Last Updated on by Artem
Even though chiropractic has nothing to do with Egypt and doesn’t involve Cairo, it is still a really cool thing.
In this article I will show how effective chiropractic can be for fixing musculoskeletal issues far too many office workers experience from prolonged sitting in their office chairs. And it doesn’t matter if they are pricey or budget office chairs similar to these.
Below you will find 15 reasons, all backed by scientific research, to try chiropractic.
However, before we go any further, let’s quickly answer this main question…
What Is Chiropractic?
Chiropractic is a health care profession that focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, and the effects of these disorders on general health.
American Chiropractic Association
To put it in more simple terms, Chiropractic focuses on bringing different parts of the body’s structure (mainly the spine) into proper alignment.
When the body’s skeletal system is in proper alignment, a number of health conditions are automatically take care of.
Given the above, it should be pretty clear that a Chiropractor is a person who practices Chiropractic.
Now with that out of the way, let us look at the 15 ways you can get those chiropractic adjustment benefits!
How a Chiro Fixed My “Toothache”
When I first dealt with chiropractic, I only expected it to help me with my shoulder issue.
However, as I learned more about it, I understood that chiropractic is a really powerful thing.
I realized that when my tooth started aching.
I thought it was my wisdom tooth, except for it wasn’t there – it was already taken out a year ago.
However the inflammation was visible (my cheek was rather inflamed and I didn’t feel that well), no dentist could discover anything.
After a visit to a chiropractor, which consisted of a 3-minute manipulation with my jaw, the problem was solved.
The solution is often way easier than we expect.
So, is it possible that chiropractic will help you?
I don’t know, but…
Here are 15 reasons why you can at least try it.
15 Reasons to Visit a Chiropractor
1. Sciatica
Did you know that medical experts have pointed out that Sciatica in itself is not a disorder but a symptom of a disorder caused by sciatic nerve compression brought on by the disorder? It often occurs as a result of prolonged office chair use.
Some disorders that can trigger this symptom include herniated or bulging discs and lumbar spine subluxations among others.
It can also develop as a result of a so-called piriformis syndrome.
In an attempt to look at the effectiveness of studies that had been carried out on effective ways of treating Sciatica and other cases of LBP (Lower Back Pain), a 46 year old woman who complained of severe pains which were indicative of a case of Sciatica was subjected to different treatment approaches which included Flexion-distraction mobilization, Chiropractic Spinal Manipulation/ Adjustment, Acupuncture and Self-home exercises.
To cut to the chase and save you the stress of trying to understand a load of medical terms, more than half of which will not make sense to a non-medical person, I will just give you the conclusion of the study.
After showing very significant recovery following the treatments she was exposed to, the following conclusion was reached :
This case study supports the idea that the presence of lumbar disc herniation with neurological deficit and radicular pain does not contraindicate the judicious use of manipulation.
Furthermore, it provides evidence that manipulation may be an effective form of treatment for many patients with lumbar disc herniation and sciatica with neurological deficit.
Jeon (n.d.)
This is great news especially if you had believed that surgery was the only solution for you.
2. Scoliosis
Scoliosis is a disorder that causes the spine to curve sideways in a C or S shape.
This is another case that you will find chiropractic very useful.
After completion of a multimodal chiropractic rehabilitation treatment, a retrospective cohort of 28 adult scoliosis patients reported improvements in pain, Cobb angle, and disability immediately following the conclusion of treatment and 24 months later.
Morningstar (n.d.)
The above was the conclusion reached after studying 28 patients from two different spine clinics that practiced chiropractic procedures.
Looking at data of their treatment and recovery over a 24 month period as provided, significant progress was recorded.
In fact, the average percentage of disability improved from about 60% to about 18% within this period.
Impressive right?
3. Babies
Why on earth will babies need a chiropractor?
This is a very valid question which deserves an answer.
There has been a raging debate regarding the effectiveness of chiropractic in the treatment and management of infantile conditions like Colic.
If you’re wondering how a baby could have spinal issues that would warrant the need of a chiropractor, this should provide some insight…
In his article titled “Infantile Colic”, Peter Fysh made this observation:
It can often be the trauma from a difficult birth, a long labor or perhaps even the way we burp the baby or pick the baby up from the crib, that produces spinal problems at such a young age.
Fysh (1993)
A study carried out by Klougart N, Nilsson N, and Jacobsen J gives some weight to the effectiveness of this treatment for babies.
In this study, about 316 babies who were suffering from colic were exposed to necessary chiropractic procedures.
After just three treatments over a two week period, significant improvement was recorded in about 94% of the babies.
This surely gives credence to this claim.
4. Pregnancy
Have you ever been pregnant?
Okay, even if you’ve never been pregnant you must have at least seen a pregnant woman, right? Statistics has it that about 50% of pregnant women suffer from back pain at some time during the pregnancy.
An even higher percentage (50% to 75%) have these back pains during labor.
So what’s the big deal?
Is this not normal?
This exactly is what a lot women themselves must think since only about 21% of these women seek any form of professional assistance for these pains.
They just believe it is normal given the increased weight they have to support.
Now I’ve really got great news for you….
You do not have to suffer that back pain because you are pregnant or in labor.
A review of available literature on this subject reached this conclusion:
Chiropractic evaluation and treatment during pregnancy may be considered a safe and effective means of treating common musculoskeletal symptoms that affect pregnant patients.
Borggren (2007)
Simply put, that back ache is a musculoskeletal issue which can be corrected.
So now you know not to endure back pain during pregnancy as one of the pains of motherhood.
Save your strength for the pains that really can’t be avoided.
5. Low/Back Pain
Now this is one area that a lot of office workers will already know chiropractic can help.
However, for those who may still not know, I will still present you with some studies to convince you.
When Christine Goertz, D.C., Ph.D undertook a pilot study to ascertain the effect of Chiropractic Manipulative Therapy (CMT) in the treatment of acute lower back pain, she and her team did not know what really to expect.
Well, at the end of that study, they were all smiles for more than one reason.
This pilot study was the first step in filling that gap in our knowledge.
It’s exciting not only because of the significant results but also because it led to Palmer College, the RAND Corporation and Samueli Institute receiving a $7.4 million, four-year grant from the Department of Defense.
Goertz (2013)
I guess you now know the other reasons for the smile…
What exactly was this study?
The study participants were military personal who were still active, were suffering from low back pain and were aged between 18 and 35 years.
It was a comparative study which meant that they were divided into two groups.
One group was given a combined treatment of CMT and SMC (Standard Medical Care), while the second group received only SMC.
The result showed that 73% of those who received CMT and SMC showed results that ranged from a bit better to totally cured.
Only 7% of those who received only SMC showed the same range of result.
The conclusion therefore was:
CMT in conjunction with SMC offers a significant advantage for decreasing pain and improving physical functioning when compared with only standard care, for men and women between 18 and 35 years of age with acute LBP.
Goertz (2013)
6. Headaches
Headaches too?
Yeah headaches too.. thought you will be glad about that seeing how common and annoying it can be.
Chiropractic can offer some help with this.
Headaches are one of the most common conditions around in office workers. You might not be able to escape them even if you use a proper ergonomic office chair.
Hardly can anyone claim not to have experienced it an some time in their lives.
In fact, 9 out of 10 Americans are said to suffer from headaches of various forms and levels of severity.
With more and more people trying to find alternatives for treating and managing headaches that do not involves taking of medication, Spinal Manipulative Therapy (the main component of chiropractic practice) appears to be the option that many turn to.
To try to ascertain the efficacy of this therapy in the treatment of headaches, a review of available data on this was undertaken.
The review which was titled “Efficacy of spinal manipulation for chronic headache: A systematic review” reviewed clinical trials, research archives and many other materials to draw its conclusion.
The conclusion reached stated in part:
SMT appears to have a better effect than massage for cervicogenic headache. It also appears that SMT has an effect comparable to commonly used first-line prophylactic prescription medications for tension-type headache and migraine headache.
Bronfort, Assendelft, Evans, Haas, Bouter (2001)
While more studies are being carried out, this at least shows good promise.
7. Migraines
Hey!
But we just read about headaches above.. yes we did but you know what?
If you’ve ever had a migraine, you will surely know that headache has a big brother whose name is migraine.
I just said that to make you understand that migraine does deserve special attention.
It is therefore exciting that there is a chiropractic treatment for it!
A study which was carried out to find out the relationship between migraine and chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy found that the effectiveness of this therapy may be related to the causative factor of the migraine.
The study which involved about 127 volunteers who were split into two groups – SMT group and control group – took place over a 6 month period within which data was collected from both groups and analyzed.
A high percentage (higher than 80%) of participants reported stress as a major factor for their migraines.
It appears probable that chiropractic care has an effect on the physical conditions related to stress and that in these people the effects of the migraine are reduced.
Tuchin, Pollard, Bonello (2000)
Aside from the above findings, it was also found that this study appeared to support previous studies that showed that chiropractic SMT resulted in a significant improvement in cases of migraine.
8. Herniated Disk
Unless you are a medical practitioner who needs to know all the details of this condition, there are only two things you need to know about herniated disc (also known as slipped disc):
- It hurts like hell and
- Chiropractic can help.
That was simple right?
Considering that the chiropractic practice is built around the manipulation of the spine, it only makes sense that it should be able to handle this condition.
However, since I know how disbelieving I can sometimes be, we will still look at the result of a scientific study for the benefit of the doubting Thomases.
About 148 patients aged between 18 and 85 participated in this study which lasted over a 1 year period. After the study and evaluation of the data gathered, a conclusion was reached.
The conclusion reached was this:
A large percentage of acute and importantly chronic lumbar disc herniation patients treated with chiropractic spinal manipulation reported clinically relevant improvement.
Leemann, Peterson, Schmid, Anklin, Humphreys (2014)
9. Neck Pain
This surely is something that a lot of us are familiar with.
Most people today find themselves suffering from neck pain of different levels of intensity. Well, this is one more reason to visit a Chiropractor.
As usual, I will show at least one study that shows the effectiveness of chiropractic in the treatment of neck pain.
This time around though, this study does more than just show you its effectiveness.
It goes further than just being effective, it is also more cost effective.. yeah its cheaper. I knew that would make you smile…
Now to the study.
For this study, 183 patients who had had neck pain for at least 2 weeks were chosen and split into three groups:
- Group I was assigned to manual therapy (chiropractic).
- Group II was assigned to physiotherapy which consisted mainly of exercises.
- Group III was assigned to regular care which included medication, counseling and education.
Here’s where it really gets interesting…
Manual therapy was found to cost a third of what either physiotherapy or general care cost.
Let’s put figures to it.
While manual therapy cost about $402, physiotherapy cost about $1442 and general care cost about $1533.
I can see that smile growing wider at the thought of the savings you will make.
But wait!
Aside from the cost, what of the actual treatment?
I thought you’d never ask.
This was the conclusion:
Manual therapy (spinal mobilisation) is more effective and less costly for treating neck pain than physiotherapy or care by a general practitioner.
BMJ (2003)
10. TMJ
Don’t let the tongue twisting and jaw breaking name scare you.
It is a name used to identify dysfunctions and pain that affect the muscles that move the jaws.
A jaw breaking name for a case of painful jaw, how poetic..!
A study looked at the effect of chiropractic treatment on TMJ by studying 14 patients who reported symptoms of the condition.
After treatment using the activator methods (a chiropractic method), the following conclusion was reached:
All patients selected for this case series showed a reduction of temporomandibular dysfunction symptoms.
Pavia, Fischer, Roy (2015)
Note that the report say “All” the patients showed a reduction.
Nothing beats a 100% score.
11. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
The carpal tunnel is a small space in your wrist through which the median nerve and a number of tendons run through from your forearm to your hand.
When some form of pressure is exerted on the median nerve, making the tunnel smaller, it leads to numbness and weakness among other problems.
This is what is known as carpal tunnel syndrome.
Chiropractic is useful in the treatment of this syndrome as shown in several studies one of which we shall look at.
In this study, a 46 year old woman who was having pains, numbness and tingling in her right wrist – a condition diagnosed to be carpal tunnel syndrome – was given chiropractic treatment thrice a week for four weeks.
The following conclusion was reached after the period of study:
Chiropractic made a demonstrable difference through objective and subjective outcomes. Further investigations using double-blind, cross-over designs with larger samples are warranted.
Valente, Gibson (1994)
On top of the treatment, you should also consider maintaining your wrists in a safer position by using a mouse pad with wrist rest.
12. Ear Infections
Wait a minute, did you say ear infection?
Yes you read right. What you should first ask is what exactly causes ear infection.
With about 30 million visits to the pediatrician yearly for suspected ear infection or otitis media, there is no doubt that this is something that deserves attention.
Interestingly, more people are looking for alternative treatments that do not involve the use of drugs.
Chiropractic offers this so many are now turning to it.
The chiropractor understands that misalignment of the spine can eventually affect the Eustachian tube which can lead to a buildup of fluid in the middle ear.
Once this misalignment is corrected, the body takes care of the rest.
A study involving 46 children who were aged 5 and below was carried out to show the effect of chiropractic in the treatment of ear infection.The study, titled “Ear infection: a retrospective study examining improvement from chiropractic care and analyzing for influencing factors”, involved one chiropractor treating each child .
After the treatment, parents were left to decide if their children had improved or not.
93% reported an improvement and thus a conclusion was reached.
The conclusion read in part:
…this study’s data indicate that limitation of medical intervention and the addition of chiropractic care may decrease the symptoms of ear infection in young children.
Froehle (1996)
13. Hip Pain
Hip pain is common and is caused by a wide variety of factors top of which is injury or osteoarthritis.
Like we already know , chiropractic deals with the realignment of the spine which leads to a properly aligned body.
Properly aligning the necessary skeletal frame will result in the reduction or total elimination of hip pain.
Let us look at this study.
A 70 year old woman who had had hip pain for about a year was brought for treatment.
In her history, it was gathered that she had fallen twice in the last 5 years, which could have added to her hip problem.
This woman was given 16 sessions of chiropractic care over 12 weeks.
After this period, she recorded significant improvement.
It was noted that she had…
…increased range of motion, improved balance and gait speed, and decreased disability after a 12-week course of chiropractic care.
Strunk, Hanses (2011)
14. Knee Pain
Knee pain like hip pain can be caused by a number of factors like injury and osteoarthritis.
The knee is a very pivotal part of the human’s skeletal system and needs to be in constant alignment which is where chiropractic comes in very handy.
How sure are we of the effectiveness of chiropractic in the treatment of knee pain?
Let’s answer with this study.
For this study, 43 individuals who had proven cases of chronic osteoarthritic knee pain were selected.
They were aged between 47 and 70 and were randomly split into two groups:
- The intervention group
- The control group
After being given 6 treatments over a period of two weeks, the following conclusion was reached based on the data that was collated:
A short-term manual therapy knee protocol significantly reduced pain suffered by participants with osteoarthritic knee pain and resulted in improvements in self-reported knee function immediately after the end of the 2 week treatment period.
Pollard, Ward, Hoskins, Hardy (2008)
15. Pinched Nerve
Pinched nerve also known as nerve compression is a condition where surrounding tissues apply so much pressure on a nerve resulting in pain, weakness, numbness and more.
This can be caused by any number of factors.
Some of these factors include muscle spasm, herniated discs, abnormal spine curvature and more.
In all these cases, chiropractic can help.
In a study, a 41 year old woman who complained of weakness and numbness in her right hand was brought for chiropractic treatment.
Based on the symptoms, she was suspected to have ulnar nerve compression. After 11 treatments, her issue was completely resolved.
The conclusion was therefore that:
Chiropractic treatment consisting of manipulation, soft tissue mobilizations, exercise, and education of workstation ergonomics appeared to reduce the symptoms of ulnar nerve compression symptoms for this patient.
Illes, Johnson (2013)
Conclusion
The above is by no means an exhaustive list of all the conditions you can be treated for in chiropractic.
A visit to a chiropractor will provide more insight into all you can benefit. Chiropractic offers a safe, drug free treatment alternative that you will be wise to take advantage of.
You never have to worry about any side effects. Act today and live life to the fullest. If you’ve found the information here as helpful as I have, do make sure to share it so more people can benefit from it.
P.S. And if you found this article useful, please share it with those that might need it!
Bibliography
– acatoday.org, (n.d.). American Chiropractic Association’s Official Website. [online] Available at: https://www.acatoday.org/Patients/Why-Choose-Chiropractic/What-is-Chiropractic [Accessed 12 Oct. 2017].
– BMJ. (2003). Cost effectiveness of physiotherapy, manual therapy, and general practitioner care for neck pain: economic evaluation alongside a randomised controlled trialCommentary: Bootstrapping simplifies appreciation of statistical inferences. British Medical Journal, [online] 326:911 Available at: http://www.bmj.com/content/326/7395/911 [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].
– Cara L. Borggren 2007, Pregnancy and chiropractic: a narrative review of the literature, [Online] Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2647084/#bib10 [Accessed 12 Oct. 2017].
– Dr. Yoon Jeon n.d., Sciatica/Leg Pain, Slipped Disc,Trapped Nerve. [Online]Available at: http://www.chiropracticandcmc.com/casestudies/sciatica-leg-pain-trapped-piched-nerves/5 [Accessed 12 October 2017].
– Froehle RM. (1996). Ear infection: a retrospective study examining improvement from chiropractic care and analyzing for influencing factors, [online] 19(3):169-77. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8728460 [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].
– Gert B., Willem J.J. A., Roni E., Mitchell H., Lex B. (2001). Efficacy of spinal manipulation for chronic headache: A systematic review. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, [online] Volume 24, Issue 7, Pages 457–466. Available at: http://www.jmptonline.org/article/S0161-4754(01)99423-0/fulltext [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].
– Goertz, Christine M., Long, Cynthia R., Hondras, Maria A., Petri, Richard., Delgado, Roxana., Lawrence, Dana J., Owens, Edward F., Meeker, William C. (2013). Adding Chiropractic Manipulative Therapy to Standard Medical Care for Patients With Acute Low Back Pain: Results of a Pragmatic Randomized Comparative Effectiveness Study. Journal of Postgraduate Medicine, [online] Volume 38 – Issue 8 – p 627–634. Available at: http://journals.lww.com/spinejournal/Abstract/2013/04150/Adding_Chiropractic_Manipulative_Therapy_to.2.aspx [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].
– Henry P., Graham W., Wayne H., Katie H. (2008). The effect of a manual therapy knee protocol on osteoarthritic knee pain: a randomised controlled trial, [online] 52(4): 229–242. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2597887/ [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].
– Jennifer D. I., Theodore L. J. (2013). Chiropractic management of a patient with ulnar nerve compression symptoms: a case report, [online] 12(2): 66–73. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3730298/ [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].
– Klougart N, Nilsson N, and Jacobsen J (1989). Infantile colic treated by chiropractors: a prospective study of 316 cases. JMPT, Vol 12;4.
Mark W. Morningstar n.d., Outcomes for adult scoliosis patients receiving chiropractic rehabilitation: a 24-month retrospective analysis. [Online]
Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3259989/ [Accessed 12 October 2017].
– Peter, F. (1993). Infantile Colic. Dynamic Chiropractor, [online] Vol. 11, Issue 26. Available at: http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=42680 [Accessed 12 Oct. 2017].
– Richard G. S., Mark H. (2011). Chiropractic care of a 70-year-old female patient with hip osteoarthritis, [online] 10(1): 54–59. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3110407/ [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].
– Ron, G. (2015). Chiropractic Treatment of Sciatica. [online] Spine Universe. Available at: https://www.spineuniverse.com/conditions/sciatica/chiropractic-treatment-sciatica [Accessed 12 Oct. 2017].
– Serafin Leemann, Cynthia K. Peterson, Christof Schmid, Bernard Anklin, B. Kim Humphreys. (2014). Outcomes of Acute and Chronic Patients With Magnetic Resonance Imaging–Confirmed Symptomatic Lumbar Disc Herniations Receiving High-Velocity, Low-Amplitude, Spinal Manipulative Therapy: A Prospective Observational Cohort Study With One-Year Follow-Up. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, [online] Volume 37, Issue 3, Pages 155–163 Available at: http://www.jmptonline.org/article/S0161-4754(14)00034-7/fulltext [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].
– Steven P., Rebecca F., Richard R. (2015). Chiropractic Treatment of Temporomandibular Dysfunction: A Retrospective Case Series, [online] 326:911 Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4688559/ [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].
– Tuchin PJ, Pollard H, Bonello R. (2000). A randomized controlled trial of chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy for migraine, [Online]Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10714533 [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].
– Valente R, Gibson H. (1994). Chiropractic manipulation in carpal tunnel syndrome., [Online]Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8046280[Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].
– webmd.com, (n.d.). Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – Topic Overview. [online] Available at: https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/carpal-tunnel/tc/carpal-tunnel-syndrome-topic-overview#1 [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].
– wellnessachiever.net, (n.d.). Chiropractic Care Better Than Drugs for Children’s Ear Infections. [online] Available at: http://wellnessachiever.net/chiropractic-care-better-than-drugs-for-childrens-ear-infections/ [Accessed 13 Oct. 2017].