Too many people suffer everyday from chronic or nagging pain that could be relieved with the right chiropractic care.
Having a chiropractor you know and trust to help you get free from pain is an essential part of a healthy, active life.
What Is Chiropractic Care All About?
Chiropractors are medical professionals with unique training to manage many common health conditions.
Chiropractors utilize treatments, including joint manipulation, soft tissue treatment, therapeutic exercise, nutrition, and patient education, to address each patient's unique situation.
As chronic pain continues to rise within the US healthcare system, chiropractors utilize proven methods to reduce pain and disability without the need for medications and surgery in most cases.
What Do Chiropractors Do?
We believe the most effective treatment for restricted joints is a chiropractic adjustment (also known as manipulation or mobilization).
Chiropractic adjustments are commonly thought to only be used to treat back pain, however, they may be utilized on any joint in the body. Improper joint movement can reduce the effectiveness of the body's total movement, resulting in pain and/or tissue injury.
Chiropractic adjustments restore motion to restricted joints and normalize overall body movement in a safe and effective manner.
Adjustments also put the body in a comfortable position to enable the necessary movement while simultaneously applying a fast, precise force to the joint. Overall chiropractic adjustments are very successful at relieving pain and improving athletic performance.
What makes chiropractic care different from other treatment methods?
Chiropractic care attempts to treat the source and not just the symptoms.
Shots, muscle relaxants, and pain drugs may only address the symptoms of the issue, but chiropractic care can help by addressing the root of the problem. There is a lesser probability of getting such symptoms later on when pain is treated at the cause.
If you only pay attention to the symptoms, it's like removing the battery from a smoke alarm because you don't like the sound, but the fire is still burning. Chiropractic care has much better solutions than that.
Chiropractors are specially trained in spinal manipulative therapy as well as in exercise/rehab. That way, movement dysfunction is attended to but so is strengthening, stretching, and shoring up the support structures of the frame.
What does a typical chiropractic examination look like?
A typical chiropractic examination will include the following:
- A thorough case history
- Observation of the way you sit and walk
- Assess spinal and extremity movement
- Orthopedic and neurological testing
- Tests of flexibility and mobility/ranges of motion
- Tests of muscle strength and glide
What Does A Chiropractor Treat?
A chiropractor can help with aches, pains, creaks, and sprains. If you have an issue with your musculoskeletal system, a chiropractor can provide you with non-drug therapy options.
Treatment that our chiropractor may offer includes:
- Adjustments: To reduce discomfort and increase range of motion.
- Soft-tissue therapy: To reduce muscle spasms and tension in the connective tissue that surrounds each muscle (fascia).
- Exercises and stretches: To restore and maintain joint stability, mobility, strength, and motor control.
- Dynamic and Kinesio Taping: To support joints or muscles as they heal.
- Referrals to integrative medicine experts: For lab testing, advanced imaging, nutrition testing, and more.
Chiropractic Care For Back Pain
Most people associate chiropractors with low back pain (LBP)- and rightly so.
LBP plagues our society as one of the most common causes of disability and healthcare expenditures. Joint dysfunction in the lower back is a primary risk factor for the development & progression of low back degeneration. (1)
Fortunately, chiropractors provide researched backed treatment of these joints through spinal manipulation, exercise, and specific patient education. Most patients have reduced pain within their first visit.
Chiropractic Care For Neck Pain
Neck pain is the second most common reason patients visit a chiropractor.
Changes to daily habits, postural stresses, and workstation ergonomics are among the most common activities resulting in a stiff or painful neck.
If neck stiffness is left untreated, a person may experience restricted joints and less range of motion. Spinal manipulation, delivered by chiropractors, has unrivaled success and safety for these types of neck pain.
Manipulation, in conjunction with exercise and ergonomic training, often alleviates symptoms quickly.
Chiropractic Care For Chronic Pain
A chiropractor will spend time with you to understand your unique pain presentation.
They will ask questions, perform a physical exam, and possibly order imaging to understand your condition entirely. Your pain is multi-dimensional, affecting many areas of your life—and so should your treatment plan.
A chiropractor can carefully craft a care plan to attack all of the postures, activities, hobbies, and stressors that may be resulting in your chronic pain.
Chiropractic Care For Headaches
Headaches affect almost half of the population. 15-25% of all headaches originate from the cervical spine.
Successfully managing headache patients requires a multifaceted approach with spinal manipulation as a cornerstone of treatment. Several studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of spinal manipulation for these types of headaches.
A recent study in The Spine Journal found that spinal manipulation cuts the number of symptomatic headache days in half, and the number of treatments has a linear dose response to improvement.
Chiropractors can quickly identify the type of headache and the most appropriate treatment strategy.