The vision of the Canadian Chiropractic Association is for every Canadian to have full and equitable access to chiropractic care. The mission of The Canadian Chiropractic Association is to help Canadians live healthier lives by:

1. informing the public about the benefits of chiropractic care.
2. promoting the integration of chiropractic into the health care system.
3. facilitating chiropractic research.

The Philosophy of Chiropractic

The human body has the natural power to heal itself, but sometimes it needs help in putting that power into action. Chiropractic assists the natural healing process by helping maintain, restore or enhance your health, and it does so without drugs or surgery. Chiropractors work with what is called the "total neuro-musculo-skeletal system". In plain language, that's the system that controls your nerves, muscles and bones. Because the body's various systems depend on one another to a large extent, the neuro-musculo-skeletal system plays a primary role in your health. This interaction means, for instance, that chiropractic treatment of your spine often has a beneficial effect on problems in other areas of your body, such as headaches and sciatica.

PHILOSOPHY

"Modern chiropractic does not utilize drugs or surgery"
The first historic mention of chiropractic-type treatment was by Hippocrates in ancient Greece, when it was an accepted form of therapy. The word chiropractic is derived from Greek, and means "treatment by hand".

The Spine is the First Concern

Today, chiropractic is the science which concerns itself with the relationship between structure, primarily the spine, and function, primarily the nervous system, as that relationship may affect the restoration and preservation of health.

No Drugs or Surgery

Chiropractors recognize that the body has a natural ability to fight disease and achieve stable health, and therefore use neither drugs nor surgery in their treatments. The profession maintains that these invasive techniques are often employed too readily and without the patient first having recourse to more conservative therapies.

Chiropractic pioneered the holistic approach to health care now widely espoused in North America. This approach is seen in chiropractic education and practice in the areas of nutrition, lifestyle, exercise, sleeping habits, working habits and other preventive health strategies.

PRACTICE

"Chiropractors focus on the spine in relation to the total body"

Chiropractors focus on the spine in relation to the total body and specialize in the understanding and treatment of its component bone structures, muscles and nerves. Their major therapy is manual adjustment, sometimes referred to as manipulation of the spine and extremities.

Other therapies may include the use of mobilization, massage, heat, light, ultra-sound, electrotherapy, specialized exercise programs, forms of muscle testing and development, nutrition and lifestyle counseling and general fitness.

Spinal Manipulation/Adjustment

For over one hundred years, the chiropractic profession has developed, preserved and advanced the practice of spinal manipulation. Spinal manipulation (otherwise known as adjustments, a preferred term for many chiropractors) is the core foundation of chiropractic practice. Chiropractors in Canada render spinal manipulation/adjustments to the majority of their patients and provide millions of manipulative/adjustive procedures annually. A recent study in the United States found that well over 90% of all manipulative procedures are performed by chiropractors.

It is the position of The Canadian Chiropractic Association that Doctors of Chiropractic are the only health care practitioners who are proficient by virtue of their education, clinical training and manual skills to render articular adjustments and spinal manipulation to the Canadian public. Furthermore, in the public's best interest, The CCA maintains that the provision of articular adjustments/spinal manipulation is unsafe in the hands of a health care provider who does not hold the equivalent training related to the practice of articular adjustments/spinal manipulation, in any professional, undergraduate, graduate or post-graduate course of study in Canada today. In short, chiropractors as a professional group are the only health care providers qualified for the practice of spinal manipulation.

Consider some of the findings of the New Zealand Royal Commission into Chiropractic, which conducted two years of hearings and published a lengthy report based on sworn statements from recognized experts in all fields of health care, that: 1) chiropractors are the only health practitioners who are necessarily equipped by their education and training to carry out spinal manual therapy; 2) chiropractors carry out spinal diagnosis and therapy at a sophisticated and refined level; 3) spinal manual therapy in the hands of a registered chiropractor is safe.