What do chiropractors do?
Chiropractors are healthcare professionals known for using contact-based methods to treat pain-related conditions. They diagnose and treat conditions in the musculoskeletal system. Any pain in your muscles, bones, joints, tendons, and ligaments is within chiropractors' scope. While chiropractors are not technically medical doctors, a study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information confirms that chiropractors are as adept at treating conditions like lower back pain as any other medical doctors.
The scope of chiropathy is not limited to neck and back pain. For example, many arthritis patients seeking immediate pain relief consult chiropractors. Chiropractic treatments are known to provide instant pain relief in many cases.
The following sections explain when to consider making a chiropractor's appointment and the types of treatments they offer.
When should you visit a chiropractor?
Chiropractors generally treat pain-related conditions. So, should you visit a chiropractor if you feel any random pain? That's not the case. While the scope of chiropractic medicine is significant, there are specific types of pain-related conditions that chiropractors treat. They are as follows:
- Tension headaches: If you often feel heat or pressure emanating from the lower back of your head or your eyes, you are likely experiencing headaches. While chiropractors can't treat all forms of headaches, they can help ease tension headaches.
- Instant pain relief: As explained previously, chiropractic treatments can sometimes bring instant pain relief. They can be ideal if you have increased shooting pain and need immediate relief.
- Chronic pain due to previous injuries: If you previously had an accident or a sports injury, you may still feel pain at the point of impact. Chiropractors offer various treatments, such as spinal adjustments, therapeutic stretches, and exercises to help ease the pain.
- Bad posture: If you have a terrible posture and manual self-correction is not working, chiropractors can prescribe natural contact treatments and exercises. Poor posture can eventually lead to more severe conditions like scoliosis, so early chiropractic action can nip the problem in the bud.
- Back and neck pain: The most typical reasons people visit chiropractors are neck and back pain. Any number of reasons can cause back pain. If your work requires you to bend often and remain curved for long periods, the pressure on your spine will eventually lead to back pain. Neck pain, similarly, has many causes. Whiplash is one primary reason behind neck pain and has several chiropractic treatment options. Poor posture can also be a reason for neck pain. Spending a lot of time with your neck hunched forward may cause too much stress around your neck muscles. Chiropractic can diagnose and treat these conditions effectively and help you live pain-free.
What treatments do chiropractors offer?
Chiropractors offer many treatments for muscle pain, joint pain, bone, tendon, and ligament. Chiropractors can treat any pain in your musculoskeletal system with chiropractic treatments.
Here are a few treatments chiropractors offer:
- Adjustments: In chiropractic treatments, adjustments refer to realigning joints to enhance mobility and relieve pain. Most pain-related conditions that chiropractors treat involve adjustments. It is because adjustments directly impact bodily pain and improve mobility, the two main goals of chiropractic treatments.
- Therapeutic stretches and exercises: The purpose of stretches and exercises is to maintain and improve your body's mobility. These activities keep your joints stable.
- Kinesio taping: Kinesio taping involves bracing sprained joints to help them heal. The technique helps treat post-injury tensions and sprains between joints.
- Soft tissue therapy: The therapy eases tension in the connective tissue surrounding the muscles. It helps relax spasms and relieve stress in your muscles.
What to expect at a chiropractic appointment?
Your first visit to a chiropractor near you will likely begin with the specialist asking questions regarding your medical history and conducting a physical examination. The scope to which a chiropractor's license allows them to practice differs by state. In some states, chiropractors may prescribe diagnostic testing, including imaging and laboratory tests, to rule out fractures and other issues.
Following these tests, the provider will start the chiropractic adjustment. You will most likely sit or lie down on a specially built-padded table for the treatment. Throughout the appointment, the chiropractor may suggest you change positions so that they may treat certain regions of your body. You can expect to hear popping or cracking as your chiropractor applies regulated pressure to your joints.
It is advised to wear loose, comfortable attire before your appointment and remove any jewelry before the treatment begins. In most circumstances, a chiropractor can make all of the necessary adjustments without you having to change into a hospital gown.
Following your session, you may encounter headaches or fatigue. The areas your chiropractor adjusts may also be sore following therapy. These are minor and transitory adverse effects. In rare circumstances, spine nerve compression or disc herniation may occur. Stroke is another uncommon but significant complication that can occur following neck manipulation. However, it is essential to note that there are relatively few risks when a licensed professional performs a chiropractic adjustment.
Outside of your sessions, your provider may prescribe remedial exercises for you. They may offer lifestyle counseling, such as nutrition and exercise recommendations, and they may also include complementary medicine, such as acupuncture or homeopathy. However, there are some conditions for which you should not seek chiropractic care. For example, if you've suffered numbness or loss of strength in your arm or leg, you should consult your primary care physician before seeing a chiropractor. These symptoms may necessitate a procedure beyond the scope of a chiropractor.
Other conditions that may call for a different treatment include:
If you are still determining whether chiropractic treatment is appropriate for your illness, consult your doctor.
Is chiropractic care safe for treating joint pain?
Chiropractic adjustments are typically safe when performed by a licensed professional. They are also highly beneficial for neck, back, or joint pain. However, people with specific conditions may need to be careful. If you have one of the following conditions, you may consult a physician before visiting a chiropractor.
- Inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, or psoriatic arthritis cause active swelling in patients
- Severe osteoporosis in the spine or neck
- Numbness and tingling sensations
- Loss of strength in arm, leg, or both
- Increased risk of a stroke
- Bone abnormalities in the neck
While adjustments may not be an option for patients with the conditions mentioned above and symptoms, they may be able to receive other forms of chiropractic treatment such as ultrasound, electrotherapy, low-level laser or cold laser therapy, and infrared sauna, to name a few. Further, some chiropractors may treat the tissues surrounding your arthritic joint instead of the joint itself. For example, if a person has a flare in the knee, it may cause them to walk awkwardly and lead to secondary pain syndrome in the lower back. In this case, a chiropractor would not treat the flared joint but adjust other body parts, thereby reducing overall pain by four to five units on the one to ten pain scale. It would help make daily living activities easier.
Can you see a chiropractor when you are pregnant?
During pregnancy, you experience hormonal and physical changes, some of which affect your comfort and posture. Plus, as your baby grows, your center of gravity shifts, so you must adjust your posture accordingly. These physical changes can cause the following:
- Misaligned spine or joints
- A protruding abdomen that increases the curvature of your back
- Changes to your pelvis due to your body's preparation for labor
Regularly seeing a chiropractor during pregnancy can help address these issues, relieve pain, restore balance, and realign your spine and pelvis. Moreover, since the nervous system regulates communication with all your body parts, including the reproductive system, keeping your spine aligned equips your entire body to work more efficiently.
Chiropractic care can also benefit your baby. A misaligned pelvis restricts the space available for your fetus, obstructing its regular movements. This condition is known as intrauterine constraint and can lead to congenital disabilities. A misaligned pelvis might also cause delivery-related complications by making it difficult for your baby to move into the optimal birthing position, which is head down and rear-facing. When your baby is not in the proper birthing position, delivery might be longer and more complicated. It can affect your ability to have a non-invasive and natural birth. Additionally, breech and posterior positions can interfere with the natural labor process and lead to interventions like c-sections. Chiropractors can help realign your pelvis.
Further, regular chiropractic care during pregnancy can benefit you in the following ways:
- Help you maintain a more comfortable pregnancy
- Relieving pain in the joints, neck, back, and hips
- Reduce the length of time you spend in labor
- Improved labor and delivery outcomes
- Control symptoms of nausea
While chiropractic treatment is safe for pregnant women, refrain from seeking it if you are experiencing the following:
Therefore, always check with your OB-GYN beforehand if you want to see a chiropractor.
How do you find the best chiropractor near you in Crofton, Maryland?
You're not alone if you are looking for a chiropractor in Crofton or anywhere else in Maryland. Finding any alternative medicine specialist that syncs with your needs and preferences is difficult. Forming a doctor-patient relationship based on reliability and trust can lead to smoother treatment and recovery. And herein lies the challenge of finding the right practitioner for chiropractic massage near you in Maryland or anywhere else in the country.
Will the chiropractor you find be available when your schedule opens up? Will your medical insurance plan cover the consultation and the subsequent treatment? Is the chiropractor available near your home, or would you need to travel a long way?
Zocdoc can overcome all these complications with one platform. It lets you discover chiropractors (and all other medical professionals) in minutes. The platform ensures you can find the best chiropractic massage providers near you. Furthermore, you can also check if your medical insurance plan covers the consultation and filter doctors by gender, language proficiency, etc. If you have multiple insurance plans, you can include medical, dental, and vision insurance plans in your Zocdoc account. However, you can only search for and schedule appointments with one insurance plan at a time. You can specify your secondary carrier and plan for the provider in the notes section during the final step of the booking process. Moreover, if your provider uses Zocdoc's intake forms, you may add secondary insurance while filling out your forms online. For further insurance-related FAQs, refer to Zocdoc's patient help center.
You can also view ratings and reviews of every chiropractor near you to make an informed decision about who to consult. With Zocdoc, finding chiropractors in Crofton and every other city in the United States is Simplified. Bookings are fast, free, and secure!
Chiropractic statistics in Crofton, Maryland
One positive for Maryland regarding pain-related conditions is that it's doing better than the national average. A 2022 report from America's Health Rankings states that about 26.0% of people in Maryland suffer from some form of arthritis, while the national average is marginally higher at around 27.7%. The same report also suggests that arthritis is most prevalent among older people. Approximately 54.0% of people over 65 have arthritis, highlighting the need for pain-related care in the state. Chiropractors can provide instant relief and make a living typically easier for people suffering from chronic pain.
According to a report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of May 2023, 410 chiropractors were practicing in Maryland. The overall location quotient for chiropractors (number of chiropractors in Maryland compared to the whole of the U.S.) is 0.56, which is lower than the national average but still higher than a lot of states in the U.S. Not surprisingly, the percentage of people with pain-related conditions like arthritis in Maryland is also very close to the national average. The correlation highlights the role of medical professionals like chiropractors in helping treat chronic pain conditions.
Sources
Cleveland Clinic[1]
Cleveland Clinic[2]
Cleveland Clinic[3]
National Center for Biotechnology Information
American Headache Society
Wooster Community Hospital
America's Health Rankings
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Healthline[1]
Healthline[2]
Healthline[3]
WebMD[1]
WebMD[2]
American Pregnancy Association
Arthritis Foundation
