Dr. Jessica Mobley

Many people dealing with certain types of chronic pain are keen on exploring treatment options that do not involve taking oral pills everyday or every other time.

One go-to alternative is chiropractic care. Chiropractic care has numerous positive outcomes for patients.

Here are five ways your health could benefit from it.

1. Can Help Minimize Scoliosis Symptoms

Scoliosis is an abnormal curving of the spine. A normal spine has a curve at the shoulder and the lower back. People with scoliosis have a c-shaped back or a back that’s curved from side to side.

Chiropractic care can help improve the Cobb angle of people with scoliosis. The Cobb angle is a measurement of the degree of the side-to-side deformity present.

While the deformation is unlikely to be cured, some studies have shown some notable improvements.

2. Eases Headache Symptoms

Chiropractic care that involves spinal manipulation is especially useful for headaches that originate from the neck. The same is true for tension headaches.

This is because a back misalignment is known to cause muscle tension and pain, resulting in migraine and tension headaches. Headaches are second to back pain when it comes to the most common conditions chiropractors treat.

Chiropractic care can help prevent headaches or minimize the symptoms to allow one to enjoy a better quality of life.

3. Reduce Inflammation

Inflammation is the main cause of pain, tension and joint problems. So much so that it has been directly linked to numerous diseases, including cancer, chronic pain and heart disease.

Chiropractic adjustments are also known to lessen inflammation. The results of these include chronic lower back relief and reduced joint pain and muscle tension.

Reduced inflammation in the body can also reduce an individual’s risk of contracting diseases and conditions associated with high inflammation in the body.

4. Sciatica

Sciatica refers to pain that radiates along the path of the sciatic nerve. This type of pain branches from your lower back, through your buttocks and hips and down each leg. This is typically experienced in one side of the body and is caused by a pressurized or damaged sciatic nerve.

Because sciatica can be painful, it can easily lead to over medication.

What chiropractic care does for sciatica is relieve pressure on the sciatic nerve that’s causing sciatica.

Research has shown that patients getting chiropractic care for sciatica experience less pain and have a reduced number of pain days. Both outcomes help improve their quality of life.

5. It Helps With Neck and Lower Back Pain

Most patients that go to a chiropractor often need help with neck and lower back pain.

Medication and surgery are other treatments offered for neck and back pain. However, these can be dangerous, ineffective and can get quite expensive.

A chiropractic adjustment is often a good place to start when evaluating one’s options for chronic neck and back pain treatments. Not only is this effective, but it’s also non-invasive and more affordable compared to the other alternatives.

A muscle strain, commonly referred to as a muscle pull, occurs when a muscle is torn or overstretched. This can result from overuse of the muscle, improper use of a muscle or muscle fatigue.

While muscle strains can happen in any muscle, they are typically experienced in the lower back, shoulder, neck and hamstring, a muscle behind the thigh.

Once you suffer a muscle strain, it can cause limited movement and pain in the affected muscle group.

How Chiropractic Care Can Help

One thing you can do after a muscle strain is getting chiropractic care. Here are some ways in which this can be beneficial.

You Get To Avoid Medication

At times, the most obvious thing to do about a pulled muscle is to take some pain relief for it, specifically anti-inflammatory pills to reduce the pain and swelling. While this might offer some relief, it’s not always the best cause of action.

This is especially so for people whose lifestyles make them more susceptible to muscle sprains. If you want to avoid popping pills each time you suffer a muscle sprain, chiropractic care is an excellent alternative.

Chiropractic care can use musculoskeletal manipulation to manipulate joints, muscles and tissues and relieve the tightness of a pulled muscle. This is bound to offer some pain relief, expedite the healing process and restore mobility.

Restore Mobility

One of the symptoms of a pulled muscle is restricted mobility on the part of the affected body part.

Alongside alleviating the pain, restoring mobility is also a huge concern.

One effective technique chiropractors use for a pulled muscle is the active release technique. This technique breaks up adhesions that build up from scar tissue in the muscle. This addresses the pain and helps the patient gain more mobility.

R.I.C.E

The rice method is very effective for treating pulled muscles at home. If you are prone to them, it might not make sense to go to the hospital every time you get one.

A chiropractor can be very instrumental in teaching you how to carry out the R.I.C.E method correctly. This method uses Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation.

Prevention

The best way to deal with a muscle strain is to prevent it before it happens. While it might not be possible to eliminate the chances of getting one completely, there are things you can do towards prevention.

Chiropractic care for one stretch muscles and increases their range of motion. If this is something you do regularly, you will increase your strength, improve circulation, minimize muscle tension and enjoy more flexibility.

The Takeaway

Chiropractic care is very useful in treating muscle strain. Not just that, but regular chiropractic care can help prevent or lessen the instances of getting muscle strains.

If you lead an active life or work out a lot, getting a chiropractor to work with you can ensure you have fewer muscle pulls and other back, neck and limb injuries. A chiropractor can also give you tips on how to stretch better and take care of muscle strains at home.