The chiropractic profession has been evolving ever since its founding on September 18, 1895, when the first spinal adjustment restored Harvey Lillard’s hearing in Davenport, Iowa. Today, Doctors of Chiropractic (DC) are specializing in fields such as pediatrics, sports performance, diagnostic imaging, orthopedics and functional neurology in order to better help patients with specific needs without the use of drugs and surgery.

For instance, many patients with bone-on-bone arthritis are often told that total joint replacement is their only hope for pain relief. There is, however, a promising, non-invasive alternative.

Trigenics Functional Neurology is a treatment that targets the nervous system, leading to immediate pain reduction, improved muscle function and increased range of motion in the osteoarthritic knee, shoulder or other affected joints.

Traditionally, treating joint issues involved stretching tight muscles and exercising weak ones to address functional imbalances around a dysfunctional joint. Unfortunately, this often results in little improvement or can even make the patient feel worse.

Instead, the chiropractor with knowledge of the nervous system and Trigenics looks at the body and brain as a powerful, interconnected computer system. Sensory nerves within the joints and muscles constantly send signals, or input, to the brain. The brain-computer processes this input then produces output back to the muscles and joint.

When a joint is injured, these sensory nerves let the brain know about the injury and the brain sends signals back to the muscles to protect the joint by tightening up some muscles or weakening others. As healing progresses, these sensory nerves usually communicate this healing to the brain and normal function returns. Sometimes these nerves continue telling the brain that the joint is still injured, and the once protective muscle reactions continue, causing dysfunction of the joint and the wear and tear of osteoarthritis can progress over time.

Rather than working on the output side with stretching and exercises in an attempt to change the output, the knowledgeable chiropractor prefers to use Trigenics to change the input to the brain and allow the brain to immediately change the output. This preferred method results in the re-setting of the nerve pathways with return of the normal length and strength of the muscles and restoration of the joint being treated.