GLOSSARY

Adjustment: The specific application of forces used to facilitate the body’s correction of nerve interference.

Chiropractic: A primary health care profession in which professional responsibility and authority are focused on the anatomy of the spine and immediate articulation, and the condition of nerve interference. It is also a practice, which encompasses educating, advising about and addressing nerve interference.

ChiropracticDiagnosis: A comprehensive process of evaluation of the spinal column and its immediate articulation to determine the presence of nerve interference and other conditions that may contraindicate chiropractic procedures.

Chiropractic Practice Objective: The professional practice objective of chiropractic is to correct nerve interference in a safe, effective manner. The correction is not considered to be a specific cure for any particular symptom or disease. It is applicable to any patient who exhibits nerve interference regardless of the presence or absence of symptoms or disease.

Dis-ease: The word disease is a combination of dis and ease.  Dis is a prefix meaning “apart from.”  It follows then that dis-ease is nothing more than a lack of comfort, a loss of harmony in the system.  Chiropractors believe that instead of treating disease with chemicals and invasive procedures, whenever possible, first treat dis-ease with the reduction or elimination of nerve interference, thereby giving the patient a chance to recover naturally before resorting to drugs or surgery.

Health: A state of optimal physical, mental and social well-being; not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Manipulation: The forceful passive movement of a joint beyond its active limit of motion. It does not imply the use of precision, specificity or the correction of nerve interference. Therefore, it is not synonymous with chiropractic adjustment.

Paraspinal EMG Scanning: A painless, non-invasive procedure to measure and record the electrical signals given off by the muscles that attach to the spinal column. Electrodes are placed on the skin and their readings are shown in the form of a graph. Since one of the symptoms of nerve interference is abnormal muscle activity, the EMG is becoming a popular method for charting muscle spasms and spinal imbalance.

Thermography: This procedure measures the temperature on the skin surface to locate inflammation of muscles and soft tissues. A special camera takes pictures, which reflect the different temperatures by displaying a range of colors on film. Thermography has been used to pinpoint spinal nerve and muscle stress.

Vertebral Subluxation: Also referred to as nerve interference, is a misalignment of one or more of the 24 vertebrae in the spinal column, which causes alteration of nerve function and interference to the transmission of mental impulses, resulting in a lessening of the body’s innate ability to express its maximum health potential

Wellness: The degree to which an individual experiences health and vitality in any dimension of life.  The concept of practicing all the things which keep one well. It involves maintaining a healthy nerve system, good nutrition, exercise, stress-control, and positive mental attitude.