Chiropractic care is becoming more popular in today’s world. Back in the day, chiropractic was viewed as “nonsense” medicine, and many people were scared to visit a chiropractor as the thought of some doctor twisting your body and making clicking sounds was not okay as they might “break my bones”.
As the world advances, holistic approaches towards health are deemed more popular as the negative side effects of pharmaceutical medicine are becoming more known to people with the knowledge of painkillers purely numbing the problem without taking the problem away. Chiropractic care offers to find the root cause of the problem, and assists your body to heal itself. It’s a non- invasive answer to your injuries and pain and the software update that your body needs from time to time so that individuals like yourself can function and perform at their optimal level.
Five great reasons to get adjusted by a chiropractor:
- Adjusting restores normal mobility in the joints of the spine and extremities.
- Adjusting releases surrounding muscular spasms and tension, decreasing pain and inflammation.
- Adjusting stimulates nerve fibres allowing them to fire at its optimal rate.
- Adjusting improves proprioception and corrects biomechanical abnormalities.
- Adjusting prevents injury.
Common myths about chiropractic care:
There are a lot of misconceptions about chiropractic and chiropractors. I think this is due to bad experiences, false information advertised and lack of knowledge about what chiropractic actually is. Some myths include:
“Can a chiropractors break my neck or back during the adjustment?”
While it seems scary to get adjusted, this is impossible. Chiropractors master the technique of adjusting in a way that is safe and effective. Yes, there has been stories about injury from adjustments; this however is most often of the time due to individuals adjusting people when they are not qualified to do so.
“Are Chiropractors real doctors?”
The term “doctor” can be interpreted many different ways and should not be subjected to only “medical doctors”. Chiropractors are listed under alternative healthcare medicine in South Africa (AHPCSA) and are designated to use the title Doctor of Chiropractic as we have extensive training in the area of our expertise and are diagnosticians (to be able to provide a diagnosis).
“Do Chiropractors only treat adults”
Yes, we mostly tread adults, but paediatric chiropractic does exist and we are trained to treat infants and babies as well. It is imperative to make sure your little one reaches their milestones and is developing accordingly. Early detection is the best thing a parent can do for their child. No, we do not use the same adjustment techniques on babies as we do adults and is completely safe.
“Is chiropractic care really effective?”
Yes. The chiropractic profession has invested significant resources to build up a robust amount of scientific evidence of the effects and benefits that manual therapy and adjustments have on the neurological and musculoskeletal systems of individuals.
Should you only see a chiropractor when you are in pain?
Absolutely not. Chiropractic operates on the firm belief that “prevention is better than cure”. In other words; maintenance is key to in order to ensure that your body is functioning at optimal health in order to prevent disease and dysfunction from occurring. Remember, when the body feels pain, it’s too late. Pain is almost never the first sign that your body tells you “Something is wrong”, even though we think it is. It is usually one of the last resorts your body goes to in order to tell you that it needs help. Most of the time, dysfunction of a certain body part has been building up for a while before you feel pain; this is of course excluding any direct injury to a specific structure. Therefore, if maintenance happened, most of the time we could prevent patient’s from experiencing chronic pain as we would have treated the root cause of a potential problem before it actually becomes a problem.
Athletes should have a chiropractor, even if they are not currently in pain:
While the above conservative treatment will help in the pain management of tennis elbow, strength training is vital in the prevention of further injury or reoccurring injury in the future. The reason why rehabilitation is so beneficial in its treatment is that it restores flexibility, strength and endurance to the extensor muscles and common tendon, increasing its tolerance to forces that are placed on it. In addition, it also increases fibroblastic activity and collagen production which facilitates healing. It is important to remember that strength training must only commence when acute pain has subsided.
Most common conditions treated by a chiropractor:
Most individuals think of chiropractic and think “back pain”, “spine” and “neck pain”. Yes, this is true; however, there are so many more conditions that we treat other than the above. We qualify in treating any conditions relating to the neurological, muscular and skeletal system of the body. This includes pain felt in our extremities and not just our backs. Therefore; any discomfort felt in the neck, shoulder, elbow, hand and wrist, hips, knees, ankle and foot. From sporting injuries, muscle strains and sprains, tendonitis, disc herniations, impingement syndromes to degenerative conditions, scoliosis, instability, chronic headaches and the list goes on. Chiropractors do not solely look and treat the area of pain. We look at the whole biomechanical chain and therefore ergonomical advice, biomechanical correction, rehabilitation and nutritional advice are all things that are usually included in our treatment protocol.
How long can I expect the benefits of a chiropractic adjustment to last:
Usually, those who receive an adjustment to boost performance find that the benefits would last around anywhere between 4-8 weeks. Chiropractors would adjust your treatment plan as you progress. A typical plan usually lasts 3-8 weeks followed by re-evaluation. This however is completely patient dependant.
Chiropractic can help create a healthier and better pregnancy:
During pregnancy, a woman’s body undergoes changes in order to accommodate the growing baby. Relaxin is a hormone that is produced by a woman during the duration of her pregnancy. Relaxin helps keep the joints and ligaments “lax” and relaxed in order to make the process of labour more bearable and easier. However; the laxity of the ligaments in turn can create instability and therefore pain. Furthermore, the centre of gravity in a pregnant woman shifts forward, resulting in the lower spinal curvature to increase, tilting of the sacrum posteriorly (backwards), extension of the hip joints and hyperextension of the knee joints. These biomechanical changes results in the joints of the lower back to be closer together, causing muscular tension, decreased mobility and inflammation. Chiropractic during pregnancy can help alleviate the pain and discomfort experienced during pregnancy, help your body carry better and possibly to full term, aids in the assistance of natural birth as well as help reduce the length of time you are in labour. Not only does it benefit the mother to be, but also benefits the baby to be as well. When the pelvis is tilted and “misaligned”, it can restrict the normal amount of space for your growing baby and if this restriction gets worse, it can lead to something called intrauterine constraint. Furthermore, if the pelvis is “misaligned” during delivery, it can make it harder for the baby to move into the best and safest position for delivery, which can result in a c-section or other complications of delivery. Chiropractic during pregnancy is completely safe and alternative techniques are used for pregnant woman. A pregnant woman can get adjusted up to 37 weeks, however is patient dependant.
Why “clicking” your own neck or back to get relief does more harm than good:
This is a phrase often heard by chiropractors and is a big misconception amongst individuals. It may seem that self-adjusting provides benefit, relief of pain and is harmless; however, this is a temporary feeling with more harm caused in the long term than good. When chiropractors adjust, we are adjusting specific joints that needs to be adjusted in order to restore movement and function. Chiropractors do not “chase” the sound of an adjustment, but rather “chase” the movement of the joint and is done in a controlled and safe manner. When individuals self-adjust, most often of the time they “chase” the sound and therefore are adjusting joints that most often do not need to be adjusted, with the incorrect technique and too much force. This leads to hypermobility and instability of the joints, further muscle tension and further inflammation of the restricted joint. Even though you might get temporary relief, in the long you will find more muscular tension develop in the area you are self-adjusting.
How do I know if I should see a chiropractor, physio or biokineticist?
Chiropractors are hands on primary contact practitioners. We diagnose, treat and prevent any conditions relating to the neurological and musculoskeletal system of the body and the effect that these conditions have on the functioning of the nervous system and the body as a whole. We are registered under the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA). Our approach to treatment is conservative; using a wide variety of modalities and soft tissue techniques to surrounding structures for pain control, management, recovery and prevention of further injury. Emphasis is placed on mobilization and adjustment techniques of the spine and joints in our treatment approach to achieve overall health and function.
Physiotherapists are practitioners that focus on body movement patterns and functionality of specific body parts and joints. They aim to repair muscle weakness or imbalances that resulted from injury or surgery and use specific, targeted exercises and techniques for muscle pain and rehabilitation as well as recovery of movement. They also deal with rehabilitation after surgery, strokes, lung issues or spinal injuries. Physiotherapists are registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).
A Biokineticist are practitioners that specialize in the rehabilitative modality of exercise and are also registered with the AHPCSA. Biokineticists use exercise to treat physical injuries and medical conditions in order to restore health and normal functioning of a body part. Their aim is to help the patient return to normal every day activities that they were participating in prior to the point of injury or diagnosis.
