Chiropractic physician means a person licensed to treat human ailments without the use of drugs and operative surgery by the medical practice act of 1987 through the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation in the State of Illinois.
As a primary care physician Dr. Burke practices to the full scope of her license. Using holistic medicine and alternatives to drugs and surgery, she employs therapies ranging from nutritional and diet counseling, exercise and rehabilitation, soft tissue therapies, which also includes physical therapies and the chiropractic manipulation. When chosen and applied for the patients’ condition, most people respond wonderfully, recovering from their headaches, backaches, injuries, years of other chronic discomforts as well as others conditions they did not think would be helped by the Chiropractic scope of practice.
Nutritional and Diet Counseling
Nutrition is defined as “the process of nourishing or being nourished.” We are either providing our bodies with nourishment or adding toxins which we have to excrete. Dr. Burke begins with educating her patients regarding things that are toxic they may have been eating or drinking. Sometimes just removing the non-food and toxic substances can improve people’s clarity and energy. Many people retain water when they are toxic so diet corrections can aide in weight loss. Stress in daily life can prevent people from a total diet over hall but small corrections may yield big results. Results from gradual changes encourage her patients to continue on the path of more needed changes.
Trigger Point Therapy
The majority of our body is made up of muscle tissue, also called soft tissue. Dr. Burke has found that approximately 85% of her patients with chronic localized pain results from unresolved trigger points in muscles. A motor vehicle accident can cause trigger points in the front of the neck which refers pain and stiffness to the back of the neck and shoulders as well as mimicking nerve pain down the arms. Undiagnosed, it can result in years of ineffective treatments.
Trigger points can also be the result of repetitive use injury or poor postures in work or study.
Trigger Point Therapy was the result of over 25 years of research by a Dr. Janet Travell. She has written many books on the subject of diagnosing trigger points. She was also the physician to President Kennedy.
Chiropractic Adjustments
A form of therapeutics applied to the joints of the body. Joints have three physiological ranges of motion. Active – which is from the pull of the muscle. Passive – which comes from the stretch beyond the action of the muscle, and Resisted. If the joint is in normal alignment, then there is a little play or bounce in the resisted motion. Try this with your finger knuckle joint.
If the joint is non-aligned or disturbed, then there is no normal resisted play. This affects the pain free and full motion through the active and passive motions.
The joint has an enclosed capsule and fluid which lubricates the joint. When a non-aligned joint is diagnosed thru manual testing, then a slight pulse or adjustment is applied to restore the joints full and pain free function. It can act like a circuit breaker to the nervous system causing relaxation of muscles in the area. The affect on the nervous system can help restore better function to underlying organs as well.
Scar Therapy
If you have had an injury or surgery that has resulted in scar tissue you may be experiencing chronic discomfort or pain. The adhesions can harden and shorten over time resulting in blockage of fluid flow and swelling, pain on pressure or stretching, or just an ugly raised area. Dr. Burke utilizes microcurrent to soften scar tissue to restore normal function of the area.
Exercise and Rehabilitation Recommendations
This is customized for your time, needs and personal preferences. Dr. Burke considers all these factors in light of your health and abilities.