People who suffer from muscle or joint pains in their neck, back, and extremities may feel like they have few options to help treat their conditions. Fortunately, several types of treatments can ease pain in these cases. It’s important to find the right combination of treatments for you. If you are interested in holistic pain treatment, you may want to learn about chiropractic treatments. To learn if chiropractic treatments are right for you, learn what signs indicate you may have a condition meeting with a chiropractor can solve.
What is a chiropractor?
A chiropractor is a healthcare worker who specializes in muscle and joint manipulation to ease the pain. You may have seen chiropractors moving arms and legs and applying pressure to the patient’s back. However, this is only a small part of the service chiropractors can provide. Chiropractors perform assessments of the patient’s range of motion and spinal alignment. Then, based on their findings, they provide adjustments.
During an adjustment, chiropractors use their hands or specially designed instruments to realign the patient’s joints. By manipulating joints, a chiropractor can help the patient address pain, musculoskeletal problems, and nervous system-related issues. For example, a chiropractor may administer a hip adjustment through manual manipulation to help improve your flexibility and balance by repositioning your hips.
Chiropractic care focuses on manipulating joints in your body to reduce pain. Chiropractors are licensed professionals who perform this therapy as a supplement to your other medical treatments. Chiropractic care is a holistic treatment, focusing on treating the entire body, inside and out. These treatments can be beneficial to other types of care, including medicine and physical therapy. The benefit of holistic medicine is that it helps improve overall health and prevent further pain or injury.
7 signs you should see a chiropractor
If you are experiencing unusual pain for a sustained amount of time, you may wonder if you should see a chiropractor. Here are some signs you can look for to help you determine if chiropractic treatment is right for you:
1. Regular headaches or migraines
Regular headaches and migraines are common signs that your spine may be out of alignment. When gas builds up between the joints at the top of your spine, it can create swelling in the area. The area at the top of your spine is connected to your head, and if it is out of alignment or experiencing swelling, it can pull on your skull or register as headache and migraine pain.
It’s important always to seek a diagnosis for any headaches or migraines you may be experiencing to ensure there aren’t other underlying causes. However, several sessions with a chiropractor can help you alleviate headaches and migraines if it is muscle-related.
2. Constant neck or back pain
For the same reason that your spine may be causing headaches, it can also cause neck and back pain. When your spine is out of alignment, you may feel pain when bending your back or sitting in certain positions for long periods. Your spine is closely connected to the muscles in your neck, so they are likely to also be out of alignment.
Back pain can occur along any joints in your spine, depending on where gas is building up or where the spine has gone out of alignment. Additionally, any other muscles or joints that have shifted besides your spine can also be causing pain in your neck and back. A chiropractor can adjust any neck and back areas requiring treatment.
3. Limited range of motion
If you notice that you can’t stretch your limbs or move your body as much as you used to, you may be experiencing a limited range of motion. Depending on how flexible you are, you can rotate your joints extensively. Some people have more trouble building flexibility than others. If you want to increase your flexibility or think you have lost flexibility in specific joints, you can seek a chiropractor to help you regain it. Additionally, if you feel pain when you attempt certain stretches or movements, like bending at the waist, a misalignment may cause be causing tension in your muscles that a chiropractor can help you release.
4. Noticeable joint pain
Joint pain is when you feel pain focused on where two bones or muscles connect. Examples of joints are your knees, wrists, ankles and shoulders, though several joints are throughout your body. Swelling in these joints can be caused by bones rubbing against each other or misaligning your joint sockets.
Chiropractors can help you address this pain by providing an adjustment that releases tension, causing swelling. They can also help realign your joints, so they cause less pain. Through this adjustment, chiropractic care can help you address the root problem causing pain and any pain relief medication you may be taking. It can also prevent more extreme treatments like surgery.
5. Poor posture
Poor posture can have several causes, including spending too much time in one position or a lack of regular exercise and stretching in your routine. Poor posture can also cause pain and pull your spine out of alignment. Working with a chiropractor can help you identify the cause of your poor posture, and provide adjustments to help correct it. For example, if you constantly look down at a computer screen, the joints connecting your neck to your spine may pull your spine out of alignment and cause pain. You can reduce your poor posture through chiropractic treatment and ease any pain it may be causing.
6. Irregular shoe wear and tear
If you are bearing your weight unevenly, you may see more wear and tear on one shoe than on the other. This is because one leg carries more pressure, and the additional weight causes the shoe on that side to deteriorate faster. This is common in scoliosis patients or people whose hips have fallen out of alignment. An unequal distribution of weight can cause problems with joint pain and balance. However, chiropractic adjustments can help you correct the root problem of your unequal weight distribution and ease any associated pain.
7. Recent physical trauma
Sometimes, recent physical trauma can indicate a need to see a chiropractor. Conditions like whiplash, or sustained neck and back pain after a physical trauma can be signs that your spine or other joints are out of alignment. For example, if you have been in a car crash recently and have suffered neck pain since a chiropractor may be able to treat your pain through simple back adjustments. These treatments can ease your recovery and may help you recover faster without the aid of more extensive treatments like surgery.
At Living Well Balanced, we offer a wide range of fitness and physical health services from caring and experienced professionals. We provide chiropractic treatment as well as personal training and physical, occupational, and nutritional therapy to assist our clients in their health and wellness management. You can make an appointment with one of our chiropractors to learn how they can benefit your treatment plan for TMJ or jaw pain. If you have any questions, you can always give us a call at 212-579-2858 or send an email to info@livingwb.com. Check out our blog for more information about alternative therapies.