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Conditions Treated
Chiropractic care has been effective in providing
relief for many common ailments including:
• Neck and back pain
• Numbness/tingling in arms and legs
• Headaches
• Arm and leg problems
• Whiplash injuries
• Work-related symptoms
• Sports injuries
• Back pains from pregnancy
• Scoliosis
• Leg pain (Sciatica)
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Muscle stiffness
• Dizziness
• Muscle Spasm
• Ear Infections
• Colic
• Chronic Pain
• Fibromyalgia
• Arch & Foot pain
• Plantar Fasciitis
• Shoulder pain/injuries
What is Chiropractic
Chiropractic care in itself addresses one issue,
the subluxation. Chiropractors use controlled
forces, called adjustments, when there are restrictions
around joints (subluxations) that the body is
unable to overcome itself. By applying a direction
specific, low force, high amplitude adjustment
with the hands, chiropractors restore and maintain
normal movement. The result is increased biomechanical
function, improved joint nutrition and increased
neurological activation. Chiropractic care addresses
pain complaints exceptionally well, but it can
be utilized by everyone to improve overall health
and allow one to function at their greatest potential.
You will notice that most professional sport teams,
and athletes in general, utilize chiropractic
care to keep them functioning at their greatest
potential and to decrease the chance for injury.
What is a Subluxation
A subluxation is a joint in the body that becomes
“locked up” or restricted in it’s
ability to motion and function. Subluxations occur
due to some form of stress presented to the body.
This stress can manifest from physical (trauma),
mental, nutritional or chemical origins. The body
creates a subluxation as a means to protect or
stabilize itself. Unfortunately, this response
is a compromise and ill effects arise secondary
to the subluxation. Some times these effects can
lead to pain. These effects are listed below.
| 1. |
When a joint becomes subluxated,
the biomechanics of that joint and neighboring
joints become altered and stress on these
joints increases. In addition, because muscles
cross joints to motion them, the biomechanics
of the muscles crossing these joints becomes
altered increasing stress on these muscles.
When the stress on muscles increases, muscles
will produce lactic acid and other metabolic
waste products that are irritants to these
tissues. Therefore muscles become sensitive
and painful. |
| 2. |
A second side effect of the subluxation
is accelerated joint degeneration. This degeneration
is often referred to as osteoarthritis or
degenerative joint disease (DJD). Joints are
comprised of living cells. Like all cells
in the body, these cells need nutrition, oxygen
and the ability to get rid of metabolic waste.
Because joints are not innervated with blood
vessels, exchange of nutrition, oxygen and
metabolic waste occurs through motion. As
a joint motions, synovial fluid washes across
the joint, bringing oxygen and nutrition to
the cells and washing out the waste. When
a joint becomes subluxated, lack of motion
creates a lack of synovial fluid washing across
the joint and accelerated degeneration occurs. |
| 3. |
A third side effect to the subluxation is
neurological degeneration. Joints are populated
with neurological receptors that are activated
by motion. As we move throughout the day and
motion numerous joints in the body, we activate
these receptors at a very high rate. These
receptors activate neurological pathways throughout
the body. Because our nervous system is built
around the “use it or lose it”
principal, the more we activate these pathways,
the more efficient these pathways will become.
This is how we learn to perform every task
in life. The more you practice something,
the better you become at performing that task.
This process is vital to function of the nervous
system on a whole. In order for us to be healthy,
the nervous system must be functioning at
a high level. When joints become subluxated,
lack of motion creates a lack of receptor
activation which leads to a decline in neurological
function. At this point, our health is breaking
down. |
How much will it cost
At Avant Chiropractic, we take the aches out
of health care payments. It is our belief that
health care should be of the highest quality and
affordable to everyone. We accept Visa and MasterCard
and have a variety of payment options for our
non-insured patients.
Because chiropractic is widely accepted as a
safe and effective treatment for many types
of pain and musculoskeletal conditions, chiropractic
benefits are commonly included in many insurance
plans.
We are providers for the following insurers:
- ACN
- AETNA
- American Specialty Health Networks
- American Whole Health Networks
- Blue Cross
- Blue Shield
- Cigna
- First Choice Health Network
- Group Health (out of network)
- KPS
- Lifewise Health Plan
- Medicare
- Pacificare
- Premera
- Regence
- Uni-care Inc.
- Uniform Medical
- United Healthcare
- …and others…
We also have speciallized expertise in Labor &
Industries injuries as well as Personal Injury
Protection cases. Please call our office to ask
if your insurer will cover your care, we will be
happy to call for you and verify your coverage!
X-Ray
Based on the nature of your condition as well
as a number of other factors, x-ray studies of
your spine or injured body part may be indicated.
X-rays studies are not mandatory prior to care
at Avant Chiropractic. Doctors of chiropractic
receive over 300 hours of x-ray studies in college
prior to graduating and thus are fully trained
to take radiographs and identify subtle abnormalities
of the spine as well as more serious pathologies.
X-rays are a safe and cost effective way to view
the structure and general condition of the spine.
They can reveal spinal regions under high stress
and expose areas of degenerative change. This
can often provide essential additional information
which correlates history and examination findings
allowing for a more accurate spinal analysis and
a more individualized and effective treatment
plan. X-rays are also useful in assessing the
appropriateness of chiropractic care as they can
help to rule out the existence of more serious
pathological processes such as spinal fractures,
tumors and infections which require immediate
emergency medical intervention.
While prolonged exposure to radiation can be
potentially harmful to the human body, the diagnostic
x-rays utilized by the chiropractic doctor pose
a minimal health risk. In fact, according to radiation
guidelines for diagnostic x-ray studies, it would
take more than 300 full spine x-rays performed
by a chiropractor for these guidelines to be met.
In addition, the following steps are used to further
reduce the amount of x-ray exposure:
- Only necessary x-ray views will be
taken eliminating unnecessary x-ray exposure
- Shielding & filtration to block
or reduce the x-ray beam from affecting sensitive
tissues and areas of non-diagnostic interest
- Rare earth (intensifying) screens
can cut x-ray exposure by 50 percent
- Collimation to narrow the x-ray beam
to include areas of interest only
- Grids to reduce scatter radiation
and improve x-ray quality
- High speed film lowers exposure time
by up to 1/12th compared to "hospital"
x-rays
- Increasing kilovoltage and minimizing
milliamperage further reduces x-ray dosage
- Minimal exposure times of just 100ths
of a second
- Regular changing of processor chemicals
to give high quality, diagnostic films
Extremity Adjusting
Chiropractors are well known for their work on joints within the neck and back. However, it is less known that chiropractors can make adjustments to the joints of our extremities, including the wrists, elbows, shoulders and feet. In my practice, I work with patients who have complaints related to extremities in addition to spinal complaints. Adjustments made to the extremities are similar to adjustments made to the spine. I use my hands to make the adjustment. No instrumentation is used. Common complaints treated include: plantar fascitis, tennis elbow and rotator cuff syndrome.
Chiropractic Care & Athletic Performance
In relatively recent years, chiropractic care has become a valuable partner in the every day athletic health regimen. Athletes find that regular chiropractic care improves performance and reduces the risk of injury. Studies show that regular chiropractic care improves athletic ability, agility, balance, kinesthetic awareness, power and speed reaction time. As an athlete, you are always looking to get the most out of your body. The goal of chiropractic care is to maximize function in the body.
I have had the pleasure of working with many athletes participating in various sports at all levels. When working with athletes, it is my desire to meet the goals of the athlete and help them to achieve excellence in their sport. This can range from overcoming an injury to simply maximizing the potential of the athlete. |
