Staff Writer
Many people see chiropractors for many different reasons, for pain or better recovery after an intensive workout or a sports performance. Chiropractic care recommendations are a great way to keep your spine and muscles happy and working properly. If you’re new to chiropractic, it’s good to know what to expect after your appointment.
Putting motion into joints that haven’t moved correctly in a while can have side effects. Most commonly, soreness in the area can occur and usually lasts no more than 24 hours. This does not usually feel like an increase in pain but rather a general muscle soreness that can be relieved with ice or rest. Think of it like exercising for the first time in a while; it feels good, and you know your body needs it, but the following day might be a little rough.
The goal of chiropractic care is to promote health, alleviate pain, and improve quality of life over the long term. The relationship between structure (the spine/musculoskeletal system) and function, as coordinated by the nervous system, is central to the chiropractic profession’s approach to patient health and well-being.
Chiropractors optimize health through good nutrition, constructive exercise, stress management, and ensuring proper spinal and extremity joint biomechanics.
The activities we perform in our daily routine can sometimes lead to restrictions forming in the joints of our spine. Left untreated, these joints can cause muscles and the joints surrounding these restrictions to perform more work than expected.
As a result, untreated restrictions can cause changes to your movement patterns, often without you knowing it. Why is that? Our brain tells us to take the path of least resistance. For example, if it hurts to bend over, you’ll find another way to bend over, thus programming a new non-correct movement pattern into your brain.
Then, after you’re out of pain, your brain will tell you to continue to move that way, and those poor movement patterns can lead to more pain.
If you injure yourself and decide to seek care from a Doctor of Chiropractic, expect the first few visits will be focused on alleviating pain or discomfort and assessing the root of the problem. Subsequent visits are likely to be focused on restoring motion, flexibility, balance, etc.
An example of a first visit is a thorough physical assessment and a review of your medical history. The first course of chiropractic care might involve passive therapy, such as
After this visit, depending on your injury and where your body is in the healing process, you might experience a slight increase in pain. Such pain indicates an inflammation response has been initiated, which means the body is beginning to heal.
After being adjusted, most chiropractic patients report feeling less pain, more mobile, and just better in general. Some patients report increased flexibility – maybe they were unable to touch their toes prior to the adjustment, and afterward, they can get their hands flat on the floor.
After a chiropractic care session, some people experience fatigue or a boost of energy due to increasing one’s neurological input.
If return visits are indicated, each treatment will be geared towards returning your neuro-musculoskeletal system to pre-injury status. Returning your body’s function to how it was before the injury is important in reducing the risk of you injuring it again.
Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC), founded in 1922, is a private, nonprofit, chiropractic and health sciences university in Overland Park, Kansas. The CUKC on-campus Chiropractic Health Center offers a natural course of healthcare, seeking to heal the body from within and not using prescription medicine.
Our Health Center is open to the public and treats patients from Kansas City’s 15-county metro area. Our goal is to provide next-level chiropractic care and solutions for a better, more productive life for our patients.
