Back pain can be debilitating. It’ll keep you in bed for days, limit your social life and sap your strength at work.
A chiropractor can help your back pain as a primary intervention or as part of a holistic treatment regimen.
5 Ways Chiropractors Relieve Back Pain
1. Spinal Manipulation
Your spine is a wonderful machine — a column of bones, discs and joints called vertebrae that serve a variety of functions. It provides range of motion in virtually every direction and channels your entire nervous system. It keeps you standing up straight (we’ll talk about good posture later).
But every so often, the spine gets bent out of shape, pardon the pun. Aging, activity and injury will push, pull and press vertebrae out of alignment.
A chiropractor adjusts the vertebrae with appropriate amounts of force and thrust. Methods also involve repositioning the head, neck, shoulders, back and/or hips. This relieves pressure, restores blood flow and optimizes nervous system function governing every bodily function.
2. Spinal Traction
This process stretches and mobilizes the spine. It may involve one or several techniques, from manual to mechanical, dependent upon the patient’s diagnoses and physical tolerances.
It is most commonly used to treat:
- Herniated discs
- Degenerative disc disease
- Pinched nerves, and
- Sciatica
Traction relieves back pain by stretching and adjusting muscles around the spinal column, including the cervical, thoracic and and lumbar regions. It widens spaces between the vertebrae to alleviate nerve constriction and impingement. For example, a focus on the cervical spine (located in the neck) may involve a repositioning of the head, while lumbar (lower back) traction may involve adjusting the hips.
3. Exercise and Stretching
Back pain may not be due to an injury or a spinal issue, but rather just being out of shape. Simple back stretches and exercises will help to loosen achy muscles and strengthen problem areas.
A good chiropractor will recommend suitable activities for your fitness level and tolerances. (I know, if it hurts to move, it’s hard to move.) Ideally, they’ll fit within a greater wellness regimen for body, mind and spirit. It feels great to be fit and physically active. Your back will thank you.
4. Physical Therapies
While not physical therapists, chiropractors may employ similar techniques to address injuries, stiffness and weakness around the spine. These may include:
- Ultrasound – deep-heat therapy, using soundwaves, which stimulates tissues and joints
- Icing and heating – applying cool to reduce inflammation and relieve pain, and heat to relax tissues and restore blood circulation, and
- Muscle stimulation – electrical pulses transmitted to problem areas cause muscles to contract, reducing pain and inflammation and in some cases fighting atrophy.
5. Patient Education
Self care is always the first line of defense. To fix a problem, you must first understand its causes and solutions. You know your body well — its triggers and responses. A good chiropractor will help you to expand this understanding and to tailor an individualized back pain-relief program. This may involve education on:
- Posture
- Diet and nutrition
- Physical fitness
- Quitting smoking and drinking
- Stress relief, and
- Medicine
The more you know, the more you can do to relieve back pain and adopt preventive habits.
Relieve Your Back Pain TODAY
There’s more to back health than a quick adjustment and you’re out the door. A great chiropractor in Parrish, FL will work to relieve back pain in whatever way best suits your needs. Schedule an appointment at our new location or call us at (941) 933-1500.
