At your initial exam, you’ll go through your past medical history with the chiropractor, and he or she will determine areas of restricted joint motion, disc injury, muscle spasm, and ligament injury by performing a few simple tests.

Your chiropractor will also look at how you walk, as well as your overall posture. Those details will help him or her understand your body mechanics and how your spine moves.

You may also need an imaging test, such as an x-ray or an MRI. After the examination, the chiropractor will diagnose your condition and develop a treatment plan to reduce back pain and other symptoms of degenerative disc disease.

Educational and licensing requirements for doctors of chiropractic (DC's) are among the most stringent of any of the health care professions.

DC's are educated in nationally accredited, four-year doctoral graduate school programs through a curriculum that includes a minimum of 4,200 hours of classroom, laboratory and clinical internship, with the average DC program equivalent in classroom hours to allopathic (MD) and osteopathic (DO) medical schools.

They are designated as physician-level providers in the vast majority of states and the federal medicare program, and are experts in diagnosing and treating discs that have more than their share of wear and tear.

Presented as a service to the community by: Union County Chiropractic Clinic, 110 Skyline Drive, Maynardville, TN (865) 992-7000 www.unioncountychiropractic.com