Q: Does chiropractic treatment require a referral from an MD?

A: A referral is usually not needed to see a doctor of chiropractic (DC); however, your health plan may have specific referral requirements. You may want to contact your employer’s human resources department — or the insurance plan directly — to find out if there are any referral requirements. Most plans allow you to just call and schedule an appointment with a DC.
Q: Is chiropractic treatment ongoing?

Q: Are chiropractors allowed to practice in hospitals or use medical outpatient facilities?

A: Chiropractors are being recognized to admit and treat patients in hospitals in some states, and to use outpatient clinical facilities (such as labs, x-rays, etc.) for their non-hospitalized patients. Hospital privileges were first granted in 1983.
Q: Do insurance plans cover chiropractic?

Q: What conditions do chiropractors treat?

A: Doctors of Chiropractic (DCs) care for patients of all ages, with a variety of health conditions. DCs are especially well known for their expertise in caring for patients with back pain, neck pain and headaches, particularly with their highly skilled manipulations or chiropractic adjustments. They also care for patients with a wide range of injuries and disorders of the musculoskeletal system, involving the muscles, ligaments and joints. These painful conditions often involve or impact the nervous system, which can cause referred pain and dysfunction distant to the region of injury. The benefits of chiropractic care extend to general health issues, as well, since our body structure affects our overall function. DCs also counsel patients on diet, nutrition, exercise, healthy habits, and occupational and lifestyle modification.

Chiropractic services are an important first line of defense against pain and, in some cases, can lessen a patient’s reliance on addictive painkillers or prevent their use altogether. It makes sense to exhaust conservative forms of treatment such as chiropractic before moving on to riskier, potentially addictive pain medications.

Chiropractic colleges accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) offer Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree programs. (CCE is the agency certified by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit chiropractic colleges in the United States.) Admission to a chiropractic college requires a minimum of 90 semester hour credits of undergraduate study, mostly in the sciences.

In the United States, chiropractic is often considered a complementary health approach. According to a recent survey, about 8 percent of adults (more than 18 million) and nearly 3 percent of children (more than 2 million) had received chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation in the past 12 months. Additionally, an analysis of NHIS cost data found that adults in the United States spent approximately $11.9 billion out-of-pocket on visits to complementary health practitioners — $3.9 billion of which was spent on visits to practitioners for chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation.

The purpose of spinal manipulation, also called spinal adjustment, is to restore joint mobility by manually applying a controlled force into joints that have become hypomobile — or restricted in their movement — as a result of a tissue injury. Tissue injury can be caused by a single traumatic event, such as improper lifting of a heavy object, or through repetitive stresses, such as sitting in an awkward position with poor spinal posture over an extended period of time.

Chiropractic is a health care profession that focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, and the effects of these disorders on general health. Chiropractic services are used most often to treat neuromusculoskeletal complaints, including but not limited to back pain, neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, and headaches.

You don’t have to rely solely on regular visits to the chiropractor to keep your spine and back feeling good. As with most aspects of your health, you are the person with the most control. Here are some things to do during the course of the day.

As with many forms of health care, people will sometimes ask: If I’m feeling good, why do I need it? In terms of chiropractic treatment, one answer could be, “Are you feeling the best you could be?” Are you reaching maximum capacity?