How Are Chiropractors Helping You?
Chiropractic Care Keeps You Healthy, Active, and Pain-Free
Introduction
Chiropractors are healthcare professionals who focus on the musculoskeletal (MSK) system—the part of your body that includes your bones, muscles, and joints—and how it affects your overall health. Many people think chiropractors only “crack” backs, but they actually do much more. Chiropractors help people move better, avoid health problems in the future, and feel their best through manual therapy, advanced chiropractic tools, exercises, and advice tailored just for your needs. In this article, the Bournemouth chiropractors would like to explain what exactly chiropractic care is all about and how it helps people stay healthy and active, no matter their age!
What is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic care is all about taking care of the systems in your body that involve bones, muscles, and joints so your body can work at its best. Chiropractors use hands-on techniques like spinal adjustments to relieve pain and help restore optimal movement and alignment so that you can move more easily. But chiropractic care is not only about fixing problems after they happen. It is actually better researched and more effective to help you avoid issues in the first place!
Chiropractors look at how your lifestyle—for example how much you exercise, what you eat, and how you sit or stand—affects your body. We also focus on the connection between your muscles, joints, skeletal system and your nerves! Knowing that problems with your spine or joints can cause other health issues down the line is an important aspect for our profession. We think that catching these problems early can help you stay healthier and active for longer.
How Do We Help?
Chiropractors help people in lots of different ways, whether it is relieving pain or preventing problems before they start.
- Pain Relief: Chiropractors use hands-on techniques to ease pain in your back, neck, and joints. These methods can reduce swelling and help your body heal more naturally by optimising the function of your spine and body.
- Restoring Movement: If you have lost some of your ability to move because of an injury or over time you simply can not move in certain directions, chiropractors can help you restore more movement. We work on improving how your joints and muscles move and behave so you can stay active. We use a variety of treatment methods such as spinal and extremity adjustments, mobilisation, trigger point therapy, dry-needling, activator, massage and rehabilitation.
- Healthy Habits: Chiropractors are aware that the human body is complex and requires a healthcare professional to look at other aspects of the body. Therefore, we also give advice on exercise, healthy eating, and setting up your desk or workspace in a way that is better for your body. For example, we might suggest exercises to make your muscles stronger or tips to keep your back from hurting while studying.
- Preventing Problems: Chiropractors look for early signs of trouble, like poor posture or weak muscles, and help you fix these issues before they become big problems.
- Teamwork with Other Professionals: Chiropractors often work with other healthcare professionals to make sure patients get the best care possible for example physiotherapists, GPs, orthopaedic specialists, radiologists and neurological specialists.
Preventative Care
Preventative care is all about stopping health problems before they happen. Chiropractors are great at this because they know how to spot risks and help you avoid them. There are three main ways chiropractors focus on prevention and treatment for common complaints such as:
- Low back pain
- Neck pain
- Mid-back pain
- Shoulder pain
- Headaches and migraines
- Jaw and facial pain
- Muscle pain
- Ligament pain
- Tendon pain
- Hip pain
- Foot and ankle pain
- Dizziness and vertigo
- Knee and shin pain
- Arthritic pain
- Sports injuries
- Repetitive strain injury
- Muscle spasms
Primary Prevention
This is about stopping problems before they even start. Chiropractors look at how you sit, stand, and move, and if needed we will teach you better habits to avoid issues. We might also give you exercises to fix muscle imbalances or advice on more protective ways on daily activities such as setting up your backpack so it does not hurt your shoulders.
Secondary Prevention
This means finding problems early, like if someone’s spine is not growing straight or if they are starting to develop joint issues. Chiropractors use check-ups and screenings to catch these things early and treat them before they develop pain or get worse.
Tertiary Prevention
This focuses on helping people who already have a health problem in their joints such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, scoliosis or Scheuermann’s disease, or diseases related to the balance or muscle system. We can teach how to manage it and explore ways of preventing it from getting worse. Chiropractors work with these patients to make sure they can keep doing the things they enjoy.
What to Expect?
If you have never been to a chiropractor before, it is normal to feel a little unsure about what will happen.
- First Visit: The chiropractor will ask about your health history and do a physical examination. We will check things like how you stand and look at your posture. We will examine your movement patterns and get an indication what underlying cause could be altering these. Furthermore, we will examine how strong your muscles are and how your nerves are transporting information inside the nervous system. Lastly, we would then move on to check how well your joints move and where there is room to improve these.
- Your Care Plan: After the assessment, the chiropractor will create a plan just for you. This might include adjustments, stretches, exercises, or recommendations to help you feel better.
- Follow-Up Visits: Chiropractic care often involves more than one visit, especially if you are working on a long-term issue. Your chiropractor will track your progress and adjust your care plan as needed. A care plan can become shorter or longer depending on your progress.
- Learning for Life: Chiropractors also teach you how to keep your body healthy. If not the most important aspect of chiropractic, it is vital that we can help you to improve your overall well-being by optimising your body and unlocking your true potential in the stage of life you find yourself in. This includes recommendations on staying active, improving your posture, and avoiding future problems.
Never Too Late
A lot of people think that getting older means you will automatically lose your strength and mobility, but that is not true. Chiropractors can help people of any age improve their physical health and stay active. It is never too late to start exercising, stretching and making positive changes.
The BELL Study
A study in Australia looked at how older adults (average age 68) improved their health through a 12-week strength training program with kettlebells.
- People got stronger, with better grip strength and leg power.
- They moved faster, climbed stairs more easily, and could get up off the floor quicker.
- Even those with conditions like osteoporosis in fact improved their bone density.
This study shows that with the right guidance, anyone can improve their strength and mobility—even just a little bit! Chiropractors help older adults by recommending exercises like these and showing them how to stay active in the safest way possible.
Breaking Myths
Some might think that aging means you can not stay active or strong, but chiropractors help prove that is not true. We teach patients that it is possible to stay healthy and active at any age, as long as you are willing to take care of your body.
Conclusion
Chiropractors do much more than fix backs—we are healthcare professionals who help people with their musculoskeletal system to move better, feel better, and stay healthy for the long term. By focusing on prevention and teaching healthy habits, chiropractors empower their patients to take charge of their health.
Whether you are dealing with pain, trying to stay active, or want to avoid future problems, chiropractic care is a great way to support your overall health. If you are struggling with any issues in the musculoskeletal system, we welcome you to our clinic for a full assessment and chiropractic treatment with one of our Bournemouth chiropractors at Charminster Chiropractic Clinic. Book an appointment online today through our website or feel free to give us a call.
References:
- Meigh, N.J., Keogh, J.W., Schram, B., Hing, W. and Rathbone, E.N., 2022. Effects of supervised high-intensity hardstyle kettlebell training on grip strength and health-related physical fitness in insufficiently active older adults: the BELL pragmatic controlled trial. BMC geriatrics, 22(1), p.354.
