Why Should You See a Chiropractor?

Not long ago most people considered a visit to their chiropractor as “alternative medicine”. These days, more people are turning to chiropractic care for a variety of reasons including pain and inflammation relief, alignment support, spine health, prenatal care, and general wellbeing.  

As more individuals embrace the idea of whole-body health, they are beginning to see the benefits of chiropractic care. 

What are the benefits of chiropractic care? 

1. Pain Prevention:  
   Pain from an injury or chronic illness can be debilitating and have a negative effect on wellbeing and functional ability. We often ask our patients, “how well do you move?” Rather than focusing on specific pain, our goal is to focus on the body as a whole.  
    
   If your body is in pain, your movement will be restricted or influenced by the discomfort. We often ignore smaller aches and pains, but these can have a cumulative effect. Small aches and pains can lead to greater harm and even affect our mobility.  
    
   When you’re dealing with even small amounts of pain, you may compensate by moving muscles in other areas. This compensation can contribute to stiffness or misalignment.  
    
   In chiropractic medicine, our goal is to help relieve pain and support your functional movement. The goal is to help your whole body. 

2. Stress Management: 
   Stress can contribute to chronic pain and illness. Traditionally, when people thought about going to see a chiropractor, they would talk about getting their “back cracked” or a “quick cracking session.” This gives the impression that your chiropractic sessions will be brief and without much care.  
    
   Adjustment times do vary but our goal is always to provide a relaxing experience, which gives you time to relax and decompress. Sometimes we’ll literally take a weight off your shoulders.   

3. Posture Improvement: 
   Many of us spend a lot of time sitting in chairs during the day, which does not support ideal posture. We can become slouched and slumped after hours at a computer all day. This has a detrimental impact on the spine, neck, and overall posture. As part of a whole-body health routine, we’ll help you to ensure you’re sitting up straight while still feeling comfortable. Regular chiropractic adjustments will also help your spine to maintain alignment so you can sit (and stand) correctly. 

4. Prenatal Care: 
   During pregnancy, your body will experience numerous physical changes that can have an impact on your pelvic and spinal alignment. This can result in discomfort and pain.  Using the Webster Technique, our chiropractors perform detailed sacral analysis. We provide adjustments that can reduce labour pain and help prepare the body for birth and recovery. 

There are many benefits of chiropractic care that go beyond a simple “back cracking” session. Chiropractic treatments help to support posture, alignment and mobility while also reducing stress, inflammation and pain. At Fraser Valley Chiropractic & Wellness, we love to help patients of all ages and abilities achieve well-being. 

Ready to get started? Book an appointment!

The post Why Should You See a Chiropractor? appeared first on Fraser Valley Chiro.

How Can You Achieve Longer Lasting Relief from Headache Pain? 

Did you know one-third of Americans and Canadians suffer from chronic headaches? According to recent surveys, since the start of the pandemic Canadian migraine sufferers experienced an increase in migraine headaches. Keep reading to learn how can you find lasting relief from headache pain and discomfort.

Headaches are common, uncomfortable (sometimes debilitating), and often hard to treat. While pain medication and muscle relaxants will ease the pain of a headache, these options are essentially a Band-Aid. They do nothing to relieve the cause of the headache itself. The result is headaches that regularly re-occur. In many cases, traditional medicine has little to offer chronic headache sufferers. 

Thankfully, traditional pain medicine is not your only choice for headache relief.  

How To Deal with Headache Pain 

Headaches can be caused by a variety of factors including stress, tense muscles, pinched nerves, eye strain, or pressure from the sinuses. In addition, some types of headaches can be caused by dehydration, poor posture, food or alcohol sensitivities or even lack of sleep.  

• Identify the Type of Headache: Knowing the cause or type of your headache will help you on your path to relief. Tension and cervicogenic headaches are among the most common and the most treatable. Some headache causes are simple to resolve while others may be more complicated or require medical intervention.  
   
• Reduce Stress and/or Tension: Stress and tension are a natural part of life. Too much of either can cause issues like headaches. Stress reduction practices such as meditation, regular stretching or exercise, and relaxation techniques can improve wellbeing; these practices can also help reduce the occurrence of certain types of headaches.  
   
• Get a Massage: Massage therapy has been proven effective for the treatment of headaches. Massage therapy can reduce the frequency and number of headaches experienced by those with chronic tension headaches. Massage is also a wonderful way to reduce stress! 
   
• See a Chiropractor: Chiropractic treatments are very proficient at dealing with headaches. Chiro can even help decrease the frequency, duration of the pain, and the number of painkillers needed for relief.  
   
• Talk to Your Doctor: Are your headaches extreme or causing a disruption to your daily life? You may need to visit your doctor for a full assessment or an MRI. 

Headaches are something we all deal with from time to time, but if regular headaches are affecting your quality of life, you may want to consider alternate options. You don’t have to just keep reaching for that Tylenol bottle and waiting for the discomfort to pass.  

At Fraser Valley Chiropractic & Wellness, we offer full assessments to help diagnose your type of headache. We provide treatments to relieve pain, tension and discomfort.  If you would like to pursue more lasting solutions for headache pain, we would love to help!

Book an appointment!

The post How Can You Achieve Longer Lasting Relief from Headache Pain?  appeared first on Fraser Valley Chiro.