When Should You See a Chiropractor?
Whether you have an aching back, migraines, muscle spasms, or another painful condition, chiropractic care offers an effective natural solution. Not sure if your symptoms warrant a visit to the chiropractic office? Pick up the phone if you experience any of these complaints or concerns:
Backaches
Low back pain affects 619 million people throughout the world, according to the World Health Organization. If you're one of them, you may be feeling a little frustrated at your inability to find relief for your pain. Although muscle relaxants and over-the-counter and prescription medication eases pain, the results are short-lived. Once the medication wears off, pain can return.
Chiropractic treatment relieves pain and often keeps it from returning. Spinal manipulation, also known as an "adjustment," is one of the treatments your chiropractor uses to relieve your back pain. Quick, focused pressure applied during this treatment realigns the vertebrae in your spine, reducing pain and stiffness.
Patients with acute low back pain saw modest improvements in pain and function after spinal manipulation, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2017.
Neck Pain
Neck pain often accompanies back pain and can happen if the vertebrae in your neck are misaligned or muscles and other tissues are uncomfortably tight. Common causes of neck pain include:
Poor Posture
Sleeping in an Awkward Position
Tilting Your Head to View Screens and Digital Devices
Neck Injuries, Including Whiplash
Osteoarthritis or Rheumatoid Arthritis
Herniated Discs
Compressed Nerves
Stress
In addition to spinal manipulation therapy, your chiropractor may use soft tissue therapies, like massage, to relieve tightness and muscle spasms.
Headaches and Migraines
Do your headaches and migraines keep you at home when you'd rather be enjoying life? Chiropractic treatments could relieve your pain and reduce the frequency and severity of your headaches.
Global Advantages in Health & Medicine noted the benefits of chiropractic care for migraines in n a case series published in 2019. Spinal manipulation and soft tissue techniques helped one patient reduce her migraines from three to four times a week to once per month.
Another patient mentioned during the case series had migraines almost every day. Although Botox decreased the frequency of her headaches, neck pain was a constant problem. Chiropractors discovered that trigger points (knots in the muscles) caused the pain and used soft tissue release, spinal mobilization and spinal manipulation to ease the patient's pain. After chiropractic treatment, the intensity of her headaches decreased by 50%.
Sports Injuries and Performance Issues
Chiropractic treatment improves blood flow and decreases inflammation after an injury, which can speed healing time. Treatments also break up scar tissue that can lead to stiff joints.
Visits to the chiropractor could help you improve your performance by:
- Improving Flexibility and Range of Motion
- Enhancing Balance and Posture by Keeping Your Spine Properly Aligned
- Increasing Muscle Strength by Eliminating Misalignments or Muscle Tension That Could Cause Muscle Imbalances
- Shortening the Recovery Period After Exertion
Numbness and Tingling
Do you experience numbness, tingling, or weakness in your arms or legs? These symptoms can occur if a misaligned vertebra, a tight muscle, or a bulging disc presses on your nerves. When your spine is correctly aligned, pressure on nerves decreases. If your pain is caused by herniated disc, your chiropractor may recommend flexion-distraction therapy.
Poor Balance/Frequent Falls
A misaligned spine and tight joints, ligaments, and tendons can make it harder for you to keep your balance. Chiropractic care corrects these issues and can even help you reduce your risk for falling as you age.
Stress
Have you noticed that your neck and shoulders hurt and feel tight when you feel stressed? Unfortunately, your muscles may not relax as soon as your stress decreases. Over time, those tight muscles can pull your vertebrae out of alignment. Chiropractic care relieves your pain with massage, ultrasound therapy, spinal manipulation, and other therapies. Treatments also release endorphins and serotonin, two hormones that reduce pain.
Ready to find out how chiropractic care could help you? Contact our office to schedule your appointment with the chiropractor.
Sources:
World Health Organization: Low Back Pain, 6/9/2023
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/low-back-pain
Journal of the American Medical Association: Association of Spinal Manipulative Therapy With Clinical Benefit and Harm for Acute Low Back Pain Systematic Review and Meta-analysis, 4/11/2017
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2616395
NCBI: Global Advantages in Health & Medicine: Integrating Chiropractic Care Into the Treatment of Migraine Headaches in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Case Series, 3/28/2019
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6440032/
Chiropractic & Manual Therapies: The Role of Chiropractic Care in Older Adults, 2/21/12