The General Chiropractic Council defines chiropractic care (1) as: “Interventions by chiropractors that are designed to improve health. This may include:

Manual (hands-on) care – Impulse interventions
Advice, explanation and reassurance
Exercise or rehabilitation
Referral where appropriate
Support for behavioural change
Adjunct therapies such as ultrasound or interferential

Impulse interventions provide force over time to body tissues, enabling your chiropractor to speak the language of your body, force. The conversation your chiropractor has with your body encourages change, essentially the opposite of ‘do the same get the same’.

When your body stops working so well, it’s about how things are struggling to work together.
Underneath body movement are patterns of use and disuse.
What we repeatedly do (or not do) is saved as a pattern, this can be good or bad. Helpful or unhelpful.

Results are Good

Chiropractic is a small profession with no central funding to perform research, Chiropractors have teamed together to invite and produce research that has shown clear benefits in a range of musculoskeletal conditions (2,3), sometimes benefits beyond that of usual medical Care (3, 4). With results so good, chiropractic can be confused as being medical. 

Chiropractic care is different also to exercise prescription because it focuses on improving how your body is organised and coordinated, rather than simply asking it to work harder or push through.

Developing Tensions

Injury, Illness and Life place ongoing demands on body patterning, creating Tensions. Over time, these tensions are “Life’s Load”.

References:

(1) General Chiropractic Council. The Code (2016), Glossary.

(2) Underwood M et al (2004) UK BEAM Trial, BMJ 11;329(7479):137

(3) Bronfort G, Haas M, Evans R, Leininger B, and Triano J. (2010) Effectiveness of Manual Therapies: The UK Evidence Report Chiro Osteo 18 3  

(4) Bronfort G, Evans R, Anderson AV, Svendsen KH, Bracha Y and Grimm RH. (2012) Spinal Manipulation Medication or Home Exercise with Advice An RCT Ann Int Med (2012) 156 1