Chiropractic Care for Pain Relief: The Science Behind It and What You Need to Know

“While other professions are concerned with changing the environment to suit the weakened body, chiropractic is concerned with strengthening the body.”

These words from B. J. Palmer, the developer of chiropractic care, show that chiropractic intervention is a unique path to wellness. Maybe that’s why 4.7 million Canadians seek chiropractic services annually. 

Maybe you’re considering a visit to a chiropractor to help your chronic pain and wondering if there’s any science behind it. Maybe you’re wondering, “What is chiropractic care, anyway?”

Keep reading. In this article, we’ll dive into the science behind chiropractic care. We’ll explain how it works, what the research says, and how to find a trustworthy practitioner near you.

The Spine Controls the Body

Chiropractic care starts with a dense bundle of nerve tissue that runs from your brain stem down your back: the spinal cord.

The spinal cord is your body’s central information highway. It takes information from your limbs and internal organs to be processed in your brain. In turn, the spine communicates your brain’s impulses to the rest of your body.

To protect this crucial information highway, the spinal cord is encased by the spine, a protective shell of bones separated by rings of cartilage. 

Since your spine is so central to your body’s functioning, it’s also crucial to keeping you healthy. However, the wear and tear of life can keep your spine from functioning properly.

Spinal Cord Misalignment

The bones of your spine (or vertebrae) should be neatly stacked on top of one another, resting between soft cartilage rings. However, your vertebrae sometimes move out of alignment. When your spinal bones are misaligned, it’s called a subluxation.

The most common causes of spinal cord misalignment include: 

• Lifting heavy loads improperly
• Injury and accidents (even if long ago)
• Repetitive motions
• Improper posture
• Lack of exercise
• Excessive stress

Remember that the spine encases the neuron-filled spinal cord. If the spine becomes misaligned, or an injury causes its soft tissues to swell, it can put pressure on that information highway. 

Pressure on the spinal cord cramps it. This makes it less able to send and receive its information signals, which contributes to health problems throughout the body. 

How Chiropractic Care Helps

Chiropractic care focuses on realigning your spine. This resolves pressure on the spinal cord that causes interference in your body-brain communication.

Because spinal subluxations can contribute to a wide range of health problems, people seek chiropractic care for help with many different issues. Some of the most common reasons people turn to chiropractic care include:

• Back pain
• Shoulder pain
• Neck pain
• Joint problems (especially in the hip and knee)
• Frozen shoulder
• Muscle aches
• Sciatic nerve pain

Chiropractic care focuses on musculoskeletal and nerve pain. However, it has been known to help a wide range of other problems, including:

• Headaches and migraines
• Arthritis
• Vertigo
• Pregnancy-related problems
• Plantar fasciitis
• Bunions
• Many types of chronic pain

Chiropractic care relieves the muscle tension that contributes to each of these health problems. This allows your body to heal itself more effectively. 

However, it also lets your nervous system re-establish communication between your brain and body. By freeing your spinal cord to boost brain-body communication, chiropractic care promotes the healing of all kinds of diseases — even ones that aren’t specifically linked to muscles and joints. 

For instance, research shows that people find that chiropractic care helps improve digestive problems, high blood pressure, asthma, and infant colic. It has even been known to improve neurological and emotional disorders including anxiety and even depression.

A Holistic Healthcare Approach

In the words of B. J. Palmer, “Medical men have searched the world for remedies … Chiropractic finds the remedy in the person.” 

This means that chiropractic care doesn’t focus as much on the disease. Instead, it focuses on an underlying problem — spinal subluxation. By addressing the underlying problem, chiropractic care helps the body to heal itself. 

This unique approach makes chiropractic care a conservative intervention. It avoids intrusive, risky, painful procedures. Thus, it aims to provide maximum health benefits with the least amount of risk.

What Does the Science Say About Chiropractic Care?

There are decades of research supporting chiropractic care for pain relief. In one 2020 study, researchers looked at the impact of chiropractic care on chronic pain. The study found that patients who received chiropractic services were half as likely to get an opioid prescription, cutting down on the need for risky medications. 

Research also supports chiropractic care for non-musculoskeletal health problems. One meta-study of chiropractic research showed that chiropractic care provided promising results for surprising health conditions like:

• Ear infections in children
• Infant colic
• Asthma
• Pneumonia in elderly people

Researchers continue to study the benefits of chiropractic care. In the meantime, it continues to be one of the most popular holistic interventions worldwide. 

Is Chiropractic Care Safe?

Research shows that chiropractic care does not carry any extra risk compared to getting other medical treatments. The side effects of a chiropractic adjustment are mild and short-lasting, including:

• Muscle soreness after the adjustment
• Tiredness 
• Headache

These side effects are the result of your body adjusting to the new, healthy spinal alignment. Most side effects subside within hours to days of your adjustment. Usually, you’ll feel energized and alert as soon as your body gets used to the adjustment. 

Get the Chiropractic Care You Need

Chiropractic care is a holistic, safe, and science-supported way to recover your health. With a wide range of evidence-based treatment options, it takes the focus off of your disease and puts it where it belongs: on you. 

Don’t keep suffering from musculoskeletal health problems. Follow the research and try a visit to a chiropractor — it may be the health game-changer that you need.

Are you ready to start your healing journey? Contact Bloor Younge Chiropractic today for life-changing health care.