What is chiropractic care?

Chiropractic care is a non-pharmacological healthcare profession that primarily utilizes hands on manual therapy to treat and manage neuromusculoskeletal conditions such as neck and back pain, as well more neurological based conditions such as radiculopathy (pinched spinal nerves), sciatica, neuropathy, etc.

Chiropractic care is more than just a spinal adjustment, its a health care profession. While spinal manipulation or spinal adjustment is often the main treatment offered by Doctors of Chiropractic at Cole Spine and Performance, we often pair spinal manipulation with other evidenced based guideline concordant treatment modalities including myofascial release (targeted medical massage), IASTM (tool based muscle scrapping), dry needling, similar to acupuncture uses needles to target myofascial trigger points.

Is chiropractic care safe?

Chiropractic care is an extremely safe treatment option for neuromusculoskeletal conditions and pain. The most common side-effect of chiropractic care is mild post-treatment soreness, similar to the soreness you may experience following a workout and generally only last for 24-48 hours. While more serious adverse reactions are possible, they are very rare, and this is why we complete a detailed physical exam, and health history to rule out any red-flags.

Chiropractic care is recommended as a first line treatment for many neuromusculoskeletal conditions across clinical practice guidelines including clinical guidelines from The American College of Physicians which recommends spinal manipulation for acute, sub-acute and chronic low back pain.

how does chiropractic care work?

Chiropractic care often involves spinal manipulation or joint manipulation in general. Oftentimes, we think of spinal mis-alignments, that a chiropractor re-aligns through manipulation…. this is a incorrect simplistic view that is out dated and not supported by clinical evidence.

Instead, chiropractors restore motion, improve blood, flow, and decrease inflammation.

Spinal Manipulation (adjustment)- Often performed hands on using a high-velocity-low-amplitude thrust directed at improving joint mobility. I use the stagnant pond analogy. Similar to a pond that will get “nasty” if there is no water flowing in or out, our joints will also get “nasty” with decreased or improper movement. Our joints our an enclosed system involving the joint capsule, different parts of our joints release chemicals that can cause pain, lower our tolerance to pain or cause increased inflammation. With a lack of movement these chemicals build up in the joint… spinal manipulation introduces and restores proper motion to the joint, which gets movement into the joint fluid causing a decrease in the build up of these chemicals in our joints. This leads to less pain, and less inflammation with improved mobility.

IASTM (muscle scrapping)- uses specific metal tools to scrape the tight muscles which often causes petechiae (small purple or red blotches) from broken small blood vessels which help promote increased blood flow to the area for healing.

Dry Needling- uses needles similar to acupuncture needles that are inserted in to tight muscle bands or trigger points to eliminate the painful trigger points and decrease muscle tightness.

Cupping Therapy- consists of suction cupping different areas to promote blood flow and healing in the affected area. Cupping is shown to help with pain, inflammation, blood flow, relaxation and well-being, and as a type of deep-tissue massage.

Once I start chiropractic care will I have to keep coming back?

Lifetime prevalence of low back pain ranges from 65-84% in the US. Meaning 65-84% of Americans can expect to experience low back pain during their lifetime. Low back pain, is the leading cause of disability worldwide!

Again, most clinical practice guidelines recommend spinal manipulation and other treatment modalities often used by chiropractors as first line of treatment for low back pain and other neuromusckulosketal conditions.

How often is one of the big questions… this is where some hate for fellow chiropractors Dr. Mike has. Many chiropractors will tell you a minimal of 2-3x per week to start for several weeks and then 1x a week thereafter. This often times is excessive. It is also a cookie cutter approach, again the once size fits all model that Dr. Mike hates.

Dr. Mike generally recommends 1x up to 2x per week for a few weeks, some patients may need more, some may need less. This initial trial of care is then generally followed by supportive care once every 2-4 weeks. Think of this as routine maintenance we do with our home AC unit, or our car. This helps us continue to function at a higher level, versus waiting for the AC unit to go out or our car break down, its often easier to prevent the issue from becoming an issue in the first place.