If you are considering chiropractic care, we know you’ll have lot of questions. For your convenience, we would like to take the time to answer the most commonly asked questions below.

If you have a specific question you would like to ask the Dr, please email Dr. John Haberströh.

What is chiropractic care?
There's nothing mysterious about chiropractic. It's a natural method of health care that focuses on correcting the causes of physical problems, rather than just treating the symptoms. Chiropractic is based on a simple but powerful premise. With a normally functioning spine and healthy nerve system, your body is better able to heal itself. That's because your spine is the lifeline of your nervous system. It controls feeling, movement, and all function through your body.

How does chiropractic work?
Chiropractic works by restoring your body's inborn ability to be healthy. When under the proper control of your nervous system, all the cells, tissues, and organs of your body are designed to resist disease and ill health. The chiropractic approach to better health is to locate and remove interferences (subluxations, misaligned vertebrae) to your nervous system. With improved spinal function, there is improved nervous system function. The goal of the chiropractor is to remove interference that may be impairing normal health through specific chiropractic adjustments, allowing your body to heal itself. A healthy spine and a healthy lifestyle are your keys to optimal health! Chiropractic manipulation obviously reduces pain in the affected spinal joint. Don't forget, many chiropractors like Dr. Haberstroh will manipulate extemities like the knee, ankle and wrist. Additionally, most chiropractors will advise on postural hygiene, nutrition (many actually sell nutritional products), ergonomic (workplace set up) considerations, introduce a weight resistance rehab program like we do at Boston Spine Clinics, and many other aspect of the patient's life. This is called the "wholistic" approach to health-advising a patient on their whole lifestyle. All chiropractors know, that as powerful as a chiropractic manipulation can be, sometimes it is not enough. Other factors must be addressed (see Headache Discussion) that will complete the therapy for a given patient. *We speak here of a typical patient. Extreme situations such as cancer, gun shot wounds, congenital anomolies and so forth obviously require specialized medical care that far exceeds the scope of chiropractic.

What is a chiropractic adjustment?
A chiropractic adjustment is the art of using a specific force in a precise direction, applied to a joint that is subluxated, "locked up," or not moving properly. The purpose of this safe and natural procedure is to eliminate interference to the nervous system, improving spinal function and overall health. An adjustment is a specifically directed force, normally by hand designed to 'unlock' the subluxated vertebrae returning normal motion and alignment to the spine. There are a variety of different methods used in Chiropractic to analyze and adjust the spine. Dr. Haberstroh typically uses the so-called "Diversified" technique which is perhaps the oldest and most commonly used technique for manipulatiion of the spine. Dr. H also takes into consideration the physical build of the patient, the age or any other health matters. Additionally Dr. H will make sure the adjustment is as comfortable as possible. Other names for an adjustment include: cavitation of a joint, manipilative reduction of a joint.

What is a subluxation?
Subluxations are problem areas of your spine that affect your entire nervous system. In these problem areas, the spinal bones are misaligned or have lost their normal range of movement. This irritates or puts pressure on local nerves, which interferes with the communication between your brain and body. It may involve your muscles, discs, ligaments, tendons and other body parts as well. As a result of research over the past 15 years, often the newer term "pathomechanics" is used instead of "subluxation." Pathomechanics is a bit more descriptive of what is usually going on; it describes a pathology of the mechanics of the area which is to say, the term better describes the event actually happening at the joint level which is almost always a lack of proper motion about the joint. The human body, particularly the spine, is all about motion. If we loose that normal motion, we have "pathomechanics" of the spine at that level. Chiropractic excells at releasing the elements that are causing the loss of proper motion (barring the bizarre such as fused bones).

How do subluxations happen?
The stresses and strains of everyday living such as housework, gardening, desk work, lifting, or even sleeping on the couch, can cause spinal problems. So can falls, accidents (especially car accidents), sports activities and injuries. In children, subluxations can initially occur during the birth process, learning to walk, in play and from everyday childhood activities.

Can I tell if I have a subluxation?
Not always. A subluxation is like a dental cavity--you may have it for a long time before symptoms appear. That's why periodic spinal checkups are so important. Although it may be possible to know you have a subluxation, it is rarely possible to be sure you don't. Regular spinal checkups are always a good idea, and they promote good health from the inside out.

What are some warning signs of subluxations?
Symptoms such as headaches, back pain, neck stiffness, pain in your shoulders, arms or legs, numbness in your hands or feet, fatigue, or nervousness are the most common signs of subluxations. But, like a tooth cavity, most people will have a subluxation long before they notice any symptoms.

Are all patients adjusted the same way?
No. The doctor evaluates each patient's unique spinal problem and develops an individual course of care. Each chiropractic adjustment builds on the one before. The resulting recommendations are based upon years of training and experience. Each patient's care is uniquely different from every other patient.

Can I adjust myself?
No. Since a chiropractic adjustment is a specific force, applied in a specific direction to a specific joint, it is virtually impossible to adjust oneself correctly and accurately. It is possible to turn or bend or twist in certain ways to create a "popping" sound that sometimes accompanies a chiropractic adjustment. Unfortunately, this type of joint manipulation is usually counterproductive, often making an already unstable spine even more unstable, and can sometimes be dangerous. Adjusting the spine is not for amateurs!

Does chiropractic work for all types of health problems?
No, however chiropractic care is successful with a very wide variety of health problems not necessarily considered "back" problems because of improved nerve system function. With a normal nerve supply the body's natural healing capacity can improve a variety of health problems. When Dr. Haberstroh lectures on chiropractic, people who are not chiropractic patients are amazed to hear stories of chiropractic helping and often eliminating problems like headaches, particularly migraine headaches, relieving asthma, dizziness, mono-nucleosis, fatigue syndromes, sciatica, foot pain, hand and arm numbness and so on. A number of neurological maladies can be mitiaged by chiropractic manipulative reductions of spinal pathomechanics. Call us and we'll tell you al about it.

Is chiropractic care addictive?
No. If only it were, there would be more healthy people around and chiropractors would not get patients who last saw a chiropractor a few years ago when their back went out. It is possible to get used to feeling more balanced, less stressed, and more energetic as a result or regular chiropractic care. Chiropractic is not addictive, however, good health is.

What type of education do chiropractic doctors receive?
Doctors of Chiropractic are well-educated. Most students entering Chiropractic college already have a 4 year Bachelor's Degree in Biology or Chemistry. Chiropractic education itself is another 4 year program of basic sciences, pathology and clinical skills. Interestingly, chiropractic and medical education are similar in many respects; but different in other respects because chiropractors do not prescribe drugs or perform surgery, and medical doctors do not correct vertebral subluxations. At Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College, most of Dr. Haberstroh's teachers in the first two years were medical doctors. After graduating with a Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) Degree, each candidate must take and pass the demanding four part National Board Examinations which are now recognized in nearly all 51 jurisdictions (including Wash DC). Then, doctors apply to a state licensing board and must pass another exam before being granted the privilege to practice. A chiropractor's education, however, never ends. Most doctors complete mandatory postgraduate instruction each year for license renewal and to stay current on the latest research and adjustment techniques.