How exactly does chiropractic work?
Your body is a self-healing, self regulating organism controlled by your nervous system. Millions of electrical messages travel from your brain down through your spinal cord to all of your body’s organs and tissues. These signals are then sent back to your brain which then determines if your body is working right. Improper motion or position of the bones in your spinal column can interfere with the vital flow of information being sent to and from your brain. These misaligned bones are called subluxations (pronounced sub • lux • a’ • shuns) or “pinched nerves.” They are usually not painful but have been shown to decrease the flow of this intelligent electrical energy by a minimum of 40%! It’s like “running on dim” instead of running on “bright.” When they are removed, health often returns as a result of improved nerve system control over your body.

Does treatment hurt?
No!   If you have any concerns regarding hearing a “popping” noise, just inform Dr. Takacs and a technique can be used that is pain-free and noise-free! 

And, regarding that “popping” noise– have you ever heard that “cracking” your knuckles would give you arthritis? If you did, sorry but that old wive’s tale has finally been put to rest!   Research has proven that people who crack their knuckles on a regular basis throughout their life actually lower their chances of developing arthritis in their knuckles compared to those who refused to do so.  Researchers concluded that knuckle “cracking” increases joint nutrition and maintains joint motion, both of which are essential to maintaining a healthy joint structure.

How do you get subluxations?
Because the spinal bones move, they are prone to misalign. On your car, the wheels move a lot and they too are likely to create misalignments (by hitting pot holes for example)   which then lead to uneven wear on the tire treads.

It’s a simple matter of physics: the more motion an object has, the greater the likelihood that there will be instability in that object. Unlike a car however, you are alive. There are actually 3 causes of subluxations— physical stress (as in the car example), mental stress and chemical stress. Any combination of these 3 stresses can cause an “electrical overload” of your nerve system which then results in a “blown fuse” (spinal subluxation).

Examples of these stresses are:
1. Physical Stress:   sports, car accidents, commuting over an hour/ day, sitting for more than 4 hours/ day, not exercising on a regular basis, not strengthening your body if your job requires you to be physically fit, falls and physical injuries, poor posture, being more than 20 lbs. overweight, sleeping on your stomach, etc.

2. Mental Stress:   relationship problems, co worker upsets, financial troubles, feeling like “life is running you” instead of you running your life, never seeming to have enough time to get things done, getting upset when you have to wait in traffic or in a line, having a huge debt load in relation to your income, having more than $5,000 on your credit cards, not being able to communicate freely and/or well with family members, etc.

3. Chemical Stress: alcohol, drugs, prescription medicines, not eating at least 3 cups of vegetables/ day or getting enough fiber, eating out several times/ week, drinking one or more cans of diet or regular soda/ day, pollution, not drinking enough water, preservatives and chemicals found in processed foods, etc.

How long does it take to get well?
There are many variables   at play when it comes to healing time.     Do you exercise 3 times a week?   Do you eat a healthy diet wherein 80% of the food you eat is not processed but rather cooked at home from scratch?   Are you within 15 pounds of your ideal weight?   Do you sleep 7-8 hours a night?   Are you handling the problems life throws at you or are you adversely affected by them?   In other words, those with a healthy lifestyle generally report a much faster healing time.

As an analogy, chiropractic treatment is most like orthodontics.   Chiropractors move bones, orthodontists move bones (teeth).   However, an orthodontist accomplishes this by putting braces on teeth and then applying a small pulling type pressure on them, often for a period of 2 or more years– this would be impractical for a chiropractor to do.   If a bone was realigned and then a brace was put on your spine, you couldn’t exactly go about your normal daily routine, could you?

Therefore, chiropractic accomplishes this by a frequency of visits.   To correct an adult spine, it generally takes several months at the very least.