We are all born with an "innate intelligence", that is, our body knows what to do in order to survive. For example, we do not need to be taught how to breathe. Our brains communicate with every cell of our body via the nervous system - messages come from the brain, down the spinal cord and out small holes between each vertebra to branch out as nerves to reach every part of our bodies. Messages of how you are feeling or functioning are also passed back to the brain via the same pathway.

 

  Our spines have two major functions - to protect the spinal cord and to give us mobility. If it were just for protection it would be one solid bone but because we like to be able to bend and twist it is made of 24 moveable bones and therefore 50 joints. If any one of the joints develops a problem, it can interfere with one or more of the 62 nerves that exit along the spine which can cause a variety of symptoms ranging from slight stiffness to disabling pains or even headaches or digestive troubles.

 

  Many things can cause spinal malfunction (subluxation). There may be emotional, chemical and/or physical causes. Physical causes can be classed as either trauma (eg. whiplash) or microtrauma (eg. poor posture). When microtraumas are the cause the body will compensate for the problem by changing its movement patterns elsewhere. This means many people can feel fine even though they have a problem. One day the body will not be able to compensate any more and a small trauma (eg. bending to pick up a pen) will cause a great deal of pain. The pen obviously was not the cause but "the straw that broke the camel's back".

 

  Unfortunately this is when most people have their first visit to a chiropractor. It is the best place to go and your chiropractor will give you the best help available, however it would be wiser to go before you get to this stage (when you have no symptoms) as prevention is better than cure!

 

  Chiropractors are specifically trained to identify and treat subluxations of any joint of the body. They specialise on the spine because this is where the nerves are most often affected. There are many different ways of correcting subluxations and the techniques can be adapted to suit people of all ages and body types.

 

• No charge for children aged under 1 year
• D.V.A cards accepted with referral
• Workers compensation accepted with referral
• Registered with private health funds