Chiropractic

What is it?

Chiropractors are trained to evaluate, diagnose, and treat nervous system dysregulation that may be arising from spinal and nervous system stress brought on by the 3Ts. The three Ts include Trauma (physical stress), Toxins (chemical stress) and Thoughts (emotional stress). Each of these, in isolation or collectively, elicit a fight-or-flight response. The autonomic imbalance that follows either of the Three T’s, leads to muscle tension and spinal misalignment and fixation. This tension, in turn, leads to nerve interferences called Subluxations. Every chiropractor undergoes extensive post-secondary academic and clinical education, with at least seven years of training.

At ABCW, we offer a 100% natural approach to optimizing health and well-being. We believe that chiropractors act as facilitators ensuring effective communication between the brain and body. Once the interference to normal function is removed, your being is free to function at ease. The nervous system, consisting of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves, is the body’s headquarters, sending and receiving messages to and from the body for it to function correctly.

Misalignments in the spine can disrupt this communication, leading to a brain-body disconnect that not only disrupts the flow of messages from the brain to the body (and vice-versa). This disruption eventually creates dysregulation or dysautonomia in your nervous system. Since your nervous system controls every other system in your body, any dysregulation in the nervous system can create dysregulation in the systems it supports. A good example would be someone struggling with headaches that are originating from subluxations in the atlas (C1), allergies originating from an axis (C2) subluxation, and vertigo (C3).

Misalignments

Stress, whether physical, chemical, or emotional, is one of the primary causes of spinal misalignments.

3 Stages of Care

The three phases of chiropractic care work together to address your health concerns, whether you are coming in for symptom resolution or for a routine nervous system evaluation.

  • 3 to 12 visits: If you are experiencing pain or discomfort, the relief phase is where we will identify the root causes of your symptoms. Once the Chiropractor starts adjusting the specific subluxated spinal segments related to your dysregulation, you may experience a period of soreness and areas of your body that feel "twingy". Not to worry, that’s what we call your body's response or learning curve to being engaged fully. This time period usually involves 2 sessions per week where full spine adjusting is done by Dr. Amnah. She may choose to add on muscle work using ART depending on your body's need and also introduce you to some basic functional mobility stretches with Dr. Arooba’s help.

  • 2 to 7 weeks: The correction phase begins when you feel your acute or chronic symptoms have started resolving, and your mobility and functionality are better. With fewer headaches and improved focus, you feel like the switch has been flipped. During this time your body will start recognising the work being done on it. Spinal and Muscle memory is kicking in, your autonomic nervous system is able to regulate better, and the receptors in the brain are able to collect information from the rest of the body in a more cohesive manner. At this time we transition you from corrective chiropractic to maintenance care chiropractic and Mat Pilates, or chiropractic and yoga, or chiropractic and strength training. You are now ready to elevate your well-being into mobility-based learning, with workouts that can easily be continued decades into the future for a healthier way of living.

    The pain centers in the brain are far smaller now than before making space for other areas to be brought to the forefront and engage you in becoming more active and fulfilled in everything you're attempting. In these sessions there is a lot of conversation carried out between the patient and doctor that incorporates lifestyle correction and management techniques. These conversations provide Dr. Amnah insight into what you may be doing that could be creating a stressful environment that could potentially hamper recovery. Every visit during the initial relief and corrective phase builds on itself. On each return visit, we take note of changes in your symptoms, function and – most importantly – your ability to regulate.

  • Patients and their families continue to come in for regular adjustments to maintain progress and support their health. Supportive care preserves the benefits achieved from previous phases, detects conditions in their early stages, and keeps your spine as healthy as possible. Supportive care is generally a good idea for families who want to ensure their parents, their children, and their future well-being is looked after. This is the ultimate goal of optimal health and chiropractic care. Patients in the supportive/maintenance phase come in for regular "tune-ups" to keep their spine and nervous systems healthy. Chiropractic care enhances the body's innate self-regulating ability and helps elevate your being to its maximum potential.

    The frequency of adjustments depends on your needs, lifestyle, level of activity, and overall health goals. Your maintenance spinal adjusting schedule is discussed when your first phase of relief and corrective care concludes.