Chiropractors don’t fix back pain! What do they do?
Chiropractors don’t FIX back pain!
Would you be surprised to hear that chiropractors don’t fix neck and back pain? What do chiropractors do? Why do people see a chiropractor? It’s not all about back and neck pain. In this blog we chat about some of the common concerns people visit our office with and what the aim of chiropractor is when assessing people’s spine.
What brings people to our office?
Back pain and neck pain are common symptoms people visit a chiropractor for. However there are many other symptoms that bring people to our office – here are some of problems that people present with:
- Headaches
- Neckpain/stiffness
- Sciatica
- Shooting leg pain
- Numbness in arms/legs
- Low back pain/stiffness
- Rib pain
- Hip pain
- Shoulder stiffness/pain
Causes of spinal problems
We have people presenting to our practice from all walks of life and of all ages. Here are a few factors that can cause the above symptoms and motivate people to see us:
- sports/recreational accidents
- Work accidents
- Micro trauma from repetitive lifting/twisting
- Incorrect long standing posture, sitting/standing or lying down
- Birth trauma
Pain impacts lifestyle
Aches and pain stop people from living fully and the impact on daily life is the real issue. Here are some of the reasons that motivate people to come in and seek treatment.
- Sleep quality impacted
- Exercise and sport too difficult
- Can’t play with the children or grand children
- Sitting for work or to watch a movie is not easy
- Working efficiently is not possible
- Stress of what the future may bring if the problem is not solved
What do chiropractors aim to do?
This does sound counter intuitive that people come to a chiropractor for back pain but we don’t fix back pain. Whether people come in with back, neck or sciatica, we look at the whole spine starting from the feet all the way up to the head. Our job is to assess the integrity of a person’s posture, spinal function and nervous system. We run a series of tests to check out posture, spinal alignment, movement and nerve health on the first visit.
Treatment outline
Our aim with treatment is to improve the health of the spine by:
- Increasing spinal joint movement
- Improving spinal alignment
- Making postural recommendations
- Give appropriate stretches and strengthening exercises
Chiropractors help back issues by improving spinal health
Our goal as chiropractors is to minimise the strain on the joints, muscles ligaments and nerves around the spine and we do that by improving the way the spine is aligned and improving the spinal joint movement. Loading up the spine with uneven posture slowly over time creates stress as does injuries that have not been treated properly -both causing inflammation and pain. Dealing with the cause of the pain is important.
Do you need a spinal assessment?
Niggles and ache and pains that don’t go after a few days may be an indicator that the spine may be under some stress. Don’t let small problems become big problems, make time for a spinal check up.
Any questions, please feel free to contact us.
Lisa Smycz, director
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