Is chiropractic care suitable for children or pregnant women?
There are many benefits to chiropractic care. Those benefits of course apply to children and pregnant women also. Children often experience falls that may alter how their muscles and joints are working. And often, children don’t always express how they feel. When they are in obvious pain, yes, but sometimes subtle things may just present as an altered movement pattern. Children receiving chiropractic care are often treated with the same techniques as used for adults, but with obvious differences in force applied. Little bodies need different forces applied. Often kids just need to be placed in the position to adjust and the joint will move little to no force.
Pregnant women have a body that is changing shape over the duration of the gestation period. This can put different stresses on the body. For first time pregnancies, the mom’s body may have never altered so much before and this can cause pain in areas they haven’t had pain before. Each pregnant body is different and the changes that occur can be very unique. Chiropractic care can be very beneficial for pregnant women. Treatment again is applied in very similar ways to any other patient, keeping in mind that the women’s body is changing every visit. Many chiropractic tables have thoracic drop out sections to accommodate the growing belly. Of course the doctor's posture when adjusting may need to be modified. In addition to changing body shapes, any complications need to be disclosed to the treating chiropractor to ensure chiropractic care is still a suitable treatment option.
What lifestyle changes can I make to support my treatment?
There is nothing specific for you to do to support chiropractic treatment other than lifestyle modifications that we would recommend to anyone to improve their health. Some positive lifestyle modifications include:
- Stay hydrated, drink lots of water
- Rest- 8 hours of sleep every night
- Eat adequate amounts of protein- aim for 1 g/lb of ideal body weight
- Exercise- 5x30min of some form of physical activity/wk, or 8000-10000 steps/day
Can chiropractic care help with sports injuries?
Chiropractic care is very suitable for sports injuries. The very core of our treatment is to care for injuries of the musculoskeletal system. By definition the musculoskeletal system includes the muscles and joints of the body. Chiropractors are often a very good option for assessment of sports injuries as we are trained to assess and diagnose these injuries as well as rule out the possibility of trauma. In addition to diagnosing, many chiropractors are well versed in rehabilitation of sports injuries including the rehab for post fracture care or dislocations in addition strains, sprains, tendonopathies, contractures, contusions, bursitis, and traction injuries like burner/stingers. If the chiropractor feels you need further care, you will be referred to the appropriate provider.
Do chiropractors only treat the spine?
In Ontario, chiropractors can treat both the spine and the extremities. Not every province in Canada can treat other than the spine. Besides the low back and neck injuries as my top treatment areas, shoulder injuries come next in line at my clinic followed closely by hip and knee injuries. Technically, any synovial joint in the body can be adjusted. That is, we can get the joint to move and get a cavitation or a “pop”. Not all joints are treated this way, and that is dependent on the chiropractor. Other devices like drop pieces can be utilized to treat these joints. But that will be dependent on the chiropractor treating and the techniques they are trained in.
Do I need chiropractic care for life?
This has to be my favourite question. My question back to this is often, “why wouldn’t you want chiropractic care for life”? In my opinion, I think everyone needs a chiropractor on their healthcare team. The frequency of care may vary during your life. Most people have a family doctor for life. Maybe you will move cities and need to find another family doctor, but it makes sense to have a family doctor on your healthcare team for life. Many people also have a dentist for life. Dental care is important and teeth are around for life, for most people. The care you need over the years changes, but care is ongoing. For chiropractic care, I don’t think you need to be seen at a high frequency forever. Maybe you are treated at a high frequency when you hurt your back, but then most back pain resolves. Years later, you may hurt your shoulder and neck and need further care. Maintenance care is ongoing care to aid in your everyday activities that may cause some tightness or pain to some permanent conditions that aren’t going to resolve. The maintenance care allows you to continue to function at a certain capacity. But not everyone needs maintenance care. I hope you choose chiropractic care for life, but keep in mind that may look different at different times in your life.
I hope this has offered some answers to some common questions. If you have further questions about yourself or a friend or family member, please email me directly at drmarnie@mmdchiropractic.ca. You may also call the clinic at 905-529-2911. Bookings can be made online by clicking the Book Now button below.