Frequently Asked Questions in East Lake View IL

It is the practice of removing interference of the nervous system, from vertebrae being misaligned, which allows better nerve flow to the parts of your body that nerve goes to. This allows your body to function better through uninterrupted nerve flow. Most people think that we are about pain, and we can treat peoples pain very well, but we are more about the brain and allowing better nerve flow to all parts of the body.

Chiropractic can help a lot of conditions, even some things that people don’t realize. You see, chiropractic doesn’t really treat any condition. It removes nerve impingements, known as subluxations, allowing your body to function better and adapt to its environment. Therefore your body can heal itself creating less pain, decreased asthma or allergies, lower blood pressure, decreased menstrual pain, etc.

A chiropractic adjustment, is a painless procedure, when a chiropractor finds the vertebrae out of alignment and places a gentle thrust moving that vertebrae back towards alignment. Sometimes patients may hear a popping sound, which is air being popped out of the joint.

Chiropractic adjustments are safe and effective from birth to death. What most people don’t understand is how unsafe it is to not go to the chiropractor. Having a vertebrae out of alignment, causing nerve impingement and not getting 100% of the messaged to and from the brain to that body part, does not usually cause any pain for many years. However, this part of the body is not functioning at 100% and the longer you leave this out of alignment, the more osteoarthritis will set in. By the time the pain becomes too much and they do come see me, it is riddled with arthritis, which is permanent. It would be like having a cavity in your tooth and not seeing a dentist because you have no tooth pain. Patient who see their chiropractor regularly have less arthritis and can do more into their later years of life. It is all about maintenance of the spine.

Each patient is unique with their chiropractic needs. We perform a thorough consultation to see exactly why this patient is coming to us for help. We ask certain questions like what they do for work and things that they do in their free time. We then will examine and possibly x-ray the patient. This will help us to determine the correct treatment plan for this patient. Most people think that they are out of alignment and go to the chiropractor and then are in alignment. This just isn’t true. It take multiple visits to undo all the stress that you have put on that body over the years. However, if children start at an early age, they need less care, and maintenance may be all they need.

Removing nerve impingement and allowing your body to function at a higher level by adapting to it’s environment can help just about anything in you are suffering from. Let’s say that your neck is out of alignment and the nerve goes to the eyes, ears, and sinuses. This will cause a dysfunction, with less mental impulses to and from the brain to the sinuses. Now you have a sinus infection and need antibiotics. Would it not make sense to clear up the nerve function and open up the pathways to the brain? If the sinuses are working at less that 100% your chances of getting sick increase. Chiropractors help remove the interference allowing your body to work at 100%.

With any procedure, there comes risks. The most common risk is a patient becoming sore after an adjustment. This usually disappears quickly and after several adjustments this does not occur. We review all the risks associated with chiropractic adjustments prior to care being given.

For the most part no. However they may sting, but it is not a pain that will last, when a patient is in acute pain. Most patient think that it is going to hurt when they get their first adjustment. They are nervous that the adjustment is going to hurt real bad. We work with our patient to relax for their adjustment. The most common phrase I hear, following their first adjustment is “is that it?” They are surprised with how much it doesn’t hurt.

With over 32 years of experience, I have a passion to help people with all sorts of problems. Being able to treat complex conditions is what we do best at Knecht Chiropractic Clinic.

It depends on the services that you are getting at that appointment. A new patient usually takes 60 minutes. A maintenance adjustment usually takes 5 minutes. When are patient is under active care and has therapies along with their adjustment, these appointments usually take 30-45 minutes. We run on time. It is rare for any patient to wait more than 5-10 minutes before going back to see our doctors.

Most people don’t know how rigorous the chiropractic education necessary to become a doctor of chiropractic. After receiving your bachelors degree at a university, the doctor of chiropractic degree consists of the equivalent of 5 more years of education. The first year is pretty much the same as the first year of med school. Most chiropractors go to school year round which include 3 terms of 15 weeks of classes. We complete our patient rounds on campus making us complete 5 years of training versus medicines 4 years then internship out in the field.

Absolutely! With pregnancy come a myriad of separate issues. As the baby grows in the mother’s abdomen, weight is shifted and can cause the spine to go out of alignment. Also, during the last trimester of pregnancy the mother’s body will produce hormones that will allow the ligaments of the pelvis to open up. These hormones make all ligaments stretch and therefore the spine can come out of alignment. Also, if you understand chiropractic principles, when the lower spine is out of alignment, it can affect the messages from the brain to the uterus, causing dysfunction. If ever there is a time that a woman should see a chiropractor, it is definitely when she is pregnant. We want open and clear channels for the brain to communicate with the uterus.

If chiropractic adjustments decrease pain, increase range of motion, and increase function of the body, I guess that is addictive. I always hear that once you go you have to always go. That is not true. Anyone can quit and let their bodies function at less than optimal, causing more osteoarthritis and pain. I usually ask the patient “when are you going to quit the dentist”. And trust me, teeth are very important if you don’t want to have a liquid diet. But they don’t control every function in your body that the nervous system does. It is the master controller in the body.

When the vertebrae comes out of alignment, the joints will enlarge and gasses in the blood occupy that space. When we put our thrust into that joint, the gasses can be released back into the blood stream creating this cavitation or pop.

The answer is no.  When a patient adjusts themselves, they can be moving that vertebrae further out of alignment.  The pop may be releasing some of the inflammation in the joint making them feel better, but causing more issues with nerve impingement and decreased function wherever that nerve goes.  The other thing is that this :self adjustment” may be causing more osteoarthritis to form in that area of the spine creating permanent damage.

Most insurances cover chiropractic to some degree. With larger deductibles and coinsurance to having capped fees for some plans, we are seeing less and less insurance that will cover chiropractic care. That is why we are very competitive in our pricing to not only give the patient the care they need, but at a price that is affordable. We also have many payment options, like credit cards, care credit, and payment plans to fit most budgets.

Chiropractic care doesn’t really treat back pain. It returns the vertebrae that is out of alignment to a better alignment, taking stress of the nervous system. This will decrease the inflammation of the joint leading to less pain. Remember that when the vertebrae are better aligned, there is better nerve function, therefore the patient’s body is functioning better and adapting to the stresses in their environment better. This is where true health exists.

Yes. By putting specific vertebrae back in better alignment, this can reduce the nerve impingement and decrease inflammation. This in turn can reduce the patient’s neck pain. But realize that reducing the impingement of the nerves in the neck will increase the body functions to where those nerves go. This can improve thing like sinus issues, temporal mandibular joint dysfunction, headaches, sore throats, and numbness and tingling, or strength issues in the arms. These are just a few of the things that people can notice.

The answer is yes. Although we do not treat headaches, vertebrae out of alignment can lead to headaches, particularly the ones that start in the back of the head and sometimes radiate up to the top of the head. By putting specific vertebrae back in better alignment, this will reduce the nerve impingement and decrease inflammation. This in turn can reduce the patient’s headaches.

A chiropractic adjustment is the only form a treatment to reduced the nerve impingement, and getting to the real cause of the problem. Physical therapy is a phenomenal form of therapy, but does’t deliver a chiropractic adjustment to remove the nerve interference. PT does help reduce some painful conditions, but if the vertebrae is out of alignment, the jamming of that joint will increase the patient’s osteoarthritis as they age. Also, not addressing the patients impinged nerve is allowing their body to function at less than optimal and having an increase risk of health issues because of this. In our office, we do chiropractic adjustments followed by physiotherapy to address both aspects of care.

Yes we can help sports injuries.  Chropractors can adjust almost all joints in the body.  Whether is it s knee, shoulder, elbow or hip injury, we can assess the situation, adjust the joint out of alignment and prescribe the appropriate PT.  We are a one stop shop for most sport injuries.

This is one issue that we have helped in a lot of people. When the vertebrae come out of alignment, it is difficult to have good posture because of the irritation of the joints. We also teach people how to have good posture and sometimes recommend certain aids to help with posture. We also recommend that patients look into the ergonomics of the work station. We spend a lot of time at work and it is necessary to have that as ergonomic as possible.

A gentle force is applied to the levers of the vertebrae to move the bone back into better alignment. You may hear a “pop” which is called a cavitation. This is just gasses being released back into the bloodstream. The goal of any adjustment is to put that bone back in better alignment, taking stress of the nerve coming out the spine, and reducing inflammation.

Absolutely. When a child’s nervous system isn’t functioning at optimal because their vertebrae is out of alignment, it can cause their body to function at less than optimal. What parent wouldn’t want to remove that interference to help that child. It reminds me of when I was back in chiropractic college. One of my patients kept missing her appointments and when I finally got a hold of her she was struggling with a sick 10 month old baby. He was suffering from severe ear infections. He had been on multiple rounds of antibiotics and was on the strongest one you could give to a child of that age. She stated that every time the antibiotic clears the infection, as soon as he stops the medication the ear infection returns. He had been on this cycle for 5 months and she was at her wits end. I asked her to bring him in for chiropractic care and she did. The following day she called me and asked “what did you do to my baby”. I have to admit, with being new into this profession, I panicked and asked her what she meant. She stated that on the way home from his appointment, he fell asleep and continued to sleep the rest of the day and all through the night. When he woke up in the morning he was smiling and cheerful. This was not the child she was used to. He was always crying and melancholy. The child stopped the need for antibiotics since the nerve impingement was removed and the infection didn’t return. His mother was so happy as she was not looking forward to surgery, which was the next step, if that antibiotics didn’t work. You see the antibiotics did work. This little boy’s ear infection went away every time he was on antibiotics. It was the nerve impingement that caused his ears to not work at 100% and therefore this lack of function allowed the bacteria to continue to cause problems. Once this nerve interference was removed, the ears were able to function normally and didn’t allow conditions that an infection would be able to start.