Chiropractic is the largest natural method of health-care in the world. It focuses on treating the causes of physical problems, rather than just the symptoms. It is based upon a very powerful premise: that problems with the structure of the body - particularly the spine - can cause problems with the function of your body - especially the nervous system.

The spinal cord, the main pathway of your nervous system, is located in a canal within the bones of the spine. It communicates all information from the brain to the rest of the body. All of your movements, feelings and functions are controlled by this system
A problem in the spine can adversely affect the spinal nerves as they come off the spinal cord. One common problem is a subluxation or misalignment of the spine. Subluxations can lead to many disorders including low back and neck pain, headache, shoulder pain, numbness of the extremities, sciatica, and many other problems. These conditions result from an irritation or "pinching" of the nerves as they exit the spine and go to other parts of the body.

The primary treatment that separates chiropractic from other professions is the chiropractic adjustment. An adjustment is a specific movement applied to a joint to restore proper motion and function and eliminate nerve irritation. Once the spine is restored to proper function your body can better heal itself.

Adjustments are safe and very effective in the hands of a qualified chiropractor and these adjustments are particularly useful when one has acute back or neck pain that involves muscle spasm as often one can feel immediate increase in movement and a significant decrease in pain directly after an adjustment.

The spinal nerves exit between the vertebrae close to the joints and travel to other parts of the body virtually connecting the brain to every thing else. With in mind, spinal adjustments can have a powerful affect upon many conditions besides just neck and back pain. For example with many neck conditions, the spinal nerve is often affected causing an associated pain, numbing or weakness in the shoulder, arm or hand. By adjusting the associated neck vertebrae, these problems in the extremity can be alleviated. This is also true with conditions such as headaches where in many cases the cause of the headache is due to an irritation to the nerve from the upper neck.

Adjustments have also been known to help problems such as asthma, gastritis, constipation and menstrual cramps in certain cases. This again is due the fact that the spinal nerves connect the brain to the organs such as the lungs, stomach and uterus. A problem in the spine such as a subluxation, can cause irritation to the spinal nerve and adversely affect the organ systems. However it is important to always rule out other possibilities of organ pain or dysfunction with your doctor.

Chiropractic adjustments are a safe and effective treatment for numerous health problems though one should always make sure that only a graduate of an accredited chiropractic institution is allowed to adjust or manipulate the spine. Particularly in the Asian countries, many unqualified individuals are doing crude forms of spinal manipulation in the guise of massage. This is a potentially dangerous situation as person should always undertake a history and examination before having spinal adjustments or manipulation as certain spinal conditions are adversely affected by vigorous manipulations.