Frequently Asked Questions in Malvern PA

Chiropractic is a healthcare field interested in restoring and maintaining spinal and neurological health, which can allow for better overall health and wellbeing. The way a chiropractor does this is by assessing the spine for areas of mis-alignments and abnormal motion, called subluxations. When these subluxations are found, adjustments are performed to facilitate improved spinal alignment and motion, and to restore or improve communication of the nervous system, thus restoring or improving the function of the tissues and organs in the body.

The main focus of the chiropractor is to “treat”, or correct, subluxations (mis-alignments) in the spine. Subluxations often cause musculoskeletal symptoms such as back pain, neck pain, and headaches. Due to the negative impact on biomechanics (movement of the body), spinal subluxations also may impact the joints of the extremities, often leading to shoulder pain, hip pain, knee pain, etc. The organs and tissues of the body can also be compromised by subluxations due to the negative impact a mis-aligned spine has on the communication from the brain through the spinal cord and the nerves. While under chiropractic care, patients often experience changes in their health that they were not expecting, such as improved digestion, breathing, energy, immune function, and more! While the goal of the chiropractor is not to “treat” a symptom, whether it is back pain or digestive problems, when the spine and nervous system are healthy and functioning appropriately, the body will heal at it’s best capacity.

The chiropractic adjustment is the force the chiropractor uses to correct subluxations (mis-alignments) of the spine. The force can be delivered through the hands of the chiropractor, often called a “manual” adjustment, or it can be delivered via some sort of impulse instrument. The joints of the extremities can also be adjusted to improve mobility and alignment.

Chiropractic care is incredibly safe! As is true of any healthcare treatment, before starting care a thorough consultation, examination, and necessary imaging studies should be conducted to ensure that all necessary precautions are taken and that the appropriate care is provided.

The amount of treatments necessary in a chiropractic office will depend on several factors. What is the goal of the care? If it is for short term pain relief, the patient may only need a few visits. If it is for correction of spinal distortions and deviations to provide longer lasting results, it will take more. There are also factors such as age, the extent of the problem, and the patient’s willingness to perform therapeutic home exercises that will impact the time it takes for the patient to get results.

Chiropractic is a healing art that is interested in improving the body’s ability to heal itself from the inside-out rather than treating symptoms, sickness and dis-ease from the outside-in (i.e. medications and surgeries). For this reason, people who use chiropractic as a part of their healthcare often report less medication use, less surgeries, and less hospitalizations. While there is a time and a place for those interventions, especially in emergency situations, the goal of chiropractic is to keep the patient healthy so they don’t need them!

There are risks with everything and chiropractic is no exception. If a proper consultation, examination, and necessary imaging studies have been conducted, the risk of chiropractic is incredibly low. The most common “negative” consequence of a chiropractic adjustment is temporary soreness. This is often compared to soreness you may experience when starting a new exercise program.

Most patients do not experience pain while getting adjusted. In fact, most patients love to get adjusted because of how good it makes them feel! However, if a patient is dealing with an acute pain condition in which there is inflammation and soft tissue irritation/damage, slight discomfort or pain may be experienced.

Our goal at Align Chiropractic is to meet you where you're at and to provide you exceptional care. If you’re looking for a couple of adjustments to help you move better, we’re here for you. If you’re sick and tired of dealing with chronic issues and you want to invest a bit more time into correcting the problem rather than treating the symptoms, we’re here for you.

Most visits in our office last 15-20 minutes.

All chiropractors have to complete prerequisites to be accepted into a chiropractic program. Most chiropractors complete a bachelor’s degree program before going to chiropractic school. Dr. Kistler graduated from Penn State with honors with a degree in Kinesiology. Chiropractic school takes an additional 4 or so years of study at an accredited school. Dr. Kistler went to the largest chiropractic school in the world, Life University in Marietta, GA, where he graduated summa-cum-laude.

Women who are pregnant benefit immensely from chiropractic care. Due to the changes in posture and biomechanics that women experience during pregnancy, there are often aches and pains that develop. For some women these symptoms are mild, while for others they are debilitating. Chiropractic care before and during pregnancy can help to manage these symptoms as well as help the woman’s body recover post surgery. Chiropractic care during pregnancy can also be good for the baby in the womb. Dr. Kistler is certified in a pregnancy specific technique called Webster’s technique. The adjustments provided to the mom with Webster’s technique are intended to help with pelvic movement and alignment, and decrease “intra-uterine constraint”, which allows the baby to move more freely. This technique is often called “breech turning technique” because when applied to a mom carrying a breech baby the baby often moves into a more advantageous position.

Chiropractic care does not cause addiction in the sense that the patient will experience negative feelings as a result of not getting adjusted. However, when patients experience the benefit of improved mobility, decreased stress and strain on soft tissues, better load bearing on joints, and better neurological communication creating a better sense of “ease” within the body, they often choose to make chiropractic care a part of their regular and proactive approach to health!

The crack sound that is often heard during chiropractic adjustments are called cavitations. The crack sound that comes from the spine is the same physiologic phenomenon as when you might hear a crack when you pull your finger or do a stretch. When the joint is stretched and expanded, nitrogen gas that is dissolved in the synovial fluid (lubricant of the joints) comes out of solution to allow the joint to expand slightly, and when this happens a “crack” or “pop” can often be heard. The noise itself is incidental, and not the goal of the adjustment.

An adjustment is a force applied to a specific segment(s) of the spine with specific vectors and lines of drive with the intention of correcting vertebral subluxations. When an individual performs a stretch in order to hear a “pop”, or if they have an untrained individual “pop” them, this is not an adjustment because it lacks the proper discovery of the subluxations that need to be corrected, it lacks specificity, and it lacks intent.

While some insurance plans may cover a few visits of “therapeutic” care, aka pain relief care, insurance is usually not conducive to assisting patients who want to use chiropractic for health improvement and health maintenance reasons. A description of “non-medically necessary” services is as follows:

“Care that seeks to prevent disease, promote health, prolong and enhance the quality of life, or treatments that seek to prevent deterioration of a chronic condition, are considered wellness or maintenance oriented and therefore considered not medically necessary”

Back pain is probably the most common symptom that brings people into a chiropractic office. While chiropractic should not be regulated or reduced to the treatment of musculoskeletal pain, it is certainly effective for this and often gives the patient a much improved quality of life, which should not be minimized!

Yes. Neck pain is often caused by structural problems within the spine that can be a result of trauma, such as car accidents or sporting injuries, or poor posture. While the pain itself is generated by the soft tissues, the primary problem may be the spine which is causing the soft tissue pain.

While headaches can have many causes and triggers, much of the time there is a cervical spine component. In fact, many headaches are considered “cervicogenic”, meaning that they are generated, or caused, by cervical spine problems. Restoring motion, decreasing muscle tension, and alleviated nerve pressure by adjustin the neck often helps to reduce the severity and frequency of headaches.

Chiropractors are interested in addressing skeletal misalignments and mobility problems, most specifically in the pelvis and spine, while physical therapists are more interested in the strength of the muscles that support the body and the mobility of soft tissues. Corrective chiropractic uses a combination of chiropractic adjustments and corrective therapeutic exercises and stretches to provide long lasting changes by addressing the skeletal component as well as the soft tissue component of biomechanics.

Sports injuries, and often just playing sports in general, can cause misalignments to occur that can benefit from chiropractic care. Every professional sports team has a chiropractor who they use to help the players recover from injury and to keep them at the top of their game!

It is often said in chiropractic that posture is a “window into the spine”. This means that posture is directly linked to misalignments, especially what we call “global subluxations”, which refers to the overall alignment of the spine. By correcting and/or reducing subluxations, posture will improve as well.

During a chiropractic adjustment, the chiropractor will use an analysis specific to the technique they practice to determine where subluxations may exist and what the best approach for correction is. The chiropractor will adjust the patient commensurate with the technique they practice. This may include the use of hands-on manual adjusting, or instrument adjusting.

Chiropractic is safe for everyone, including kids. Adjustments are tailored to the patient, and will take into account the size of the patient and necessary precautions. The adjustment a child receives will be different than the adjustment an adult receives. While some pediatric patients do present with symptoms or health conditions, many children receive adjustments to keep their spine and nervous system healthy. Some common comments that parents say about their children who get adjusted is that they get sick less often, have better digestive health, and sleep better than when they didn’t get adjusted.