It's early January - a New Year - and you've decided this is going to be the year you actually fulfill your list of New Year's resolutions. This is going to be the year you finally start taking good care of yourself. You're going to exercise regularly, you're going to lose weight, and you're going to find our whether chiropractic care can make a difference in your life.

You've been promising yourself good health for years. Your friends and even some family members have been recommending chiropractic health care to you for a very long time. You decide you're ready to take action and you make an appointment to see your local chiropractor.

Chiropractic health care is more important now than ever before. Today 47 million Americans are without any form of health insurance. Another 25 million Americans are underinsured. Health care costs continue to rise and household incomes have been flat for many years. Chiropractic health care can play a large part in the solution to our health care crisis.

Chiropractic care is low-cost but provides high value. Chiropractic treatment is focused on the musculoskeletal system - muscles, joints, and bones - but is designed to primarily address the functioning of the nerve system. In a word, chiropractic care makes your nerve system more efficient. And an efficient system of nerve supply is necessary for optimal functioning of all other critical body systems - your digestive, cardiovascular, immune, and respiratory systems.

Chiropractic care utilizes a hands-on approach, and office visits provide real, personal interactions between you and your chiropractor. Your chiropractor is highly trained in a variety of disciplines - including restorative exercise and nutritional evaluation - and will make recommendations that are specifically designed for your needs.

Chiropractic care itself - called spinal adjustments - is gentle and relaxing. Immediate results often include increased mobility of the neck, back, shoulders, and hips. People often report sensations of increased alertness and increased focus. And for those with back-related pain, improvement is often noted within 24 or 48 hours.

Additional profound benefits of chiropractic care derive from its direct effect on nerve system functioning.^1,2 Although chiropractic health care is not specifically a treatment for headaches, allergies, asthma, menstrual cramps, or digestive problems, improvement in one's health may occur across the board as an indirect result of chiropractic therapy.

So, chiropractic care provides a lot of bang for your buck - a lot of health benefit for your health care dollar. And at your chiropractor's office, you not only receive the benefit of treatment but also the benefit of health-care knowledge - you learn about how your body works and how to take care of it. Your chiropractor is an educator as well as a health-care provider, interested in all aspects of your health and well-being.<sup>3

1</sup>Bronfort G, et al: Efficacy of spinal manipulation and mobilization for low back pain and neck pain: a systematic review and best evidence synthesis. Spine J 4(3):335-356, 2004
²Stuber KJ, Smith DL: Chiropractic treatment of pregnancy-related low back pain: a systematic review of the evidence. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 31(6):447-454, 2008
³Johnson C, et al: Chiropractic and public health: current state and future vision.
J Manipulative Physiol Ther 31(6):397-410, 2008