Founded in the United States in 1895, Chiropractic (meaning "done by hand" in Greek) is a natural, drug-free form of healthcare which concerns itself with improving the health of your spine and body by removing any interference to your nervous system.

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If a nerve is impinged or irritated anywhere along its pathway, it can affect whatever the nerve is travelling to (the muscles, skin, internal organs, etc.). The most frequent place where this interference occurs is just as the nerve exits from the spinal cord and passes between your vertebrae (the bony segments in your spinal column).

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Although the vertebrae are there to protect your nerves, sometimes because of trauma, poor posture or improper lifting, your vertebrae can misalign, usually slipping backwards and twisting to the right or left. This vertebral misalignment, or subluxation, strains the spinal ligaments and narrows the space through which the nerve exists. As a result, the nerve can become irritated and inflamed, causing pain, numbness, tingling, restricted movement, muscle pain/spasm, weakness and/or altered function of an internal organ (stomach, sinus, bowel, etc.)

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You may also feel pain along the length of the irritated nerve. In the lower back, this condition is called sciatica, producing pain down one or both legs.

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With your spine in this state you become more vulnerable to injury from the physical and emotional stresses of everyday life. With apparent suddenness, the simple act of lifting a child or lacing a shoe may produce severe pain and restriction.

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A chiropractor specialises in identifying these vertebral misalignments. He then corrects them with a chiropractic adjustment - using his hands to comfortably move the vertebra at a specific angle back into its proper alignment. This results in reduced pain and the restoration of normal nerve transmission and improved health of the body.

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Most people respond very well to chiropractic adjustments by hand, but some respond better to a very low force technique. In those cases, Dr. Mitchell utilises a hand held chiropractic device with a rubber tip (called an Activator), which places a gentle thrust on the vertebra to move it off the nerve.