How to Make Sure Your Chiropractic Adjustments Last

In our rush-around society, we assume everything happens quickly. Even with our healthcare, people expect immediate gratification—a quick fix that’ll make pain or discomfort disappear. But the truth is that nothing worth having comes without a solid foundation of hard work, and that’s especially true when it comes to your health.
How does that translate to chiropractic? Therapy! You can’t just get your adjustment and hit the door. At Franklin Chiropractic & Accident Clinics, Inc., we have a whole range of therapies to complement your adjustment, from stretches to traction and more, that make your treatment so much more successful. Let’s take a look!

Therapies for Optimal Healing

As chiropractors, we believe that true health can be achieved through excellent spinal health. We use the chiropractic adjustment to remove subluxations, or misalignments, found in the vertebrae. This can make all the difference to your overall health, because left unchecked, subluxations can disrupt the brain-to-body communication system, causing a whole mess of problems you’d never even see coming. Subluxations are complex, whether they be due to accident, injury, stress, tight muscles, over- or under-stretched ligaments or other instabilities. While an adjustment does a great job of addressing the core of these issues by realigning the subluxation directly, your body needs more. Additional therapies help to stabilize the body, allowing for optimal health.

Getting Traction

Traction is a therapy designed to correct forward head posture and a reduced or reversed cervical curve. Issues with the cervical spine are very common and put a lot of stress on the nervous system. Correcting your cervical curve is crucial and should be a major goal for any patient.

What’s Another 10-15 Minutes?

If you can correct your cervical spine at home, why do it in the office? Most therapies are done under supervision for a reason. Some therapies can seem deceptively simple with a wide range of results for patients. That means these therapies can also be done incorrectly at home with negative results or potential injury.

So, What Can You Do At Home?

Besides the common therapies done in the office, we recommend any type of therapy that helps strengthen your core. The average American has weakened core strength, which contributes to abnormal posture and joint dysfunction. Stretching throughout the day can also be advantageous.
If you really want to know which therapies you should be doing to make your adjustments more effective, ask your chiropractor. He or she will be happy to share a customized list of therapies for your specific condition.

Could Your Child Have Scoliosis?

What do you know about scoliosis? Many people know that it affects the spine…but not much else. You might be surprised to know that kids are one of the largest groups affected by scoliosis. Find out what else you should know about this common condition. 
 

What is scoliosis?

Scoliosis is a spinal disorder traditionally defined as a sideways curvature (or curvatures) of the spine. Often, the curves appear S-shaped or C-shaped. The most common form of scoliosis is idiopathic, which accounts for about 80 percent of scoliosis cases. Unfortunately—and frustratingly—idiopathic means “without known cause,” meaning experts don’t have all the answers for sufferers.

Who is affected?

Scoliosis affects between 6 and 9 million people in the United States. Of those suffering from the disorder, children aged 10 to 15 are the largest age group, and girls are more often affected than boys. While it’s common in this age and gender group—people of any age, race, gender, etc. can be diagnosed with scoliosis.

What causes scoliosis?

As mentioned above, most cases of scoliosis are without a known cause. Some cases, such as congenital scoliosis, do have a known cause. In congenital scoliosis, the curves are thought to be due to abnormally formed vertebrae, present at birth.

What are the signs and symptoms?

Typically, those who have scoliosis won’t experience back pain, so it’s important to look for physical signs such as:

• Uneven shoulders or a shoulder blade that protrudes farther than the other when your child is standing
• A rib hump (rib prominence) or a lower back hump (lumbar prominence) when your child is bending forward

It’s important to note that scoliosis can run in families—so if you know of someone in your family that is affected, or have a child that has been diagnosed, be sure to have other family members checked.

How is scoliosis diagnosed?

Scoliosis can be diagnosed using medical and family history, a physical examination, and X-rays of the spine. Be sure to have your child checked by a professional, often times the signs of scoliosis are subtle and can be easily missed.

What are the treatment options?

There are several options for treating scoliosis, such as chiropractic, observation and bracing. Studies have shown active chiropractic treatment has improved the Cobb angle and pain scores. Experts agree that scoliosis is best treated when found early—so if you suspect your child may be at risk or has developed the disorder, it’s best to get them in for a check-up right away.

The Cause of Subluxation: The Three Ts

Have you ever heard this seemingly complicated term: subluxation? Subluxations are misalignments in one or more of the vertebrae in your spine. They can cause nerve interference, hindering communication between the brain and the rest of the body—every cell, tissue and organ. This makes it so the body is unable to function at 100 percent.
Treating them is one of the foremost goals of chiropractic care. Here are some lesser known causes of subluxations and why ongoing chiropractic care is crucial to generate self-healing and overall health and wellness.

The Three Ts

Subluxations can occur at any age and the main causes are considered the “Three Ts”: trauma, toxins and thoughts.

Trauma

Trauma is the most well-known of the Three Ts. It can cause subluxation by sheer force. Most people only think of major traumas like car accidents or falls, but your body experiences micro traumas every day—and these may surprise you. Behaviors or habits can cause subluxation—like continuously carrying a purse or bag on the same side of your body, wearing high heels, sleeping on your stomach, crossing your legs or looking down at a computer monitor for long periods of time.

Toxins

Toxins, as a cause of subluxation, may not be as obvious. Think of your body as one big conglomerate of chemicals—when the body is healthy and balanced chemically, it’s in a state of homeostasis. Depending on the toxic chemicals you take in through food, drink and your environment, your body’s homeostasis can be disrupted and become imbalanced. Toxins can get into the body in many ways: through processed and GMO foods, air pollution, chemicals in your cleaning supplies and even the water you’re drinking—and the plastic bottle it came in. These imbalances can cause muscle contractions or change fiber length in the muscles, causing a subluxation.

Thoughts

The third "T," Thoughts (a.k.a. stress), is the number one cause of subluxations. Forbes recently reported that 83 percent of working adults in the United States say they are stressed about their job. Think about it: you can be lying on a sandy beach somewhere but can feel completely stressed if you start thinking about the work and problems you have back at home. When you're stressed, the muscles in your neck and upper back become tight. This tension can cause subluxation, and these emotional stressors can also cause a chemical imbalance.

 

 

 

Treating Subluxations

Chiropractic care is the only way to treat subluxations. And this doesn’t mean a one-time visit to a chiropractor, but ongoing treatment. Your chiropractor will locate, analyze and correct subluxations and work with you on the causes.
Committing to chiropractic care is a lifestyle choice—just like exercising and eating well. It's impossible to eliminate all the micro traumas, toxins and stress in daily life, but choosing chiropractic as a preventative and proactive measure is vital to your path to optimal health.