Overview

Chiropractic care (also simply "chiropractic") is a health care discipline which emphasizes the inherent power of the body to heal itself without the use of drugs or surgery. It focuses on the relationship between the body's structure (primarily the spine) and function (as coordinated by the nervous system) and how that relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health. When appropriate, doctors of chiropractic work in cooperation with the patient's other health care practitioners.

Chiropractic doctors diagnose and treat patients whose health problems are associated with the body's muscular, nervous, and skeletal systems. Chiropractors believe that interference with these systems can impair normal functioning, cause pain, and lower resistance to disease. They are most well known for the hands-on technique they practice to adjust imbalances in the patient's skeletal system, particularly the spine.

The chiropractic approach to healthcare is holistic, stressing the patient's overall health and wellness. It recognizes that many factors affect health, including exercise, diet, rest, environment, and heredity. To learn more, watch the video profile of "Chiropractors."

You can download, save and print a PDF of this career profile:

Chiroprator Chiroprator 05 Oct 2010 [pdf, 144 KB]

Working Conditions