FAQs

Do I need a referral from a GP to see a chiropractor?

Chiropractors are primary contact, primary healthcare practitioners – as such, no form of referral is required as a prerequisite to visit a chiropractor.

Am I too old for chiropractic care?

Chiropractic care is growing in popularity, especially amongst people in their later years who are looking for a natural healing modality without the risks of over-medication and side-effects of prescription medication.

Restoring better spinal function can help improve mobility, vitality, endurance and appetite. Many patients report improvements with arthritic symptoms and other chronic ailments often associated with the aging process. The adjusting technique your chiropractor uses is modified for maximum comfort and results.

Bremer Chiropractic always encourages a collaborative relationship between patients, their GP and their chiropractor.

How long until I get results?

Sometimes results happen really quickly; for other patients it can take weeks or months. Many factors affect our healing processes. Within a week or so, most patients are able to experience encouraging relief from symptoms. Long standing problems have often led to muscle weakness, soft tissue damage and degenerative changes. These problems can take longer to be corrected and different people will respond at different rates.

How often should I see a chiropractor?

Some patients depend on chiropractic care when they have episodes of pain. Others choose chiropractic as part of their ongoing health care. How long you benefit from care and how regularly you choose to attend is, of course, up to you.

How does chiropractic work?

Chiropractic adjustment is the skill of using a specific force in a precise direction, applied to a joint that is fixated, ‘locked up’ or not moving properly. This adds motion to the joint, helping the joints to gradually regain more normal motion and function. The purpose of this safe and natural procedure is to permit improved spinal function, improved nervous system function and improved health.

You may experience various types of adjustment, either with the chiropractor’s hands or via a specially designed instrument. Some adjustment methods are quick whereas others require a slow, constant or indirect pressure.

After years of university training and clinical experience, your chiropractor is highly skilled in the delivery of a variety of adjusting approaches.

What are the benefits of regular quality chiropractic care?

Chiropractic is based upon the understanding that good health depends, in part, upon a normally functioning nervous system.

Quality chiropractic care works by helping to restore your own innate ability to be healthy. When your nervous system is working well, all the cells, tissues and organs of your body are designed to function well and resist disease and ill health. The chiropractic approach to better health is to locate and help reduce interferences to your natural state of being healthy.

A common interference to the nervous system is the twenty four moving bones of the spinal column. A loss of normal motion or position of these bones can irritate or impair the function of the nervous system. This can disrupt the transmission of controlling nerve impulses.

Chiropractors aim to improve nervous system function primarily through chiropractic adjustments (with particular attention to the spine, skull and pelvis) to help remove any interference that may be impairing normal health.

What training do Chiropractors have?

Chiropractors are required to adhere to strict and extensive educational requirements and standards to become registered health professionals in Australia.

Australian chiropractors are five-year university trained and are government registered and government regulated health professionals. Three Australian universities currently offer chiropractic degree programs : RMIT University in Melbourne, Macquarie University in Sydney and Murdoch University in WA.

Many Australian chiropractors received similar education in the US, Europe or New Zealand.

Is it safe?

The New Zealand Government’s recent inquiry found chiropractic to be ‘remarkably safe’. Chiropractic has an excellent safety record. It is the result of a conservative approach to health that avoids invasive procedures or addictive drugs.

In relation to the treatment of neck and back pain, studies have shown that a course of chiropractic care was 250 times safer than a course of anti-inflammatory drugs (1).

(1) Dabbs, V., & Lauretti, W.J. (1995). A Risk Assessment of Cervical Manipulation vs NSAIDs for the Treatment of Neck Pain. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 18(8), 530-536