What Can You Treat With Chiropractic Care?

When we think of chiropractic care, we generally draw assumptions that it refers to the treatment of musculoskeletal issues, such as back and/or neck pain. While this is absolutely true to some degree, the American Chiropractic Association defines chiropractic as “a health care profession that focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, and the effects of these disorders on general health. Chiropractic care is used most often to treat neuromusculoskeletal complaints, including but not limited to back pain, neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, and headaches”. Below, we’ll cover some common and some lesser-known conditions that could potentially respond well to chiropractic care.

Poor Immunity 

According to the CRO (the Contract Research Organization), chiropractors have been witnessing the reduction or the actual cessation of immune-related health problems such as allergies, respiratory infections, and others with regular spinal manipulation. It seems as though this sort of chiropractic treatment lessens the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (cell signaling protein molecules). Because the immune system and the nervous system work so closely together within the body, regular chiropractic adjustments can help to decrease inflammation and increase infection-fighting white blood cells. 

Chronic Lower Back Pain

Many medical conditions which lead to ongoing lower back pain can be successfully treated with chiropractic care. The most common treatments for lower back pain include spinal manipulation (also known as a chiropractic “adjustment”, this treatment reduces most nerve irritability and can improve your body’s overall range of motion) and mobilization (slow movement and stretching of the body’s muscles and joints to further improve range of motion and reduce any sort of chronic pain). This can lead to a decrease in inflammation surrounding the spinal cord, which oftentimes leads to chronic back, neck, and/or shoulder pain. 

Pregnancy Pains

During the course of pregnancy, a woman’s body moves and expands in all different ways, and some of these changes may cause some significant pain in various parts of the body. Chiropractic treatments may be an effective way to manage these sorts of pregnancy pains. Chiropractic practitioners who have been specifically trained to work on pregnant women can utilize tables which specifically adjust to the pregnant woman’s body and will utilize adjustment techniques which can help to ease unwanted pain but will avoid pressure to the abdominal area. Doctors of chiropractic can also help to inform a pregnant women on exercises which may help to effectively manage pregnancy pains outside of the chiropractic office, and which are safe to do throughout the entirety of the pregnancy.

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Used under Creative Commons Licensing courtesy of Mark Morgan