Did you know that lower back pain is the second most common reason people see a doctor in America? In fact, it is estimated that at least 70 million Americans have to deal with some type of chronic pain. Here you will learn the wonderful effects of visiting a chiropractor.
However, a lot of people are skeptical about depending on pain medications in the long run. Therefore, they look for alternative options to relieve and manage the pain. One such potential pain management option is chiropractic treatment, especially for people who suffer from back or neck pain.
What Is Chiropractic Treatment?
Chiropractic treatment is a form of complementary medicine that can help manage pain from conditions that affect:
- joints
- cartilage
- muscles
- bones
- connective tissues
The treatment is based on the idea that specific hands-on manipulations provided by trained professionals can enable the body to heal itself. It helps relieve pain by realigning your joints. While the prime focus of chiropractic treatment is on the spine, it can also be used to treat other parts of the body.
Benefits of Chiropractic Treatment
If you are wondering whether chiropractic treatment is for you or not, here are some benefits of chiropractic treatment that you should consider.
· Eases Neck Pain
Neck pain is one of the most common issues people face nowadays, especially if they have a full-time desk job. Constantly bending your neck to look down at your cell phone also adds to the tension in your neck. Additionally, most people nowadays have poor posture, which can cause the muscles to strain and stiffen.
In most cases, just improving your posture or investing in a massage tool isn’t enough to relieve neck pain. A chiropractor can ease the tension in your neck muscles by realigning the spine. As a result, the neck pain reduces significantly.
· Improves Back Pain
According to the American College of Physicians, it is recommended for people with chronic back pain to seek non-medical treatments before opting for medications or more invasive methods like injections or surgery.
There are other non-medical treatments that can help with chronic back pain, such as acupuncture, yoga, exercise, tai chi, meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation. However, chiropractic treatment has proven to be more effective than other non-invasive treatments and requires less effort from the patient.
· Reduces Symptoms of Headache
You may be surprised to learn that tension in your spinal muscles can lead to frequent headaches. If you experience chronic headaches and no treatments are working for you, a few trips to the chiropractor may help ease the condition.
· Helps Manage Chronic Pain
The job of a chiropractor is to work with the patient and get to the root cause of the chronic pain. During your first few treatments, the chiropractor will work to figure out where the muscle tension and inflammation are. Afterward, they will build a unique treatment plan in accordance with your needs.
If chiropractic treatment isn’t enough to treat your condition, a chiropractor may also make use of other therapies, such as electrical muscle stimulation (EMS), ultrasound, or TENS therapy, to create a more effective treatment plan.
· Reduces Inflammation
One of the lesser-known benefits of chiropractic treatment is that it can help reduce inflammation in the body. By realigning the vertebrae within your spine, the pressure on your nerves is relieved. This promotes a healthy nervous system, which further enables the biomechanics of the body to return to normal. As a result, the production of the inflammation-causing neuropeptides decreases significantly.
· Relieves Sciatica
The sciatic nerve passes from the lower back to the hip, buttocks, legs, and feet. When this nerve comes under pressure, it can lead to a pain known as sciatica. There can be many causes behind sciatica pain, including:
- Tight muscles in the buttocks, known as the piriformis muscle.
- Wear and tear caused by repetitive movements (such as labor work)
- Injury caused by falling or slipping.
- Swelling of the disc in the back, which puts pressure on the sciatic nerve.
- The moment when you lift something heavy and bend and feel your muscles tense up.
Chiropractic treatment can reduce the pressure on the sciatic nerve and improve the movement and flexibility of the hips, pelvis, and lower back.
· Healthier Pregnancy
Another advantage of chiropractic treatment that most people are unaware of is that it helps ensure a healthier and more comfortable pregnancy. It can help relieve the stress on the spine caused due to poor posture during pregnancy. The nervous system will also improve, leading to better health.
However, it is important to note that not all chiropractors are trained to assist pregnant women. Therefore, make sure that your chiropractor has knowledge in this department before making an appointment.
Are There Any Risks of Chiropractic Treatment?
Most people will likely not experience any side effects of chiropractic treatment. However, even though the benefits far outweigh the cons, it is still important to be aware of any side effects that could take place.
- One of the more common side effects of chiropractic treatment is that patients experience temporary discomfort in the treated area. This discomfort tends to be minor and eases by itself within two or three days.
- There is an incredibly rare chance that chiropractic treatment can increase the risk of stroke. The artery in your neck can be damaged due to high-velocity neck manipulation. However, it has been estimated that the incidence of stroke has occurred about once per 5.85 million cervical adjustments. Therefore, you are much more likely to become a top-paid movie star than to experience a stroke after visiting a chiropractor.
- In very few cases, chiropractic treatment has caused lower back injuries. However, this has almost exclusively been experienced by patients with pre-existing prolapse or disc herniation. So if you suffer from any of these, talk to your chiropractor in advance so they can take the necessary precautions to avoid exacerbating the problem.
As you can see, there are some wonderful benefits of chiropractic treatment. So if you are experiencing any of the above issues, booking an appointment with your local chiropractor will certainly prove to be beneficial.
If you’re on the lookout for spinal decompression treatments for back pain, get in touch with Wellness Around the World Chiropractic in Chamblee, GA today at 678-395-7646. Dr. Roger Holloway at our clinic will assist you in experiencing long-lasting pain relief.
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