About Chiropractic
Chiropractic doctors practice a drug-free, hands-on approach to health care. A Chiropractor will perform patient examinations, diagnose, and then provide treatment for the patient. Chiropractors are trained to offer therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises, provide nutritional, dietary and lifestyle change information and have a wide range of diagnostic skills. When determining whether chiropractic treatment is the appropriate course of action, they will assess the patients by doing one or more of the following: laboratory testing; diagnostic imaging; clinical exams; and other diagnostic interventions. If chiropractic treatment is not the right choice for a patient’s condition or the conditions needs co-management, they will refer them to the appropriate health care provider.
A chiropractor will first take a medical history from the patient, and then perform a physical evaluation to determine what movements cause you pain and where the pain is coming from. Your chiropractor will perform an initial exam which includes standard orthopedic and neurological test to determine if the pain is caused by a sprain, strain, or disk problem. If required, referral for x-ray to check for any bone disorders such as arthritis and osteoporosis or bone fractures. A chiropractor will create a plan that will involve one or more manual adjustments, using a controlled swift force to improve the quality and range of motion along with nutritional counselling and rehabilitation. Your chiropractor’s main goal is to restore the function and prevent further injury in addition to relieving your back pain and getting your life back.
A chiropractor can help a patient achieve relief from chronic back pain using safe spinal manipulation and adjustments while encouraging positive lifestyle changes to aid in the relief of back pain.
Like adjusting the spine, a chiropractor can adjust other joints in the body such as your wrists, ankles, knees shoulders, and elbows. Adjusting any of these areas could help relieve pain in these joints and improve mobility and function.
Doing sports and exercise is a great way to stay healthy but being physically active raises the risk of musculoskeletal sports injury. Some of the causes of sport injuries are not stretching properly or not wearing the proper protective gear, traumatic injuries, or overuse and repetitive stress injuries. Your chiropractor can help in the recovery process to help you return to your normal physical routine.
In sports injuries such as joint sprains and disk injuries a chiropractor specializes in a not-drug treatment, which to some extent overlaps traditional medical care. Some of the chiropractic treatment that may be used for sports injuries are ice and heat for swelling and inflammation, or electronic muscle stimulation and ultrasound if the injury is due to muscle spasms or muscle strain.