When you hear chiropractic treatment, what is the first thing that comes to mind? For most people, the answer to this question would be chronic pain management. One popular way through which chiropractic treatment achieves pain relief is the manipulation of the spine. The spine is vital in the proper functioning of your body. Therefore, any issues with it could lead to issues like the restricted motion of some parts of the body.
Two parts of the body are associated with chronic pain; the neck and the back. This is because these parts of the body are easily injured during sports and are involved in lifting heavy equipment. More than a quarter of Americans who visit chiropractors aim at finding relief from chronic back pain.
Chiropractic diagnosis involves determining the cause of chronic pain. The chiropractor will physically and neurologically evaluate you to determine the cause of pain, which is mostly related to the spine. After completion of the diagnosis, the chiropractor recommends chiropractic treatment where necessary. Chiropractic adjustments are the leading type of chiropractic treatment in many chiropractic wellness centers. The adjustments are a form of spinal manipulation to align the spine, spinal ligaments, muscles, and nerves.
What treatments and services do chiropractic wellness centers offer?
Unlike what most people assume, chiropractic treatment involves more than just chiropractic adjustments. There are several treatments and services involved in chiropractic wellness centers. They include therapeutic stretches and exercises, physical therapy modalities, spinal traction, modification of lifestyle, and counseling on nutrition and diet. Each service or treatment is different and is beneficial in different ways.
Therapeutic stretches and exercises.
Stretches and short-range exercises are key in proper healing of nerve injury. The exercises might be painful to achieve at first because they aim at strengthening your muscles. Also, the pain caused by the exercises and stretches lessens with time. The exercises and stretches are simple, like fully stretching your legs and arms and folding them back and repeating it about five times. These activities have several benefits such as improving the motion of a restricted joint, improving flexibility of muscles, relieving pain, and preventing the atrophy of muscles. When muscles are restricted in motion, they may atrophy, also known as wasting.
Counseling on diet and nutrition.
Diet and nutrition determine the healing period of injured tissues. With the appropriate diet, injured tissues can heal faster, leading to pain relief. Diet achieves this by boosting your immune system and thereby, the ability of your body to heal. Additionally, a good diet is associated with benefits such as the prevention of serious illnesses like diabetes and stroke.
Modification of lifestyle.
Certain habits in your lifestyle have negative consequences to your general health. Eating unhealthy, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, stress, lack of exercise, and dependence on medications for every health problem are some of the negative lifestyle habits. A habit like smoking is associated with the damage of tissues impairing the ability of tissues to repair. Therefore, chiropractors advice on the appropriate lifestyle habits you should adopt for quick and effective healing.
Spinal traction.
If you have heard of spinal decompression, which is also a chiropractic service, then you have an idea of what spinal traction is. Like spinal decompression, spinal traction is a procedure that alleviates pressure on the spine that may be compressing spinal nerves. The compression of spinal nerves is associated with chronic pain. Therefore, decompressing the nerves leads to pain relief.
Physical therapy modalities.
These can be of different types. Common modalities at many chiropractic centers include heat and cold therapy and ultrasound. Cold therapy aims at reducing swelling at the injured site, thereby alleviating pain. On the other hand, heat therapy promotes the flow of blood to the affected site, ensuring that the area receives oxygen and nutrient supply. Ultrasound waves are used as a form of massage therapy to reduce swelling and stiffness of the injured area.
Do chiropractic treatments and services work?
Yes, chiropractic treatments and services are associated with a high rate of success in most patients. However, the duration of success differs in all patients. Patients with mild to moderate chronic pain benefit faster compared to those with severe pain.
At Integrative Chiropractic in Birmingham, Alabama, we offer the above chiropractic services and more. At an affordable price, you can achieve your health goals at our clinic, which has a holistic approach to pain management. Our clinic tends to patients living in Alabama, but we also welcome patients from all over the country. Give our offices a call today on 205-637-1363 for an appointment.
