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Man getting adjustment

Protecting Your Nervous System with Chiropractic Care

Your nervous system controls every part of your body. It's the reason that your heart beats in a normal rhythm and your limbs move the way they do. When the nervous system doesn't function as it should, you're more likely to develop a variety of problems, ranging from gastrointestinal issues to frequent illnesses to troubles with balance and coordination.

Fortunately, regular visits to your chiropractor can help improve the way your nervous system works and enhance your physical and mental health.

How Your Chiropractor Helps You Care for Your Nervous System

Your nervous system is made up of your brain, spinal column, and the nerves that branch out from the spinal column. A problem with any one of these structures can affect your health.

Subluxations are a common cause of nervous system issues. They occur when one or more of the vertebrae that make up your spine becomes misaligned, Subluxations can press on nerves, interfering with the transfer of signals from the brain to various parts of your body.

Your chiropractor uses spinal manipulation to reduce pressure on the nerves and realign your vertebrae. The therapy involves quick thrusts to the spine that move the vertebrae back into position. Spinal manipulation offers a simple, effective way to improve nervous system functioning and relieve pain and inflammation.

Thanks to chiropractic care, you can look forward to:

Are you ready to enhance your nervous system with chiropractic care? Contact our office to schedule a visit with the chiropractor.

Sources:

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency

American Chiropractic Association: What the Research Shows About Chiropractic

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health: Spinal Manipulation: What You Need to Know

Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics: Effectiveness of Chiropractic Care to Improve Sensorimotor Function Associated With Falls Risk in Older People: A Randomized Controlled Trial, 5/16

Man with PTSD

Chiropractic Can Ease Chronic Pain Related to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Chronic pain, one of the lesser-known symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), can make living with the condition even more difficult. Fortunately, your chiropractor can help you manage your PTSD pain.

How PTSD Causes Chronic Pain

Can you remember the last time you truly felt relaxed? Flashbacks, nightmares, and negative thoughts can trigger near-constant stress and anxiety. Unfortunately, both stress and anxiety can be factors in pain.

When you're stressed, your muscles tend to tighten, particularly those in your head, neck, shoulder, and back. In fact, your chronic back pain could actually be caused by your PTSD. In a study conducted on male twins, researchers discovered that men who had PTSD were more likely to have chronic back pain than their twins. The research appeared in the September 1, 2019 issue of Spine.

Tight muscles can also be to blame for frequent tension headaches and migraines. Constant muscle tension may eventually cause painful knots that never seem to go away. Pain from knots can travel to other parts of the body. Although a knot might be located in a muscle in your upper back, you may actually feel pain in your shoulder and arm.

Muscles that are too tight may pull the vertebrae in your spine out of alignment. Misalignments, called subluxations, are common causes of neck and back pain but can cause pain anywhere in the body. Subluxations, coupled with tight muscles, can also affect your ability to move a joint freely and without pain. Misaligned vertebrae or muscles may press on nerves, causing sciatica or other types of pain.

Stress and anxiety might be the reason you experience abdominal pain or diarrhea. When you're stressed, your body produces higher amounts of the hormone cortisol. Elevated levels of cortisol can irritate the lining of the digestive tract, causing abdominal pain. Too much cortisol may also be the reason that you have to make frequent trips to the bathroom.

If you already have pain from an injury, feeling constantly anxious or stressed may make your pain even worse.

Chiropractic Treatments Helps You Manage Pain Naturally

Luckily, visiting your chiropractor can help you keep your pain under control. Chiropractic treatment offers these benefits:

Are you tired of living with PTSD pain? Give our office a call and find out how chiropractic treatment can help you.

Sources:

Cleveland Clinic: Why You Should Pay Attention to Chronic Inflammation

Cleveland Clinic: 7 Strange Things Stress Can Do to Your Body, 10/7/20

Military Medicine: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Clinical Outcomes Following Chiropractic Care in Veterans With and Without Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder, June 2009

Spine: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms are Associated With Incident Chronic Back Pain, 9/1/19

Woman receiving chiropractic care

Treat Your Chronic Conditions with Chiropractic Care

Back and neck pain relief isn't the only benefit of visiting the chiropractor. Chiropractic treatment also offers an effective way to treat many chronic conditions that can affect your health or cause chronic pain. These conditions are among the many ailments that your chiropractor treats.

Frequent Headaches and Migraines

Chiropractic care offers an alternative to over-the-counter and prescription medications used to treat headaches and migraines. If you're worried about the long-term health consequences of taking over-the-counter drugs or prescription medications that make you feel nauseated and tired, chiropractic treatment offers a better solution. Treatment not only eases your pain but can also reduce the number of headaches you get every month.

Asthma

Problems with the alignment of your spine could be making your asthma symptoms worse. Vertebrae, the small bones that make up your spine, can become misaligned due to injuries, stress, poor lifting, improper exercise techniques, or even poor posture. Ligaments, muscles, and tendons often become stiff and tight due to spinal misalignments, a problem chiropractors call "subluxations."

Realigning your spine with chiropractic treatments loosens the muscles you use for breathing, allowing you to take deeper breaths. Treatments also make it easier for your brain to send messages to your lungs via your nerves.

Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction (TMJ)

TMJ causes jaw pain and stiffness, clicking or popping sounds, headaches, muscle spasms, and ear pain. The condition affects the bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons in your hinged jaw joints and can make chewing painful.

Your symptoms could be caused by a misalignment of the bones in the joint. Your chiropractor can gently move the bones back into place, relieving your symptoms. Chiropractic treatment can also break apart scar tissue and loosen tight muscles in your jaw.

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disorder (GERD)

GERD occurs when stomach acids flow backward into your esophagus. The acids irritate the sensitive lining of the esophagus causing heartburn, hoarseness, chest pain, bad breath, trouble swallowing, and other symptoms. GERD can happen if the sphincter between the stomach and esophagus is weak or doesn't close completely, It can also be triggered by wearing tight belts or clothing, lying down soon after eating, or gaining weight.

Subluxations that press on nerves in the stomach and other parts of the gastrointestinal system could increase your risk of GERD or worsen it. Spinal manipulation, a hands-on treatment that realigns your spine, reduces pressure on nerves. Your chiropractor may also recommend exercises that will strengthen your back. When your back muscles are strong, you may notice less pressure on your stomach and fewer GERD symptoms.

Insomnia

Poor sleep is a common complaint in the U.S. In fact, 10 to 30 percent of Americans have chronic insomnia, according to the Sleep Foundation. Your risk of sleep troubles increases the older you get. No matter what your age, it's difficult to function during the day if you have trouble falling or staying asleep.

Chiropractic treatment helps you sleep by relieving pain and easing stress, two factors in poor sleep quality. Treatments also spur your body to produce more serotonin, a hormone that makes you feel calm, happy, and relaxed.

High Blood Pressure

Your risk of blood pressure increases if someone in your family has the condition or if you're overweight, stressed, don't exercise enough, or eat an unhealthy diet. In some cases, high blood pressure can also be related to neck subluxation.

In a UChicago Medicine study, patients who had a misalignment of the vertebrae in their neck and also had high blood pressure saw their blood pressure drop after spinal manipulation treatment. The study participants had misalignments of the C-1 vertebrae, located at the base of the head. Because a misalignment in this area usually doesn't cause pain, you may have a subluxation and not realize that anything is wrong.

Are you tired of dealing with the symptoms of a chronic condition? Chiropractic treatment offers an effective way to manage many diseases and conditions. If you'd like to relieve your symptoms naturally, contact our office to schedule an appointment.

Sources:

Sleep Foundation: Sleep Statistics, 2/8/21

Global Advantages in Health and Medicine: Integrating Chiropractic Care Into the Treatment of Migraine Headaches in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Case Series, 3/28/19

UChicago Medicine: Special Chiropractic Adjustment Lowers Blood Pressure Among Hypertensive Patients with Misaligned C-1 Vertebrae, 3/14/07

Canadian Chiropractic Association: 3 Things You Need to Know About TMJ Pain, 5/13/20

Woman experiencing pain in leg

How Chiropractic Treatment Reduces Inflammation

Chronic inflammation has a harmful effect on your body and increases your risk of many types of health conditions. Whether you already have a disease or condition or want to avoid getting sick in the future, regular visits to the chiropractor will help you keep inflammation under control.

Why Inflammation Happens

Inflammation is one of the ways your body protects itself when you're injured or sick. The inflammatory process can make you feel a little uncomfortable but helps you heal and reduces your risk of infection.

If you have a cut, sprained ankle, or another injury, you may notice redness, swelling, and pain due to inflammation. As your injury heals, the inflammation gradually goes away. If you've been sick, inflammation also subsides as you begin to get better.

Unfortunately, inflammation can become a chronic problem in some cases. The problem can happen if your immune system reacts too strongly to germs or mistakenly attacks healthy tissues because it believes there is a threat to your health. In some cases, chronic inflammation can occur for no apparent reason.

You may be more likely to develop inflammation if you're stressed, don't get enough sleep, smoke, drink too much alcohol, are overweight or obese, don't eat a healthy diet, have a chronic illness, or autoimmune disorder.

How Chronic Inflammation Affects Your Body

Signs and symptoms of chronic inflammation aren't always easy to spot and can be confused with other health issues. Common inflammation signs include:

If you don't take steps to reduce inflammation, permanent damage to your body's cells and tissues may happen. Inflammation can be a factor in asthma, allergies, obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD), and other joint disorders, according to StatPearls.

Although anti-inflammatory medications and steroids decrease inflammation, these drugs can increase your risk of serious health conditions. Depending on the medication, you might be more likely to develop kidney disease, high blood pressure, ulcers, osteoporosis, or other conditions if you take it for a long time.

Chiropractic treatment offers a safe way to treat inflammation without side effects. In addition to treatments, your chiropractor may recommend lifestyle and diet changes that can relieve inflammation naturally.

Chiropractic Care Helps Reduce Inflammation

Chronic inflammation could be related to misaligned vertebrae in your spine. If the vertebrae press on your nerves, it's difficult or impossible for crucial signals from your brain to reach the various parts of your body. Decreased nerve function can affect the way your immune system works and trigger inflammation.

In a back pain study published in Chiropractic and Manual Therapies, blood tests showed that patients who received spinal manipulation therapy had less inflammation after treatment, in addition to reduced pain. Spinal manipulation involves using quick thrusts to realign the vertebrae in your back and neck.

Reducing stress may also help lower inflammation. Massage therapy, one of the treatments offered by many chiropractors, naturally lowers stress and prompts your body to release serotonin, a hormone that helps you feel calm and happy. Massage can also reduce the production of cortisol, a hormone related to stress.

Do you struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep? If insomnia is a frequent problem, you may soon notice the signs of inflammation. Fortunately, spinal manipulation, massage, and other chiropractic treatments relieve pain and stress, helping you sleep better.

Your chiropractor can recommend other ways that will help you lower inflammation, including:

Sources:

StatPearls: Chronic Inflammation

Chiropractic and Manual Therapies: Effects of Spinal Manipulative Therapy on Inflammatory Mediators in Patients with Non-Specific Low Back Pain: A Non-Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial, 1/8/21

Chiropractic Economics: Chiropractic Adjustments Promote a Strong Immune System During the Holidays, 12/21/18

Healthline: Understanding and Managing Chronic Inflammation

A woman experiencing neck pain after a car accident

Receiving Chiropractic Care After Suffering Auto Injuries

Even seemingly minor motor vehicle accidents can cause whiplash, back pain, and other ailments. Visiting your chiropractor as soon as possible after an accident will help ease your pain and prevent long-term complications.

Chiropractic Treatment Eases Whiplash Pain

Whiplash is a common injury after an accident. In fact, the American Chiropractic Association reports that approximately two-thirds of people involved in motor vehicle accidents develop whiplash symptoms. The injury occurs when your neck "whips" back and forth suddenly. The movements strain or damage muscles, ligaments, discs, and may force the vertebrae in your neck out of alignment.

Although you may feel fine immediately after the accident, your neck might begin to hurt hours or days later if you have whiplash. Chiropractic treatment relieves your neck pain naturally, realigns your spine, and improves movement in your neck. Treatments also improve blood flow, reduce inflammation, and speed up healing time.

Back and Body Pain and Muscle Spasms Also Improve After Treatment

Your chiropractor uses a variety of therapeutic techniques to treat the aches and pains that can occur all over the body following a motor vehicle accident. Massage eases spasms, improves range of motion, and reduces pain by triggering the releases of endorphins, natural chemicals produced by your body to reduce pain.

If your back is sore and stiff, spinal manipulation, in addition to massage and other therapies may be part of your treatment plan. The hands-on treatment uses quick thrusts to realign the vertebrae in your spine. Misaligned vertebrae can cause muscle tension and increase pain if muscles or bones press on nerves. Although a misalignment may actually occur in your neck or back, you may feel pain that extends to your arms or legs if a nerve is involved.

Chiropractic Treatment Helps You Avoid Stiffness Due to Scar Tissue

Depending on its location, scar tissue can prevent joints, muscles, and tissues from moving freely. Decreased range of motion, stiffness, and pain can occur due to the buildup of scar tissue. Luckily, you can avoid or reduce these issues simply by visiting your chiropractor soon after your accident.

Massage, instrument-assisted soft tissue manipulation, and other therapies break down and stretch scar tissue, restoring your flexibility and range of motion. In addition, your chiropractor may also recommend exercises that will strengthen your muscles, decrease inflammation, and improve your range of motion.

Treatment can be helpful even if it's been months or years since your accident. In a case study published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, a 61-year-old woman sought treatment for neck and back pain three years after an accident. After six months of spinal manipulation treatment, she reported improvements in pain and quality of life and was able to stop taking opioid medication.

Treatment Reduces or Eliminates the Need for Over-the-Counter or Prescription Pain Relievers

Medications temporarily ease pain after an accident, but the drugs can cause a variety of unpleasant side effects. Nausea, vomiting, dizziness, upset stomach, and abdominal pain can occur when taking pain medication. In some cases, even short-term use of opioid pain medication can cause addiction.

Over-the-counter pain medications aren't necessarily any safer than prescription drugs. In fact, ibuprofen and acetaminophen can cause liver or kidney damage if you take high doses of these medications or take them for a long period of time.

Chiropractic treatment offers a natural pain relief method that can help you avoid these side effects. As your treatment progresses, you may be able to stop taking prescription or over-the-counter drugs completely or reduce the amount of the medication you need to take.

Chiropractic Care Helps You Avoid Lifelong Pain

Treating injuries promptly with chiropractic care prevents motor vehicle accident injuries from becoming long-term problems. You may be more likely to develop chronic pain, arthritis, migraines, headaches, and other symptoms that may make getting through the day difficult if you don't seek treatment soon after your accident. Chiropractic care may even help you avoid surgery.

Have you recently been in a motor vehicle accident? Chiropractic treatment can ease your pain and help you recover more quickly. Contact our office to schedule your first appointment.

Sources:

American Chiropractic Association: Whiplash: More than Standard Neck Pain, 3/15

CDC: Motor Vehicle Injury, 10/4/19

Journal of Chiropractic Medicine: Chiropractic Management of a Patient With Chronic Pain in a Federally Qualified Health Center: A Case Report, 6/18

Woman experiencing frozen shoulder

Chiropractic Care for Frozen Shoulder Syndrome

Simple movements become painful or impossible when you have adhesive capsulitis, commonly called frozen shoulder. When your shoulder joint doesn't move freely, it's hard to raise your arm to retrieve a box of cereal from a high shelf, change a light bulb, or even hug a friend. Luckily, your chiropractor offers natural treatments that will improve your range of movement and decrease pain and inflammation.

How a Frozen Shoulder Develops

Your shoulder joint is surrounded by a layer of connective tissue called the shoulder capsule. If you injure your shoulder or have surgery, the connective tissue that forms the capsule may thicken or tighten, restricting the movement of your shoulder joint. Scar tissue, or adhesions, may also begin to form, limiting movement even more. You can also develop a frozen shoulder even if you don't remember injuring the joint.

Freezing is the first phase of the condition. While your shoulder is freezing, pain is common. You may also notice that it's a little difficult to move your shoulder. Once the condition reaches the frozen stage, pain may decrease, but raising or moving your arm will become very difficult.

Eventually, your shoulder will begin to thaw on its own. Unfortunately, the thawing process can take 6 months to 2 years, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

How Chiropractic Treatment Can Speed the Thawing Process

If a year or two sounds like a long time to wait to use your shoulder, it's time to pay a visit to your chiropractic. Chiropractic treatment can relieve your pain and improve your ability to move your shoulder. After performing an examination and possibly ordering a test or two to determine the severity of your condition, your chiropractor may recommend one or more of these treatment options:

A retrospective case series published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine in 2012 revealed the positive effects of chiropractic treatment for frozen shoulder. Of the 50 cases reviewed, 16 patients experienced 100 percent improvement, 25 had 75 to 90 percent improvement, 8 patients noticed 50 to 75 percent improvement, and one showed 0 to 50 percent improvement after treatment. The length of treatment ranged from 11 to 51 days.

Are you ready to try chiropractic treatment for your frozen shoulder? Call our office to arrange your visit.

Sources:

Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, Chiropractic Management of Frozen Shoulder Syndrome Using a Novel Technique: A Retrospective Case Series of 50 Patients, 12/12

Chiropractic Economics: Thawing Out the Frozen Shoulder, 2/4/15

American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: Frozen Shoulder

Niel Asher: Trigger Point Therapy – 5-Ste- Shoulder Technique, 11/24/18

Man suffering from shin splints

Do You Have Shin Splints? Chiropractic Care Can Help

Do you struggle with frequent shin splints? Chronic shin pain could be related to arch problems, underlying issues with your muscles, or shoes that don't support your feet adequately. Your chiropractor can offer a few treatments that will relieve your pain and help you avoid shin splints in the future.

What Are Shin Splints?

Inflammation in the muscles, tendons, and tissue layer covering the tibia (shin) bone is responsible for shin splint pain. Shin splints are particularly common in runners, walkers, gymnasts, and dancers. If you participate in a sport that requires sudden stops and starts on a hard surface, such as basketball, tennis, or soccer, you may be more likely to develop shin splints.

Shin splints often develop after an unusually long or intense game, run, or workout. Stressed or fatigued calf muscles strain the tendons in your shin, causing shin splint pain. Tight calf muscles can also increase your risk.

Other risk factors include failing to stretch before exercising and wearing shoes that don't provide enough cushioning or arch support.

How Do Chiropractors Treat Shin Splints?

A spinal misalignment may be a contributing factor in shin splint pain. In addition to causing pain, misalignments stress muscles, ligaments, and tendons, making it easier for you to hurt yourself when you're active. As part of the treatment for shin splints, your chiropractor may recommend spinal manipulation, a treatment commonly referred to as an "adjustment." Your chiropractor will use quick thrusts to realign your spine, which helps reduce pain and inflammation throughout your body.

Realigning your spine improves the alignment and balance of your entire body. In fact, once your spine is properly aligned, stress and strain on your lower leg may decrease.

Adjustments can also be performed on your knee, ankle, calf, and foot. Adjusting these areas will loosen muscles and improve blood flow, in addition to improving alignment.

As part of your treatment plan, your chiropractor may recommend one or more of these chiropractic treatments:

Chiropractic care provides a safe, effective, natural way to treat shin splints and other painful conditions. If shin splints are a common problem for you, contact our office to schedule an appointment.

Sources:

Chiropractic Economics: The Science Behind Percussion Massage, 4/20/21

PubMed: American Journal of Sports Medicine: Effectiveness of Orthotic Shoe Inserts in the Long-Distance Runner, July/August 1991

Medline Plus: Shin Splints – Self-Care, 11/5/18

The Vitruvian man

Manual manipulation of the spine and other joints in the body have been around for a long time. Ancient writings from China and Greece dating between 2700 B.C. and 1500 B.C. mention spinal manipulation and the maneuvering of the lower extremities to ease low back pain. In fact, Hippocrates, the famous Greek physician who lived from 460 to 357 B.C., published a text detailing the importance of manual manipulation. In one of his writings he declares, "Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases." Evidence of manual manipulation of the body has been found among the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Babylon, Syria, Japan, the Incas, Mayans, and Native Americans.

The official beginning of the chiropractic profession dates back to 1895 when Daniel David Palmer restored the hearing of Harvey Lillard by manually adjusting his neck and something told him that he was on to something good. Two years later, in 1897, Dr. Palmer went on to begin the Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, which continues to train doctors of chiropractic to this day.

Throughout the twentieth century, the profession of chiropractic has gained considerable recognition and scientific support. Research studies that have clearly demonstrated the value of chiropractic care in reducing health care costs, improving recovery rates and increasing patient satisfaction. In fact, one very large study conducted in Canada, the 1993 Manga Study, concluded that chiropractic care would save hundreds of millions of dollars annually in work disability payments and direct health care costs. Several major studies conducted by the U.S. Government, the Rand Corporation and others, have all demonstrated the incredible value of chiropractic care.

three gears moving
The primary focus of chiropractic is simply to adjust the spine and remove those things which interfere with the body's natural normal healing ability.

Spinal adjustments to correct subluxations are what make chiropractic professionals unique in comparison with any other type of health care professional. The term "adjustment" refers to the specific force chiropractors apply to vertebrae that have abnormal movement patterns or fail to function normally.

The objective of the chiropractic adjustment is to reduce the subluxation, which results in an increased range of motion, reduced nerve irritability, reduced muscle spasm, reduced pain and improved function. The chiropractic adjustment is a quick thrust applied to a vertebra for the purpose of correcting its position, movement or both. Adjustments are often accompanied by an audible release of gas in the spinal joints that sounds like a "crack." The sound sometimes surprises people the first time they get adjusted, but the sensation is usually relieving. Occasionally, minor discomfort is experienced, especially if the surrounding muscles are in spasm or the person tenses up during the chiropractic procedure. There are times when the audible "cracking" does not occur. This is often due to either significant muscle tightness or the person having a hard time relaxing during their adjustments. Some adjusting techniques are designed to move the spine in a way that does not produce the audible sound at all. Chiropractic is so much more than simply a means of relieving pain.

Ultimately, the goal of receiving adjustments should be to restore the body to its natural state of optimal health. In order to accomplish this, chiropractors can use and recommend a variety of natural healing methods, including adjustments, massage, trigger point therapy, nutrition, exercise rehabilitation, and counseling on lifestyle issues that impact your health. The primary focus is simply to remove those things which interfere with the body's natural normal healing ability. The adjustment of the spine is the primary objective of a chiropractor. There are some chiropractors who also adjust the extremities and use other forms of physiological therapeutics including the use of electrical stimulation, ultrasound, traction, neuromuscular re-education, and a variety of manual therapies.

Increasingly, chiropractors' offices are becoming full service wellness centers providing a variety of wellness services. A new trend that chiropractic wellness centers offer is wellness coaching. Some programs offer coaching at the wellness center, while others offer wellness coaching via telephone, email, or online instant messenger in an effort to make it more convenient. Chiropractic wellness centers may offer seminars in a variety of subjects such as spinal alignment, improved posture, and ergonomics, as well as programs on weight management, relaxation, smoking cessation, nutrition, and exercise. Some even offer pre- and post-natal healthy baby programs. The increasing number of chiropractic centers providing extensive wellness programs makes it convenient and affordable for just about anyone to adopt a wellness lifestyle. Chiropractors understand that within each of us is an innate wisdom or healthy energy that will express itself as perfect health and well-being if we allow it to. Therefore, the focus of chiropractic care is to remove any physiological blocks to the proper expression of the body's innate wisdom. Once these interferences are reduced, improved health is the natural consequence. Who wouldn't want that?

Active woman has back pain

Struggling with Back Pain This Summer? Ease Your Pain with Chiropractic Care

Are you skipping your favorite summer activities due to back pain? If you don't want to miss another minute of summer fun, give your chiropractor a call. Chiropractic care is ideal for both upper and lower back pain and offers a drug-free alternative to pain relief.

Why Back Pain Often Occurs During the Summer

With so many ways to be active during the summer, it's not surprising that back pain complaints increase as the temperature rises. Twisting and turning when gardening, forgetting to use your leg muscles when lifting furniture, or using poor technique when exercising or playing sports can trigger pain in the joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and nerves that make up your back.

Chiropractic Care Offers Natural Back Pain Relief

Contrary to popular belief, back pain doesn't always go away on its own. In fact, pain could become a chronic problem if you don't receive treatment for your symptoms. Although medication is effective in easing pain, it only offers a temporary solution. Pain often returns as soon as you stop taking the medication. In addition to providing natural pain relief, chiropractic treatments target the source of the problem, reducing the likelihood of flare-ups in the future.

A Misalignment Could Be Responsible for Your Pain

Painless, smooth movements are only possible when the vertebrae of your spine are perfectly aligned. If one or more of these small bones are misaligned, you may experience back pain, inflammation, stiffness, muscle spasms, and tight muscles and tissues. Misaligned vertebrae and tight muscles and tissues may also press on nerves, increasing your pain.

Your chiropractor realigns your vertebrae using a treatment called spinal manipulation. Commonly called an "adjustment," spinal manipulation involves quick thrusts to your spine that move the vertebrae back into their normal position. Once your spine is properly aligned, pain, stiffness, and inflammation decrease. At the same time, blood flow to your back increases, promoting healing. Adjustments treat your pain and also help you avoid flare-ups in the future, as you're much more likely to experience back injuries if your vertebrae are out of alignment

Your chiropractor also offers treatments that relax your muscles, ease pain, and quicken healing, like massage, soft tissue manipulation and mobilization, and ultrasound therapy.

Chiropractic care can be used alone or in conjunction with standard care. In a study of low back pain in 18- to 35-year-old activity military personnel, patients who receive chiropractic therapy in addition to standard medical care reported significantly less pain than those who only received standard medical care. The study appeared in Spine in 2013.

Could Poor Posture Be a Contributing Factor in Your Pain?

Slouching or contorting your body in unusual positions while you garden, carry supplies to your campsite, lift heavy luggage, or attempt a new waterskiing trick could cause or worsen back pain.

Spinal manipulation and other chiropractic treatments counteract the effects of poor posture and help you avoid back pain throughout the summer. Chiropractic treatments keep your body balanced and help prevent muscle strains and sprains that are more likely to occur when your vertebrae are misaligned. During your visits, your chiropractor can provide helpful advice on posture and recommend lifting techniques that will minimize strain on your back.

Chiropractic Helps You Manage Chronic Back Pain

It's only natural to want to have fun in the summer despite your chronic back pain. Unfortunately, ignoring your condition can lead to painful flare-ups that last for weeks. Keeping arthritis, degenerative disc disease, sciatica, herniated discs, scoliosis, sacroiliac pain, and other conditions under control becomes much easier when you add chiropractic appointments to your summer schedule.

Are you dealing with back pain? Relieve your pain with a visit to the chiropractor. Contact our office to schedule a convenient appointment.

Sources:

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health: Spinal Manipulation: What You Need To Know

CDC: Acute Low Back Pain, 1/31/2022

Spine: Adding Chiropractic Manipulative Therapy to Standard Medical Care for Patients With Acute Low Back Pain: Results of a Pragmatic Randomized Comparative Effectiveness Study, 4/15/2013

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