Health benefits of chiropractic

Chiropractors are primarily concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and management of neuro-musculo-skeletal conditions such as:

• Low back pain and mid back pain
• Neck pain and headaches including migraines
• Jaw pain (Temporomandibular joint)
• Shoulder/arm pain, including tennis elbow
• Hip/leg pain, including sciatica, knee pain and foot problems

In fact chiropractors can help almost all conditions that are nerve, muscle or joint related.

Due to falls, bumps, accidents, stress (including postural stress) and lifting heavy objects, spinal joints may be injured, lose their normal function and become painful. This means that a spinal joint has become "jammed" and has lost its normal movement ability (articular fixation).

This in turn can cause irritation or pressure on the spinal nerves as they exit from the spinal column. The nerve root irritation may also result in muscle spasm, which in turn can lead to the development of "trigger points" (Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction Syndromes).

Those that can benefit from treatment include infants, children, adults, pregnant women, post-operative back surgery cases, senior citizens and sports people.

[This article was written by chiropractors Dr Neil Rowley and Dr Craig Lyons from the Naturally Yours Health Centre in Bryanston, Johannesburg (011-463 3604). They are both family practitioners specialising in sports injuries, paediatrics, headaches, neck and lower back pain]