A Doctor of Chiropractic is a specialist in nerves, joints, and muscles, who uses her hands and other natural means to give care. Just like we know that a cut on our hands can heal and go away all on its own, chiropractors know that that our bodies can use this natural healing ability to heal other problems if we keep ourselves healthy enough for our bodies to do their job.

Chiropractors help their patients get well without the use of drugs or surgery. They do this by adjusting areas in your spine where the bones either aren't moving as well as they should be or aren't aligned as well as they should be. This is important to us, because it means that the nerves in this area are getting irritated and aren't working to the best of their ability anymore.

In addition to adjusting the spine, Dr. O'Loughlin also makes recommendations on nutrition and exercise.

An adjustment is a treatment given either with the chiropractor's hands or an instrument that will affect your spine and help your body heal.

The "crack" we sometimes hear in chiropractic is the sound of gas being released from inside the spine's joints. This is the same "pop" noise we hear when we open a can of soda pop that is under pressure. The crack noise is not harmful to your body, and it is not the sound of your bones cracking. Dr. O'Loughlin uses a lot of different techniques to adjust the spine. Not all of her treatments use this "cracking," and if you prefer, she can use other gentler techniques that use no noise but are still effective.

Health is more than just "not being sick." Health is when your body and mind are functioning at their maximum ability, and your nervous system is coordinating and controlling the rest of your body the best that it possibly can. Health is, therefore, when you are able to reach your fullest potential.

Your nervous system is made up of your brain, spinal cord, and all the nerves in your body. This is the master system that tells all the different parts of your body what to do. Your nervous system is negatively affected by physical, chemical, and psychological stresses. Physical stresses come from falls, overexerting ourselves, bumps, and bruises. Chemical stresses include everything from the junk food we eat to the pollution and medication we put in our bodies. Psychological stresses include our negative thoughts, mental stresses at home or work, and spiritual stresses. If any of these three types of stresses are going on in your life, your nervous system will be affected and won't be able to do its job to the best of its ability. Your nervous system will not be able to send the right information from the brain to the rest of your body. By getting a chiropractic adjustment, the subluxation in your spine will be corrected and the associated nerves won't be irritated anymore, so that your body can start to heal itself.

Every type of medical treatment has associated risks. Luckily, since chiropractic is a natural, non-invasive treatment, the risks are minimal compared to taking medications or having surgery. Dr. O'Loughlin has safely and effectively adjusted a variety of people from children just days old to elderly and terminally-ill patients.