Chiropractic is a health care profession focused on diagnosing and treating musculoskeletal disorders. Chiropractors treat patients through manual therapy, physical therapy, and lifestyle counselling. Chiropractic care strives to remove or relieve interference with the spine and nervous system, allowing the body to heal.
Chiropractors use spinal adjustments and other therapies to correct blockages called subluxations and slight misalignments and restore proper nerve and muscle function.
Many common conditions, such as back pain, respond favourably to chiropractic care. Patients often seek chiropractic care for help with back pain, neck pain, headaches, arm and leg pain, numbness/tingling, poor sleep, and fatigue.
Other chiropractic benefits include improving overall health and wellness and preventative care techniques to avoid future injury or illness.
History of Chiropractic Medicine
The ancient Greeks, Romans, and Chinese wrote about spinal manipulation to relieve lower back pain. Many texts written by the father of medicine, Hippocrates, discuss techniques similar to modern chiropractic treatments.
Modern chiropractic care as a separate branch of the medical arts got its start in the late 1800s. It began with the writings and practices of Mr D.D. Palmer, a non-degreed healer at the time, who believed that spinal alignment could improve a patient’s health.
His famous discovery occurred when he restored a man’s hearing by realigning his spine. The patient lost his hearing after hearing a pop in his neck, and reversing that injury restored his hearing ability.
After over a century of development and refinement of techniques, most medical professionals have accepted chiropractic as mainstream medicine.
Chiropractic Benefits
Chiropractic offers numerous benefits for reducing discomfort and improving your quality of life. Some of the benefits you can expect from chiropractic treatment include:
Pain Relief
Chiropractic care can treat many pain conditions, including back pain, headaches, neck pain, and joint pain. Chiropractors can also provide guidance on posture and ergonomics to help prevent future injuries. If you are dealing with chronic pain, chiropractic benefits may be able to help.
Chiropractic adjustments can also help to improve range of motion and increase flexibility. Holistic chiropractic care can also help to reduce stress and promote relaxation, two critical factors in pain management.
Improved Posture
Chiropractic treatment can help you improve your posture. Poor posture often results in chronic back pain, as the spine is not correctly supported when you slump over.
Chiropractic care can realign the spine, relieving pressure and discomfort. Regular chiropractic treatments to improve posture can help prevent future back pain by ensuring that the spine is aligned correctly.
Reduces Reliance on Opioids
A study conducted in 2020 indicated that one of the major chiropractic benefits derived from treatments for pain relief is a reduced need for opioid medications.
This same study found that people who included chiropractic care as part of a pain management program prescribed by their physicians were much less likely to get refills for opioid prescriptions.
Osteoarthritis Symptom Relief
Losing cartilage density and lubrication in your joints causes the ends of your bones to rub together, leading to osteoarthritis pain.
Regular chiropractic care and treatments can help realign your joints and reduce the frequency of bone-on-bone friction, lessening your pain due to this condition.
Many find that regular chiropractic adjustments may slow the progression of arthritis.
Better Sleep and Higher Energy Levels
A growing body of research suggests that chiropractic benefits include improved sleep and increased energy levels.
Many of the benefits are related to chiropractic therapy and back pain. Since chiropractic treatment helps with back and other types of pain, the pain relief often improves the quality of sleep a person gets each night.
A 2010 literature review found that several studies demonstrated a significant improvement in sleep quality after patients received manual therapy.
Chiropractic therapy has also been shown to increase energy levels—people with chronic fatigue syndrome report significantly higher energy levels after chiropractic treatment.
Mood Improvement and Stress Relief
Chiropractic treatment has been shown to improve mood and reduce stress levels. A 2002 study found that people who received chiropractic treatment had significantly lower cortisol levels for up to 60 minutes after treatment.
Massage is often used as an integral part of chiropractic treatment. A 2010 study found that just five minutes of touch-focussed care can lower a patient’s perceived stress level.
CEN Chiropractic Care
CEN Chiropractic is a patient-focused holistic chiropractic care centre in Carlton, NSW. Our experienced and professional practitioners are passionate about relieving pain through bespoke chiropractic care plans customised to heal every patient’s unique issues.
Chiropractic care might be right for you if you suffer from lower back pain, shoulder aches, headaches, or musculoskeletal injuries. It is a drug-free and non-invasive way to treat these conditions and give you the relief you need.
The numerous chiropractic benefits from these treatments can relieve many types of pain, from back pain to headaches, and can significantly improve quality of life.
If you would like to learn more about chiropractic treatments, contact us today to schedule an appointment.
References
Chiropractors
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/chiropractors
Chiropractic Day: A Historical Review of a Day Worth Celebrating
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8074684/
Impact of Chiropractic Care on Use of Prescription Opioids in Patients with Spinal Pain
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32142140/
Highlands Ranch Chiropractic – Can Chiropractic help you sleep at night?
https://www.detoxifyyourlifestyle.com/can-chiropractic-help-sleep-night/
Chiropractic: In Depth
https://www.healthline.com/health/chiropractic-benefits#about-chiropractic-care
Chiropractors
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/chiropractors