What Exactly Does A Chiropractor Do?

Chiropractors use natural treatment techniques to get you healthy again while improving the overall quality of your life. Safe isolating stretches and the use of hand-on treatment will bring you back to better health without surgery or medication.

What Does Chiropractic Do To Help With Pain?

Chiropractic treatment is the most effective treatment for pain symptoms because chiropractors use techniques that ensure your body heals properly.

The majority of the time, the pain is caused by an imbalance in the spine. Therefore, chiropractors will adjust your spine to re-align your vertebrae. This causes immediate relief from the build-up of pressure.

Chiropractors work gently on your injuries and help your body to feel good again. Chiropractors can also provide patients with safe strength-building exercises and also suggest nutritional advice that will help prevent the same injury.

Chiropractors work by creating a treatment plan for each patient individually, so it is crucial that you must describe your pain and aches in detail. When you tell the chiropractor which actions make you feel better or worse, it will help chiropractors to create the best treatment plan for you. Chiropractors first determine whether you are suffering from acute or chronic pain symptoms.

Acute pain disappears in a short period of time while chronic pain is long-lasting and can adversely affect your daily activities. When you describe your pain to a chiropractor, they not only help you determine whether you are suffering from acute or chronic pain, but they also determine what underlying problem is causing the pain. Ultimately this will help them execute the most effective treatment.

How Chiropractors Diagnose Injuries?

When chiropractors diagnose their patients, it’s much similar to the research paper. Chiropractors have to look into different areas of the body and put it all together before they are sure it is accurate. At first, they collect your family health history.

They perform a physical examination to feel the misalignment. They will check your movement when you walk and bend. Mostly the neck and back pain comes from poor posture so they always check your body posture. They might even perform a piriformis test or psoas muscle test.

A piriformis test examines your buttock region and the psoas muscle test checks strength in your joint.

The chiropractors may order radiological tests such as X-rays, CT scans, and MRIs for confirming the diagnosis. They may also order other tests such as blood tests, urinalysis, etc as per their needs.

Typical Injuries That Chiropractors Treat

When you encounter pain, aches, and injuries then it means it’s time to visit a chiropractor.

Neck pain

The most common reason for neck pain is pinched nerves, injuries, swelling, poor posture. Neck pain is classified according to the discomfort from the bottom of the head to the top of the shoulder.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

It cause numbness, pain and tingling sensation in the forefinger, middle finger, and thumb. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a disease that compresses the median nerve.

Back Pain

It is one of the most common reasons due to which individuals have to take some time off from their work. It can occur either in the upper, middle, or lower back. Poor posture, lifting weight improperly, slips, and falls are the common contributors to back pain.

Piriformis Syndrome

It is well known as buttock spasms. It can potentially lead to numbness & sciatic nerve irritation.

Leg Length Discrepancies

It is a difference between the length of the legs or arms. Some children are born with legs that are different in length. Sometimes, this discrepancy is connected with other congenital abnormalities. In other instances, an injury or illness may cause a discrepancy in the length of the lower limb to develop over time.

Scoliosis

Scoliosis is a deformity that occurs when the spine becomes rotated and curved sideways, and it is usually diagnosed in the early years of childhood or in early adolescence. The conditions cause disruptions in everyday tasks.

Sciatica

Sciatica pain is caused by inflammation, irritation, compression, or pinching of the sciatic nerve in the lower back. People suffering from sciatica get better on their own with time and self-care treatment.

Treatment Options Used by Chiropractors

One of the most common treatment techniques opted by chiropractors is the manipulation of the spine (most often referred to as an adjustment). However, in addition based on your personal health history and your specific health condition the chiropractor could decide to use other treatment methods.

These are some possible treatment options you could expect when you visit a chiropractor (after an initial health history and exam):

Manipulations/Adjustments

Definition – A quick, gentle thrust to the spine that is intended to ease pain and improve mobility.

What can you expect? 

Your chiropractor will instruct you to lay down or sit on the treatment table, depending on the location of your pain. They’ll apply a gentle force on the joint using their hands. This can be typically followed by a “popping” sound, that “popping” sound is believed to be the release of air pockets from the fluid inside the joint. it is like “cracking your knuckles”, according to an investigation conducted by Dr Greg Kawchuk, a chiropractic researcher and University of Alberta professor.

Spinal Mobilization

It is less invasive than spinal manipulation but still puts the joint through a full range of motion.

Strengthening and/or Stretching Exercises

After your initial examination or diagnosis by your chiropractor, your chiropractor could recommend specific stretches or exercises. These stretches and exercises will help strengthen your muscles and improve your function.

Patient Education

To improve motor control and posture and, possible reduction in anxiety.

Acupuncture

A technique which involves the insertion of fine and thin needles in the skin at specific pressure points to induce an analgesic, or pain-killing, effect (among other benefits that have been observed).

Other treatment method used by chiropractors could include RICE method, TENS, Cervical traction, Ultrasound, Heat Therapy, or Cold therapy.