Chiropractic Care
Let's REALIGN our body, RENEW our mind, RESTORE our spirit & REJOICE in the POWER within! -Dr. Melissa T. Ferguson BSN, RN, CBC, DC
Wellness Care for all ages and athletic backgrounds
Understanding that the brain controls every organ through nerves that leave the spine at various levels, the brain-body connection becomes essential to chiropractic care. The success of the brain-body connection is clearly linked to the health and functionality of the spinal column, housing the nervous system. We can experience an ineffective brain-body connection through damage, misalignment (known as subluxation), altered curves and imbalance of the spine. Essentially, when vertebrae are out of alignment, pressure can be applied on the nerves in the area, affecting the path of communication to the body. Regardless of symptoms you may be experiencing, your brain must effectively communicate with the body, and it’s therefore essential to care for your spine. Chiropractic is so much more than simply a means of relieving any pain. With a holystic approach, chiropractic techniques look to uncover deeper reasons for your problems, evaluating your condition in a more complete manner in order to discover any other techniques that may assist you on your journey towards wellbeing. Ultimately, the goal of chiropractic treatment is to restore the body to a natural state of optimal health through a clear brain-body connection. Much like rewiring your home, chiropractic care aims to ensure your system is all properly connected in order to function at its most optimal, and to ensure that damage to these circuits don’t create new or unforeseen problems in the body.
Preconception, Pregnancy/Perinatal/Postpartum Care & Breastfeeding Support
Chiropractic care is a commonly used treatment for musculoskeletal pain in pregnancy. Low back pain, pelvic pain, and other neuromuscular complaints are prevalent in pregnancy and contribute to significant maternal discomfort in many women. As pregnant women move into their second and third trimesters, their centers of mass shift anteriorly, causing an increase in lumbar lordosis, which causes low back and pelvic girdle pain. Quite often, the sacroiliac joint dysfunction can be relieved with a simple adjustment by a chiropractor in minutes. Dr. Ferguson received her pregnancy/perinatal and Webster certification through the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA) and is able to help ease discomfort during your pregnancy by adjusting your spine and using the Webster technique to balance out your pelvis to prepare you for an easier birth experience. Dr. Ferguson is also a Certified Breastfeeding Counselor (CBC) and has been assisting moms with breastfeeding for over 16 years!
Autism & ADD/ADHD support and guidance
Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. According to the Centers for Disease Control, autism affects an estimated 1 in 44 children in the United States today and the numbers are rapidly climbing. Several factors may influence the development of autism, and it is often accompanied by sensory sensitivities and medical issues such as gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, seizures or sleep disorders, as well as mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression and attention issues. Signs of autism usually appear by age 2 or 3. Some associated development delays can appear even earlier, and often, it can be diagnosed as early as 18 months. Research shows that early intervention leads to positive outcomes later in life for people with autism. In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association merged four distinct autism diagnoses into one umbrella diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). They included autistic disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder, pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) and Asperger syndrome. Many forms of Autism have an altered sensory information communicated between neurons. This is why Chiropractic Care can be extremely beneficial to these patients. Correcting the misalignment of the spine reduces interferences in the nervous system. After having their spine adjusted, many patients and their families have reported that the patient is more relaxed and displays more eye contact and have an increased willingness to be social. Some patients report chiropractic care to have a similar sensation of stress relief they experience from stimming which is connected to the nervous system. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic condition that affects millions of children starting before the age of 12 and in some children, they're noticeable as early as 3 years of age. ADHD symptoms can be mild, moderate or severe, and they may also continue into adulthood. ADHD is a known central nervous system disorder. When there is stress and tension in the nervous system, children tend to behave erratically, have difficulty concentrating, seem overly sensitive, and have meltdowns for no apparent reason. Chiropractic care helps by calming the nervous system which allows them to function at a higher level with mental clarity. Studies and case reports have demonstrated a link between improved behaviors with consistent gentle chiropractic spinal adjustments, with noticeably a decrease in impulsiveness and an increase in attentiveness as the nervous system is restored.