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When accidents, falls, tension, over-exertion or other injuring mechanisms occur, the inability of the spine to compensate can result in minor displacements or derangement of one or more vertebrae, causing irritation to spinal nerve roots directly by pressure or indirectly through reflexes. This type of injury may call for consultation with a chiropractor. The treatment concept of chiropractic manipulative therapy is to re-establish normal spinal mobility, which in turn alleviates the irritation to the spinal nerve and/or re-establishes altered reflexes (13).
Chiropractic examination information
All health care providers, including chiropractors, use a standard procedure of examination to diagnose a patient’s condition in order to arrive at a plan of treatment. Chiropractors use many of the same time-honored methods used throughout the various health care professions, including:
- Consultation
- Case history
- Physical examination
- Laboratory analysis
- X-ray studies
Therefore, the patient usually perceives very little difference comparing an initial chiropractic consultation to a medical consultation. However, the chiropractor’s examination of the spine to evaluate structure and function and the treatment focus on the spine separates chiropractic from other health care disciplines.
