One of the most common questions that people ask when they get to our office (or more likely one they type into Google) is “is Chiropractic Care painful?” It’s a very fair question. After all, most people associate care with pain if they have something wrong with them. Surgery is painful, shots are painful, getting a bone set is painful. So when it comes to seeking pain relief from our doctors and specialists, the idea that it could be painful is common.
Does Care Received At A Chiropractic Clinic Hurt?
Let’s take a look at what you might experience at our chiropractic clinic, and if each type of care can be painful or not..
Chiropractic Adjustments
Let’s start at the heart of our business: chiropractic adjustments. The entire practice of chiropractic began with the physical manipulation of the spine and neck, and millions of people have benefited from it.
But is it painful? In nearly every case, no. Our adjusters have years of training and have most likely seen many patients with the same sort of pain that you’re experiencing, whether it’s lower back pain or something wrong with the neck.
If there is any discomfort, it would be some minor soreness after the joint manipulation. However, such soreness is highly tolerable if it ends up relieving the painful problems you came in for.
Pro Adjuster
When a chiropractor performs a standard chiropractic evaluation, they are looking for subluxations (minor misalignments) of the spine. They do this by touch, and then use traditional chiropractic techniques. Because of the movement, twisting, and “popping” associated with adjustments, some people are scared to head to a chiropractor.
The Pro Adjuster uses a different method to tackle subluxations. A u-shaped instrument sends painless signals through the vertebrae, taking measurements as the doctor or technician moves it down the spine. Once a misalignment is found, the same instrument is used to gently tap that spot with a rapid percussion. While you can certainly feel it, it’s not tapping hard enough to hurt.
Ultrasound Therapy
When most people think of ultrasound, the first thing that comes to mind is the visualization of babies in the womb. Ultrasound therapy is different in that the wand uses a different frequency and has no image-receiving head. Ultrasound therapy uses ultrasonic waves — sound waves that humans can’t hear — in order to stimulate cells so that they can absorb more nutrients and oxygen.
Does ultrasound therapy hurt? Not at all. You can’t feel the sound waves, and the only sensation likely to be experienced is the gentle movement of the ultrasound wand on your back.
Cold-Laser Therapy
When most people think of lasers, they imagine the lasers in movies that burn holes through objects. But few lasers are actually powerful enough to burn, and cold lasers are actually very useful when dialed in to the proper frequency.
While ultrasound therapy uses sound waves in order to stimulate blood flow to the area in question, cold-laser therapy uses light waves to produce similar results. The lasers used produce no heat, but there may be a tingling sensation brought about my increased blood flow.
Massage Therapy
Massages serve a number of purposes. Sometimes their primary goal is to reduce stress, other times to “work out the kinks.” Still some massages are undergone simply because they feel good!
In general, massages at a chiropractic clinic are mostly about helping muscles recover from some sort of injury. While there might be some discomfort as the problem areas are being located, the level of pressure can be changed in order to avoid further pain. Like all chiropractic care, the minor discomforts of treatment are worth it for the relief received.
Decompression Therapy
Decompression therapy involves a patient lying on a table and being secured to both ends of it. The lower half of the table the slightly separates from the upper, gently giving relief to the patient’s spine.
While it might sound like a scary procedure, there’s nothing to worry about and no pain involved. It’s so gentle that the only real feeling is one of relief over the weeks of the procedure.
Kinesiology Taping
Kinesiology taping involves putting long adhesive bandages on various parts of the body in order to make some muscles work harder while giving others a break.
Kinesiology tape does not hurt when it is applied, though it takes some time to get used to the way it affects your body. Getting it off can be a bit more difficult, though. It uses very strong adhesives to stay on, even if you sweat. To take it off without any sort of preparation could cause pain much like taking off the strongest band-aid you’ve ever applied! That’s why it’s important to be patient when removing kinesiology tape. Most people apply baby oil to it, let it sit for 20 minutes, and then lather it up in the shower in order to slowly peel it off.
Can Care Even Be Enjoyable?
Now that we’ve detailed the fact that most of the procedures you’ll experience at a chiropractic office are painless, let’s discuss some of the reasons that it can actually be enjoyable.
We Crave Touch
Most of us enjoy being touched by a professional caregiver. Massage is an obvious example of this, but most patients also like the feeling of the attention they receive with ultrasounds, adjustments, and cold laser therapy. It simply feels good to relax for a while and have a professional focus on relieving you of your pain.
The Effects Can Be Immediate
There aren’t many medicines or procedures that give immediate relief. If your doctor gives you antibiotics, it can take days before you see a difference in your health. If he or she tells you to lose weight for your health, it takes months of eating right and exercising.
Some of the procedures at our chiropractic clinic can give immediate relief. Chiropractic adjustments can reduce stress on the spine, often reducing pain considerably once the patient sits up. Cold laser therapy can help increase blood flow, and massage therapy leaves many of our clients feeling great. It’s just so nice to leave our chiropractic clinic feeling better than when you came in!
We Like Popping!
As we mentioned before, for the few people who don’t like the “popping” aspect of a chiropractic adjustment, the Pro Adjuster is probably the right method of care for them.
Most people, however, really quite enjoy a bit of popping! Many people crack their knuckles, and we all know how satisfying popping bubble wrap can be. With a typical adjustment, the popping sound is a definite indication between before and after, not only giving physical relief but also giving an audible cue that something has indeed occurred.
Contact Your Local Chiropractor!
We’re happy to report that, in most cases, chiropractic care isn’t going to be painful. If you experience any pain or discomfort at all at all during your chiropractic care, it’s going to minimal, and we’ll make sure to tell you that it’s coming.
When it comes to chiropractic care, it’s much like many procedures that you might experience in life. For example, it might be uncomfortable to have your teeth cleaned, but it will prevent tooth decay in the future. And it’s so worth it! The minor discomfort you could experience during your time with a chiropractor will end up leading to less pain in the future. Contact your local chiropractors in Columbia and Lexington today!
Migraines are horrible, but if you suffer from them we don’t have to tell you that. Some people suffer nausea or dizziness, while others are sensitive to light or sound. The pain can go beyond the head and into the face and neck. And, of course, there’s the pain in the brain itself, which can range from a dull throb to severe and sharp stabs.
If you’re tired of migraines and the medicines aren’t helping as much as you’d like, it might be time to give chiropractic care a try. It’s been known in the industry for quite some time that careful manipulation of the spine can help prevent and treat migraines in some people. Let’s take a look at the specifics.
Preventive Care
Those who believe in the power of chiropractic often view it as a preventive measure in order to deal with pains throughout the body before they begin. Our bodies can stand up to the wear and tear of the world we live in much better if they are properly aligned in the first place.
This article from Migraine.com discusses a study that involved headaches as a whole, including migraines. The study found that preventative chiropractic care can indeed help in the prevention of typical headaches as well as migraines, which are a more all-encompassing, body-wide malady.
As A Treatment
While the group of people who received chiropractic as a preventive measure showed promises, chiropractic care has also been shown to reduce the pain associated with migraines. While most people don’t come in during a migraine, we do see people come in at points of their lives that they’re more susceptible to them. For instance, if a person has had three migraines recently, they often see fewer of them after they see us.
Does chiropractic care always work for migraines? Unfortunately not. But approximately half of the people who receive chiropractic care report a significant reduction in the amount of pain and the frequency they get migraines. Those are pretty good odds if you’re interested in reducing the pain associated with migraines.
Reduced Medicine
Many people who have chiropractic treatments in response to migraines report that they don’t need to take as many medications after the treatment. In other words, they are less reliant on painkillers as a way of dealing with migraines. Using less medication is good for the body and for the environment, not to mention the way it can reduce spending on medicine.
Body Health
If you’ve been to a doctor recently, it’s likely that they’ve given you some tips on how to improve your health. Eat healthier, get more exercise, and find ways that you can reduce stress in your life.
Since we don’t dispense prescriptions, chiropractors tend to be even more interested in dispensing such healthy advice. We know that migraines aren’t something that you choose to have, but we might be able to help you pinpoint the things that trigger them. We’ll treat you to ensure your body is working for you and not against you when it comes to dealing with migraines.
Could Chiropractic Help Your Migraines?
If you’ve never tried chiropractic care before, you might be skeptical about it helping your migraines. But when you think about it, you don’t have much to lose and everything to gain. If a few trips to a chiropractic clinic in Columbia or Lexington can reduce the number of migraines you get, isn’t it worth a try? We’ve see it work in both clinics and we’d love to alleviate some of your pain. We’d love to help you!
The only constant in life is change. Sometimes it’s bad change, like when you get injured and you need the help of a chiropractor in Lexington. Other times it’s good change, like when your chiropractor changes office locations!
Dr. Bills and his staff have recently moved to a new office at 305 Columbia Avenue, Lexington, SC 29072. Now don’t worry, it’s only 2.5 miles from the old location. Even if you lived right next to us at our old location, you’d only have a six-minute drive to come see us in our new offices.
Why the change? We’re glad you asked. Here’s how and why your local chiropractor in Lexington has upgraded.
There’s More Room
As our business has grown, we’ve been seeing more people who are looking for chiropractic treatments. More people through the door requires more space for all of them, and we’re happy to say that our new location is considerably more spacious than the previous one.
Of course, with more room comes the possibility of new treatments. While many people come to us for traditional chiropractic treatments, there are many other ways to treat pain in the neck, back, and throughout the body. With more space comes the opportunity to offer the latest treatments that chiropractors are offering.
It’s Newly Renovated
Here’s another great reason for the relocation: we get to move into a newly renovated building. In order to renovate our old building, we would have had to shut down for a couple of months, and that certainly wasn’t a very viable option. We knew our patients were counting on us to stay open, and we certainly didn’t want to put them in the lurch while our old office was remodeled. Of course, we also didn’t want them to have to put up with the dust and the noise!
In the interest of providing a larger space, as well as one that’s cleaner and more modern, we were more than happy to move. Of course, we’re also more convenient to a larger percentage of our customers, because…
We’re In The Heart of Lexington
While we’ve moved just 2.5 miles, it’s certainly in the right direction. Our chiropractic office is much closer to the heart of Lexington now, which means that we’re conveniently located for even more people.
We Look Forward To Seeing You!
When you see our new office, we bet you’ll be amazed at how much nicer it is than the previous one. We’ve made the change for everyone — our current customers, future customers, and staff — to provide the best chiropractic office in Lexington. We want to offer the wonders of chiropractic medicine to as many people as we can, so we’ve done everything we can to make it as convenient as possible.
If you’re in need of chiropractic care, we hope you’ll set up an appointment and come visit us. Flex offers a host of treatments, including spinal decompression therapy, ultrasound therapy, cold-laser therapy, kinesiology, electrical stimulation, and more. Contact us today to get started!
Staying healthy is a topic that’s on everyone’s minds lately, and it’s no surprise. With the pandemic nearing the eight-month mark, people are looking for ways to keep their bodies safe and functioning at their full potential. One way to do this is to boost your immune system. The main role of the immune system is to protect our bodies from infectious organisms. When it’s functioning at its best, we can avoid getting sick — but when it’s not quite at its peak, it leaves us susceptible.
In today’s blog from Flex Chiropractic of Lexington, we want to discuss five easy ways that you can boost your immune system — and you might be surprised to learn that regular chiropractic care is on that list. Most people don’t think about chiropractic care and the immune system being correlated, but it’s true. In fact, there are many unexpected benefits of receiving chiropractic care. Keep reading to learn more about it and get plenty of valuable tips on other ways to keep yourself healthy.
Re-evaluate Your Diet
The world is starting to realize that food may offer many more benefits besides supplying energy to our bodies. In fact, many would now say that eating the right foods can have a significant impact on overall health. This statement sounds like a huge generality, but when taken to heart, you might find out how true it really is. Beyond the basic carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, food contains a plethora of vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and health-promoting compounds that we are only just beginning to understand.
If you want to give your immune system a boost, you start by making a few simple diet changes. Focus on eating more whole, unprocessed foods like fresh fruits and vegetables. Enjoy a wide variety of these foods in as many different colors as possible. Incorporate more immune-boosting ingredients like garlic and onions into your diet, and read up on ways to enhance gut health through eating more pre- and probiotics.
Make Lifestyle Changes
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t exercise as much as you should and you probably don’t get enough quality sleep each night. Both of these habits are key for staying healthy and warrant being made a priority.
There never seems to be enough hours in a day to get everything done that you need to without trying to squeeze in time for exercise. However, your health depends on it. Not only do people who regularly exercise tend to get sick less often, but they also have a reduced incidence of other types of illness and disease.
Sometimes it seems like the only way to get everything done is to stay up late until everything is finished. Unfortunately, this isn’t a good plan. Your body requires a certain amount of quality sleep each night, and without it, it can become more prone to illness If you try to go to bed early but just can’t get to sleep because your mind is racing, try creating a bedtime ritual at least an hour before you go to bed to get your body ready for sleep. You can take a bath, drink a cup of tea, or listen to some calming music. Choose whatever relaxes you best.
Minimize Stress
Cortisol is what is known as the stress hormone. If you’re under prolonged periods of stress (and who isn’t?) your body will produce an excess amount of cortisol. Over time, elevated cortisol levels are thought to have a variety of negative consequences including raising blood sugar, contributing to weight gain, and reducing your body’s ability to fight off infection.
That’s why it’s so important to reduce stress if you want to boost your immune system. If you’re dealing with a particularly stressful situation at work or home, find ways that you can cope with the stress in a healthy way. Take a walk, stop to meditate, or confide in a friend. All of these simple things can help reduce stress and help you stay healthy.
Wash Your Hands
By now, everyone is probably tired of washing their hands and applying sanitizer, but it really is one of the best ways to prevent infection. When you don’t wash your hands, your body is constantly having to deal with the bacteria and viruses it picks up from everything you are handling throughout the day. Eventually, your body may lose the battle. Stay safe, prevent the spread of germs, and keep washing your hands.
Visit Your Chiropractor
While the above suggestions may not have been a surprise to most, chances are you probably didn’t think about chiropractic care as a factor in boosting your immune system. To understand how it works, we have to believe that all of the systems in our body are connected. A problem in one area may affect another. This is particularly true when it comes to your immune system and your nervous system. Both are interconnected. The brain can use nerve cells to communicate directly with the immune system and trigger an immune response.
Chiropractic care can boost your immune system by removing any interference in the nervous system that may prevent your body from functioning optimally. When your nervous system is functioning at its best, that means the rest of your body can follow suit.
Schedule an Appointment with Flex Chiropractic and Stay Healthy!
Considering how important our immune systems are, it makes sense that we would want to do everything we can to give them a boost. Fortunately, most immune-boosting recommendations are pretty easy to follow through with — eat a healthy and balanced diet, get plenty of exercise, and get regular chiropractic care.
If you’re looking for a chiropractor in the Lexington area, contact Flex Chiropractic to make an appointment. We not only offer chiropractic adjustments, but we provide a wide array of other holistic health services such as ultrasound, cold laser therapy, and electrical stimulation. Visit our services page or give us a call to schedule an appointment. Here’s to your health!
The goal of any doctor should be to get a patient healthy and keep them healthy. Better yet, following a doctor’s advice can help someone stay healthy so that they don’t get sick or injured in the first place. That’s one thing we’re here to tackle as your local chiropractor: helping you stay healthy after you see us.
We love to see our clients at our Lexington and Columbia chiropractic clinics, but we also want to make it so that they come in for standard chiropractic health instead of lumbering in with some sort of injury. Here are a few New Year’s resolutions you might want to consider so that you don’t need extreme chiropractic care.
Replace That Mattress
Old mattresses can lead to a host of problems with the body. Once a mattress starts to fail, it can lead to low spots and offer considerably less support than when it was new.
Unfortunately, many people will put off buying a new mattress for years. In most circumstances, a mattress doesn’t just give out overnight. It’s a slow decline; there’s not a specific day where it’s fine and then it’s no longer usable. That makes it very easy to put off looking for a new one. But if you’ve been having back problems with no clear reason why, it might be a good idea to replace your mattress with one that offers more support.
Be Careful of Your Devices
Guess what humanity didn’t do for thousands of year? Look down at phones and other electronic devices.
The human head is heavy, and when we look down at our phones we’re putting strain on our necks. No matter whether we’re standing or sitting, leaning the head forward makes the head feel heavier and causes the neck to work harder. A head looking straight ahead weighs about 10 pounds, but if you’re leaning forward at a 60-degree angle, it’s the equivalent of 60 pounds of strain on your neck! (If that sounds weird, hold a 20-pound weight at arm’s length. Then bring it in and hold it against your chest. Now you can see how the center of gravity of a weight can affect how much strain is put on your muscles.)
Unfortunately, all of this pressure isn’t just affect your neck muscles. It’s also putting pressure on the discs of the spine. So this year, resolve not to get “texting neck.” If you are using your phone, lift it higher instead of looking down at it. Or better yet, resolve to simply look at it less.
Get Active
We don’t have to tell you that “getting more exercise” is one of the most common New Year’s resolutions. Americans as a whole don’t get enough exercise, and it’s starting to show up in the nation’s health report.
How does this relate to chiropractic care? As you exercise, your muscles are getting stronger. And if your muscles are doing most of the work, you’re putting less stress on the spine itself. Strengthening your back and core muscles is one of the best ways to avoid emergency chiropractic treatment.
Commit to Proper Lifting Techniques
One of the most common ways that people hurt their backs is by lifting something. Sometimes the object is too heavy, while other times they twist as they lift.
At one point or another, we’ve all been told what to avoid when lifting. But many people simply don’t listen, never imagining that they could be the ones who get injured. And before you know it they are in need of bulging disk treatment. If you’re looking for a way to protect your back in the new year, resolve to put your ego aside and commit to proper lifting techniques.
Lose Weight if Necessary
Have you ever seen an overweight dachshund, aka wiener dog, with a belly that drags the ground? It might seem cute at first, but all of that extra weight is severely hurting the dog’s spine. Extra weight on the animal pulls the spine into strange positions, which can have lasting effects for the dog.
Unfortunately, the same can happen with just about any creature, humans included. And the thing is, greater weight on any part of the frame is going to affect the way a person walks. Overall weight pulls a person down, putting more pressure on the spine and the discs between the vertebrae. Weight that’s carried out in front — the typical beer belly — can cause a person to compensate by leaning back and putting undue pressure on the spine.
If your doctor has told you to lose some weight, whether it’s your primary care physician or your local chiropractor, you should listen to them. Not only will your heart be much healthier and you’ll avoid health problems like diabetes, but you’ll also be helping to reduce the amount of weight your spine has to carry around.
Get A Massage
Massage therapy is a great way to help your body recover from an injury, and it can also be an excellent complement to chiropractic treatments. Massages can help to relieve sore muscles and rid the body of lymph.
But it’s not all about the muscles themselves: massage also provide relaxation. Endorphins (feel-good chemicals) are released by the brain due to the human touch we receive and the pleasant feelings of the massage itself. In other words, getting a massage isn’t just about the physical sensation, but the mental relaxation it offers. Getting a massage will simply make you happier in the new year.
If you’re in need of a massage — and most people are — we offer massage therapy at our Columbia chiropractic office. Click here to learn more about our services.
Visit Your Local Chiropractor
If you’ve been in for a chiropractic visit before, you know just how good it can feel when it’s time to go. If your musculoskeletal system isn’t feeling right, or if you’ve injured your back or neck in some way, your local chiropractor can help discover exactly what’s going on and suggest ways to fix it. Click here to choose our Columbia or Lexington chiropractic office and discover what we have to offer!
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