October marks Chiropractic Awareness month. Started by the American Chiropractic Association to raise awareness about the benefits of Chiropractic care.
I thought it beneficial to look at some of the well known benefits of chiropractic care but also touch on the lesser known advantages and benefits.
People generally think back and necks or trapped nerves (and some think feet but they are confusing chiropractor and chiropodist and trust me, they offer VERY different services!)
So chiropractic really comes into its own when treating musculoskeletal conditions such as back pain and that could be upper, mid or lower, the neck also. A chiropractor would be the first person that I would turn to for a trapped nerve as the care is very non invasive and generally comfortable to receive.
Here are some lesser known conditions that chiropractors treat however:
Headaches and migraines: Did you know that headaches and migraines can stem from the neck? These are known as cervicogenic headaches. Sometimes they can come from surrounding structures such as jaw (or TMJ) pain, tight muscles or trapped nerves around the upper part of the neck. Chiropractors and our team of massage therapists, use massage and mobilisation to help release the tight muscles and sometimes this is enough to help with the alignment of the spine and jaw. If we need to use some manipulations, very gentle adjustments allow the spine to realign or the jaw. The TMJ work can also help with any ongoing dentistry particularly if you have a tight jaw because of grinding and clenching.
Shoulder pain and rotator cuff injuries: Shoulders have always been a favourite of mine to treat, perhaps because I am a sufferer of shoulder pain too. The shoulder is a very complex joint with lots of muscular attachments and joints. Misalignment of the joints be it from poor posture or injury can create problems which because of their close connection with other muscles and joints, can exacerbate the problem. As chiropractors, we assess which part of the shoulder is the cause of the problems and work to treat the cause as well as the symptoms (which can often be quite different).
Tension and inability to relax: But how? Chiropractic works on the nervous system because we adjust the spine and out of the spine are the spinal nerves. Each adjustment creates a feedback loop through the spinal nerves, up the spinal cord, into the brain and back again. This can be to relax a tight muscle or help adjust a misaligned vertebrae which in turn is putting pressure on it’s corresponding nerve and therefore the area that that nerve supplies (easy when you know how). Many of our patients come monthly just to ensure that their nervous system is working the best that it can be so that they can function at their best.
Cramps and muscle spasms: In the same way that we treat tension and inability to relax, the adjustments will help the messages that pass to the muscles which can cause spasming. The tight muscles can also come from the bones being misaligned causing the muscles to tighten and spasm on one side and stretch and over work on the opposite side. Rebalancing both the skeleton and the nervous system helps to address this. We also work with our sports and massage therapists to further treat these conditions where necessary.
Ankle sprains: Damage to the ligaments causes the pain and inflammation when you sprain your ankle. Chiropractic adjustments ensure that the bones remain in place (did you know that there are 26 bones in each foot?) and gentle mobilisations and massage can help with the inflammation and healing process.
Osteoarthritis and joint pain: Osteoarthritis results from excessive wear and tear on a joint. We cannot ‘cure’ this but help with the symptoms and pain resulting from the degeneration and to ensure that the bones are in the best possible alignment to slow down the degeneration. I always liken osteoarthritis to the tracking of the tyres of the car- if the tracking is wrong, there will be excessive wear and tear and this can be the case with arthritis. We act like mechanics to ensure the tracking is as near to perfect as it can be so that the wear and tear is more gradual and equal and hopefully you won’t need to replace your tyres!!
Plantar fasciitis: Going back to cramps and muscle sprains, the work here is similar. We act to keep the alignment of the hip, knee, foot and ankle and in turn the muscles will work and fire correctly. We also work with the muscles of the leg to release any tension and again for this condition, we work very closely with our sports therapists to ensure gait, running technique, exercise warm up and cool down and stretches are all in place to prevent reoccurrence.
General aches and pains: It seems obvious to us but if your body isn’t aligned then it will cause problems. Think back to the car tracking scenario or the shoulder injury scenario. This is the same anywhere in the body where one side isn’t working hard enough and another side is over worked and underpaid! The result? Pain! At first it may be subtle, a slight ache when you get up from a chair or out of bed but then we find that this subtle sign starts to become a bit noisier and you need to take pain relief or an anti inflammatory. People normally attend clinic when the problem has become so noisey that you now have a real problem such as putting one’s back out or a shoulder that doesn’t lift anymore. These problems can be addressed at a much earlier stage if we listen to our bodies subtle signs.
Sciatica: Ah a chiropractor’s forte! Trapped nerves! Sciatica is a big nerve that runs down the leg through the bottom, the back of the thigh and the side of the lower leg to the ankle and foot. You absolutely know about it when you have sciatica- it’s like a toothache in the leg and there is no way of getting comfortable. We use chiropractic manipulation and blocks to release the pressure on the sciatic nerve. For all of our consultations, we perform a thorough examination to establish the cause including a neurological exam and this establishes the reason for the cause of sciatica which could be from a disc hernia, bony misalignment or the muscle pushing on the nerve and that way we can perform the most appropriate treatment.
Elbow pain and tennis elbow: If it comes from the neck or spine (which believe it or not, it can), chiropractic adjustments will change the alignment of the spine and flow of nerves and also the muscle function which can help with both tennis and golfer’s elbow. We see a lot of this working at a golf club!
Minor sports injuries: Such as ankle sprains above, chiropractors are trained to ensure that the body functions at it’s best and so we can help with minor sports injuries. At our clinic, we also refer within the team for the best possible management and outcomes and so our sports therapists usually tend to sports injuries.
I hope that you found this useful but for any questions, please do drop us a line and if you are unsure if we can help, you can always book in for a spinal screen which actually is a 15 minute, no obligation appointment to meet with your chiropractor or therapist and discuss if it looks like we can help before booking in for a consultation.
Laura.
