New Jersey chiropractors trying to spread the word about who they are and what they do
Published: 2009-07-04 00:07:11
Author: JEFF WEBER | MyCentralJersey.com | June 16, 2009
BRANCHBURG — In baseball, there is nothing like hearing the crack of the bat. Likewise, chiropractor patients love hearing the crack of the back.
But chiropractors do more than back cracking — and the Association of New Jersey Chiropractors, or ANJC, is trying to spread the word.
"One of our biggest challenges is not the small percentage of people who don't go to a chiropractor and won't, or those who do, it's the vast majority of people that have no idea who we are or who we're about," says Dr. Sigmund Miller, a chiropractor of 35 years who serves as executive director of the ANJC.
That's because people don't view chiropractic as a continual vessel for health and well-being. They only see it as something that's necessary when the back is out of wack.
"We're primarily focused on treating patients, hands-on, adjusting the spine and improving quality of life and making them feel better," Miller says.
In most states, that's easy to do. But in New Jersey, where about 1 million residents are treated each year by chiropractors, the task is more difficult. That's because of the state's "scope of practice."
Narrow scope
A scope of practice is the procedures, actions and processes that licensed professionals are allowed to practice. In the Garden State, it is so limited that chiropractors can only stick to strict issues of the back. And even then, their access to patients and new technologies is hampered.
"One of the most progressive states in the country has one of the most arcane and out-of-date scopes of practice, and we're working to change that," says Dr. Steven Clarke, who has been a chiropractor for the past 26 years in Nutley and also serves as the ANJC's president.
Full story
Published: 2009-07-04 00:07:11
Author: JEFF WEBER | MyCentralJersey.com | June 16, 2009
BRANCHBURG — In baseball, there is nothing like hearing the crack of the bat. Likewise, chiropractor patients love hearing the crack of the back.
But chiropractors do more than back cracking — and the Association of New Jersey Chiropractors, or ANJC, is trying to spread the word.
"One of our biggest challenges is not the small percentage of people who don't go to a chiropractor and won't, or those who do, it's the vast majority of people that have no idea who we are or who we're about," says Dr. Sigmund Miller, a chiropractor of 35 years who serves as executive director of the ANJC.
That's because people don't view chiropractic as a continual vessel for health and well-being. They only see it as something that's necessary when the back is out of wack.
"We're primarily focused on treating patients, hands-on, adjusting the spine and improving quality of life and making them feel better," Miller says.
In most states, that's easy to do. But in New Jersey, where about 1 million residents are treated each year by chiropractors, the task is more difficult. That's because of the state's "scope of practice."
Narrow scope
A scope of practice is the procedures, actions and processes that licensed professionals are allowed to practice. In the Garden State, it is so limited that chiropractors can only stick to strict issues of the back. And even then, their access to patients and new technologies is hampered.
"One of the most progressive states in the country has one of the most arcane and out-of-date scopes of practice, and we're working to change that," says Dr. Steven Clarke, who has been a chiropractor for the past 26 years in Nutley and also serves as the ANJC's president.
Full story