Chiropractic care today is well-established as a complimentary and alternative health care discipline. Chiropractors treat patients with health problems involving the musculoskeletal system. They treat the effects of these problems on the nervous system and, through it, on the general health. They combine methods of mainstream and alternative medicine to form a new and much more effective system. Thus a special feature of chiropractic career is the opportunity to gain expertise in the methods of many different systems. Chiropractic is a holistic system of healthcare and focuses on the patient’s overall health.

Chiropractors provide a natural treatment which uses neither drugs nor surgery. Instead, it relies on the body’s innate recuperative abilities. They also give due importance to other factors affecting health, like diet, exercise, stress free environment and heredity. Therefore, they make exhaustive case studies and, on the basis of it, suggest suitable changes in lifestyle which have a bearing upon the patient’s health. Like conventional health practitioners, chiropractors also resort to standard tests to get vital information to diagnose and treat patients. These include patient’s health history, physical, neurological and orthopedic examinations, and not infrequently, laboratory tests. Because of the chiropractor’s special emphasis on the spinal cord and its functioning, x-rays and other skeletal imaging and observational and tactile techniques have a special role in chiropractor’s diagnosis. Specialized techniques are also used to examine patient’s posture and spine. If the problem is traceable to the spinal cord, chiropractors manually adjust it.

Sometimes, chiropractors also use additional practices in their treatments. They may be simple natural treatments like heat, water, light and massage. They may also be more complex techniques like ultrasound, electric currents and acupuncture. Supports like straps, tape, braces or shoe inserts may also be applied. Counseling about health concepts like nutrition, exercise, changes in lifestyle and stress management forms an equally, if not more, important part of a chiropractor’s work. Common patient management involves spinal manipulation and other manual therapies to the joint and soft tissues, rehabilitative exercises, health promotion, and lifestyle counseling. However in no case does a chiropractor prescribe drugs or perform surgery. None the less, a chiropractor may refer a patient to an appropriate specialist, or co-manage with another health care professional. On the whole, chiropractor’s is a profession full of challenges and immense satisfaction, after all what can be more fulfilling than promoting the health of the society – the natural way?