Massage, Acupuncture, Reflexology

All the chiropractors at Essential chiropractic have undergone 4 or 5 years of chiropractic education at certified chiropractic education institutions, accredited for the UK by the General Chiropractic Council (GCC) and for the rest of the European Union by the European Council for Chiropractic Education (ECCE). These are globally accepted qualifications.

The simple answer to that is yes. It is much safer than taking pain killers or many other treatments for certain problems. There are no drugs and no surgery involved with chiropractic treatment. Any risks involved with your treatment will be fully explained by the chiropractors at Essential chiropractic before treatment is commenced.

Depending on the nature of the problem and the length of time the problem has been present, the number of treatments varies. Most mechanical back problems respond favorably in 9-12 treatments. Some patients take more and some take less. This is often dependent on patient concordance with home exercises and ergonomic advice.

A gentle, specific “thrust” delivered by hand or instrument. The purpose of the adjustment is to correct your restriction of movement that has occurred within joints and muscles and restore a normal range of motion to help your body perform as it should do.

The sound you hear during an adjustment is not your spine “cracking” or “popping” as is commonly perceived. The sound is created by gas (in this case, nitrogen) being released when the joints are slightly separated. Another example of this phenomenon would be the “pop” sound you hear when the cork is taken out of a champagne bottle. Not all chiropractic adjusting techniques produce this noise. In fact, some adjusting techniques use little force and thus produce no noise at all.

This question is commonly asked because people associate the “cracking” or “popping” of their back or neck with a chiropractic adjustment. The two are not the same thing. If you have the desire to “crack” your neck or back it is often because one area of their spine has restricted motion, causing another area to move too much and “pop”, sometimes by itself. It’s the fixated or jammed area that needs to be properly adjusted by a chiropractor to restore normal range of movement. When you “crack” your back you may be relieving the tension for a little while. Do you notice how it keeps coming back? People who makes a habit out of “cracking” or “popping” their back or neck needs to go to a Doctor of Chiropractic to have their spine checked. Even chiropractors cannot adjust themselves.

No. The extent to which you choose to benefit from your chiropractic care is ultimately your choice. Some people choose to have regular check-up or maintenance chiropractic treatment as they feel that they benefit from it. Some people come weekly, some monthly; some come once every six months and some just come when they are in pain. It really is an individual choice.

In 1995 the estimated cost to the NHS was £481 million a year (min max range £356 - £649 million), with non NHS costs (such as private consultations and prescriptions) being an additional £197 million. Costs of DSS benefits is estimated at about £1.4 billion with lost production estimated at £3.8 billion. This breaks down to an annual NHS cost to a purchasing authority of 250,000 people of £2.2 million (range £1.6 - £2.9 million). A typical GP practice with five GPs and 10,000 patients would bear costs of about £88,000 (range £65,000 - £118,000).*

Half the total days lost due to back pain are due to the 85% of people who are off work for short periods of less than seven days, and half by the 15% of people who are off work for more than one month. The longer a person is off work with back pain, the lower their chance of returning to work. After six months there is about a 50% chance of returning to work; this has fallen to about 25% at one year and 10% by two years.**

* Maniadakis N, Gray A. The economic burden of back pain in the UK. Pain 2000;84:95-103.

** Bandolier. Evidence based healthcare.

At Essential Chiropractic everyone is welcome. We treat people from all over the Sussex region. Here are some towns that people travel to us from to get chiropractic treatment:

Ansty, Ardingly, Ashington, Ashurst, Balcombe, Billingshurst, Bolney, Bramber, Brighton, Burgess Hill, Climping, Colgate, Copthorne, Cowfold, Crawley, Crowborough, Cuckfield, Ditchling, East Chiltington, East Grinstead, East Hoathly, Findon, Forest Row, Hassocks, Haywards Heath, Heathfield, Henfield, Herstmonceux, Hickstead, Horley, Horsham, Horsted Keynes, Hove, Ifield, Lewes, Mannings Heath, Mayfield, Nyetimber, Old Heathfield, Partridge Green, Patching, Peacehaven, Plumpton, Polegate, Portslade, Poynings, Pulborough, Pyecombe, Ringmer, Rusper, Saltdean, Seaford, Sharpthorne, Shipley, Shoreham-by-Sea, Sompting, Steyning, Storrington, Turners Hill, Uckfield, Warninglid, West Chiltington, West Hoathly and Worthing.