Can Chiropractic Care Speed Up Injury Recovery?

There are a huge range of different injuries that we can suffer from. These can range from personal injuries, like those sustained in a trip or fall, to a traumatic injury such as whiplash caused by being involved in a car accident. If you work in a job or do a recreational activity that causes you to make repetitive movements, such as painting, woodworking or playing tennis or golf, you are quite likely to experience an injury due to overuse. And if you are an amateur or professional athlete, you’ll almost certainly find that pushing your body to the limit makes injuries extremely likely.

The good news is that whatever type of injury you’ve sustained, chiropractic treatment can almost certainly help reduce the effects that you are experiencing and speed up your recovery so that you can get back to doing the things that you enjoy more quickly.

What is chiropractic care?

Visiting a chiropractor is most often associated with back pain and mobility problems, but the reality is that chiropractic care is much more versatile than most people expect and can be used to address a wide range of health problems, including helping accelerate recovery from injury.

Chiropractors are trained therapists that are focused on issues affecting the musculoskeletal system – the bones, fascia, muscles and connective tissues that enable our bodies to move. They can successfully identify, diagnose, treat and manage such conditions, as well as helping to prevent injuries from occurring. They do this by centering treatment around the spine, which is at the core of the musculoskeletal system. Your spine protects your spinal cord, which is responsible for all of our body functions, from the subconscious (such as breathing) and the automatic (the digestive system) to the intentional (standing up from a seated position).

By manipulating the spine so that it is in perfect alignment, your chiropractor can prompt a variety of different things to happen. Not only does a properly-aligned spine reduce pressure on the nerves around it, reducing back pain and helping with things like mobility, but it can also enable your central nervous system and all other body systems to function properly.

Chiropractic care for injury recovery

Chiropractic adjustments have been shown to be highly effective at boosting circulation. This enables more oxygenated and nutrient-rich blood to flow around the body to the areas that need it most – aka damaged cells. Increasing blood flow to areas of trauma and injury supplies the area with the oxygen and nutrients it needs to heal itself more quickly and efficiently. Meanwhile, the increased circulation also helps to counteract inflammation that naturally occurs as a result of the body trying to protect itself from further damage, and the pain that often accompanies inflammation.

Inflammation can lead to stiffness and mobility issues, particularly in the case of musculoskeletal injuries. By counteracting this inflammation, patients may find that they are less reliant on pain medications and are able to regain full movement more quickly than if they hadn’t undergone chiropractic treatment. In fact, many people who visit a chiropractic notice a significant reduction in their need to take painkillers, and an acceleration in the time it takes them to get back on their feet.

If you would like to find out more about how chiropractic care can speed up recovery from injury, call Pleasant Life Health Center in Charleston, South Carolina at (843) 428-7900 today.