Are you wondering if chiropractic treatment is all it’s cracked up to be? Here’s what you can expect if you decide to undergo a chiropractic treatment plan.
Getting older can mean more doctors and new treatments. As we age, our bodies often protest with new aches and pains.
Staying healthy gets harder as we get older. But it’s worth the effort to eat well, stay active, and take care of ourselves when new issues evolve.
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The older you get, you might notice your back hurts a bit more than in your younger days. Sitting too long or lifting things we shouldn’t lift add strain to back muscles and joints.
What can you do to ease backaches? Is it time to see a chiropractor?
It might not be a bad idea. Here’s what you can expect if you decide to undergo a chiropractic treatment plan.
What is Chiropractic Care?
Chiropractors use spinal manipulation and other treatments to help resolve a variety of medical conditions.
The body heals better with proper alignment of the body’s musculoskeletal structure. The best result of being “in alignment” is less need for medication or surgery for healing.
All of those spine cracking and neck stretching treatments might sound awful. But the goal is to get your body parts in their proper places to help your body function at its best.
Your Visit Starts With An Assessment
Any visit to a new chiropractor starts with a chiropractic consultation.
The doctor and his team will ask questions about your overall health. And you’ll have the opportunity to describe your pain.
Chiropractic care covers more than the spine. Your chiropractor needs to know your overall health history and current conditions to provide the best treatment plan.
An Assessment Leads to a Plan
After your first chiropractic visit, your chiropractor should develop a treatment plan.
Agree on a goal. The benefits of seeing a chiropractor include more than fixing your low back pain.
Do you want to relieve pain? Would you like to sleep better? Are you having headaches?
These issues are often a result of poor alignment in your body.
Your chiropractor can diagnose the alignment issues in your body. These issues could keep you from feeling your best.
With a goal in mind, your treatment plan begins to re-align your body for relief.
What Happens During a Session?
You’ve probably heard the term “adjustments” related to chiropractic care. These are those fear-inducing spine-cracking session horror stories you might hear about or read on the internet.
But, spinal adjustments rarely cause pain. They often sound painful. But you’ll usually feel relief from pain after your adjustment.
Chiropractors train to use leverage, direction, controlled force, leverage, and velocity directed at specific joints. They’ll twist, pull, and push your spine, knees, and other joints to “pop” things back into place.
Depending on your condition and your treatment plan, your chiropractor will recommend adjustments with a few days between each session.
As your body responds by staying in place for longer periods of time, your sessions become less frequent.
You Should See and Feel Progress
As your spine begins to align, you should see and feel improvement.
Notice if you stand up straighter. Has your pain decreased? Can you turn your head back and forth?
After a few sessions, your chiropractor should also notice improvements. They might see things you wouldn’t notice.
It should be easier for them to manipulate your spine during an adjustment. Your joints should stay in place better and longer periods of time.
As your treatment plan progresses, don’t worry if the plan changes. When one part of your body falls back into place, other joints might need adjusting, too.
You and your chiropractor should remain fixed on your goal. Ask questions about your treatment as you go. If a few weeks or months pass without noticeable improvement, it might be time for a re-evaluation.
Trust Your Body
It might be easier to trust your body than to trust your chiropractor. But it’s also important to trust the treatment plan and allow your body to respond.
Chiropractic care rarely solves an issue in one or two sessions. If it’s a long-standing issue, prepare for several weeks of treatment to see results.
Be sure you communicate with your chiropractor as your treatment plan progresses.
If you don’t feel better, share that with your doctor. Ask for more options. Be honest about any at-home recommendations he’s given you.
Slouching at your desk or lifting heavy objects can work against your chiropractic adjustment sessions. If they recommend stretches or strength training, be sure you keep up with that on your own.
Full-Body Benefits
People choose chiropractic care for more than back pain. As we age, our knees, hips, and other joints seem to fail us.
Chiropractic care helps improve mobility for knee and other joint issues. It also helps improve the symptoms of asthma, arthritis, and neck pain.
When the spine is in alignment, you’ll see improvements in balance and range of motion. The older our bones and joints are, the more danger we face from falls. Good balance and range of motion helps prevent falls.
Regular adjustments help prevent joint degeneration, improve energy, and keep you feeling younger despite aging.
If you notice difficulty in these areas, it might be time to find a good chiropractor.
A Good Chiropractic Treatment Plan Helps Us Age Well
When choosing chiropractic care, make sure you follow your chiropractic treatment plan.
Choose a doctor with a good history of treating older patients. Be honest about your pain or balance issues. Having good information about your health helps your chiropractor develop the best plan for you.
Most chiropractors understand that new patients are nervous about adjustments and chiropractic care. It’s okay to let your chiropractor know how you feel.
It’s important to be comfortable during your adjustments to help your body relax for best results. Your chiropractor should set you at ease and explain his procedures to help you relax during sessions.
Consider chiropractic care over standards medicines for a wide range of aging health issues, including arthritis. But if seeing a chiropractor isn’t your thing, check out our suggestions for other natural arthritis treatments.
Feature Image by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
1 thought on “Considering a Chiropractic Treatment Plan? Here’s What to Expect”
Thank you for talking about how you can inform your chiropractor if you experience anything new when trying out their recommendations. I’m willing to do anything to help solve the back pain that I’ve been experiencing ever since I started working from home, so I’ll want to cooperate with anyone who knows more about it than me. Once I find a chiropractor in the area, I’ll make sure I visit them very often and tell them everything I end up feeling during the treatment.