Questions and Answers

Who Can Chiropractic Help?
Improved nerve communications between your brain and your body can help everyone.

How Long Will It Take?
Patient results vary depending upon many factors. How long have you had your problem? Do you keep your appointments? Are you getting the proper rest, exercise and nutrition? Are you otherwise in good health? Since chiropractic care depends on the healing ability of each patient, results can vary from patient to patient. Everyone responds differently. Some detect changes in a few short days or weeks. Others may take weeks or months before showing progress.

Will I Need Chiropractic Care Forever?
After patients get the relief they want, many choose to continue with some type of periodic care. These patients show up for their visits and leave feeling great. Their interest in wellness and prevention helps make sure that once they get well, they stay well. How long you want to receive chiropractic care is up to you.

What If My Insurance Company Doesn’t Cover Chiropractic Care?
Insurance companies make two mistakes by limiting or denying coverage. First, they ignore current research showing the superiority of chiropractic care. Plus, they overlook the lower cost and higher patient satisfaction enjoyed with chiropractic care. Each of us has the freedom to place a different value on our health. Ultimately, good health is about personal responsibility. While an insurance company or other third party may be helpful, be careful. Don’t allow a profit-motivated company to make decisions about what you do with your health. Ask us how we make chiropractic care affordable for you!

Will I Have To Have X-rays?
X-rays and other types of images can be helpful. Pictures of your spine, especially after trauma, can confirm other findings and make your care more precise.

How Long Until I Feel Better?
Some patients experience almost instant relief. Others discover that the healing process can take months, sometimes years. Every patient recovers at his or her own pace.

When Will I Get My First Adjustment?
It depends upon your complaint and how long it will take to study your examination findings. This is a clinical decision and varies from patient to patient.

Will I Receive Any Medication For My Pain?
No. Chiropractic doctors don’t dispense drugs. Because we use natural methods, ask for directions on how to use ice or heat to control any painful symptoms.

What Do Adjustments Feel Like?
After a brief thrust, many patients report a sense of well-being or feeling of calmness. Others feel improved mobility.

Are Adjustments Safe?
Yes. Taking an over-the-counter pain reliever is about 100 times more risky.

Will Adjustments Make My Spine Too Loose?
No. Only the spinal joints that are “locked up” receive adjustments allowing weakened muscles and ligaments to stabilize and heal.

What Makes The Sound?
Lubricating fluids separate the bones of each spinal joint. Some adjusting methods can produce a sound when the gas and fluids in the joint shift. It’s like opening a soda can or removing a suction cup. The sound is interesting, but isn’t a guide to the quality of value of the adjustment.

Can I Adjust Myself?
No. Some patients can make their joints “pop” but that’s not an adjustment. Even Dr. Dooley must consult a colleague to benefit from chiropractic care.

Why Do Newborns Get Chiropractic Adjustments?
Even today’s “natural” childbirth methods can affect an infant’s spine. Preliminary studies suggest that colic, unusual crying, poor appetite, ear infections or erratic sleeping habits can all be signs of spinal distress. Newborn adjustments are gental, no more pressure is used than you would use to test the ripeness of a tomato.

Can I Get Chiropractic Care If I’ve Had Back Surgery?
Yes. Dr. Dooley will avoid areas of your spine surgically modified. Surgery can often times cause instability above and below the involved level. These reactionary areas will be the focus of your chiropractic care.

Can Patients With Osteoporosis Get Chiropractic Care?
Of course, regardless of your age, size or condition, chiropractic care can be helpful.

What Causes Subluxations?
There are three basic causes of subluxations. Physical causes include slips, falls, accidents, repetitive motions and improper lifting. Stress, anger and fear are examples of emotional causes of subluxations. Alcohol, drugs, pollution and poor diet can be chemical causes of subluxations.

How Do I Know If I Have A Subluxation?
You can have a subluxation and not even know it. Like tooth decay, subluxations can be present before any warning signs appear. The results of a thorough examination can show the location and severity of subluxations you may have.

Can Subluxations Clear Up On Their Own?
Sometimes. Today’s hectic lifestyles are a constant source of subluxations. Fortunately, our bodies have the ability to self-correct many of these minor problems as we bend and stretch, or when we sleep at night. When subluxations don’t resolve themselves you need to seek chiropractic care.

Can Children Get Subluxations?
Yes. Your first subluxation probably occured from the birth process. Even “modern” childbirth methods can put a tremendous pressure on an infant’s spine. Learning to walk, run, ride a bike or just playing can produce subluxations in children.

What Causes Headaches?
The most common cause of headaches are physical trauma, emotional stress, nutritional deficiencies or chemical toxins. Sometimes there may be a combination of these factors. Our examination process helps identify the most likely cause and helps to correct it.

What If I Don’t Have A Headache When I Come In?
Chiropractic is not an asprin. Repeated visits, even when you’re feeling better, can help retrain and strengthen the muscles that support your spine. Just as it takes more than one or two workouts at the gym to get in shape, it takes time for your spine to heal.

What If Chiropractic Care Doesn’t Work?
Headaches may be common, but they’re not normal. Every headache has a cause. If we’re unable to find and correct the cause of your headaches, we will refer you to other specialists who may be able to help.

Isn’t Spinal Decay Part Of The Aging Process?
Because spinal decay is often seen in the elderly, some people are misled into believing that it is merely part of the aging process. This is Not True. It is a result of long-standing, uncorrected spinal stress.

Can Chiropractic Care Help With Advanced Cases Of Spinal Decay?
Absolutely. While chiropractic care cannot help areas of the spine already fused together, areas of the spine not yet affected can often benefit from chiropractic care.

Can Spinal Decay Be Reversed?
When spinal decay is detected at an early stage, chiropractic intervention can produce remarkable results. In phase 1 cases, many patients see the restoration of spinal curves and improved mobility. Chiropractic care at later stages shows promise, but results vary from patient to patient.

How Do You Get Sciatica?
It is easy to trace some spinal problems to an event, such as a car accident. Yet sciatica is often the result of cumulative damage. Years of bad posture, poor muscle tone, excess weight or countless other causes set the stage. Something simple like bending over to tie your shoes can trigger an episode.

Can Anything Else Cause Sciatica?
Spinal decay can be another culprit. Instead of disc thinning that puts pressure on the sciatic nerve roots, arthritic bone spurs can intrude into the space normally reserved for the nerve.

Can Chiropractic Care Cure Sciatica?
Actually, chiropractic care doesn’t cure anything; only your body can do that. The chiropractic approach to sciatica is to help restore the way your spine works, reducing nerve irritation and revitalizing your own healing ability.

Isn’t A Certain Amount Of Curve In The Spine Normal And Not Considered Scoliosis?
Any type of sideways curvature is abnormal. From the back, the spine should appear straight. When scoliosis is present, there are usually two curves: a primary curve in one direction and a compensatory curve in the opposite direction.

Does A Lack Of Calcium Or Carrying A Heavy Book Bag Cause Scoliosis?
No. However, there are a growing number of authorities who believe uncorrected spinal damage from the birth process may be involved. Others suggest that using walkers to encourage early walking may be a culprit.

What’s The Best Time For A Scoliosis Examination?
As with the case of many health problems, early detection can improve the likelihood of correction. Wise parents consult our office soon after birth of their child and follow up with periodic chiropractic checkups throughout their child’s developing years.

Why Did The Doctor Take Pictures Of My Lower Back When I Have Neck Pain?
Many patients are surprised when the chiropractic examination involves other areas of their body besides the local site of their symptoms. Some neck pain cases can be a compensation to problems in the feet, knees, hips and lower back. Dr. Dooley sees you as a whole person, not just a collection of parts.

Will I Have To Have Neck Adjustments?
If your problems are the result of abnormal motion of position of spinal bones in the neck, cervical adjustments can be effective. Dr. Dooley’s years of practice have made these spinal adjustments safe and effective.

If I Have Whiplash, Why Do I Have Pain In My Arms And Hands?
Because the nerves to the arms and hands exit the spine through the injured area of the neck, numbness and tingling are common as well. Even lower back pain can result directly from the trauma or as a reaction to the loss of proper spinal curves.

Why Did My Headaches Start More Than A Week After The Accident That Caused My Whiplash?
Whether you’ve been in an accident, stressed at work or overexerted yourself in the garden, your body is constantly adapting to the environment. When your capacity to adapt is exhausted, symptoms can and will appear. This can take days, weeks, months or even years to occur.

How Can I Prevent Whiplash Injuries?
Since car accidents are the major causes of acceleration/deceleration injuries, defensive driving skills can help. Be sure your taillights and turn signals are properly working and allow plenty of stopping distance in front of you. When you slow down to stop, always check your rearview mirror to see if the driver behind you is paying attention.

Will I Ever Be Normal Again?
Many chiropractic patients report improved spinal curves and an end to their symptoms. Those who delay seeking appropriate care often discover that scar tissue and spinal instability require periodic chiropractic checkups.