Dr. Mary Frances Howard, D. C.

The question is: How do I know if my knee is out of alignment? Since you may have as many as 360 joints, I wonder how do you know whether any of them are out of alignment and very important: why should you care? Pain is one of the indicators of malalignment, but shoddy alignment may not be the only cause of pain. I have been confronted with a painful knee and
found the bones to be in perfect alignment. Of course, I am disappointed because that means I can’t help by aligning the bones that are involved in the knee joint: the distal femur, proximal fibula, proximal tibia and the patella. Other components of the knee may be involved such as one or more of 11 ligaments, or the bursa, or tendons. There may be a genetic problem such as Osgood-Schlatters causing inflammation. Sometimes it is necessary to have an X-ray, MRI, or CT scan to determine how serious the problem is or to learn more about the components of your knee. The simple answer is that as a chiropractor who has taken special courses to also specialize in extremity alignment, I would need to perform some orthopedic and chiropractic tests and possibly some special studies to determine the alignment condition of your knee. I think that in order for you to determine the answer you would need to consult an expert Doctor of Chiropractic specializing in extremities. The reason you should care about joint alignment is because when joints are left out of alignment they wear wrong- just like tires, but with the painful consequence of arthritis in years to come.

Back pain, when treated by Chiropractors, is relieved using a procedure to align the vertebra. There are many different ways to accomplish this and it depends on not only the Doctor’s skill but also how long the patient has been suffering. Since everybody is different it becomes not only a science but also an art. Some Doctors of Chiropractic only use their hands while others use physical therapy modalities such as ultrasound or electrical muscle stimulation.

For treatment of sciatica for myself, my first thought is I need to see my Chiropractor because most of the time there are bones out of alignment causing the nerve to have improper pressure on it. If there is muscle spasm in the low back or pelvic area then acupuncture may help speed the recovery.

You can go to the chiropractor for foot pain. However, some chiropractors do not treat foot pain. Also, there will also be a division among the ones who do treat foot pain. First, it is necessary to determine what is causing the foot pain with an exam. After that, some chiropractors will simple put ultrasound or electrical muscle stimulation or other physical therapy on your foot. Other chiropractors have taken special classes to determine how to set the bones in your feet back in alignment and will not use physical therapy. And other chiropractors will do both: correct the alignment and use physical therapy. Personally, the last choice is my preference and that is what I do for my patients. Find out by asking the office staff prior to making an appointment.

In answer to the question: “Is it bad to crack your back every day?” you should never “crack your back.” As a Doctor of Chiropractic, I take care and adjust lots of backs. I never “crack” them. If you are “cracking” your own back you are loosening the ligaments and making it more unstable. Usually when someone “pops” or “cracks” their own vertebra it feels better for a couple of hours. But then discomfort returns because all that happened is you moved a bone that was already too moveable. That is the wrong bone. When a bone is slightly out of place it is fixated and really stuck. This requires expert care.