Chiropractors: Real Doctors?

Chiropractors are not the be all and end all in health care.  Chiropractors do not have all the answers to all of your health care questions or concerns.  Chiropractors are not medical doctors or physical therapists.  That being said, chiropractors are legitimate licensed doctors who are considered as primary healthcare providers with extensive training in all of the bodily science fields.  Chiropractors are extremely knowledgeable on many health topics and are experts on the spine and the body’s skeletal and muscular structure.  The chiropractic field also has many specialties where the doctors have become certified in care. Specialties such as pregnancy or chiropractic obstetrics, sports injury and sports performance, pediatrics, concussion care and spinal disc herniations. While chiropractors do not perform surgery or prescribe drugs or medications, chiropractic is a unique, separate and distinct profession from the medical fields.  Chiropractors are the only doctors trained to locate and correct spinal alignment conditions called subluxations.  While this may not seem as important as performing surgery or prescribing medications,  it is of extreme value to the human body.  Misaligned, subluxated spinal bones not only cause muscular imbalances that lead to spinal instability (which in turn can lead to aches, pain and restriction of movement), chiropractors also remove spinal nerve disruption to all of the body’s vital systems and organs (this helps to improve and maintain function and health).  In addition, by correcting fixated, subluxated spinal bones, the chiropractor reduces friction on the spinal joints.  Friction on boney surfaces is what causes arthritis.  So, while chiropractors may not be what the average person considers a “real” doctor, we don’t mind being the doctors that we are and we know that our place in the health care world is secure and of benefit and value to all who use our services.

Author

Dr J. Zimmerman, Chiropractor Dr. Zimmerman is a practicing chiropractor from Galloway, NJ with 30 years of chiropractic practice.