Are Chiropractic X-Rays Different?
We are often asked the question in our office “Are Chiropractic X-Rays different?” In this blog I will discuss what is different about Chiropractic X-Rays and traditional Medical X-Rays. I think this is an important distinction because many of our patient will come in after seeing their medical provider or have been seen at an Urgent Care or ER and tell us that they had X-Rays taken and they were told that they are “normal”. Now as you can imagine, this is very frustrating and confusing if you are the one that they said this to. I mean especially since you are the one who is in severe pain and discomfort. In your mind what you are feeling is anything but normal, and are correct to feel that something has to be wrong.
So to answer the question “Are Chiropractic X-Rays different?” The answer is Yes, they are different. However, they are not different in how they are taken or use a different technology. They are different it how they are read and interpreted by the provider. You see a Medical Doctor or Hospital radiologist has different training, philosophies, and often times different goals than a Chiropractor. The medical profession has the philosophy and goal of crisis care.
They are primarily trained in the treatment of disease and injuries. And specifically the ones who work at an Urgent Care or ER they are trained in emergency medicine. So in this model their primary job of evaluating you for a specific disease or injury that is of a serious health concern at that moment. In the realm of X-Rays, their primary focus is to try and identify a broken bone, a dislocation, or some kind of cancer or pathology. In the absence of finding any of these medical findings, the X-Rays is then deemed “Normal” by the medical provider or radiologist.
As a Chiropractor we have a different philosophy and training. We look at the body in a more holistic way, we want to identify any areas of stress on the body in which could be preventing the body from working at optimal function. In my experience 90% of people who are in pain with out any specific trauma or injury are most often suffering from some sort of chronic issue that is causing stress on the body. Lets take the example of headaches and see how this works.
Lets say you have a severe headache that has been their off and on for weeks now. Your pain is worse later in the day and has been making it harder and harder to sleep. You are tired and can’t concentrate most of the day due to the pain so one night you decide to go to the Urgent Care because you just can’t take it anymore. They most likely will start by taking an X-Ray or CT of your head and neck. Then in 99% of cases these tests will come back a “normal” meaning you don’t have a fracture, tumor, or other pathology. The doctor will come in and let you know that everything looks normal and they will prescribe a pain medication or muscle relaxer to help with the headaches.
This approach is usually successful in the short term in getting you some relief from your severe headache at the time but it does nothing to find or fix the actual cause of why you are having a headaches in the first place.
Now lets take this same example of a headache and how your care would be different in a Chiropractic office. First of all as a Chiropractor we see patients with headaches everyday and will ask very specific questions to find out about what you may be doing in your activities of daily living that may be contributing to headaches. We will want to find out about how many hours you are sitting at a computer, are you sitting or standing at work, do you look down all day or have your head turned to the right or left all day.
Then we will do a X-Ray of your head and neck looking for the same fractures, tumors, and other pathologies that the medical doctor looked for but then we will also do a chiropractic evaluation of those same X-Rays. What this consists of is specifically looking for area of stress that can be seen or the bones. With most X-Rays of people with headaches the normal cervical curve will be lost and we will see stress responses (Bone Spurs or Spondylosis) on the lower cervical vertebrae.
The X-Ray on the left is showing a significant stress response or bone spur at the C5/C6 and C6/C7 cervical vertebrae’s as well as a flattening of the normal cervical lordosis or curve.
When we see this we know that this is not a new problem it has to be a chronic issue that has been building over a period of years and is just now starting to cause symptoms. At this time we may decide to take an additional 2 X-Rays called Flexion and Extension Views. These X-Rays are taken when the patient looks up and down. It is easy to see with these X-Rays to evaluate which specific vertebrae is not moving properly and is causing the stress response in the lower neck. Once the exact vertebra that is restricted is identified we can set up a treatment plan to correct this restriction and restore the proper motion back to the cervical spine.
Headaches ultimately have many causes, but in our experience lower cervical spine dysfunction is at the top of the list. In this blog we have addressed the question of how are Chiropractic X-Rays are different. If you have ever been told that your X-Rays are “Normal” but you have pain, then we may be able to help you. We will work to find out where there may be stress in your spine which could be causing your chronic pain or discomfort. We may also take some additional X-Rays to further evaluate your spine, or if you have recent X-Rays we can use those and re-evaluate them through a Chiropractic point of view.
You can call us or book online for your first consultation.
Reed Chiropractic
250 W. Baseline Rd. #107
Tempe AZ 85283
