Many of us think of chiropractors as the people we go visit after an accident or injury to help with pain in the neck or back. While it is true that chiropractic adjustments can provide relief to those areas after traumatic events, there is so much more to chiropractic treatment, and it covers a much broader spectrum of health and wellness.
What Conditions Can a Chiropractor Treat?
Chiropractors can help with a wide range of medical and health problems, including the following:
- Arthritis
- Diabetes
- Neuropathy
- Neck, back, and shoulder pain
- Hip and knee pain
- Sprains, strains, and repetitive stress injuries
- Loss of energy, problems sleeping, or issues with range of motion
- Migraines and stress
What Does a Chiropractor Do?
When you first meet with a chiropractor, the first step is a holistic health assessment. An examination of the body to determine areas of misalignment is always a component of the initial examination because alignment is often the key to a host of issues in the body.
If the muscles, joints, and spine are out of alignment, the resulting problems can range from nerve damage to organ issues to intense pain quite far from the area of the misalignment, as well as problems with posture, strength, mood, migraines, and a host of other issues.
By working to see where the body needs alignment, the chiropractor can judge the best course of treatment, which may include:
- Chiropractic adjustment: in which the chiropractor uses their hands to manipulate the body to restore the balance and alignment that is causing the health concerns, including joint and muscle pain, migraines, problems with energy and mood and sleep, arthritis, and many other issues.
- Spinal decompression: with the help of technology, the chiropractor can restore the spine to its natural state and relieve the pressure on the nerves that might be leading to other complications throughout the body beyond just treating the back pain.
- Platelet-Rich Plasma injections: beyond manual adjustments and spinal decompression, a chiropractor has many other treatment options at their disposal, including PRP injections. Using the body’s own cells, by drawing blood and creating a concentrated solution of platelets that are injected at the site of tissue damage, the chiropractor is able to harness your own ability to stimulate your body’s own processes of cellular growth and replacement, speeding healing.
- Lifestyle changes and plans: the chiropractor can work with you to change your exercise regime as well as help develop a nutrition plan that best meets your body’s individual needs. Many issues outside of alignment are related to overall exercise and nutrition, and a trained chiropractor can help get you back on the right track physically with targeted suggestions for these two areas of your life.
Chiropractors, most importantly, treat you as an individual, not as a collection of symptoms to prescribe medication to treat. They look at the entire picture of your health and develop a plan to realign you and help you be free from pain and reach your maximum potential.
