Many things make up a visit to your chiropractor, including postural, nutritional, and exercise advice, but the core of chiropractic care is about using spinal manipulative therapy, or adjusting, to correct the imbalances in your spine. When the joints in our bodies stop moving correctly, due to poor posture, work stress, anatomical abnormalities, past injuries, or many other factors, changes happen in many areas of the body to compensate for the dysfunction. Your entire body can become unbalanced, all due to being “locked up” in one area. Even more importantly, problems in your spine can correlate to problems with your nervous system. This can cause direct nerve problems which produce feelings like numbness and tingling in the arms or legs. However, more commonly indirect, subtle changes will occur, affecting the way your body fights infection, stress, and disease, and impairing its ability to recover from the injury or joint problem.

Chiropractic care is most known for its ability to relieve suffering and restore health to back and neck pain sufferers, but it is also highly effective in bringing relief to people with headaches, including migraines, and is an effective treatment for all the joints of the body. Dr. Starr has a special interest in sports therapy, and also treats knee and shoulder injuries, and injuries that are muscular in origin, for example.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Chiropractic Care Safe?

Chiropractors have a minimum of 7 years in school, 4 in specific chiropractic training, and are trained to deal appropriately with many types of injuries and people. Importantly, chiropractors also receive extensive training to recognize cases which may not in fact be spinal related, and may need referral.
Chiropractic adjustments themselves are a very safe and natural way to restore your body back to health. Occasionally, some discomfort can be present after the first 1-2 adjustments as the body realigns itself. Some patients may not be candidates for chiropractic adjusting in certain areas, in particular the neck, depending on their specific signs and symptoms, health concerns, and medications. Chiropractors are trained to recognize these patients and offer a variety of different therapies which are gentler and more suitable to these patients.

You may have heard of the risk of stroke with respect to chiropractic adjustments of the neck. In fact, there does appear to be a very slight risk with some patients. Current research estimates this risk to be approximately 1 in 5,000,000. To put this in perspective, you are at 1 in 10,000 risk of getting hit by lightning! Despite this very slight risk, chiropractors are trained to recognize patients who may be at risk, and can modify their techniques appropriately. Similarly, some patients may feel more comfortable with different types of more gentle care.

Do I Require a Referral to see a Chiropractor?

No, chiropractic care does not require a referral from a medical doctor. The government of Canada, ICBC, WCB, and private insurance companies all recognize chiropractors as independent health care specialists with the ability to diagnose and treat numerous health conditions. In some cases, referral from a medical doctor may be required for custom orthotics.

What Should I Expect from my Visit to the Chiropractor?

At Family Chiropractic, you can expect a comprehensive first visit lasting between 45-60 minutes, in which Dr. Starr will review posture, range of motion, orthopedic and strength testing, and evaluate the correct functioning of your joints and muscles. Occasionally x-rays may be required. Each subsequent visit usually takes approximately 15 minutes, and includes soft tissue massage techniques, chiropractic adjustments or mobilizations, and exercise therapy.