Chiropractic for Adults
Chiropractic is a health profession that focusses on the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems and how this can affect general health. To achieve this we mostly use hands-on therapies, in particular spinal adjustments and other joint and soft tissue manipulation. These may be supported with specific exercises, dietary and lifestyle advice to help you life your life to the fullest.
Anna has trained in and uses several different chiropractic techniques. She will always take into account both her clinical expertise and your personal preferences in selecting which techniques are most suitable for you. This may also change in different stages of care: the first stage is acute care, the second stage looks at longer term healing and the third stage involves prevention and improved health.
Sacro-Occipital Technique (SOT)
This is a system of both analysis and treatment with an emphasis on the cranial and dural systems. It looks at the whole body rather than simply focussing on an area of pain. The treatments used are very gentle and can be suitable for all age groups and stages of health.
Thompson Technique
Again, this is both an analysis and treatment. The treatment uses a special bench which allows gentle chiropractic adjustments in neutral positions and without the clicks.
Diversified Technique
This is actually an amalgamation of techniques using the more traditional chiropractic adjustment, used primarily in otherwise healthy adults.
Soft Tissue Techniques
Anna uses a variety of soft tissue techniques, especially in the early stages of care. These include massage, dry needling and stretching techniques.
Exercises
Anna mostly uses exercises in the second and third stages of care. Specific exercises can target strength, movement patterns and neurological patterning.
Chiropractic in Pregnancy
Choosing a chiropractor to work with as part of your team during and after pregnancy can be a great investment in your health. Chiropractic care is safe during pregnancy and wherever necessary, Anna adapts techniques and positioning to ensure you are comfortable. She may combine your chiropractic care with gentle exercises and lifestyle guidance to create a care plan that is tailored to you through each trimester and the postnatal period. A woman’s body changes during pregnancy. Those changes include softening of the ligaments, weight increase and changes to posture. These can lead to additional pressure on joints throughout the body and especially on the spine and pelvis.
Anna has completed an 18 module course and exam that means she is certified by the Academy Council on Chiropractic Pediatrics (CACCP). A significant component of this course covered pregnancy and perinatal care and included certification in the Webster Technique, so you know that you are in the very best of hands at this most important time of creating new life.
Chiropractic for Babies and Children
Chiropractic care can be wonderful for people of all ages - including tiny newborns, toddlers and children and teens. Many people wonder why a baby would benefit from chiropractic care and if you think of chiropractic as only being about bad backs, that’s not surprising! However, chiropractic care is not only limited to pain relief. It is concerned with how the nervous system and musculoskeletal system function together. As the nervous system controls everything that happens in your body, chiropractic care is as important for babies and children as it is for adults.
Chiropractic has an excellent safety record and techniques are either adapted or specific techniques for children are used. For example, in babies only the lightest touch is used and many newborns will happily sleep through their adjustments. As children grow, Anna will select the technique most suited to them and always aims to make their visit comfortable and enjoyable. Anna is the only chiropractor in the East Riding and York areas to have completed an 18 module course and exam on paediatric and pregnancy care. This means she is certified by the Academy Council on Chiropractic Pediatrics (CACCP) and each year she completes continuing professional development (CPD) on an aspect of paediatric care.
Primitive Reflexes and Functional Neurological Assessments
Anna has a keen interest in brain development and how this affects the way we experience the world. These neurological assessments of primitive reflexes and hemispheric balance are different from chiropractic treatment. The assessments and interventions involved are used by various different health care professionals and these programmes do not fit into the Advertising Standards Authority’s description of chiropractic.
Primitive Reflexes
These are reflexes that are present at birth and help us with the first tasks of life, such as getting through the birth canal, feeding and early movements. Over time as we use our bodies, our nervous systems develop to switch these reflexes off (or integrate them).
If a primitive reflex is still present (or retained) in an older child or adult, it is a sign that the brain’s control of movement and posture has not developed appropriately. There is some evidence that children who have been diagnosed with learning disorders have more retained primitive reflexes than neurotypical children and that the presence of some primitive reflexes at 2 years old is a predictor of lower scores in development at 8 years old. When certain primitive reflexes are retained they have been associated with particular coordination, sensory or behaviour patterns. If one or more of these reflexes are present, we use exercises to integrate them.
Hemispheric Balancing
Some brain functions are wholly or mostly processed on one side (or hemisphere) of the brain. At different points in development, we tend to have dominance on one side, then the other catches up and overall balance and good communication between each side and the rest of the body should result. However, if anything disturbs this developmental process, one side can become increasingly dominant and faster in processing information than the other. This results in messy communication and affects brain output. This has been associated with coordination, social, academic and behavioural issues.