Understanding chiropractic
What is chiropractic?
A registered health profession concerned with the spine, the joints and the nerves around them. This is what a chiropractor actually does, what people come in with, and how it works at this clinic.
Chiropractic is the assessment and care of problems of the spine and the joints, muscles and nerves connected to it. Most people meet it as a way of dealing with back pain, neck pain, headaches or sciatica.
What a chiropractor does
A chiropractor takes a history, examines you, and works out which joints have lost normal position or movement and whether that explains your symptoms. Where imaging is needed to answer a question the examination cannot, X-rays are taken. What follows is usually an adjustment: a specific, controlled movement applied by hand to a single joint, often with soft tissue work and advice about movement and load alongside it.
Chiropractic care does not involve medicines or surgery. Where something is outside what a chiropractor should be handling, the right answer is a referral, and you will be told so plainly.
What people come to us with
Most appointments at this clinic start with one of the following. Whether chiropractic care may help yours depends on your history and on what the examination finds, which is what a first visit is for.
- Headaches
- Neck, shoulder, elbow and wrist pain
- Pain between the shoulder blades
- Acute and chronic lower back pain
- Disc problems and sciatica
- Hip, knee, ankle and foot pain
There is more than that list. You can read how each of the common ones is approached on the conditions pages.
Chiropractic in Australia
Chiropractic is a regulated health profession. To practise in Australia a chiropractor has to hold current registration with the Chiropractic Board of Australia,[1] and every registered practitioner appears on the public register, which anyone can search.[2] You do not need a referral to make an appointment. If you have scans, imaging or reports from a doctor or a specialist, bring them with you.
How we practise it here
Care at Advanced Chiropractic is built on the Gonstead System, which uses five separate readings of the spine and asks them to agree before anything is adjusted. That is why a first visit takes the time it does.
Is it right for you
That is an honest question and it deserves an honest answer rather than a sales pitch. The way to find out is one appointment: your history, a full examination, X-rays only if they are clinically indicated, and a report of findings where Dr Arthur tells you what he found, what he recommends, and whether he is the right person to help. See what happens at a first visit.
Sources
- 1. Chiropractic Board of Australia. Registration, 2025. View source
- 2. Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. Registers of practitioners, 2025. View source
This page is general information, not a diagnosis or a substitute for individual care. The guideline and regulatory positions above are drawn from the cited sources.
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