When we think of reasons to seek chiropractic care, we tend to think of adults with bad backs or those who have been injured on the job. While it is true that adults receive more chiropractic care than other age groups, everyone stands to benefit from this treatment. Chiropractors in practices such as Fix Body Group San Diego manipulate the spine to treat pain, a process often referred to as an “adjustment.” Chiropractic practices date all the way back to ancient Greece and China; it became especially popular in the United States in the late 1800s and has since reached a mainstream tipping point.
Techniques
Spinal manipulation is the primary basis of chiropractic care. Popularized in the 1980s, techniques like massage and spinal manipulation help adjust not only the spine, but also its surrounding tissues and these techniques are especially helpful for those who suffer from back pain.
The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) reports that there are seven most commonly used chiropractic techniques:
Diversified Technique is characterized by short, quick thrusts of pressure to restricted joints, with the goal of restoring proper movement.
Extremity Manipulation and Adjustment treats joints other than the spine, such as wrists or knees, and may help correct conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome or posture problems.
Activator Methods use a hand-held, spring-loaded tool to generate the light, quick force behind the adjustment.
Gonstead Technique focuses distinctly on balancing the body particularly the spinal column, through adjusting the pelvis, vertebrae, and legs?to restore normal alignment and motion.
Cox flexion Distraction uses a special table where the spine is decompressed and flexed forward; it’s used to treat conditions like lumbar disc herniations and to increase spinal joint mobility.
Thompson Technique employs a special table with drop pieces, segments that will allow the table to drop a fraction of an inch when the thrust is delivered; the goal is to open the joint during the adjustment and minimize the force required.
Sacro Occipital Technique uses low force and slow pressure; triangle-shaped blocks, usually placed under the patient?s pelvis, are used to treat lower back problems.
Chiropractors choose the best technique for each individual patient, depending on their clients unique pains and injuries. One specific technique, such as the sacro occipital technique, will not remedy all pains. Chiropractors will also modify the specifics of each technique according to the patient’s needs and desires.
Chiropractic Care for All Ages
Just like traditional doctors, chiropractors treat all age groups from children to the elderly. Anyone who suffers from specific musculoskeletal problems can benefit from chiropractic care that is uniquely tailored to the nuances of his or her specific pain. As people get older, they often begin to wonder whether they can still receive safe chiropractic care; some wrongly believe that chiropractic care will worsen their pain or possibly create a new injury. The truth is that it doesn’t matter how old a patient is. Chiropractic care tailored to the patient’s specific pain will increase vitality as well as mobility.
Before deciding on a particular treatment, the chiropractor will study the patient’s pains and medical history. Patients have unique maladies, and some adjustments are specifically meant for those who fall within a certain age range. For example, senior citizens will receive gentle chiropractic adjustments to accommodate their sensitive bones.
Children’s Care
The ACA fully endorses chiropractic care for children. In January of 2009, the ACA reported that the number of chiropractic patients 16 years of age and younger has jumped by more than 8 percent since 1991. Just about every chiropractor treats someone who is younger than 18; most have actually enrolled in postgraduate pediatric chiropractic courses or seminars to better understand specific treatments for infants, children, and teenagers. Chiropractors take great care to avoid the high velocity thrusting that has caused injuries to children’s spines in the past. Those who manipulate an infant’s spine use a very light pressure administered through the thumb to correct misaligned vertebre. Numerous studies indicate that chiropractic care can help children with neck and back pain, as well as chronic ear infections, colic, asthma, and even bedwetting. Chiropractors employ techniques that address the vertebral misalignment or spinal joint dysfunction. There is solid evidence, for example, that chiropractic soft tissue manipulative techniques administered over the neck help children recover from secretory otitis, an inflation of the middle section of the ear. These manipulative techniques often stretch the eustachian tube (a small canal connecting the middle ear to the back of the nose and upper throat) enough to help drain fluids from the ear. Some parents of children with the aforementioned maladies will visit chiropractors to check for misalignments as frequently as once per month.
Seniors Care
Older patients with back pain should have no trouble finding a chiropractor who uses moderate adjustment techniques to guarantee comfort throughout the duration of the treatment. This type of care is actually ideal for an aging body; seniors often find that their bodies are less responsive to certain stimuli and increasingly sensitive to medications prescribed by medical doctors. Chiropractic care represents an all-natural solution to alleviate pain. Unlike medications, chiropractic care won’t put your organs at risk. It will produce results by helping your body’s nervous system function as designed.
Regardless of your age or ailment, Chiropractors like those at Fix Body Group San Diego will choose a specific technique to correct and prevent any interference that may occur when the movement of the bones that protect the spinal cord is hindered. The aim is to restore the body’s ability to heal on its own, without the use of potentially harmful medications or surgeries.
With a chiropractor, there is a whole book of techniques and people whom they could help. Given that you listed a few techniques here, one of the ones that I would do is the cox flexion distraction. This one seems like it would be the most helpful, even though all the other are helpful too.
I always thought that chiropractors were only for middle aged and older individuals. I didn’t know that children could benefit from visiting a chiropractor as well. That’s interesting that soft tissue manipulation can help stretch the eustachian tube and help treat secretory otitis in children. Thanks for the informative article.
It is good to know that there are multiple techniques that can be used. Not all of them will work on the same person and some might work better than others. Regardless of the type that you are going to get, do be sure that it’s done by a professional.
Thanks so much for sharing all of this info on chiropractic care techniques! I had no idea that chiropractors use special tables to help them open the joints of patients; that’s pretty cool! Would the physician have to set a different “drop” distance for different patients? Since no two spines are the same, I imagine that no two treatments would be the exact same as well.
Very informative blog. I didn’t knew about this and thanks for sharing such good information. This is so good that they have a book through which they can help you out and can give relaxation from all the pains. Also, it is very important that one should go to the chiropractors if they are going through from any skeletal issues because they can help you out and releases all the pain.
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Oh, I remember a chiropractor using an activator method on my wife when I took her to get a massage. This type of method is one that I’ve been thinking about maybe getting. Mainly because of how my body tends to get neck and back pain and that’s all because of how much time I spend sitting at a desk.
My husband has been complaining of a knot in his shoulder for some times so I think it’s time to get him some chiropractic services. Thank you for listing all these different techniques chiropractors use when helping their patients. I think my husband would need the Diversified Technique. I’ll show this post to my husband and see what he thinks.
I had never heard of Cox flexion distraction before. I can see how uses specialised tools could help realign the spine. Your spine is a series of vertebrae supported by discs of cartilage after all- it has some give.
Great guide! There are so many conditions that chiropractors can treat that I had no clue about. I’d definitely like to try the wrist manipulation for carpal tunnel. Thanks for sharing!
Chiropractic sounds pretty amazing. IJ love the fact that they can help people from children to the elderly. My son has growing problems, and pains, so I’ve been thinking of taking him to a chiropractors. If there are doctors who study specifically to treat kids, I’ll try to find one of those!
hiya thanks for the information
It’s cool to learn more about chiropractic care for all ages and people. I like how you said that each patient will be studied so that the chiropractor can choose the best treatment. That makes me want to go and see which treatment will help my neck and back aches.