What is "Gonstead" Chiropractic?

The connection that exists between the brain and all other parts of the human body is the nervous system. Signals pass between the brain, eyes, tongue, stomach, toes and indeed, throughout the entire body on "electrical wires" called nerves. These nerves pass from the brain down the spinal column or back bone, and exit between the spinal bones at 24 levels from the base of the skull to the tailbone, controlling all bodily functions. If the spaces between the spinal bones should become narrowed or cut off due to a misalignment or "kink" in your spinal backbone, this is called a subluxation, and the nerve signal is then interrupted or reduced at that specific level. The nerve fiber traveling away from this "pinch" has now become "short circuited" as it heads toward the muscle, finger or specific organ it controls. The result is a demonstration of pain, loss of function or degeneration in that specific muscle, finger or organ. Even an everyday headache can result from nerve pressure due to a spinal misalignment. The Gonstead Chiropractic approach is to locate these misalignments in the spinal column, then specifically and gently adjust the segment back into place manually, removing the subluxation and "pinch". By applying the Gonstead adjustment to the back, the pressure is removed from the nerve while joint function is restored. More importantly, nerve function is restored, and the path of that specific nerve is then again sending and receiving the "electrical" impulses as it should and ultimately, health is restored.

The Gonstead Doctor has set the standard in Chiropractic for patient examination and treatment. Examination of the patient includes complete patient history, static palpation, motion palpation, instrumentation of the spinal column, orthopedic and neurological testing, x-ray analysis and, if necessary, laboratory analysis. When all this information is combined, a trained Gonstead Doctor will immediately let you know if your health situation is a Chiropractic case. If it is not, a referral to the appropriate health provider will be given. If your case is a Chiropractic case, the trained Gonstead practitioner's goal is to utilize the dynamics of the effectual Gonstead Specific Adjustment to get you back to optimal health as quickly as possible, with no "pre-planned" treatment programs. The goal of a Gonstead practitioner is to get a patient back on the road to health as quickly as possible and then leave the patient alone. In the words of Dr. Gonstead, "Find the subluxation, correct it, and then leave it alone".