Individuals with chronic pain, whether back, neck, arm, hips, etc, want to avoid surgery or drug treatments. This is where chiropractic physicians come in with natural/alternative medicine combined with conventional approaches to pain management. New pain assessment and management standards now require hospitals to provide or inform and educate individuals on pain treatment options that are not drug-based. These include:

• Chiropractic
• Acupuncture
• Physical therapy
• Massage therapy

The Centers for Disease Control also have guidelines for prescribing pain meds for chronic pain that say physicians need to:

“Provide Safer, More Effective Care for patients with chronic pain” and that “non-opioid therapy is preferred for chronic pain outside of active cancer, palliative, and end-of-life care.” CDC

A widely recognized and highly effective form of pain management is chiropractic treatment. Chiropractic physicians are trained and equipped with a wide range of diagnostic tools and treatment/rehabilitation options to bring relief from pain without surgery or drugs. Many chiropractic physicians are trained or incorporate acupuncture and physical and massage therapy into their pain management plans. The ability to provide this type of range of care is why many individuals keep a regular chiropractic regimen to keep them loose, limber, and in top form.

Myths

• Individuals that have pain believe they have to live with it and that it’s just part of the wear and tear on the body. It is true that the body wears down, however continual pain does not have to be part of the cycle. Chiropractic adjustments keep the body balanced and in proper alignment bringing relief and providing pain prevention.
• Then there are those that believe the answer is muscle relaxers or pain meds, not realizing that chiropractic can offer relief.
• The most common myth is that chiropractic physicians only treat back pain. Chiropractic doctors treat a wide variety of acute and chronic pain syndromes including:

• Headaches
• Sports injuries
• Auto Accident injuries
• Personal injuries
• Work injuries
• Athletic performance enhancement
• Neuropathy
• Fibromyalgia
• Stress
• Fertility
• Pregnancy

Chiropractic Pain Management

Chiropractic physicians’ principal focus is on the musculoskeletal and nervous systems and their impact on the health of an individual. They often work collaborate with the individual’s primary or emergency health care providers in diagnosis, treatment, and management for their health condition/s. They take into account various factors that are affecting their patients’ health, which include:

• Trauma
• Stress
• Posture
• Body mechanical dysfunction
• Exercise
• Nutrition

Treatment options vary depending on every individual’s specific needs and personal situation. A treatment plan could consist of a chiropractor recommending therapeutic massage, stretches, and exercises as part of a daily regimen combined with manual adjustments to:

• Reduce pain
• Prevent musculoskeletal deterioration
• Improve strength
• Increased range of motion

Another treatment plan could include soft tissue massage therapy to augment/enhance muscle and ligament function. The primary aim of chiropractic medicine is to identify the source of the pain and return the body to its proper alignment and function. These adjustments to gain proper alignment allow the body to heal itself without medication or surgery.

The Benefits

Chiropractic therapy as a no-meds approach to pain management has gained support. The misconceptions and myths are being debunked as individuals and science are seeing the effectiveness of chiropractic for many pain-related conditions. Many job insurance plans cover chiropractic. Medicare and Medicaid include chiropractic services and are offered at military facilities/clinics. The benefits of chiropractic include:

• The risk of pain meds dependence is significantly reduced
• The causes of pain and treating them naturally is the goal
• Reduces inflammation
• Improves athletic performance
• Natural rehabilitation for auto, personal, sports and work injuries
• Health coaching

Treating Severe & Complex Sciatica Syndromes

 

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Dr. Alex Jimenez’s Blog Post Disclaimer

The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, and sensitive health issues and/or functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Our posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate and support directly or indirectly our clinical scope of practice.* Our office has made a reasonable attempt to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We also make copies of supporting research studies available to the board and or the public upon request. We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation as to how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900. The provider(s) Licensed in Texas& New Mexico*