Understanding Chiropractic Treatment
Posted on: 18 August 2020
If you frequently experience back pain and all your home remedies don't seem to work or are temporary fixes, you might be required to visit a chiropractor. Your back pain could be from an injury, a birth defect, maintaining the wrong posture for a long duration of time, etc. Sometimes, you may not have pain, but you might have a misaligned back that makes you walk hunched or with one shoulder higher than the other. A chiropractor can help correct such misalignment.
A chiropractor is a specialist who specialises in treating the spinal cord but can also treat muscles and joints. They use their hands to massage, press, stretch, pull and mobilise different areas of your musculoskeletal system. This also includes what you normally hear being referred to as cracking joints. Here's what you need to know about chiropractors.
How Do You Get to See a Chiropractor?
Most chiropractors receive patients on a referral basis. Therefore, you might need to visit your general practitioner first. This is also important because your general practitioner could also be qualified to treat the type of back pain you are experiencing. Since the GP may be cheaper than a chiropractor, you might end up saving your hard-earned money. If your general practitioner finds that they are underqualified to treat your back pain, you will be referred to a chiropractor.
What Happens When You Visit a Chiropractor?
This depends on your condition, but the first thing that all chiropractors do is try to find out more about your condition verbally, which is done in a question-and-answer session.
You might be asked questions like when your pain began, how long you have been in the state you are in, what treatments you have tried (both home remedies and professional), etc. Follow-up questions vary because they depend on the answers you give. It is, therefore, important that you try to give accurate, detailed and truthful answers.
The chiropractor then uses the answers you give him or her to conduct a physical examination, where he or she uses his or her hands. You might be asked to change into a gown and lie on an examination table, bench or chair.
Sometimes, a chiropractor may require MRI and CT scans, X-rays and ultrasounds. These help the chiropractors get a clear image of what is happening inside your body.
With the results from the physical exam, MRI and CT scans, X-rays and ultrasounds, the chiropractor formulates a treatment plan.
It can involve the regular application of a particular medicinal ointment or spray, carrying out various exercises and stretches, therapy, changes in diet, massages, injections, surgeries, the cracking of joints, oral medication, etc.
To learn more, contact a chiropractic clinic.
Share