If you have back, neck, or joint pain, you might have a sneaking suspicion that it's time to visit a chiropractor. However, there are people who may feel compelled to treat themselves. The do-it-yourself approach works with a lot of things, but not your own healthcare — simply put, it's always better to visit a health practitioner. Still, some people may feel that it's easy to enough to "adjust" themselves, and may attempt to do so instead of seek professional treatment. If you're leaning in this direction, it's important to note that the following things aren't the same as having a chiropractor adjust your body.
Cracking Your Joints
Because cracks are often audible during chiropractic adjustments, people sometimes erroneously feel that they can adjust their pained joints just by cracking them. For example, if you have a sore shoulder, you may grab it with the opposite hand and move it violently back and forth or around in circles until you hear a popping sound. In some cases, this pop may even lead to a slight degree of relief, but you shouldn't mistake it for an adjustment. Remember, working on your own body as an untrained person is more apt to make the problem worse than to fix it.
Stretching Your Back
While it's true that your chiropractor may give you stretches to perform at home between sessions, attempting to stretch your back to relieve pain isn't a good alternative to getting an actual chiropractic adjustment. You may bend in certain ways or even hang from an exposed ceiling beam in your basement in an attempt to stretch your back to alleviate your pain. What you don't know is that if your spine is already out of alignment, straining it in this manner may actually make the problem worse.
Having A Friend Massage You
Some people will turn to someone else to provide some pain-relief treatment. For example, if you have a sore neck, you might ask your spouse or a friend to squeeze the area — you may even ask for extreme pressure in an attempt to make a joint pop. This, however, is not a legitimate chiropractic adjustment. And, if the area is already inflamed, massage-like squeezes of the muscles may worsen the pain. Only a chiropractor can adjust your body, and he or she knows the exact approach to take so that the problem improves, rather than risks getting worse.
Contact a clinic, like Dimond Chiropractic Center, for more help.
Share27 February 2018
After struggling with months and months with back pain, I could tell that things weren't getting any better with my DIY methods. I was tired of having trouble every time I needed to move, so I decided to start working with a chiropractor. When I arrived, the doctor worked really hard to diagnose my condition, and then he talked with me about treatments--letting me decide how to proceed. It made me feel really great about working with him, and within a few treatments my back was feeling a lot better. This blog is all about improving your back pain by talking with the right professionals.
