People visit the chiropractor for a variety of reasons including dealing with neck pain, helping with their backs and relieving some stress from the body. Many people seek out chiropractors since they want additional assistance with the aches and pains in their bodies. However, some people may wonder if they should find alternate options.
For example, you may look to foam rollers as a way to help yourself with your back or neck pain. After all, foam rollers allow you to roll against them, so you can massage your back with minimal problems. This means you should do some research and figure out how much pain you deal with, so you can pick the ideal option for your situation.
The Purpose of Foam Rollers
Foam rollers go underneath your back or neck, so you can roll it back and forth to give you a massage. This action allows you to easily alleviate some of the pain in your back, so you won’t need to focus on it.
This also costs less money and takes less time to care for your back if you decide to go with a foam roller. While this may seem like a solid alternative to a chiropractor, the foam roller can’t provide as deep of a massage as a professional. On top of this point, the foam roller requires effort on your part while a chiropractor will handle the work for you. However, it does have its uses, so we want to talk about when you should use a foam roller or a chiropractor.
Minor Aches and Pains
Sometimes, you may experience minor aches and pains in your back, so if this happens, you may find some success with a foam roller. Minor aches and pains mean you only feel the pain on occasion in small amounts. This means you can use the foam roller on the area where you feel pain, so you can help yourself overcome the pain you feel.
You can also get into the habit of using a foam roller regularly, so you can prevent the pain from happening in the first place. It can also work great for occasional pain since you can use it whenever you recently had to perform some physical labor. In short, if you don’t feel like you have back pain often, a foam roller might be the ideal choice.
Aches and Pains
You may notice you experience some aches and pains, but you don’t have severe symptoms. For example, you may feel aches and pains for a couple of hours, but they can go away after a while. You may also only experience them on occasion, but they get in the way and cause you problems whenever they do arise in your neck or back.
You may want to start with a foam roller to see if it helps with your pains. On the other hand, if you notice the foam roller doesn’t help with your back pain after consistent use, then you may want to seek out a chiropractor. This middle area poses some challenges when picking between them, so you need to experiment a bit.
Chronic Pain
Depending on your situation, you may suffer from chronic pain rather than minor or average pain. If you don’t know whether you suffer from chronic or excessive pain, you should ask yourself the following questions.
- Do I spend more time with back pain than without it?
- Do I have a hard time sleeping or performing daily tasks because of the pain?
- Do I find myself needing to take constant breaks due to the pain in my back or neck?
If you suffer from chronic back or neck pain, you need to go with a chiropractor. While a foam roller can help you alleviate some of the pain, you won’t overcome the back pain without professional help. Otherwise, you can only offer yourself light treatment without properly caring for your back to prevent problems in the future. Make sure you get a feel for how much back pain you deal with, so you can figure out if a foam roller works for your situation.
Keep in mind foam rollers help with minor pain, so make sure you seek a chiropractor if you face more pain in your back. You can always call us at 205-637-1363 if you want to get more information about chiropractors and overcoming back pain.
