If you suffer from back pain, you may be wondering if pain medication and surgery is the right option. However, before you go to the extreme, consider chiropractic care. Chiropractic manipulations and modalities help ease back pain (as well as pain in just about any joint) without the use of harsh pills and dangerous surgical procedures. If you are not sure if chiropractic care is a good choice for you, check out these four benefits of a chiropractic adjustment.

No Medication

One of the most common ways chronic back pain is treated with traditional medicine is with the use of pain medications. If your pain is severe enough, your doctor will likely prescribe a pain medication, muscle relaxer or something similar. However, this is not fixing the problem; it is only hiding the pain, making you forget that your body is telling you something is wrong. With chiropractic care, over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen are often suggested to help with minor swelling, but meds are not prescribed nor the first course of treatment because chiropractic care is about solving the problem not masking it.

Few Side Effects

Because traditional medicine relies on medications so much, there are many side effects, and in some cases, the side effects may be even worse than the pain. Medications often have side effects such as constipation, diarrhea, nausea and upset stomach. However, even over-the-counter medications that seem harmless such as acetaminophen can be extremely dangerous to your liver when taken in high doses or even with a glass of wine. After a chiropractic adjustment, it is common to experience soreness and even more pain in the areas treated, but it is temporary, lasting only about 24 hours before making you feel great.

Treating the Problem

The problem with pain medications is they make you forget that you are in pain, and if you are in pain, there is a reason. Continuing to go about your daily activities without solving the underlying cause can actually worsen the problem like playing sports with a sprained ankle. While chiropractic medicine doesn't typically use medication, it does use other traditional medicine techniques, such as X-rays, MRIs, and exams to try and spot the source of your pain. Once the source is found, the chiropractor can use adjustments and modalities, such as massage. These open the joints, allowing fluid to move better, which promotes your body's natural ability to heal.

Few Risks and Complications

If you pursue treatment with traditional medicine, and nothing seems to be working, your doctor may finally suggest surgery. Typically, your doctor won't suggest surgery unless he or she feels it is absolutely necessary, but it still comes with a wide selection of risks, such as bleeding, stroke and even death. Even after surgery, your pain may not be completely gone. Chiropractic care doesn't have any risks or complications. While it may seem scary to have your neck or back adjusted, chiropractic care is actually one of the safest treatments for back pain. To keep the pain away, you may have to continue seeing the chiropractor for maintenance care to prevent the problem from returning.

Chiropractic services are a great alternative for back and neck pain because they have few side effects and may help you avoid medication and surgery. While it may not be the right choice for everyone, people who want to really solve the source of their pain should consider visiting a chiropractor at least once. For more information regarding chiropractic services or to find out if an adjustment and modalities can help your pain, contact a local chiropractic doctor in your area today. 

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