Although millions of people the world over have experienced the profound health benefits of routine chiropractic care, there’s still quite a bit of confusion surrounding the speciality. Though many people perceive chiropractic adjustments as nothing more than a temporary solution for alleviating joint pain and discomfort, that simply isn’t the case. Routine chiropractic care delivers a myriad of systemic health benefits that extend far beyond temporary pain relief. What kind of benefits are we talking about? The experts at Bomberg Chiropractic discuss the details below.
Improved Joint Mobility and Function
Chiropractic adjustments help reduce and alleviate misalignments and restrictions throughout the spine and peripheral joints. Though a single adjustment can elicit favorable results, regular treatments are highly effective at maintaining proper joint position, which naturally improves overall mobility and function. In fact, the Arthritis Foundation recommends chiropractic care in the treatment of arthritis for those who prefer a non-surgical, non-medication approach to managing joint pain and function.
Reduced Musculoskeletal Discomfort
When your joints are misaligned, they cannot function according to their design — period. Worse, improperly aligned joints place excessive pressure on the surrounding nerves, which often results in radiating muscular pain and intense discomfort near the affected joint(s).
Misalignments also frequently result in overcompensation during all forms of physical activity, which increases the likelihood of musculoskeletal discomfort and injury. Because chiropractic adjustments and therapeutic massage help maintain proper joint position and muscle health, regular treatment encourages improved musculoskeletal health and pain reduction.
Enhanced Physical and Athletic Performance
Spinal misalignments can interfere with the functions of a wide variety of other bodily systems, which in turn, negatively affects physical performance. But when your spine and peripheral joints are properly aligned, your body simply functions better!
In fact, professional and amateur athletes alike often rely on regular chiropractic adjustments to maintain and improve their performance. Fun fact: In a single football season, chiropractors administer between 16,320 and 27,200 adjustments to NFL athletes! Our Minnesota Vikings might be tough, but even they rely on chiropractic to maintain their overall performance and well-being!
So how much improvement might you see? One study found that athletes experienced a 30% increase in hand-eye coordination after 12 weeks of chiropractic care. In another study, 100% of runners who struggled with joint problems were able to maintain or increase their training mileage with regular chiropractic adjustments. Yet another study confirmed that athletes improved their overall physical performance by approximately 6% after they received chiropractic treatment.
Expedited Tissue Healing
A properly trained, experienced chiropractor is well-versed in injury diagnosis and treatment plan development. And when tissue injuries are diagnosed correctly and treated promptly, they almost always respond faster and more favorably to treatment. In some cases, passive mobilization is the best course of action, while in others, complete immobilization elicits better results. But without a proper diagnosis, determining the most effective course of action is practically impossible!
Unfortunately, injury misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment often lead to the development of scar tissue, which further decreases mobility and discomfort. What if you already struggle with painful, mobility-limiting scar tissue? Movement-based massage, also known as Active Release Technique, can help get your body back on track!
Improved Nerve Signaling
The nerves that stem from your spine constantly communicate back and forth with your brain to control thousands of bodily functions, and they require an unimpeded pathway for optimal performance. However, when the joints within your spine are misaligned, they can place too much pressure on the peripheral nerves that stem from your spinal cord. This compression effectively limits the nerves’ ability to conduct signals to and from your brain, which can cause discomfort or interfere with normal systemic functioning.
Routine chiropractic care helps maintain proper spinal alignment, which in turn, alleviates pressure on the nerves that stem from the spinal column. And when your nerves can transmit information according to their design, your entire body feels and function better!
Inflammation Reduction
Inflammation isn’t inherently harmful, after all, it’s an immune system response designed to stimulate healing. However, when inflammation becomes chronic, that’s when things can take a turn for the worse.
Chronic inflammation occurs when your immune system remains imbalanced for an extended period and your body continually produces inflammatory proteins, hormones, enzymes, and other substances. Unfortunately, it can interfere with your body’s ability to fight acute inflammation that results from injury, which can slow down tissue healing, decrease mobility, and limit overall performance. This phenomenon can also perpetuate musculoskeletal pain, interfere with normal bodily functions, and decrease overall quality of life. Yikes.
Though more research is needed, one study demonstrated that regular chiropractic adjustments helped normalize the body’s production of inflammatory mediators. As a result, study participants with low back pain and inflammation experienced considerable improvements in discomfort levels.
Ready to Help Your Body Thrive? Contact Bomberg Chiropractic Today
Whether you’re suffering from injuries and discomfort or want to maintain your overall well-being and physical performance, our team at Bomberg Chiropractic is here to serve you. We specialize in a wide variety of treatments designed to improve back pain, neck pain, joint health, physical performance, and overall mobility and strive to provide affordable, accessible care for all. To learn more or schedule an appointment, feel free to give our Plymouth office a call at 763-450-1755. You can also get in touch with us via our contact page, and we’ll get back to you promptly!