Chiropractic techniques are like pushing the reboot button for your body. If you ever have back pain that would not go away or stiffness in the neck, chiropractic care can be a dream.
These methods, from a simple twist to the pressure method, are used to restore proper alignment of your spine and joints so that they can function properly.
It’s not just about cracking bones it’s about restoring balance, improving mobility, and letting your body do what it does best: heal itself naturally.
No pills, no surgery, just good old-fashioned hands-on technique to get the body back on track.
But First, What is Chiropractic Treatment?
Chiropractic care is an area of the health care profession that deals with rectifying conditions that affect muscles and bones, especially the spinal muscles and bones.
It is rooted in the belief that most of the body’s ailments begin from distortions in the spinal cord, termed vertebral subluxations.
Сhiropractors think such disturbances can affect the body’s nervous system and cause various problems, such as pain and discomfort.
Think of it this way: Correct spinal alignment is the key to the efficient construction of good communication between the nervous system and the rest of the body.
When this communication is misaligned, the interaction above does not occur and can cause pain, stiffness, or even impact your overall health.
What Conditions Do Chiropractors Treat?
Although many people visit chiropractors for back pain, chiropractic treatment is also commonly used for:
- Neck pain
- Headaches (including migraines)
- Joint pain (especially in areas like the shoulders, knees, or hips)
- Sciatica (pain that radiates along the sciatic nerve down the leg)
- Sports injuries and repetitive strain injuries
Chiropractors may also treat spinal problems and encourage patients to take certain measures to improve their general posture, alignment, and joint function over time.
7 Common Chiropractic Techniques
Here are some of the techniques used in chiropractic care that involve specialized equipment and technologies:
Ultrasound Therapy
How it works: Ultrasound therapy involves using sound waves to reach areas within soft tissues such as muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Conducting these sound waves helps produce heat in the tissues, enhancing blood flow and relaxing them.
Purpose: This is mostly employed as a pain reliever, anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxant. It also aids in strengthening tissues in the body due to heightened elasticity helpful in repairing of tissue which has been injured.
Application: An ultrasound gel is used on the skin to allow the chiropractor to move the ultrasound head easily in a circular motion. Generally, patients should allow 5-10 minutes per treatment area for this process to be completed.
Conditions treated: Some conditions amenable to therapeutic ultrasound in chiropractic include tendinitis, muscle strains, sprains, bursitis, and scar tissues.
Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS)
How it works: Electrical muscle stimulation refers to special electrodes attached to the skin over muscles or areas of discomfort. These electrodes emit mild electric currents in the muscles causing them to contract.
Purpose: It aids in decreasing muscle contractions, increasing blood flow, and relaxing muscles. It can also promote tissue healing, particularly soft tissue injuries.
Application: The other advantage is that the electrical impulses can be set to vary in intensity depending on a patient’s pain tolerance. It is advised that the session take up to 10-20 minutes for each condition the acupuncturist intends to treat.
Conditions treated: This is why it can be applied to muscle atrophy, strains, back pain, and inflammation.
Laser Therapy (Cold Laser Therapy or Low-Level Laser Therapy)
How it works: Cold laser therapy applies a low-level laser or LED to get through the muscular tissues without generating heat. These light energy seems to stimulate the cells and make them divide and also form new tissues.
Purpose: This technique lowers pain and inflammation and enhances tissue repair in patients with injuries or other ailments. It is useful in soft tissue injuries since it may be used to activate the genes of injured cells to heal.
Application: The chiropractor then places the end of the laser device on the bad region for several minutes while the light transmits through the tissue.
Conditions treated: Arthritis, tendinitis, sprained or strained muscles or ligaments, carpal tunnel syndrome, and discomfort from other sources.
Traction Therapy (Spinal Decompression)
How it works: Traction therapy commonly referred to as spinal decompression is the use of a traction table or some other device to apply slow and gentle pulling forces to the spine.
This leads to a kind of vacuum that pulls the bulged or herniated disc back into and reduces pressure on the spinal nerves.
Purpose: It is used to treat back and neck pain resulting from factors such as herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, and sciatica. The stretching motion facilitates the opening of intervertebral spaces and thus relieves pressure on the nerves.
Application: The patient stands on a unique traction table, onto which the chiropractor sets the device to pull the spinal column in a specific way.
Conditions treated: Slipped discs, nerve root irritation (sciatica), nerve compression and narrowing down of the spinal canal (spinal stenosis).
Interferential Current Therapy (IFC)
How it works: Interferential current therapy applies a medium-frequency electric current to the subcutaneous tissue of the skin. This gives a deeper and more comfortable stimulation than otherwise conventional electrical stimulation methods.
Purpose: This therapy alleviates pain, lessens swelling, and increases blood flow. The electrical impulses assist in squelching oedema and other inflammatory responses to injuries and promote healing.
Application: The electrode pads are attached to the affected area, and electrical stimulation is applied to the nerves and tissues.
Conditions treated: It is widely prescribed for patients with chronic pain, joint disease or injury, inflammation or after surgery.
Heat Therapy
How it works: Heat therapy involves applying warm compresses, hot towels, and heating pads. It also helps increase blood flow, relax muscles, and make tissues more pliable.
Purpose: Heat therapy is particularly helpful in depressing muscle tone and inhibiting muscle spasms, mobilising soft tissues and enhancing tissue healing by increasing the blood supply to the tissues in the heated part.
Application: Heat is used on the muscles or joints for 15-20 minutes in each session.
Conditions treated: It is applied on patients experiencing chronic pains, and problems such as arthritis tight muscles and stiff joints.
Therapeutic Ultrasound (Deep Heat Therapy)
How it works: Therapeutic ultrasound involves directing sound waves into the tissues and deep heat is then generated within muscles and soft tissue that cannot be reached by any other heat application.
Purpose: In doing so benefits to enhancing blood circulation, alleviating pain and stiffness in muscles and facilitating the healing of soft tissue injuries.
Application: A gel is applied to the skin, and an ultrasonic instrument is rotated in circles on the treated area for 5-10 min.
Conditions treated: It is most commonly administered to patients suffering from chronic pain, joint disorders, scar tissue formation, and rheumatism.
Bottom Line
These specific types of chiropractic care go well beyond spinal manipulation and utilize technology and physiotherapy to treat an array of musculoskeletal disorders. Each of the methods is unique and has a purpose, whether it serves as an analgesic measure, improves flexibility, or accelerates the healing process.
So, if you have been trying to live with chronic pain or reaching for the railing instead of the stairs, why wait? Chiropractic care seems to be the solution to the problem that may be affecting your body function.
Let me remind you once again that individually approached treatment really matters concerning your healing.
