Ways A Chiropractor Can Help With Back Pain Relief

If you've been having back pain more often as you get older, consider seeing a chiropractor for an assessment of your back and treatment if it's needed. Back pain is common, but it should clear up fairly fast. If back pain becomes chronic, it can affect your life by causing you to become sedentary and making you miss work. Here are some ways a chiropractor might provide back pain relief.

Identify The Cause

Uncovering the cause of your back pain is an important step in finding relief. Your chiropractor might order medical tests to look for an injury. They may also watch the way you walk and sit to see if your gait or posture is to blame.

Once they understand what's causing your back pain, they can create a treatment plan that helps your pain. You might need back pain treatments spread over a period of weeks to help strengthen and heal your back.

Advise On Lifestyle Changes

A chiropractor is usually concerned with the health of your whole body. They may advise you to switch to a healthier diet and start exercising more in a way that helps your back pain. They may also want you to lose weight since excess weight can cause back problems. They may even advise you to start practicing stress reduction techniques.

Teach You Therapeutic Exercises

The chiropractor may want you to do specific exercises and stretches that strengthen your back and improve flexibility. They'll teach you the proper technique so you do the exercises without hurting your back when you do them at home. If necessary, they might send you to a physical therapist.

Provide Massage Treatments

Massage treatments may be helpful if your back pain is caused by muscle tension or spasms. Massages improve blood flow to muscles so they can heal injured areas. Plus, a massage usually feels good and relaxes you. You might also receive heat or cold treatments with your massage that help with blood flow, inflammation, and pain relief.

Perform Chiropractic Adjustments

Your chiropractor may also give you spinal adjustments. These are usually quick thrusts on your back that help move your spine into more normal alignment. This might relieve pressure on a nerve so the nerve can receive nourishment and heal.

Some treatments may be given by a computerized table that places your body in just the right position to relieve nerve compression. By taking pressure off of your nerve several minutes at a time at the frequency recommended your chiropractor, you may notice back pain relief as your nerve heals.