Ask Dr. Bland

What is Chiropractic Treatment (CT)?

Chiropractic is the science of applied neurophysiologic diagnosis based on the theory that health and disease are life processes related to the function of the nervous system. Irritation of the nervous system by mechanical, chemical or psychic factors is the cause of disease. Restoration and maintenance of health depend on normal function of the nervous system. Diagnosis is the identification of these noxious irritants and treatment is their removal by the most conservative method.

What is Applied Kinesiology (AK)?

Also known as muscle strength testing, applied kinesiology is a method of diagnosis and treatment based on the fact that your muscles directly control all organs and glands. Specific muscle weakness can signal distant internal problems such as nerve damage, reduced blood supply, chemical imbalances or other organ or gland problems. It can be used to diagnose and treat nervous system problems, nutritional deficiencies or excesses, imbalances in the body’s “energy pathways,“ known as meridians in Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The theory of AK was developed beginning in 1964 by George Goodheart, Jr., a Michigan chiropractor. Today AK is practiced chiropractors, osteopathic physicians, dentists, and even conventional physicians.

What is a Wellness Practice?

At Broadway Wellness we believe in maintaining good health rather than waiting for illness to happen. Wellness is an approach to delivering health care that considers multiple influences on a person's health. At Broadway Wellness we use the BACS method (Bland Advanced Chiropractic System), which consists of multiple modalities for treating and preventing dis-ease, as well as promoting optimal well-being: Chiropractic, Applied Kinesiology, Sacro-Occipital Technique, Soft Tissue/Visceral Therapy, Temporal Sphenoidal Assessment, Craniosacral Therapy and Metabolic Detoxification.

What is Cold Laser Therapy?

Cold LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. It’s a device that projects intense radiation of the light spectrum. Unlike X-ray radiation, it produces a beam of light in which high energies can be concentrated. Cold Laser light has unique physical properties unlike ordinary light. Cold Laser therapy, also known as phototherapy and low-level laser therapy, involve the application of low power coherent light to injuries to stimulate healing and reduce pain. Used to increase the speed, quality and strength of tissue repair, it resolves inflammation and relieves pain. It is more effective than electrotherapeutic modalities such as ultrasound, especially in chronic problems and in the early stages of acute injuries. Cold Laser therapy is a complete system of treatment for muscles, tendons, ligaments, connective tissue, boned, nerves and disk tissues in a non-invasive, drug-free modality.

Since Cold Lasers produce a high intensity light, they should never be shined directly in the eye, used directly on tumors or directly on the abdomen of pregnant patients.

Why is Chiropractic care important for children?

Most adult problems chiropractors deal with begin in childhood. Parents appreciate the need for regular dental, eye and ear check-ups, but often ignore the importance of a spinal check-up. For example, a 12-year old boy's growing pains can turn into crippling low back problems in adulthood. Toddlers who use "jolly jumpers" can develop spinal curvatures or scoliosis as teenagers. Nerves that send messages and information from the brain to every part of the body and back again run through the spinal cord. If there is interference with these messages, the body begins to work improperly. These malfunctions often affect the immune system and lower resistance to bugs and infections. Chiropractors refer to these interferences or small misalignments of the bones of the spine pinching delicate nerves as vertebral subluxations.

What causes vertebral subluxations in children?

The birth process can be very stressful for newborns and subluxations associated with birth trauma can cause hyperactivity, lowered resistance, ear infections, asthma, bed-wetting and central motor impairment.

Tight diapers can hinder proper hip development; Jolly jumpers place infants in an upright position before the spine is ready to deal with gravity; Poorly designed school desks and poor mattresses can cause subluxations.

Normal crawling, walking and running as well as injuries— falling off a bike, down stairs, skateboards—and sports such as football, roller blades and hockey. These conditions are easily corrected by a chiropractic care. If neglected they can become a burden that a person carries throughout a lifetime. Chiropractic care is especially important for children to ensure a normally functioning nervous system and a health body.

What is the education of a Chiropractor?

Doctors of Chiropractic (DCs) are educated in nationally accredited, four-year doctoral graduate school programs through a curriculum that includes a minimum of 4,200 hours of classroom, laboratory and clinical internship.

The average DC program is equivalent in classroom hours to allopathic (MD) and osteopathic (DO) medical schools. DCs are designated as physician-level providers in the majority of U.S. states and federal Medicare program. DCs also provide services to the U.S. Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense, Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, Federal Workers' Compensation, and all state workers' compensation programs. After a rigorous education in the healing sciences, including anatomy, physiology, rehabilitation, nutrition and public health, like other primary health care doctors, chiropractic students spend a significant portion of their curriculum studying clinical subjects related to evaluating and caring for patients. The curriculum, a minimum of a one-year clinical-based program dealing with actual patient care and minimum of 4,200 hours of classroom, laboratory and clinical experience had been accredited by the U.S. Department of Education for twenty-five years.

Certification and licensure of chiropractors is governed by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE). DCs must pass a board exam and obtain a license in the state in which they wish to practice. Chiropractors must meet yearly continuing education requirements to maintain their licensure.

What is the difference between Symptom Relief Chiropractors and Traditional Chiropractors?

Like a typical physician, Symptom Relief or Limited Scope Chiropractors work on the relief of symptoms, for example back or neck pain and headaches. Manipulations are done to the spine to decompress joints, free fixations and reduce pain. Electro-therapies such as diathermy, electro-stimulation, tens units and laser acupuncture are often used. In the U.S. these chiropractors are trying to expand the scope of their practices by prescribing drugs. Length of treatment and frequency of adjustments are usually dictated by the patient’s symptoms or insurance coverage, which results in shorter overall treatment but still leaves the patient far short of correcting the cause of their problem. The patient may feel temporary relief but since the spine remains structurally misaligned, it degenerates silently, resulting in damage and malfunction at whatever part of the body the nerve supplies. Treating only the symptoms leaves the cause uncorrected.

The Traditional or Full Spectrum Chiropractor practices correction of subluxations of the spine. Vertebral subluxations interfere with nerve impulses, the electrical messages from the brain that regulate all functions of the body and keep us alive. Patient relief is important to Traditional Chiropractors but the primary focus is to remove the nerve interference or subluxation and restructure the spine to the most stable biomedical position. This is done through a program of specific adjustments and exercise used to stabilize and strengthen. The length of correction and frequency of adjustments is determined by the severity of the patient’s subluxations, structural alignment, X-ray information, SEMG, thermography results, etc., and not the symptoms. Symptoms may be gone long before the spine is at maximum correction so adjustment schedules may be intense to allow structural correction in the shortest amount of time. The patient is then closely monitored by postural patterns, X-rays and spinal electro myograms until the subluxations pattern is corrected and the spine is in proper alignment and function. By reviewing these before and after studies with the doctor the patient actually sees results. Since subluxations are silent, and research shows that they can begin at birth resulting in dysfunctions and dis-ease, the traditional chiropractor recommends families to be checked, especially children. Traditional chiropractors will work out fair equitable payment plans so that families can afford care, regardless of insurance coverage. At Broadway Wellness we believe that maximum correction is a better choice than temporary relief.