Hello everyone, welcome back to episode 9 of the docmaydiet podcast. Last week we talked about the top 5 things you need to watch out for when choosing a chiropractor and this week’s podcast we’ll be going over the top 5 reasons as to why I believe chiropractic is great. Obviously I am biased due to the fact that I’m a chiropractor but I wanted to point out the fact that just last week I did a podcast bashing chiropractors so I am not blind in my bias. Ok without further ado here are the top reasons to see a chiropractor.
- Achieve LBP relief without the use of drugs or surgery – I have this number one because 80-90% of people will experience low back pain at some point in their lives. Low back pain is the single leading cause of disability WORLDWIDE. Back pain leads to more than 264 million lost workdays a year. That’s two workdays for every full-time worker in the country. Back pain is the 3rd most common reason for a visit to the doctor’s office.
So, between those statistics and the nationwide opioid overuse and abuse epidemic, researchers have been searching for answers to low back pain and chiropractic has been proven to be a both safe and effective nondrug spine pain treatment option. In fact, an article in the highly respected medical journal Spine indicated that chiropractic care is JUST as effective as prescription NSAIDS.
This is really important when considering that, according to the CDC, as many as one in four patients who receive prescription opioids long term struggle with addiction. So, I implore you if you or someone you know is suffering from back pain choose chiropractic. Drugs and surgery should only be considered if there are no options left! Back pain is by far and away the most common thing I treat and treat successfully as a chiropractor so please please please choose chiropractic first.
- Improve neck pain, headaches, and jaw pain
I have these 3 grouped together because often times you’ll see at least two of these symptoms and a lot of times all 3 presenting at the same time because they’re highly correlated. There is a lot of tied dysfunction between the neck specifically the upper cervical spine and headaches that will create a lot of tension and often lead to jaw dysfunction or vice versa. Jaw pain commonly known as TMJ is becoming a really common complaint these days and is something we’re seeing more and more of. Also, just a little side note, its actually TMJD, not TMJ. TMJ stands for the temporomandibular joint so saying you have TMJ when you have jaw pain is like saying you have knee when your knee hurts or arm when your arm hurts.
So, if you or someone you know is having neck pain, headaches, jaw pain, some combination of the three or all three I suggest seeing a chiropractor first. A review of nine published trials found high quality evidence that patients with chronic neck pain showed significant pain-level improvements following chiropractic care. Another study found that chiropractic care was significantly more effective in both the short term and long term compared to medication for pain reduction.
Neck pain and headaches can be severely debilitating, especially migraines. 9/10 Americans suffer from migraines so this is also contributing to the opioid epidemic. Chiropractic contributes absolutely zero to the opioid epidemic and has been proven to be more effective for neck pain headaches and jaw pain so once again I implore you to try chiropractic first!
- Improve spinal curvatures and avoid early arthritis
One aspect of your health that goes criminally under reported is the maintenance of proper spinal curvatures. The reason that we have these spinal curvatures is that there’s that constant force called gravity that’s always working on us, never shuts off. The curves are there to help dissipate the force of gravity and distribute that weight evenly throughout the body.
When we lose those curves, all that gravitational force pounds down onto our spinal joints and causes early arthritis which will cause pain, loss of range of motion, and potentially disc issues which can lead to disability. Let’s say our discs are like jelly donuts, right? Soft around the outside with a jelly filling. When we lose the curve in our necks, we’re basically taking our hands and pressing on the front of that jelly donut, and if we press down long enough, that jelly is going to shoot out the back and out the sides and that’s the most common ways discs herniate.
In addition to that, proper neck curvature has been linked to a variety of diseases as it has a heavy impact on our immune system. That’s why we take those neck x-rays and have ways to increase the cervical curve because its so important and really dictates the function of the rest of your body because it all starts up top! So regardless of whether or not you’re having pain or problems you should make sure that the curve in your neck is right or else you’re so susceptible to so many problems.
- Improve posture – overall health and aesthetically
Another thing that doesn’t get the health emphasis it needs is posture. Posture is a window into our spine and into our nervous system and poor posture usually reflects poor health. So posture is not just an aesthetic issue, our posture sends signals to us and the people around us so it is a super important health marker in its own right.
Proper posture helps ensure that we are biomechanically in sync which is instrumental in preventing arthritis and joint pain. The unfortunate reality is that everything in life is dragging us downward into the forward head flexed posture. This is commonly referred to as “tech neck.” We need to do everything in our power to prevent this degradation and maintain our proper posture.
Chiropractic helps tremendously with posture correction as a well-trained chiropractor can not only give you proper ergonomic advice but also design very specific to you postural corrective exercises to help undue the postural stresses that plague you and drag you down. Posture is highly dependent on having proper range of motion and proper muscle engagement, which is a chiropractors specialty in restoring. So if you are seeking posture correction chiropractic would be your best option.
- Improve energy, mood, sleep, athletic performance
Chiropractic has so many other benefits other than pain relief! So many times I hear patients reporting that since getting adjusted on a regular basis their mood has improved, their sleep, their focus, their digestion, their energy just to name a few things. Recently I had a patient report that their anxiety has gotten way better and their general outlook on life has greatly improved as well.
I hear things like this so often that its actually become common place and am actually so happy saying this right now because it reminds me of how blessed I am to do what I do everyday. The reason for this is that the nervous system is the master system and chiropractic removes interference from the nervous system and allows it to act way more efficiently so no wonder when people get adjusted they feel all these other systems coming back online
I truly believe chiropractic can help unlock the best version of yourself and that’s not a good enough reason to check it out then I don’t know what is!