Chiropractic Treatment for Back and Neck Pain

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One of the techniques used by your chiropractor to relieve back, shoulder and neck pain is spinal manipulation. This technique makes subtle adjustments to your spine's alignment to relieve tension on muscles and nerves. This is a non-invasive technique that people find effective against headaches, neck and shoulder stiffness, and lower back pain. Here is how this technique works and what it can do to relieve your annoying back and neck pain.

A Complicated Stack of Bones

Your spine consists of alternating bones (vertebrae) and soft cushions (intervertebral discs) which interlock in ways that let your spine flex and twist in all directions. But the spine is also concerned with protecting your spinal cord, which travels through the center of the spine. So the spine must restrict its movement so as not to put stress on the spinal cord.

Should any of the structures in the spine become misaligned due to an illness or injury, pressure is placed on the nerves that extend out of the spinal cord. As the nerves continue to be irritated, the tissues surrounding them becomes inflamed and painful. Depending on where the nerve irritation occurs, you'll experience pain in your lower back, shoulders, neck or head.

The Effects of a Misaligned Spine

When one or more of the bones in the spine are not in their natural alignment, your chiropractor calls it a subluxation. The misalignment causes a number of problems around your spine:

  • Muscle pain - Besides the irritation of the nerves, a misaligned spine puts stress on the muscles surrounding the spine. This causes tense muscles, inflammation and pain.
  • Decreased circulation - The tense muscles and irritated nerves decrease the blood flow in the area, which slows down healing.
  • Soft tissue inflammation - Other soft tissues around the spine can become inflamed including tendons, ligaments and connective tissues.

Spinal Manipulation and Other Pain Relief Techniques

Your chiropractor will recommend a number of non-invasive treatments to relieve you of the back or neck pain, such as:

  • Spinal manipulation - This is the primary technique used to coax the vertebrae back into their natural alignment to reduce pain and inflammation.
  • Hot and cold packs - This is used to increase circulation and decrease inflammation in the painful area.
  • Physical therapy - This is prescribed to stretch out tense muscles and reduce muscle spasms. It also strengthens the muscles supporting the spine to prevent future injury.
  • Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) - This uses a small electrical charge sent into the muscles to relax them and reduce muscle spasms.

The combined effect of these chiropractic treatments is to:

  • decrease muscle and nerve irritation in the painful area
  • increase the circulation throughout the area
  • reduce pain and inflammation in the muscles, nerves and other soft tissues
  • reduce your headaches, neck, shoulder and lower back pains

If you have any questions about chiropractic services and how they can help relieve your back and neck pain, consider speaking to a local specialist, such as University Physical Medicine, to discuss your concerns.

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29 December 2015

Getting My Back Fixed Once And For All

After suffering with debilitating back pain for years, I decided it might be a good idea to finally meet with a doctor. I didn't want to beat around the bush with the issue, so I headed straight to a specialist who I thought could help me: a chiropractor. Even though it was my first appointment, my doctor was incredible and got to work right away on my problem. He took images of my spine and then talked with me about the results. I found out that several of my vertebrae were eroding, which was putting a lot of pressure on my spinal column. He made adjustments that made me feel a lot better right away. Check out this blog to learn more about how a chiropractor could help you.