Why Chiropractic?
Animal chiropractic is very similar in its benefits as human chiropractic. The only difference is, we are performing these adjustments on animals, not people. To perform these adjustments on animals, you must first either be a licensed human Chiropractor or a licensed Veterinarian, then one must go to obtain a significant amount of professional schooling and pass a written and practical examination. Once these tests are completed and passed, the practitioner is then certified in animal chiropractic either through IVCA (International Veterinary Chiropractic Association) and AVCA (American Veterinary Chiropractic Association).
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The field of animal chiropractic focuses on an animals musculoskeletal health and its integration with the nervous system (think brain, spinal cord and nerves!). When our animals skeletal system is not function properly, i.e. a joint is not moving properly, our animals nervous systems begin to also function poorly. This can result in pain, stiffness, organ dysfunction, poor healing and muscle spasms. Our goal when performing animal chiropractic is to remove these areas where joints aren't moving correctly by providing a high velocity/low amplitude adjustment to affected areas. This restores appropriate motion to the joint and also restores communication with the body and brain to allow better functioning of the body's nervous and musculoskeletal systems.
3 Key Features of Chiropractic
Vertebral subluxation
A vertebral subluxation is the fancy term used to describe an area on your animal that is in need of an adjustment. When a bone in a joint is not moving through its entire range of motion, and is immobile or has decreased movement in a certain direction, we call that a vertebral subluxation. It takes a significant amount of practice, guidance and learning to detect vertebral subluxations.
Adjustment
The adjustment is performed by first locating the vertebral subluxations, then a very specific force that is high velocity, low amplitude is then applied to that area. Another important note about the adjustment is that it must occur in the right "line of correction" in order for the adjustment to be successful and also not harm the animal. This means we must be very knowledgeable about the direction joints should move and which way they should not.
Motion and function restored
Once the adjustment has been made, we check to ensure that full motion has been restored to that joint. Once motion has been restored, an animals nervous system can begin to function more appropriately and the muscles and tendons around that joint can begin to relax. This in turn then allows for better communication of the nervous system due to decreased tension and inflammation surrounding the nerves that come through and around these joint spaces. When the nervous system is communicating effectively, the body can then begin to heal itself and regain better function.