There are many myths about chiropractors that are simply untrue. Chiropractic care is a safe and effective way to treat pain and improve mobility. If you have been thinking about starting chiropractic treatment, you might have heard about these common myths.
Spinal Manipulation “Cracks” Your Bones
You may have heard from friends who’ve gone to the chiropractor that they had their necks and backs “cracked” during their visit to the chiropractor. Cracking certainly sounds alarming, but fortunately, it is not nearly what it sounds like. The cracking sound happens during spinal manipulation, which realigns the spine. Misaligned spines can come from injuries, poor posture, or repetitive movements. The misaligned vertebrae can cause joint pain, tight muscles, muscle spasms, reduced range of motion, and a number of other issues. The popping sound is just pockets of air in the joints are disrupted. While this sound may seem scary, it is a safe way to reduce pain in the joints and muscles, as well as improve range of motion.
You Will Need To See A Chiropractor Forever
Initially, you may need to see your chiropractor multiple times per week. But as your pain improves, you will need to come in less and less. Depending on the severity of your issue, your chiropractic treatment could last a few weeks to months. Once you recover, you can stop seeing your chiropractor if you want. But you may want to set up appointments throughout the year to ensure that your pain doesn’t come back.
Spinal Manipulation Is the Only Treatment Chiropractors Provide
While spinal manipulation is what chiropractors are most known for, we also provide a variety of other treatments that can help to ease your pain, such as:
- Heat and Ice. Using heat or ice can decrease pain and swelling.
- Massage. Massages relieve stress as well as reduce muscle pain and spasms, and increase flexibility and range of motion.
- Transcutaneous Electrical Stimulation (TENS) Treatment. TENS uses a low-voltage electrical current to block pain signals from reaching your brain.
- Soft tissue Mobilization. The treatment involves handheld instruments that gently stretch soft tissues and break apart scar tissue.
- Spinal Mobilization. Slow, gentle hands-on pressure repositions joints and eases pain.
- Ultrasound Treatment. Applying ultrasound waves to sore or injured areas can relieve muscle tension, reduces swelling, and speeds healing.
There is No Need to See A Chiropractor If You Don’t Have Neck Or Back Pain
Chiropractors treat many conditions aside from neck and back pain. They can reduce the frequency of migraines and tension headaches, ease allergy and asthma symptoms, decrease stress, help you sleep better, offer true pain relief, and treat many different conditions. These conditions include plantar fasciitis, bursitis, tendonitis, text neck, carpal tunnel syndrome, pinched nerves, sports injuries, and leg, hip, or shoulder pain.
Chiropractic Treatment Isn’t Effective
There have been many studies done on the effectiveness of chiropractic treatment for many painful conditions. A study published in The Clinical Rehabilitation in 2018 found that people who had moderate to severe carpal tunnel syndrome reported improvement in pain and function, this was coupled with drastic decreases in the severity of their pain.
Military personnel who received chiropractic treatment along with standard medical treatment for lower back pain found that they had less pain and better body function compared to those who only had standard treatment.
In 2017, The American College of Physicians included chiropractic treatment as a treatment for lower back pain.
Sources
American College of Physicians: American College of Physicians Issues Guidelines for Treating Nonradicular Low Back Pain, 2/14/17
PubMed: Spine: Adding Chiropractic Manipulative Therapy to Standard Medical Care for Patients with Acute Low Back Pain: Results of a Pragmatic Randomized Comparative Effectiveness Study, 4/15/13
Pub Med: Clinical Rehabilitation: Is Manual Therapy Based on Neurodynamic Techniques Effective in the Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, A Randomized Controlled Trial, 10/11/18
Spine Universe: Chiropractic Spinal Adjustment: What was that pop?