Generally speaking, our spine is composed of 24 vertebral bones; 7 bones in the neck, 12 bones in the upper back attached to 12 pairs of ribs, and 5 bones in the low back. At the base our spine is the pelvis. Between each vertebra is a disc which acts as a shock absorber for the spine and allows our spine to twist and turn.
Viewed from behind, your spine should be a straight line with no side to side bending. Viewed from the side, your spine should have 3 curves; the neck and low back should be smoothly curved toward the front of your body (lordosis) while your mid back curves toward the back (kyphosis). These natural spinal curves allow the spine to function like a spring to decrease the pressure on the joints when we go about our daily activities.
Our nervous system is made up of the brain, the spinal cord and millions of nerves that branch out from the spinal cord to all areas of the body. The spinal cord is housed in the posterior part of the spinal column, keeping is safe from direct trauma.
Under normal healthy conditions, we are able to move our body freely but in some cases, such as after trauma or injury, repetitive movements, prolonged poor posture, emotional stress, degeneration changes or other damage to the spine, the normal function can be affected which may lead to areas of restricted movement or misalignment of the bones. This misalignment or loss of normal motion is called a subluxation. Subluxations can affect a variety of health problems as well as interfere with our nervous system’s ability to send and receive nerve signals which may lead to symptoms such as pain, numbness or weakness.
The aim of spine and physiotherapy treatment is to optimize the function of our spine in areas that might be causing pressure on the nervous system, inhibiting its ability to function properly. Because of the proximity of the spinal column and to the nervous system, it is easy to see how a poorly functioning spine could hinder the nervous system’s ability to operate.
Your physiotherapist will take a detailed history and perform an examination to determine the cause of your symptoms. Depending on your condition, further tests might be required. After your examination, your physiotherapist will perform necessary adjustments to areas of subluxation to aid in the natural healing process of the body.
Spine and physiotherapy treatment focuses on our nervous system, emphasizing the healing ability of the body to restore health concepts. Our spine and physiotherapist diagnose patient’s problem through orthopedic, neurological, physical examination, blood and urine tests and imaging tests, and prescribe diagnostic, requiring the physical examination, imaging photographic examination as well as the electronic diagnostic tests. Patients will be detailed interpretation of X-ray tomography or ultrasound clips and other imaging findings. According to the results of diagnostic tests, our spine and physiotherapist will use a specific type of manipulation called an adjustment that does not involve drugs or surgery to improve health problems.