THE BACK PAIN EXPERTS

Chiropractors have long been regarded as an alternative form of health care, offering a natural and drug free form of “physical therapy” which has stood up against the test of many research projects in terms of effectiveness, cost, safety and patient satisfaction. While the average person most identifies Chiropractic adjustments with the relief of back and neck pains, many people have also benefited in terms of their general wellbeing and quality of life, and a long list of health ailments have been recorded as improving under chiropractic hands.

It is almost ironic that many chiropractic practices which have been an integral part of this masters level university trained, registered health profession for over 100 years, were once regarded as unadvisable by other health care professions, are now accepted as best practice:

• While GPs were putting acute low back pain sufferers to bed for two weeks, Chiropractors were encouraging their practice members to get up and moving as soon as possible.
• Chiropractic has always offered a medication free option for recovering from a spinal malfunction; in the meantime many of the mainstays of the drug approach have fallen by the wayside due to their long list of side effects: Bleeding ulcers from aspirin and anti-inflammatories, dependence to muscle relaxants, constipation from codeine pain killers, and the controversial Vioxx/Celebrex – stroke connection.
• During the era of first resort surgical laminectomies and spinal fusions resulting in too frequent permanent disability, Chiropractors were encouraging their patients to persist with active rehabilitation and fall back on surgery as a last resort.
• The spinal adjustment treatment modality which has been refined and perfected by the chiropractic profession, can now be seen being copied by physiotherapists, masseurs, even sports trainers and naturopaths.

Meanwhile Chiropractors continue to provide a gentle and effective natural form of health service which benefits unsettled newborns, through to the elderly needing help with their mobility; from elite sports people wanting to optimise their performance, to weekend gardeners needing a tune-up so that they can dig the veggie patch; from the high-stress business executive needing to unwind the physical and mental tension, to pregnant expectant mothers wanting to relieve their postural aches and pains and to increase their chances of a safe and natural childbirth; from Generation Z’s needing to grow up straight and tall in spite of hours hunched over an X-Box, to baby boomers utilising the pioneers of the wellness revolution to prolong their life.

Twenty-twenty hindsight tells us that the Chiropractic approach has been best practice all along…

You can consult Dr Nick Hodgson, 2005 Victorian Chiropractor of the Year, at our Super Healthy Chiropractic Office at Shop 1A, 186 High Street in Belmont, Geelong by calling 0419 104 076.