Headaches and Your Chiropractor
The pain can take on various forms and be felt on different levels. Throbbing, numbing, on and off or all around. Almost all of us have had that feeling one way or another when a headache Chiropractor Tulsa OK strikes us and more so, at a wrong time.
While conventional medication has provided a lot of help in the form of prescriptions, pills and other traditional methods, it's good to know that there are safer and even better ways to treat and effectively manage the pain. A large part has to do with the chiropractic profession.
Over the last century, we have seen this profession grow to over 80,000 practicing Doctors of Chiropractic (DC) worldwide - and the number is still increasing due to public demand for non-drug, alternative forms of treatments. In fact, almost 3/4 of Americans, Canadians, and Australians prefer these safer approaches, as we face the 21st century.
In the U.S, around 50% of families have had at least one of their members go through chiropractic care and reap its benefits.
As curiosity is normal for a person, here are some frequently asked questions on how chiropractors would normally view and treat headaches:
1. What is the main thing a chiropractic specialist can do for your headache?
The primary thing is to relieve it without drugs or any other medication. Secondarily would be to give you a multi-disciplinary approach by giving you healthier treatment options.
2. What will the chiropractor do with new patients?
Just like any professional doctor, you will first be asked to complete a case history. The specialist will ask you questions and know how the headaches affect your life. He might also look into your daily routines and see if there's a connection before he performs a standard examination which consists of 3 parts:
a) Physical exam - (similar to your family doctor's exam) which consists of an over view of the major body systems.
b) Combination of an Orthopaedic and Neurological exam - to review your spine and evaluate the general and present condition of your nervous system.
c) Specific tests - that are usually based on the first 2 parts of the exam and are often taken outside of the chiropractor's office (e.g. x-rays, nerve conduction studies, MRI, blood tests).
In the event that other medical problems surface during the analysis period, a referral to another specialist may also be required.
Once proven that there are no contra-indications to chiropractic methods, the treatments that will be conducted vary from:
a) Spinal adjustments - gentle re-alignments of the vertebrae or segments of the spine
b) Nutritional recommendations - e.g. proper food combining, correct way and time of eating fruits and vegetables; guarding one's diet
c) Specific exercises - e.g. posture and motion exercises
d) Other modifications of your daily activities - e.g. Are you always sitting down on your job? Maybe it's time to implement an occasional break, stand up, walk around and stretch!
Other forms of therapy such as applying heat, ice, massage, or some forms of traction, ultrasound, and/or electrical muscle stimulation, may also be performed.
Of course, the correct course of treatment all depends on the diagnosis of the exact headache type and of the root causes.
3. Is chiropractic care safe?
We answer that with a resounding "YES!" According to a specialist, "Chiropractic holds the envious position of having the safest record of all the healing arts with regards to morbidity or side effects of treatment".
Comparing medical care and chiropractic care:
• 1.5 million Americans will be hospitalized this year because of iatrogenic (physician caused)
reactions, and from that number - 100,000 will die.
• 1,600 children will die this year from allergic reactions to aspirin.
• 1,000 people will die this week from complications of surgery that was unnecessary.
• Thousands of individuals will die this year from anaphylactic reactions to prescribed drugs.
• In contrast, it has been estimated that one in every million chiropractic visits may result in a vascular
incident, due to a manipulation of the cervical spine. There is absolutely no other procedure that reveals such a minimal risk in the healing arts.
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