Frequently Asked Chiropractic Questions in Knoxville TN

Chiropractic care is a natural method of health care that treats the cause of the problems rather than just the symptoms. Chiropractic is based on a simple but powerful premise: with a healthy nervous system your body is able to function optimally and heal itself the way God intended it to.

Chiropractic has been a form of non-invasive manual treatment for over 100 years. Chiropractic uses a hands-on approach to treating the body with specific adjustments to the spine or other parts of the body. The goal is to correct misalignment, remove pressure off the nerves, alleviate pain, and allow the body’s natural healing process to begin.

Chiropractic care is widely recognized as one of the safest drug-free, non-invasive therapies available. Specific chiropractic adjustments are extremely safe when performed by a licensed chiropractor. In fact, recent studies have shown that patients with back pain have a higher chance of more serious side effects (including gastrointestinal bleeding) when taking over-the-counter (OTC) non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen.

Chiropractors go through extensive education and training to ensure your safety and well-being.

There is no need to worry! It is common to be nervous about your first chiropractic adjustment. During an adjustment, we gently push on certain areas of your spine with our hands or an instrument. This procedure will align vertebrae that are out of place from everyday movements, stress, or an injury.

Minimal force and pressure is used during an adjustment so discomfort is rare. However, over time, an adjustment will typically relieve any pain, pressure, and discomfort you were previously feeling so it tends to be a very enjoyable experience.

Keep in mind Chiropractors go through many years of schooling to learn proper adjustment techniques, so we can adjust your body without harm.

However if you notice any soreness after an initial adjustment think of it as starting a new exercise program. Drinking plenty of water, using an ice pack, and engaging in light stretching after your first visit can help ease any discomfort and further promote healing.

Chiropractors go through extensive education and training to ensure your safety and well-being.

Subluxation is a fancy word to describe a misalignment of the vertebrae (bones of the spine). When the vertebrae are out of alignment they put pressure on the nerves causing interference which blocks communication from your brain to the rest of your body. Subluxations create extreme imbalances in the body’s normal processes which can result in pain, deterioration, unpleasant symptoms, and disease.

Subluxations can be caused by any number of physical, chemical, or emotional stressors. In fact the birthing process alone most always will create subluxations in infants. Studies have shown that the force on a baby’s head in birth can be anywhere from 60-120 pounds of pressure!

This is why we recommend everyone to get a chiropractic evaluation to determine the condition of his/her spine.

Yes absolutely and we recommend it! We specialize in pregnant women for the main complaints of low back pain, pain in the legs, and neck! Science shows that chiropractic care before and during pregnancy can help reduce labor pains and delivery times up to 60%! As Chiropractors we focus on the pelvis to ensure your baby will be vertex (head down) at the time of birth. Many pregnant women find that chiropractic adjustments improve the pregnancy experience and make delivery easier. Our adjustments are adapted to accommodate the stage of pregnancy and the unique needs of each patient.

There is even a specific technique used for pregnant women if the baby is in breech position. It allows the pelvis to move and the ligaments to relax, which in turn, allows the baby more freedom to move and most of the time the baby will turn on it’s own!

Yes! We see many children in our office! If you consider how a child grows in a womb and the birthing process, it is a very physically traumatic experience. Complications of uncorrected subluxations (misalignment of the vertebrae) could result in a serious detrimental problem to the health of the growing child.

Birth subluxations can sometimes show immediate symptoms however most of the time there are far-reaching effects that manifest years later. If a child is subluxated their ability to fight against disease may be lowered. We strongly believe that newborn infants should be checked within hours of birth. Getting your child chiropractic is vital as healthy children grow up to be healthy adults!

Drs. Andy and Jennifer Scoles graduated from Life University and practice principled chiropractic using both hands on and instrument adjustments. Every person and spine is different and we believe don’t believe that one technique fits all.

We use Thomson Drop, Full spine, Diversified, Activator, & Torque Release Techniques (TRT).

If therapy or massage is needed we will refer out to a physical/massage therapist. However, most of our practice members see great results with only the adjustments. This allows us to keep your fees low and office visit times short too!

Have you ever cracked your knuckles? Well it’s very similar. You will often hear a popping sound when the adjustment takes place. This sound might scare you, but it is perfectly normal and is simply the sound of oxygen and nitrogen gases leaving the joint!

Our office is focused on a corrective care approach to chiropractic instead of just pain relief. Our main goal is to get you out of pain and feeling 100%; however, only 10% of your nerves feel pain! This is why it is important not to judge your health based on how you feel.

Often new patients will come in with pain that has been going on for a while and they expect a one-time adjustment. Even though you may feel an immediate relief, the muscles around the injured or affected area is used to the misalignment. Due to muscle memory this misalignment reoccurs thereby causing the pain to return. Our corrective care approach entails multiple adjustments over a period of time, which ensures the stability of the bones as muscles are retrained to maintain correct alignment.

After our practice members have gone through corrective care, we recommend “wellness care” which is a maintenance program. We have found that most all of our patients choose to come on an ongoing basis because of the results they experience. After corrective care you will be operating at a new level of health and maintaining that health most always will become a priority.

We believe maintenance is a much easier approach than stopping care prematurely thus allowing problems to return. Think of maintenance as your body’s periodic tune-up.

Without taking x-rays you would be asking your Chiropractor to guess at what to do with your spine. Carpenters and Architects use blueprints to work on houses to live in. Chiropractors use x-rays to work on spines and nervous systems you live through!

An x-ray can show a chiropractor exactly what is happening in the body in terms of alignment and structure. X-rays act like a map to your spine and guide the doctor to what needs to be adjusted. X-rays only improve the quality of care, and safety of the patient.

To see is to know…not to see is to guess… and we don’t want to guess with your health.

No, you do not need a referral to make a new patient appointment or receive adjustments from a chiropractor. We welcome you to schedule an evaluation; we would love to help you in your health journey!

Every person and case is different. After your initial evaluation the Doctors will give their recommendations and time frame for healing. There are several variables that will affect how quickly the body heals including length of time you have had the injury/health problem, severity of the injury, age, and lifestyle factors. Most of our practice members experience relief and see benefits fairly quickly into their care plan. If you follow the Doctors recommendations we feel very confident that you will experience the amazing benefits of chiropractic care.

Chiropractors must complete a minimum of four years of full-time pre-medicine university courses. Once enrolled in chiropractic school a further four years of intensive study emphasizing anatomy, physiology, pathology, neurology, body-mechanics, x-ray, spinal adjusting techniques and many other related subjects. To graduate with Doctor of Chiropractic degree, the candidate must pass the demanding Board Examinations followed by a licensing examination before being granted the privilege to practice Chiropractic.