Benefits of Chiropractic Care
One of the main causes of pain and disease in the human body can be traced to improper alignment of the vertebrae in your spinal column. This is called a subluxation. Through carefully applied pressure, massage, and manual manipulation of the vertebrae and joints, pressure and irritation on the nerves is relieved and joint mobility is restored, allowing your body to return to its natural state of balance, called homeostasis. Put another way, when the bones in your spine are allowed to go back to their proper positions, the nerve energy can resume its normal flow and your body's natural healing processes can function properly.
In general, proper chiropractic treatment of your body's lumbar, or lower back, region, involves very little risk, and the rewards can be significant.
Chiropractic manipulations can be especially helpful in relieving pain for facet joint injuries, osteoarthritis, and sacroiliac joint dysfunction, because such conditions respond well to mobilization. Moreover, scores of patients with chronic headaches, sinus problems, high blood pressure, ear infections, leg pain, arthritis, and many other illnesses have reported significant relief after chiropractic therapy.
Increasingly over the past few decades, the medical community has come to accept and recognize chiropractic care as a valid form of treatment for a variety of neuro-musculoskeletal conditions, and as a conservative treatment option for patients with lower back pain. Moreover, many medical doctors recognize a chiropractic diagnosis and accept it as the first line of treatment for functional disorders of the entire musculoskeletal system.
Studies by leading medical journals in recent years have confirmed the benefits of chiropractic care:
- A 1993 report by the Ontario Ministry of Health concluded that chiropractic care was the most effective treatment for lower back pain. The agency also recommended that chiropractic care be fully integrated in the Canadian government's health care system.
- In 1994, the federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research published its Clinical Practice Guidelines, which asserted that spinal manipulation was effective in reducing pain and speeding recovery among patients with acute low back symptoms without radiculopathy.
- A 1996 New England Journal of Medicine study of outcomes and costs for acute low back pain found that patients treated by chiropractors were significantly more satisfied than those who saw primary care, orthopedic or managed care practitioners.
- A 1996 study in the journal Spine echoed that study, and found that patients who sought chiropractic care were more likely to feel that treatment was helpful, more likely to be satisfied with their care, and less likely to seek care from another provider for the same condition, compared to those who sought care from medical doctors.
- In 2001, the Center for Clinical Health Policy Research at Duke University concluded in a study that spinal manipulation resulted in almost immediate improvement for cervicogenic headaches, or those that originate in the neck, and had significantly fewer side effects and longer-lasting relief of tension-type headache than a commonly prescribed medication.
In recent years, evidence has come to light that we are placing our children at risk for debilitating muscle and joint injuries from overloaded backpacks—a staple among elementary and high school-aged kids.
Overloaded backpacks:
- Cause the shoulders to round, leading to poor posture later in life
- Distort the natural curves of the spine, leading to muscle and joint strain, as well as stress the rib cage.
- Force the child to lean forward, losing balance and risking a fall. One study found that as much as 60 percent of children experience back pain from carrying backpacks.
Here are some backpack safety tips:
- Tell your child to avoid carrying the backpack on one shoulder. This can cause a muscle strain from the uneven weight. When children do this, the spine often leans to the opposite side, stressing the middle back, ribs, and lower back more on one side than the other. Excessive weight on one side also pulls the neck muscles and can cause headaches as well as neck and arm pain.
- As a rule of thumb, do not allow your child to carry a backpack that is more than 10 percent of his or her body weight.
- Don't allow the backpack to hang more than four inches below the waistline. This increases the weight on the shoulders, causing your child to lean forward when walking.
- Choose backpacks with wide, padded straps that are adjustable. Make sure that backpack is snug (but not tight) against your child's back. The shifting weight of the backpack causes strain on the child's neck and back muscles.