Chiropractor Katy TX

What Is a Secondary Condition? We all are familiar with normal body temperature which is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. To understand abnormal eyesight, high blood pressure, and irregular heartbeats, what do we initially need to understand? We NEED to know what is normal. It’s no different when we’re talking about spinal alignment – there is a NORMAL. Walking around with Structural Abnormalities is no different than driving around in a vehicle with a bent frame that’s badly in need of alignment. If regions of your body have been displaced or shifted – gradually or due to injuries, the body will experience stress on the underlying structures, including the spinal bones, ligaments, intervertebral discs, tendons, and muscles. Those abnormalities will result in deterioration, degeneration, and discomfort. Having a body temperature a degree higher than normal is no big deal. Likewise, if you have minor shifts in your spine, no big deal. However, significant Neuro-Structural Abnormalities – which are likely to be the underlying cause of your Secondary Conditions (symptoms), MUST be addressed.

What would happen if the foundation of your house sank too much on one side? Would it be reasonable to suggest that your floorboards creak or tiles will crack? Would you expect to start seeing cracks in and on your walls? How about the windows – would you expect them to open smoothly or not so smoothly? If a conventional chiropractor were a repair person, they would put an extra nail in the creaky floorboard, use joint compound to fill in the cracked drywall and use some silicone spray like WD-40 to loosen up the window.

Why? Conventional chiropractors focus on symptoms or what we refer to as Secondary Conditions, instead of focusing on the underlying cause. A NEURO-STRUCTURAL CHIROPRACTOR would head directly underneath the house and inspect the foundation. If your child’s teeth were abnormally protruding from their mouth, you would find a solution that would correct their teeth back to their normal, functional position. If left uncorrected, the abnormal alignment of the teeth would likely result in chewing issues, TMJ and a myriad of other issues.

Think about your nerves similar to the connection between the electrical circuit breaker in your garage and the electrical appliances in your kitchen; an obstruction of that signal would obviously affect the operation of the appliances. Likewise, an obstruction in the nervous system would create a myriad of Secondary Conditions, including musculoskeletal pain, numbness, tingling, muscular imbalance, muscle spasms or even potentially visceral disorders.

We utilize several forms of objective tests during our Neuro-Structural Chiropractic Exam to measure the presence of a Neuro-Structural Abnormality. We examine Structural X-rays, perform a Multi-Axis Structural Analysis, as well as spinal surface EMG and thermography scanning. We also do a series of physical neurologic exam procedures. When looking at your Structural X-rays we want it to be as close to normal as possible. When performing your Multi-Axis Structural Analysis, we’re looking for sections of your body to rest on top of the segment below – similar to a house sitting symmetrically on its foundation. When we perform spinal scans, we check for neuromuscular function as well the presence of obstructions in your nervous system. We’re looking for those numbers to be within a normal range - no different than blood tests results from your medical doctor. Digital Structural photographs allow us to analyze you from the front, back and side of your structure to observe visual abnormalities. In many cases the findings from one test confirm the results of the others. Please understand that NO ONE is perfect. What we’re looking for are abnormalities outside the range of well-established norms. In other words, if someone is 5-10 pounds overweight no one is going to jump up and sound the alarm. However, if someone is 30 lb. or more overweight that would cause concern.

Other healthcare providers such as MD’s, typically approach a Structural Abnormality by viewing it as a form of osteoarthritis. They treat the symptoms with medications, injections, laser microsurgeries and inevitably, more invasive procedures. A physical therapist’s approach focuses on the shallow musculature rather than the underlying more profound structural components. Finally, yoga instructors, Pilates instructors and personal trainers approach the problem from a physical perspective similar to the physical therapists; they look at strengthening and/or stretching the surface musculature instead of the internal structural integrity of the human frame. Please understand that we encourage patients to be physically active and workout. However, working the musculature DOES NOT correct a structural issue.