Acute Phase: Chiropractic, Massage & Rehab
If you’ve ever been to a Chiropractor for an episode of intense back pain, you know that it can take several days to a few weeks to get serious symptoms under control. This is considered the acute phase.
During these visits, the Chiropractor is “adjusting” the spine, so that spinal misalignments are gently moved back into the proper position. In our practice, some patients are also referred over to our Massage Therapist, Nikki, as needed, to receive trigger point massage therapy which helps to relieve tight muscles and stimulate blood flood. This therapy also provides much needed pain relief. In addition, Chrissy, our Physical Therapist tailors a customized exercise rehab program for each patient. These stretching and light exercise programs improve range of motion, strength and mobility. Combining these integrated therapies help our patients heal faster and move onto to the next phase of treatment…Chiropractic Maintenance Care.
Chiropractic Maintenance Phase
However, when you’re feeling good, the pain has been alleviated and you have full range of motion back in your spine, neck, extremities, etc., why come back to get more chiropractic care? Great question and here are five good reasons:
1) Small flare ups are easier to treat
Problems and misalignments can be caught earlier when you’re coming back for maintenance visits and usually require less treatment if you schedule regular follow up appointments.
2) Regular chiropractic treatment reduces pain & decreases the need for medication
The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics reported that integrated health care, which includes chiropractic treatment, resulted in a 51.8% decrease in medication costs. Beside cost savings, reducing the use of prescription drugs can also benefit your health. Prescription drugs aren’t without risks. Every year side effects and interactions injure thousands of patients.
3) Chiropractic care can help you avoid surgery
In many cases chiropractic treatment can help patients avoid surgery. Although surgery may sound like a quick fix for back pain, the reality is often more complicated. Failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) affects up to 40 percent of patients who undergo traditional open back surgery. This means that 4 out of 10 people who have had back surgery may still experience back and leg pain and limited mobility after recovery. As you can imagine, re-occurrence of back pain after surgery, can leave a patient feeling anxious and depressed and even more dependent upon pain meds. In a recent article aimed toward patients suffering from low back pain, The Journal of the American Medical Association suggested that surgery is not usually needed and should only be tried if other therapies fail. The article suggested that chiropractic treatment is a viable option for low back pain.
4) Improved long term outcome
A 2011 study published by the Journal of Occupational and Environment medicine, tracked 894 injured workers for a year. These workers, who suffered from low back pain, received four different types of care; no treatment, traditional medical management, physical therapy and chiropractic maintenance care. They were then re-evaluated for re-injury during this time period. The group who received regular chiropractic maintenance had the lowest rate of re-injury!
5) Better quality of life
Many of our patients report they feel “happier” when they receive regular treatments. It’s easy to see why when you tally up a few of the benefits of long term chiropractic treatment: more flexibility and range of motion, stronger immune function, better sleep and improved hormone balance.
So, whether you’re a first time chiropractic patient, or you’re due for a “tune-up”, give us a call at 440.716.8400 and get yourself back on track!
