Happy New Year! As we start a New Year, let us continue to learn new ways in which to support our bodies without the use of medications or invasive interventions.

Chiropractic

A visit to a reputable chiropractor could help you with the nature of your suffering in more ways than one. The trained professional can assess on a holistic level the compromised points in your body and relate them to your lifestyle and habits. The chiropractic doctor can also suggest steps you can take in order to correct or protect the joints. Finally, as the Canadian Chiropractic Association explains on their website, he or she can also help you by restoring proper movement and improving function through adjustments. An adjustment is a highly-skilled and precise movement usually applied by hand to the joint, most often to the vertebrae of the spine, which can alleviate the symptoms by correcting the misalignment (www.chiropractic.ca/faq/).

Such a misalignment is also called a subluxation, which is defined by the World Health Organization as a functional problem related to a joint and the structures associated with it such as the muscles, tendons and nerves (www.chiropractic.ca/faq/).

My chiropractor at Life Tree Chiropractic (https://www.facebook.com/Life-Tree-Chiropractic-381327704364/) explained it to me like this: think of your spine as a stack of oranges, which can easily fall if they are not sitting one on top of the other precisely. Your vertebrae in the spine are similar in that when they are sitting correctly one on top of the other, the nerves that come out from each level of the spine are not pinched. Therefore, whichever organ, tissue or muscle is connected to that nerve can work at its best. So when the opposite is the case, the misalignment will often present itself through pain, inflammation or restricted movement and function. For example, a patient may experience the symptoms of a misalignment in their neck as acute pain and movement restrictions, but they can also present themselves in the forms of migraines or frequent sinus blockages.

You may be deterred to give it a try because of the perpetuated fear of the popping noise that often but not always accompanies an adjustment. However, the CCA explains on their site that it is an air bubble that escapes, similar to when you crack your knuckles. If you are uncomfortable with the traditional adjustment method however, you can always let your chiropractor know, as they have many other methods to choose from in order to help you, such as joint mobilization and muscle release techniques.. While you become more comfortable with the treatment and build trust, the chiropractic doctor can still help you be healthier.