From the desk of Ann Arbor Chiropractor Michael Tannenbaum, D.C.

Even though chiropractic is considered a mainstream form of health care, many don't know much about it. In addition, some of those who have been to a chiropractor may understand that it helps get rid of things such as back pain, neck pain and headaches, but still have many questions about chiropractic. Below I've listed some of the questions I get about chiropractic at my Ann Arbor chiropractic office and the answers to those questions.

Do chiropractors only treat neck and back pain?

No, chiropractors treat many other nerve related problems including headaches, foot pain, knee pain, shoulder pain, wrist pain and hand and foot pain. Chiropractors can generally treat all joints of the body. People may also go to chiropractors and have been helped by chiropractors for fertility problems, IBS problems, asthma and so on.

Are chiropractic treatments painful?

Chiropractic adjustments (treatments) generally don't hurt. Adjustments to certain joints in the spine or extremities may feel slightly uncomfortable or one may produce a feeling of momentary pressure on the joint being treated, but after the adjustment takes place one should feel no discomfort. Many patients enjoy being adjusted stating, that they like how they feel.

What is the popping noise sometimes heard when getting a chiropractic treatment?

The popping sound comes from what is called a cavitation and when this cavitation occurs a release of gas makes the popping sound. A slightly more detailed explanation would be that gasses and fluid are produced in the joints of the body and when pressure is is applied to the joint a cavity in the joint area occurs and when this happens the gas is pushed out by the fluid causing the popping sound.

How often is it necessary to go to a chiropractor?

This depends a on a number of factors including, type and severity of condition, age, preexisting conditions and so on. At my office in Ann Arbor we give a generic reccomendation relative to number of visits required for treatment depening on the condition with the coveat that everybody responds differently to chiorpractic treatments and will possibly need more or less treatments than another person with the same condition. We also recommend that after people are feeling better that they come in every month or so to help maintain the work that we accomplished.

Do chiropractors except health insurance?

Most chiropractors except insurance and most health insurance provides some form of chiropractic coverage.

What kind of education do chiropractors have?

A simple way to explain this is that the course requirements to get a chiropractic degree is very similar to that of a medical degree except that chiropractic school requires more classes in diagnosis and radiology and medical school requires hours in surgery and pharmacology.

Any questions you might have re: this blog post, back pain, neck pain, headaches, chiropractic or Tannenbaum Chiropractic, LLC I can be reached at [email protected].