Chiropractic Treatments Beyond an Adjustment

Besides adjusting my spine, what else does a chiropractor do?

Evexia Family Chiropractic wants to dive into the different types of chiropractic treatments. Chiropractic care

encompasses much more than just manipulating your spine or adjusting your spinal column. Most think that a visit to the chiropractor involves lying on a table and having the doctor “crack” the body, twisting and pushing with manual techniques and odd shaped tools. However, there are so many different types of chiropractic treatments. The truth is that chiropractic care is a highly effective discipline of manipulation combined with alternative medicine, holistic approaches, and various treatment scenarios.

Types of Chiropractic Treatments – Temperature Adjustments

Apart from the spinal manipulations, a frequently used chiropractic technique is employing temperature adjustments. Temperature adjustments improve the health of the musculoskeletal system. Introducing different temperatures to the muscles for varying lengths of time has proven to have effective results in therapeutic situations. The application of ice to certain muscle groups and tissues located near the spine for 15 – 20 minutes can constrict our blood vessels and numbing effects on pain and discomfort. Following the ice treatment, a chiropractor then uses heat to relax and loosen the tight muscles, thereby increasing blood flow. Alternating these two chiropractic adjustment techniques in a consistent manner improves the delivery of oxygen, speeding up the healing process.

Types of Chiropractic Treatments – Massage Therapy

In addition to temperature therapy, chiropractic care also offers the art of massage therapy. Did you know massage therapy was included in the types of chiropractic treatments?! When muscles are loosened by the heat, they become much more able to massage and manipulate, allowing blood to flow more freely. Overly stressed and tight muscles are often followed closely by an excess of lactic acid build-up and the increase in pain and soreness. However, massage can clear the lactic acid and restore proper muscles function.

Chiropractors can use a wide variety of therapeutic exercise techniques with their patients. After fully assessing a patient’s condition, the doctor will assign the patient a regimen of exercises. These exercises are designed to improve their overall musculoskeletal condition, along with the in-office adjustments from the doctor.

Other types of chiropractic treatments used by chiropractors professionals can range from weight management to dietary adjustments, and other education efforts. Chiropractic care is a multi-faceted approach and can deal with issues that are often the source of the patient’s problems.

It is, of course, the focus on spinal adjustment that makes a chiropractor unique in how they treat a patient with spine issues.  The adjustment, however, won’t be the only technique used by a chiropractor. An example may be the use of alternative (drug-free and natural) therapeutics.

Heat, cold, massage, light, water, and exercise are several of the therapeutic measures utilized in chiropractic care. Under the doctor’s care, these measures can offer benefits to bodily functions and help to resolve back pain issues.

Types of Chiropractic Treatments and Therapy

Therapeutic measures often used in chiropractic include:

• Heat and cold.

  As we mentioned, chiropractors will alternate between ice and heat so that patients can be treated for back pain. Ice therapy can be used for numbing muscles, then be switched to heat therapy.  This restores the blood flow to affected areas and helps muscles to heal faster.

• Exercise.

  Types of chiropractic treatments can also include exercises you can do yourself! Chiropractors can provide their patients with exercises which focus on strengthening and stretching the back. 

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  types of chiropractic treatments evexia family chiropractic

• Massage.

  Chiropractors will sometimes massage muscle tissue which improves blood flow, reduces the inflammation of back pain, and promotes quicker healing.

• Ultrasound.

  Ultrasound and other specific sound waves can be used with heat therapy and applied to joints and soft tissues. Essentially micro-massaging the affected areas, ultrasound treatment can not only reduce pain, spasms, and stiffness, but it increases blood flow and speeds up healing.

• Diathermy.

  Shortwave, electro-magnetic therapy (known as diathermy) is also a form of therapy that can be offered with chiropractic care. These electromagnetic waves pass through the soft muscle tissues providing heat. Diathermy therapy gets the muscles and connective tissues to relax – decreasing muscle spasms and speeding the healing process with improved blood flow.

• Hydrotherapy.

  Using water and the varying of its temperature and pressure in baths, saunas, or whirlpools, hydrotherapy concentrates on the reaction of the body to cold and hot stimuli. Hydrotherapy, in the chiropractic sense, is used to reduce back pain via cold stimuli that numb the pain and hot therapy to improve blood circulation and healing.

• Electrical stimulation.

  Electrical stimulation electrodes send light pulses of electricity to the affected areas and reduce inflammation and muscle spasms.

• Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulators (TENS).

  A very common type of electrical stimulation therapy is transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). TENS are electrodes placed on top of the pain while the patient controls the intensity of impulses. TENS blocks the transmission of pain and allows the body to release its own painkillers called endorphins.

  

  evexia family chiropractic treatment types

• Diet.

  Types of chiropractic treatments will be even more beneficial if you continue the journey towards your health and well-being outside of visiting Evexia Family Chiropractic. Chiropractors can provide their patients with ideas for improving their diet, which in turn can help manage their back pain. Some doctors might even suggest a dietary supplement following a chiropractic adjustment. 

• Traction.

  Traction massage includes a system of rollers that move over the back while massaging and stretching the back muscles. Chiropractors often use tools for traction to stretch and decompress the spine and discs to reduce discomfort in the nerves (the technique is known as non-surgical spinal decompression).

• Radiation.

  With the types of chiropractic care, thermal cameras can be used to indicate blood flow in a patient’s back. As an example, blue-colored hues might illuminate high radiation and show blood flow. Radiation can also aid the chiropractor in determining the normal temperature changes from abnormal ones, assessing the root causes of a patient’s pain. 

• Laser therapy.

  By using cold lasers as a form of therapy, energy particles travel by laser and are absorbed by photoreceptors after passing through the surface of the skin. Cells are then converted by the light and fuel the process of decreasing inflammation, reducing pain and improving blood flow.

• Ergonomics.

  During a patient’s chiropractic care, the doctor might recommend changes to the patient’s work desks and tables. He will work with the patient to achieve proper spinal alignment while the patient works at home or in an office. Ergonomic and job-related modifications can be employed to reduce painful irritation.

• Pelvic stabilization.

  For irregular leg-length due to flat feet or other muscular instabilities, a chiropractor can prescribe heel lifts or arch supports in the patient’s shoes, thereby stabilizing the pelvis.

Summary

Utilizing chiropractic adjustments, in conjunction with the many other therapy techniques mentioned, the chiropractor can remove many irritations to the nervous or structural systems. There are so many different types of chiropractic treatments, and Evexia Family Chiropractic will help you choose the best therapy for you. Call your Lee’s Summit chiropractor today for an appointment!