing.  Having a knowledge of anatomy, Dr. Palmer convinced Harvey to allow him to try to fix it by pushing the bone back into place. History is uncertain as to whether it was one visit or several, but the result was Harvey got his hearing back!  From that point DD Palmer changed his practice over to this new method of replacing bones that were out of position and allowing people to heal.  His practice grew and the profession of chiropractic was born. Within two years Dr. Palmer opened the first school of Chiropractic on Brady Street in Davenport.  It was his son Dr. BJ Palmer, who continued the school after the death of DD.  It is the son BJ, who is given credit today for growing and developing the profession into what it has become today.