Dr. Charles W. Armour

In a sense, yes. we restore proper motion into the joints of your spine - actually, any joint of the body! If you have scoliosis, or another type of spinal deformity, depending on the severity, it may be possible to help 'realign' the spine. Have your chiropractor examine you and explain what care is appropriate for your condition. Best of Health.

Anywhere there is a joint, it may be adjusted. Generally, the chest area joints are the sternoclavicular joints at the top of your sternum and the rib joints. Rarely, the typhoid bone is not fused at the bottom of the sternum and it may be possible to adjust this as well.

Depends on what your shoulder pain is... If rotator cuff injury, then light relaxation massage is in order, as long as there are no torn ligaments. If you have bone spurs causing your range of motion to be limited, then massage won't help at all. On the other hand, if you have shoulder impingement syndrome, where one or both shoulders don't move as far as they used to, or you can't get your hand to the small of your back, deep tissue massage may be in order. Have your chiropractor examine your shoulders for the cause of your discomfort, then recommend a course of care and massage if warranted.

Short answer - the same thing we do for teens and adults... Find restrictions in the joints and restore proper motion to the joints to improve function, range of motion, and nervous system functionality. Have your chiropractor examine your child and explain what care is appropriate for their condition.

Depending on what your condition is, 'realigning' a hip may or may not be possible. If it is a simple restriction in the movement of the hip, it can take as little as one visit. If you have a bony deformity where your hip angle is different on each of the hips, that is a different story. It may be possible to help, have your chiropractor examine you, and explain what care is appropriate for your condition. Best of Health.

If you cannot move one wrist as far in a direction as you can the other one, this may indicate you have a restriction in one or more joints. Have your chiropractor examine you and recommend a course of care appropriate for you. Best of health.

Absolutely, if you have pain that keeps you awake, have high-stress levels, etc., chiropractic care may help. Chiropractic adjustments can help normalize your sympathetic nervous system, lowering stress levels. Adjustments may also help your hormone levels normalize, allowing their appropriate production. Reducing or removing joint restrictions can lessen pain dramatically. Have your chiropractor examine you and recommend a course of care appropriate for you.

Normally, you would want to wait at least a couple of days, to allow your brain, muscles, nerves, and other structures time to get used to the 'new normal'. Your chiropractor will examine you and depending on your condition, recommend a schedule of treatment to resolve your complaint. Have your chiropractor examine you and recommend a course of care appropriate for you. Best of health.

Depends on what you mean by 'too often'... If you are going more than 3 times a week after an injury, that is probably too often. If you are going twice a year, that would be too few. There are special cases where you may need to be seen daily, but these are very rare. I typically see my patients once or twice a week for a condition, and once a month for maintenance visits. Have your chiropractor examine you and explain what care is appropriate for your condition. Best of Health.

Most of my patients would tell you, "yes!" They like having proper motion in the joints of their bodies, have full function with no deficits. A very few patients may tell you they don't like a particular adjustment. That's why we take the time to learn many different techniques of adjusting, so that you are comfortable coming to us, and can leave the office feeling good. Have your chiropractor examine you and explain what care is appropriate for your condition. Best of Health.

Here's a comparison for you to think about: If your car needs a front-end alignment, it may steer hard, pull to one side or the other, wear out your tires prematurely or cause catastrophic damage to the elements of your suspension... When the alignment is completed, it steers easily, tires last longer, it no longer pulls to one side and it becomes a pleasure to drive. If your body needs aligning, the same thing - you may feel 'out' when walking, running, or performing another task, making many tasks painful or difficult. When you feel 'aligned', after a chiropractic adjustment, your posture improves, your joints can move correctly and your range of motion improves! Have your chiropractor examine you and recommend a course of care appropriate for you. Best of health.

Arthritis is tricky. That being said, chiropractic treatments are known to reduce inflammation and swelling, two hallmarks of RA. To be sure, there are other symptoms of RA that cannot be changed, bony deformations in the joints and the underlying cause of RA - an autoimmune reaction. It is never a bad thing to improve your quality of life, body function, and overall health too - some things chiropractic excels in achieving. Have your chiropractor examine you and recommend a course of care appropriate for you. Best of health.

Something wonderful! In broad terms, when an adjustment is made, pain receptors are desensitized (so pain levels lessen), muscles can relax, the nervous system can do its job (getting the right signals from the brain to the end-organs, your kidneys, skin, stomach, muscles, blood vessels, etc) inflammation can lessen, reducing swelling, etc. An excellent book to learn about chiropractic adjustments and their effects is Heidi Haavik's book, "The Reality Check". Have your chiropractor examine you and recommend a course of care appropriate for you. Best of health.

A full body adjustment is different than a full spine adjustment. A full spine adjustment may take 2 minutes or upwards of 10 minutes for evaluation and manipulations if there are multiple complaints. Most chiropractors will check the entire spine and adjust not only the areas that relate to your complaint but also areas that they find have restrictions (these additional areas are called "compensatory".) If you are talking about a full-body adjustment, this would include your spine, head, every joint of your upper extremities, every joint of your lower extremities, and anterior (front) rib joints. (the posterior (back) ribs are defined as part of your spine...) Depending on the evaluation and adjusting techniques, this could take anywhere from 10-30 minutes. Most chiropractic examinations look at your entire body and the complaints that you report. Anything found during the initial exam would be noted, but treatment usually focuses on 1 or 2 complaints, to allow for resolution and give the body time to perform its healing. See your chiropractor for an examination to determine your complaints. They will recommend a course of care to help each of your complaints.

Depending on your actual condition: why you have pain; relief may be possible with a simple adjustment from your chiropractor. However, shoulder pain can have so many causes that this question is hard to answer. You need to visit your chiropractor and have a thorough evaluation of the cause of your pain and give you an appropriate care plan to relieve it. For example, if it is bursitis, an ice pack for a day or two can help reduce the bursa swelling, and the pain should subside. If you have tendonitis in any of the muscle attachments of the shoulder, then you may need additional therapies to get you back on track (tendonitis typically takes longer treatment cycles). Please, see your chiropractic physician as soon as possible to evaluate the cause of your pain, so the cause can be treated appropriately, and not just cover the pain – pain tells us something is wrong... Drugs may help your pain subside as well, but if you have a serious shoulder issue, stopping the pain with drugs may make it possible to do more damage.

Thanks for your question,

Dr. Armour D.C.

It depends on the condition you are being treated for. If you were involved in a motor vehicle accident and sustained a whiplash injury, your treatment protocol and number of times to be seen may well be more often than a patient with a ‘stinger’ from playing football or a patient that has tension headaches caused by muscle imbalances dur to neck spine restrictions. Your provider should be able to explain to you the rationale behind their treatment schedule for your case. For more information, please visit https://armourchiro.com

Chiropractic helps you and your spine by removing or reducing restrictions to movement of the spines elements – the vertebra, discs, nerves and other structures. Chiropractic does not ‘fix’ your spine… By removing the restrictions, we restore nerve function, which in turn can reduce pain, restore proper motion, restore your range of motion and help you return to full function. Your body is the driver of your health. Sometimes we just need some help getting things ‘unstuck’ so our bodies heal themselves.

Best of health,

Dr. Armour

Chiropractic is great for neck pain! It is SO important that you have your neck pain evaluated though. If your neck pain is the result of injury (car accident, sports, etc.), there can be underlying trauma that should be carefully examined. In most cases your chiropractor can provide safe, gentle adjustments that will help you heal and reduce your pain. However, they may find you have a fracture or other concern and refer you to an appropriate care specialist.

EVERYTHING is controlled and activated by your nervous system! If you have restricted joints (out of alignment), the nerves that exist at the point can be impeded from doing their job – keeping the end organs (your lungs, muscles, ligaments and tendons) from performing at their best. Removing the restriction from the joints may make your condition better…
Be careful in thinking one-dimensionally – having shortness of breath can have SO many causes of which restricted nerve flow is only one possibility. Other possibilities include (not limited to): small blood clots in the lungs that are blocking blood flow, decreased capability of your blood from carrying oxygen (iron deficiency or iron binding issues), lung infection, exposure to chemicals or other environmental toxins, pneumonia, C-19, muscle diseases (MS, emphysema, etc.), even visiting or moving to a higher elevation. Work with your chiropractic provider to determine if your condition responds favorably with chiropractic (short trial course of care) or if you need to be referred to an MD or other specialist based on their exam findings.

Best of health,

Dr. Armour, D.C.

Less than a second. Ok, that's a glib answer...The adjustment does take very little time, but the examination to determine the need for and the correct vector of adjustment takes longer. You can expect 5-7 minutes of exam. There should also be a q&a on.