While there has been a recent rise in the popularity and availability of chiropractic care over the last several years, there is still a bit of confusion (and controversy) surrounding chiropractic care and who can benefit. First off we should probably tackle what is a chiropractor and then from there, we will explore how chiropractic works and how it can benefit you, your family, and your community.

What:

What is a Chiropractor? A chiropractor is a doctor, who has gone through extensive amounts of schooling to learn all about the musculoskeletal system, diagnoses, different pathologies and how they affect muscles and bones, radiology, nutrition, spinal manipulation, and many also take specialized courses for treating specific patient populations. The biggest goal of chiropractic care is to be a noninvasive, holistic form of health care.

The majority of chiropractors work together as a profession to fund, participate in, and share research about the benefits and potential risks that can come with any type of medical treatment. Because of this dedication to research, many young chiropractors (and older ones too!) are incredibly capable of diagnosing conditions and providing relief when applicable. They are also able to determine when care should be transferred to another medical professional when something may be outside of their scope of practice or the patient does not respond to care.

How:

Chiropractic is a hands on manual therapy used to treat dysfunctions of the musculoskeletal system. Dysfunctions can be described or defined as pain, lack of motion, too much motion, or injury. These dysfunctions can be caused by muscles squishing nerves, arthritis causing pain and lack of motion, pulled muscles or torn ligaments causing too much motion, disc injury causing inflammation and pain, or disuse leading to less motion, to name a few. In the course of treating these dysfunctions, Chiropractors use various soft tissue treatments, including but not limited too: electrical stimulation, ultrasound, massage, Laser, heat, ice, Kinesiology taping and adjustments.

Many times, a chiropractor will also use what is called a multimodal approach, which means developing a treatment plan that includes lifestyle modifications, ergonomics, light rehabilitation, exercise and spinal manipulation, personalized on a case by case basis. These treatment plans are developed with your specific health goals in mind, and can be updated and changed as need be.

Who:

There should probably be multiple sections for who, but I think one will work out just fine for us today. First off, who are Chiropractors? Me! I am a chiropractor! I love my job and it makes me super happy helping people live pain free. Many of my colleagues (myself included) got into chiropractic care after injury or chronic illness, that the medical profession was unable to help us with. Because of this, many chiropractors are incredibly passionate about their patients, and helping them reach a healthier lifestyle or get out of pain!

Which brings us to the second who. Who benefits from chiropractic care? Everyone! Anyone who wakes up in the morning can benefit in one way or another from chiropractic care. If you play a sport, run, work in a physically demanding job chiropractic care is for you! Even if you’ve had back surgery in the past, chiropractic care will still benefit you by making sure that all of the joints and muscles around your surgical site stay healthy to prevent any further injuries.

This also feeds in the why chiropractic care chiropractic care is important.

Why:

Chiropractic care is a non-invasive preventative healthcare, which means it can help alleviate pain without the use of prescription medications. Chiropractic care may also allow you to continue living your daily life without having to worry about pain interfering with you ability to work or not being able to perform your favorite activities due to injuries. If you are looking to start making some health changes, if you are starting a new workout program, if you have had injuries in the past, if you currently play sports, if you or a child you know have recently gone through a growth spurt, you could benefit from less aches and pains, a better range of motion, stronger muscles, and by unlocking your full athletic potential.

Chiropractors are also trained in nutrition and can provide you with excellent supplement suggestions to improve your health, or steer you away from supplements that may have bad interactions with prescriptions from your other doctors. I love offering nutritional advice along with my chiropractic recommendations, because I’ve seen the difference that high quality supplements made in my own health and life.

When:

As soon as possible! Because I recommend chiropractic care for everyone, I say as soon as you start to feel aches and pains, you should find a local chiro that strongly believes in using evidence based care to get you better. This link here will take you to a search map to find a local, evidence based chiropractor: https://www.forwardthinkingchiro.com/member-map#!map/ord=lnm

Where:

There are so many chiropractors around now, that there is likely one in your neighborhood, even if you don’t know it yet! Many of them have office hours for walk-ins, as well as many scheduling options available, and a few out there have mobile practices that they travel with and some even do house calls!

If you are curious if chiropractic is right for you, or you want to see if my office can provide the right care for you, feel free to call or email me! Or you can go ahead and follow this link to book your appointment today!

https://onceuponaspinedoc.janeapp.com