Chiropractic can be an effective component of wellness care since the nervous system is central to the health of your body. Communication flows back and forth between the brain and the spine and the cells, tissues and organs. If the communication gets blocked, then a breakdown of the body occurs.
If you already have aches, pains, illness and disease, correcting the alignment in your spine will allow your body to operate at its optimal level. Once operating efficiently, the body’s innate power will seek to heal itself.
Once this optimization is achieved, you will want to keep it there. It makes no sense to be functioning at an optimal level and assume that there will never be another the need for another adjustment. Our lives are so full that adjustments are simply a fact of life.
Imagine getting your engine tuned up so that your car now sounds beautiful, uses a minimum of oil, has great gas mileage and rides smoothly. Now, you take that car on a cross-country trip. After the trip, you continue to drive the car without taking it to the mechanic again. In short order, your car will not be running smoothly. It uses more oil and your gas mileage is lower. Then the “check engine” light come on and you have to rush the car to the garage.
A regular tune-up after the trip would have prevented the crisis. The same is true for our bodies. Once you have your body working well, a “tune-up” in the form of chiropractic maintenance care will keep your body running smoothly. This is what wellness care is all about.
Just as a tuned up car has benefits, so does chiropractic wellness care. They include:
- Flexibility
- Healthy joints
- Improved posture
- More energy
- Properly functioning nervous system
- Stronger immune system
- Better sleep
- Stress relief
- Disease prevention
Maintaining a properly functioning nervous system is essential if you want to be your very best. Treating disease is important and everyone deserves the best chance to heal and recover. However, we need to change the focus from treating to preventing.
We ride in cars that have the latest and greatest in safety features. We are strapped in and surrounded by bags in case of a crash. We have anti-lock brakes to keep us from hydroplaning when we try to stop. Everything about the driving experience is meant to prevent problems and keep us safe.
Doctors of Chiropractic (DCs) are well-trained professionals who provide patients with safe, effective care for a variety of common conditions. Their extensive education has prepared them to identify patients who have special risk factors and to get those patients the most appropriate care, even if that requires referral to a medical specialist.
Doctors of Chiropractic care for patients of all ages, with a variety of health conditions. They are especially well known for their expertise in caring for patients with back pain, neck pain and headaches…particularly with their highly skilled manipulations or chiropractic adjustments.
They also care for patients with a wide range of injuries and disorders of the musculoskeletal system, involving the muscles, ligaments and joints. These painful conditions often involve or impact the nervous system, which can cause referred pain and dysfunction distant to the region of injury.
The benefits of chiropractic care extend to general health issues, as well, since our body structure affects our overall function. DCs also counsel patients on diet, nutrition, exercise, healthy habits, and occupational and lifestyle modification.
Overall wellness is a combination of a balanced diet, appropriate exercise and physical activity, restful sleep and positive lifestyle choices. Wellness care can and should begin with chiropractic
Seniors experience changes in their spine as they age. Some of these changes can be quite dramatic. That is why chiropractic care can be so important during this critical time of life.
What changes do seniors see? Spinal discs, joints, ligaments, muscles and other spinal tissues become weaker, less hydrated, more fibrotic and less able to withstand normal stresses. All of these issues can lead to arthritis. Arthritis is inflammation in one or more joints, which results in pain, swelling, stiffness and limited movement.
Additionally, seniors are more likely to have tissue injury and face an increase in healing time from these injuries. As seniors, these injuries often occur due to everyday events, such as bending or climbing stairs. Chiropractors understand the process of aging as it relates to the spine and can provide an effective, safe and noninvasive treatment plan. Such a plan can include adjustments, mobilization, physical therapy, stretching and exercise. Some chiropractors will also assess nutritional intake and suggest dietary changes and supplements. A good chiropractic plan will reduce pain, spinal stress and degeneration, and will increase flexibility and mobility
Just as with other chiropractic care, a chiropractic plan for seniors will depend completely upon the individual. In addition to the severity of the condition, chiropractors will also look at the overall health of the patient. Patients who are in good overall health and still maintain an active lifestyle will find that their chiropractic treatment will be far more effective. Their plans will help them with pain relief and stabilization, allowing them to enjoy all the activities they enjoyed before their condition occurred. Depending upon the overall health and activity of a patient, chiropractic goals can be one of the following:
- Return to active lifestyle with no pain
- Return to active lifestyle with some limitations and some limited pain
- Return to some activities with some pain
- Slow down the degenerative process
Although there is quite a difference between these goals, even goal four is a step up from a degenerative disease progressing at a normal rate.