If you’re looking for alternatives to medication for pain relief, you may want to consider chiropractic treatments. They are an effective pain management option for people suffering from back or neck pain. Chiropractors seek to ease pain, restore joint function, and prevent further injuries to your muscles.
If you’re unsure about chiropractic treatments being the right choice for you, keep reading. This article introduces you to chiropractic care and the various ways in which it can benefit your overall health.
What is Chiropractic Care?
A chiropractor is a healthcare professional who cares for your neuromusculoskeletal system, which includes your nerves, muscles, bones, tendons, and ligaments. Chiropractic treatments are a type of complementary medicine where a trained professional helps realign your joints using specific hands-on manipulations.
Chiropractors do not prescribe any pain relief medication. They only assist the body’s natural ability to heal itself using manipulation techniques. Spinal manipulation involves using your hands or special instruments to apply force to a joint, and move it into a position that ensures better alignment and pain relief.
What Conditions Can a Chiropractor Treat?
Most chiropractic treatments focus on improving your spinal health. However, depending on your issue, they can be designed to strengthen other parts of your body as well. Chiropractors believe that improving the neuromusculoskeletal system’s ability to perform benefits not only the spine but also improves the functioning of other systems throughout your body.
In addition to easing back and neck pains, chiropractors also treat tension headaches, migraines, joint pain, sleep disorders, muscle pain, sciatica, bad posture, and any other problem that requires chiropractic adjustments.
Why Should You See a Chiropractor?
Going through the motions of everyday life can cause extreme strain on our bodies. As a result, you may suffer from persistent back or neck pain, headaches, migraines, and joint aches. You could also experience some of these pains due to an illness or an injury.
A chiropractor can help alleviate long-term or sporadic pain in your muscles and promote overall wellness. Paying a visit to the chiropractor can be plenty beneficial for you. Here’s why.
1. Eases Back Pain
Multiple factors can contribute to back pain, including poor working habits and ergonomics, repetitive tasks, and continuous sitting for long periods of time. Irrespective of the causes of back pain, most doctors encourage patients to pursue non-medication treatments before taking medication to ease the pain.
Chiropractic treatments are an effective non-invasive option to treat both short-term and chronic back pain. A treatment plan usually involves one or more manual adjustments, where the chiropractor manipulates your joints to improve the range and quality of movement. Some treatment plans incorporate nutritional counseling and exercise therapy, depending on the doctor’s evaluations and the patient’s preferences.
2. Improves Posture
If you have a noticeable postural imbalance, like a high right shoulder, it can have long-term consequences on your neuromusculoskeletal system. Chiropractic therapy can help correct a number of postural problems, like kyphosis, pelvis or hip unleveling, and damages to the neck, mid-back, and lower back curvatures.
Before you begin treatment, your chiropractor will perform a thorough examination of your back and spine. This examination also includes:
- Asking questions about your lifestyle
- Assessing your spinal alignment
- Observing the way you sit and walk
- Measuring visible deviations from ideal posture
- Testing mobility & flexibility ranges
- Orthopedic and neurological testing
During your treatment, the chiropractor will use slow joint movements to make adjustments to your shoulders. They can help reduce tension in the surrounding muscles and ease you into a better posture without any pain.
3. Helps with Neck Pain
Neck pain is a common problem that poor lifestyle choices can aggravate. If you frequently bend your neck to use your phone or work at a job that requires you to sit for long hours, you probably experience some levels of discomfort in your neck.
A chiropractor can help ease your neck pain by realigning your spine and releasing accumulated tension in your neck muscles. Gentle spinal manipulation, an exercise routine, and recommended lifestyle changes can help ease your neck pain.
4. Reduces Scoliosis Symptoms
Most people with scoliosis find that non-medication and non-invasive treatments can effectively reduce their pain. Chiropractic care can help improve the Cobb angle of people with scoliosis. The Cobb angle measures the side-to-side deformity of a person’s spine. Chiropractic treatments can bring about pain relief by decreasing the pressure on your nervous system and strengthening your body’s core.
Chiropractors can demonstrate joint strengthening exercises and prescribe healthier ways to move and rest to help minimize pain. They also recommend routines and diets that do not aggravate your symptoms but are suited to your lifestyle and wellbeing.
What to Expect on Your Visit to the Chiropractor
During your first visit, the chiropractor would extensively discuss your present condition, medical history, and lifestyle. They will also conduct a physical examination, which may include diagnostic tests such as X-rays, CT scans, and MRI scans.
Based on your symptoms and scan results, your chiropractor would develop a treatment plan that would work to your long-term benefit. Most chiropractors incorporate other physical therapies into your treatment plan to deliver better results. So nutritional counseling, icing and heat therapies, massages, and exercises can all be a part of your treatment. You can discuss which therapies you’d prefer with your chiropractor and come up with a collaborative treatment plan.
If you experience frequent migraines or suffer from chronic back pain or muscle aches, consider chiropractic treatment options. At Synergy Rehab, our experts provide personalized treatment plans and informative tools to help you better understand your condition. Our skilled team of professionals specializes in various rehabilitation treatments and is committed to providing quality healthcare services.
Synergy Rehab is available in several locations across British Columbia, including New Westminster, Richmond, and Surrey. If you have questions, call us at 604-503-1688 or contact us online. Click here to book an appointment.
