Answers to your Questions

DO YOU DIRECT BILL?

As a matter of fact…YES! We recently decided to add DIRECT BILLING to our list of services. We’ve been considering this option for a while now but only recently has the online environment been favorable enough for us to use it efficiently. What does this mean for you? If your insurance company is on the list of companies currently accepting online submissions, fill out the necessary paperwork and we’ll do the submission work for you. Couldn’t be easier. One less headache for you. Ha!

Click HERE for more info and the required paperwork.

WHAT IS THAT CRACKING SOUND?

Rest assured, the sound you’re hearing when you get an adjustment is not “cracking”. In fact, it is gas being released from the joint when pressure is released. We call this a “cavitation”. There are no bones breaking, tendons snapping or ligaments tearing. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even though we don’t always hear a “cavitation” when a specific adjustment is made, when we do it means that this particular joint is moving better and is closer to its correct position than it was before the adjustment.

WILL YOU TAKE X-RAYS OF MY SPINE?

Every patient and every history is different. X-rays aren’t always required to begin care, but they’re a really good idea in cases where a typical examination and history don’t give us a complete picture (excuse the pun). In these cases, X-rays will be ordered and you’ll get your X-rays done at Georgian Radiology. OHIP covers the cost of the X-rays but you’ll be charged a small “reading fee” to allow the Radiologist to read them before they are released to us.

Gone are the days of having to retrieve a disc with your X-rays on them. Now, everything is done online and we can see your films usually within 24-48 hr. That’s a huge win.

DO YOU ADJUST CHILDREN?

Absolutely! Since the premise of Chiropractic care is to restore and maintain the maximum communication between the brain and the body it only makes sense that our little ones get adjusted. Their bodies are developing rapidly and if a small problem is left unattended…well, we all know what happens when we procrastinate. Those little problems become big ones and then we have a lot more work to do to get them under control. Chiropractic care for kids is very gentle and needs much less “force” than it does with adults. Often, adjustments are performed only with fingertip pressure and even with the body weight of the child. Prevention is paramount with our kids. We would never want to wait until there is a problem before we take the steps to keep them healthy. Chiropractic care keeps their nervous systems and immune function strong as they’re bombarded with junk from their environments, jammed into car seats and falling thousands of times as they master walking. It just makes sense.

SHOULD I USE ICE OR HEAT?

I hear this question a lot. Here’s the thing…if you’re wondering which to use because you’re in pain or you’ve hurt yourself, always start with ice. Its way more difficult to hurt yourself using ice than it is with heat, despite how good it “feels” while you’re using it. The benefit of ice is that it reduces swelling and pain and pushes any waste products from injury out of the effected tissues. Heat, on the other hand, feels great, brings endorphins to the area but it also increases swelling. In most cases, this isn’t what we want in the initial stages of an injury. Only once the swelling is reduced can we safely introduce heat. Then, we’d only ever want to use “moist” heat. That means a heat source, (not electrical please) and a wet face cloth or towel. Why? The moisture pushes the heat deeper into the tissue where we need it most. Dry heat brings blood to the skin because it thinks it’s being burned. We don’t want the blood there, we want it in the muscle. Ten minutes of ice, ten minutes of rest, repeat for a full hour. That’s the gold standard. Only add the heat once your Doctor or therapist has told you to.

HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO TAKE?

This is an obvious question. From our experience, patients want to know how long their correction will take, what exactly is wrong with them and how much is it going to cost. We try really hard to answer these three questions at the beginning of care. Likely, if you’ve started care with us, or even seen another Chiropractor, you’ve been set up on what’s called a “Program of Care”. This program gives us structure and some kind of foundation to start your recovery process.

Really, your recovery is dependent on a few things:

1. Your over all health
2. How serious your injury is
3. How much you do at home
4. The normal healing time of the body

This last one is critical. Your body heals depending on its blood supply, which is where all the nutrients and healing goodies come from. Since bone MAKES blood, it heals the fastest (4-8 weeks). Muscle is next (6-10 weeks), then tendon (8-12 wk), ligament (12-18wks) and finally, nerve, which heals at a millimeter a day! That’s slow. In other words, we need to be patient and understand that healing is a process and can take some time.

CAN I BECOME DEPENDENT ON CHIROPRACTIC?

No. But here’s the thing, once you’ve gotten your spine into alignment and your nervous system is firing on all cylinders, most of our patients choose to maintain their spinal health long after their original condition has disappeared. If they start to experience symptoms or have new problems, they come and get adjusted right away to avoid putting undue stress on their nervous systems. They understand that the stress of every day life, work, play, exercise etc, can wreak havoc on the body. Keeping your body in tune just makes perfect sense. 

HOW DOES MY SPINE MISALIGN ANYWAY? I WASN’T INJURED!

We literally expect our bodies to function perfectly at all times, almost regardless of what we do to them. Our bodies do an amazing job but sometimes we give them more than they can handle.

Stress is a huge component of what causes Subluxation in the spine and takes on different forms for different people:

1. Physical Stress-work, exercise, injury, repetition
2. Emotional Stress-work, family, money, etc…
3. Chemical Stress-your body releases chemicals that can be very damaging to tissues in high amounts and can even lead to heart attacks and stroke.
4. Spiritual Stress-how you look at yourself and your environment plays a huge role in your ability to deal with issues and even heal.

These stresses in normal amounts are easily handled by the body but in excess can realign muscle tissue and allow the spine to become misaligned or lose flexibility which then puts pressure on your nervous system reducing the ability of the brain to communicate effectively with the body. As a result, a myriad of symptoms and conditions can appear causing all sorts of problems. Stress management on an emotion and physical level is one of the key aspects in managing a healthy nervous system and a healthy lifestyle.

CHIROPRACTIC DEALS WITH ONLY BACK PAIN AND HEADACHES RIGHT?

No. We know that the key concept of Chiropractic care is to re-establish the connection between the brain and the body but we also correct any joint in the body that isn’t working correctly. Knees, jaws, wrists, elbows…anything that moves and is connected to the body is a joint that we can work with. The idea is to allow the joint to function normally and therefore remove any risk of osteoarthritis or other degeneration from that tissue as well as make the joint function more efficiently which will reduce the stress on the muscles and other connective tissues in that area. So, if you’ve sprained your ankle, you’ll realize that even though you’ve damaged that ligament, you’ve also likely moved the bone in that area as well. That bone needs to be corrected so it doesn’t create problems down the road for you.

If you ever have an issue with one of your extremities, it’s always good to ask. If I can’t help you, I’ll tell you and give you a different recommendation.

CAN CHIROPRACTIC CURE MY PROBLEM?

Looks like we’ve saved the best for last. The answer is simple. No. I don’t cure anything. Your body does all the work. That amazing brain of yours is making trillions of calculations every second of your life and, if we remove all the interference in your nervous system, will do an incredible job of taking care of most of your issues. So, as your Chiropractor, I find the areas of your body that are interfering with your normal brain function and get them moving better and get the brain talking to the body so it can simply do what it was designed to do.

Let me ask you, why is it that sometimes you feel sick or sore or tired, but you don’t at other times? It’s simple. There is stress somewhere in your body or nervous system that is reducing your body’s ability to heal and function normally. Chiropractic care helps correct dysfunction in the spine to allow it to work properly. It’s kind of a simple idea but super powerful! We don’t need to put anything into you or take anything out of you to get your body to do things. It does them all on its own. In fact, its doing all kinds of things right now that you have no idea are happening. You’re digesting food. You’re pumping blood throughout your body. You’re making tons of new cells. And you have literally NO control over it. It’s all happening behind the scenes, without your control. Kind of crazy but really amazing. Most people never think of their bodies this way. Maybe it’s time you did.