What Does Chiropractic Care Include?

Is there a safe way to relieve pain without drugs or surgery? In many cases, the answer is yes, with a medical technique called chiropractic care.

Chiropractic care is a type of treatment that manipulates your joints and spine to relieve pressure that causes pain, realigning the body so that it can function better. This goes far beyond only spinal manipulation, which is what most people think about when they consider chiropractic care. For many people it helps relieve pain and avoid invasive procedures or delay them for a period of time.

What Does a Chiropractor Do?

A chiropractor has completed a four-year degree as well as a four-year doctor of chiropractic (DC) program, making them qualified to help you with aligning your joints and muscles for a better functioning body with less pain. Our chiropractors make sure to consider many aspects of each patient’s needs including nutrition and overall well-being to help prevent future pain.

When you visit a chiropractic care center, you typically experience the following:

Step 1: The chiropractor starts by discussing your medical history, ongoing treatments, and symptoms.

Step 2: The chiropractor conducts a physical examination followed by any necessary diagnostic tests such as an X-ray, MRI scan, etc. If you already have these, it’d be a good idea to bring copies with you. 

Step 3: Before creating a treatment plan, the chiropractor discusses treatment options that can work to relieve pain and prevent future problems. This is different for each patient based on their current challenges. 

Common Chiropractic Treatments Recommended

The right combination of treatments varies by patient. Here are some of the most common chiropractic treatments include: 

Spinal Manipulation: The chiropractor uses their hands to “adjust” or realign joints and the spine. Spinal manipulation (also called spinal adjustment) is used to resolve neck or back pain as well as to align other joints such as the hips and shoulders. It can be used to help relieve headaches, neck pain and other areas of pain. Some patients also use spinal manipulation on a regular basis as preventative care for good blood flow and proper spine alignment.

Cold Laser Therapy: The treatment uses low-intensity laser beams to treat pain. The laser passes through the different layers of the skin and reaches the affected area, drawing blood to the affected area for faster healing. Class IV cold laser (also called Multi-wave Locked System – MLS) is the newest and most effective form of laser used by seasoned chiropractors and is available at our office in The Woodlands.

Soft Tissue Therapy: The soft tissues of the body include muscles, tendons, nerves, fascia, spine, and blood vessels. Soft tissue therapy treats soft tissue injuries that cause pain and discomfort to the patient. Different forms of soft tissue therapy, including massage, are used to handle chronic or sporadic pain.

Traction Therapy: Chiropractors use slow, careful traction to treat pain in the knee, often caused by arthritis, as well as pain in the lower back caused by bulging discs, sciatica, pinched nerves, or degenerative disc disease. This non-invasive procedure can be done manually or with the help of specific devices. At our office in The Woodlands we use Knee on-Trac and Back-on-Trac to comfortably and carefully relieve the pressure on these joints, providing long term relief for many people after a series of sessions.

In addition to these different treatments, your chiropractor may recommend other treatments such as nutritional counseling, tailored physical exercise programs to use at home, and therapeutic stretches, etc. 

Am I A Candidate for Chiropractic Care?

People with neck, back, shoulder, knee, and hip pain can benefit from chiropractic care including those with:

• Joint, muscle, and tendon pain 
• Tingling in the arms or legs caused by a pinched nerve
• Osteoarthritis pain
• Sciatica by treating the source of the pain and providing sciatic nerve pain relief
• Fibromyalgia
• Recurring headaches

If you want to relax your joints and increase their mobility, you may benefit from preventive chiropractic care. 

Our chiropractors assess your eligibility for the treatment by understanding your cause of pain and discusses options that may be available before treatment begins. 

Why is Chiropractic Care a Good Option for Many People?

• Chiropractic does not involve any drugs to relieve pain. A study conducted in 2020 showed that people who used chiropractic care for pain relief were less likely to use an opioid prescription.
• Chiropractic care does not include any invasive procedure (no injections, too!).
• Chiropractic is safe for patients of all age groups.
• Since the treatment is personalized, results are quicker.
• There are very few significant side effects or sources of discomfort during treatment. You may experience some muscle soreness after treatment depending on what was done to help you realign and relieve pain.
• After several sessions, chiropractic care is effective at preventing a particular source of pain from coming back. 

Schedule a Consultation with Village Chiropractic in The Woodlands

Chiropractic care is a proven pain relief technique and offers many other benefits that can enhance the overall quality of your life. Meet with one of our chiropractors in The Woodlands to understand how chiropractic can help you. today.