Most people know that chiropractors are the doctors you go to see when you have pain in your back. Did you know though that they do much more than relieving back pain? Chiropractic treatment can have many benefits for your back as well as your overall health. From pregnancy, infancy, and throughout adulthood, chiropractic care can help make your life more comfortable. Let’s get to know the chiropractor and how they can help live a healthier, more satisfying life.
What is a Chiropractor?
What is a chiropractor? Literally defined, a chiropractor is a doctor who uses diagnosis and manipulative treatment for accessing and correcting misalignments of joints. So what does all of that mean? Chiropractors are doctors who use hands-on treatments to realign the joints in your body, to let them function better and thus giving you a freer range of motion and better quality of life.
Chiropractic treatment uses many different techniques to repair damage and misalignment that is caused by daily life. From childhood and continuing through adulthood, the activities you do can take a toll on your body. With time these activities can cause pulls and strains on your spine that can cause misalignments. These misalignments cause the signals sent through your nervous system to at times be hindered or interrupted. This miscommunication in your nervous system is what causes your aches and pains. Chiropractic treatments can help to repair this damage through the use of adjustments.
Services Provided by a Chiropractor
Now that you know what a chiropractor is, it is time to discuss what they do, other than help your back of course. Let’s start with the services they can provide and that can benefit you. With the combination of chiropractic treatment and even the use of acupuncture, your chiropractor can help align your vertebrae back to their normal positions. This realignment helps the signals of your nervous system to travel appropriately again. Meaning your nerves will be sending the correct messages to the proper places.
Because your vertebrae are the protectors of your spine and the nerves that are attached to it, the misalignment that life causes can cause many symptoms and affect your whole body. Literally from head to toe. Following are a few of the ailments that chiropractic treatment can help relieve.
Ailments
Arthritis
Headaches
Shoulder, Elbow, and Knee Joint Pain
Scoliosis Neck and Back Pain
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Sciatica
Torticollis
Stress
Because chiropractic treatment aims at the healing the underlying cause of each of these ailments, instead of the illness itself, results can often be more productive. Through spinal adjustments, physical therapy, and soft tissue massage, your chiropractor can help relieve the causes of some of the most common complaints people face daily. Giving you a healthier outlook on life.
Benefits for Life
Chiropractic care doesn’t just start when you have been injured or have back pain that will not go away. Your chiropractor should be like your best friend. Someone you see regularly, you have sincere conversations with (about what is ailing you normally), and when it is time to go home you are both relieved and sad to see the time end. Chiropractic care can benefit your body during pregnancy, throughout childhood, during adolescence, and as adults. Let’s discuss a few ways your new best friend can keep your body moving.
During Pregnancy
Receiving chiropractic care during pregnancy helps not only mom to be but also the baby. The pressures and strains pregnancy puts on a woman’s body is astounding, and yet women go through these strains every day. The changes in the body during pregnancy can cause new ailments or irritate existing conditions. Some of the most common complaints during pregnancy are due to the changes in weight and the movement of internal organs to make room for baby. All of this causes misalignments in your back, joints, and pelvis. Chiropractic care can help to gently repair the misalignment and can even make delivery easier and less stressful for you and your baby. Plus, having routine visits with your chiropractor could also give partners a much-needed break from the “my back hurts” complaint.
During Childhood
One often overlooked benefit of chiropractic care is that of treatment for babies and children. The truth is that babies from the time of birth through the toddler years and beyond are continually causing strain on their bodies. Many of the ailments that babies and children experience are produced as a direct result of the stress on their newly forming nervous system. Routine visits with their chiropractor can decrease or eliminate some of the most troublesome issues that rob you of your sleep. Following are some of the ailments chiropractors can help relieve in your infants and small children.
Childhood Ailments
Ear Infections
Asthma
Colic
Breast Feeding Difficulties
Hip Problems
Constipation
During Adolescence
Now your child has grown into adolescence. Besides the usual angst of children of this age, you may also find yourself facing new complaints of pain or discomfort. This is the time many children take up sports and other activities that put additional strain on their forming bodies. This is why many professional sports teams have chiropractors included as part of the team. During this time is when you will hear the most complaints about growing pains as well. Mostly because now they know they shouldn’t feel like that, so it is time to let someone know about it. With these new strains comes new pressure on their nervous system as well. Again, routine visits with their chiropractic team can help ease their growing pains and yours.
As Adults
Finally, they have made it into adulthood, happy dance time. Did you know that even that happy dance can cause joint displacement? Here is another way your chiropractor can help you enjoy living life. The activities adults perform daily place significant stress on one’s body. Working, sleeping habits, poor posture, exercise routines, and all those things you enjoy as an adult can cause slight changes in your alignment. Over time these minor changes result in aches and pains. An adjustment from your chiropractic team can be just what you need to keep you dancing those nights away. So don’t put off making an appointment to find out what your chiropractor can do for you.