When you visit your Atlanta chiropractor for an adjustment for the first time, it helps to talk with them about what to expect afterward. While many people who get chiropractic treatment report no pain or discomfort afterward, some people do and there are many reasons why that might be. Especially after your first few chiropractic appointments, your body is adjusting to a new type of treatment like it would a new workout or exercise routine: any time you experience something new, your body will have its own reactions. Your chiropractor can talk to you about what to expect based on your specific reason for the visit and how the chiropractic treatment may affect you.
How Chiropractic Care Affects Your Body
Your reason for getting chiropractic treatment can affect how your body reacts. Other factors for how your body may respond to chiropractic adjustments may have to do with your general health and history of any previous injuries or musculoskeletal issues. However, chiropractic care is completely natural and a non-invasive, drug-free approach to treating a variety of illnesses and injuries, which makes any potential temporary discomfort afterward much less serious than other treatment options.
Restoring Misalignments
Your Atlanta chiropractor may do a physical exam to determine if there are any misalignments in your spine and joints that could be affecting whatever illness or injury brings you to the chiropractor. For example, if you are experiencing chronic lower back pain, your chiropractor will review your spine to identify if there are any vertebrae that are misaligned. When a vertebra is misaligned, it can affect your posture, stress out nearby supporting muscles, and even put pressure on nearby nerves, causing you pain. Adjustments are a type of chiropractic treatment that help restore misalignments in the spine by helping gently adjust a vertebra back into its proper position.
When your chiropractor helps to restore misalignments, your body will be able to function better. If you have a misalignment in your lower back it could be affecting the ability of your brain to effectively send messages through your spine and even into your leg. A properly aligned neck will help alleviate pain that may be caused by nearby muscles that are straining to support a misaligned back and poor posture. A vertebra that was out of alignment may have been putting pressure on a nearby nerve that could have been sending pain and discomfort to the lower half of your body.
Improving Posture
One of the most common things people associate chiropractors with is having proper posture. Chiropractors are well known for working on the spine because of how important a healthy spine is in your brain’s ability to effectively communicate with the rest of your body. There are also ways on how a healthy spine impacts the immune system’s performance. When you are practicing a healthy posture there are fewer roadblocks to your brain’s ability to tell your hand when to move or your leg when to flex. These signals are key to you having a healthy, functioning body that can withstand any number of illnesses and injuries. When your chiropractor uses adjustments to improve your posture, it can take your body a few appointments to fully adjust to the new positioning.
Chiropractic adjustments help improve your posture by restoring misalignments and also by encouraging your nearby muscles and connective tissues to support a properly aligned spine. If your lower back has been out of alignment for a while then this can certainly lead to chronic back pain. Your posture isn’t just about sitting up straight; it’s about keeping your spine properly aligned from neck to tailbone. Poor posture in your lower back might be harder to notice than your upper back because hunched shoulders are more obvious. But standing, sitting, and sleeping in certain positions can all contribute to poor posture across your whole spine.
Strengthening Muscles
The muscles that support your spine are just as important to your Atlanta chiropractor as your spine itself. That’s because chiropractors work with the musculoskeletal system and look at how your bones, muscles, and other soft tissues are all working together to keep you healthy. One of the more common reasons for any discomfort after an adjustment is because your muscles are getting used to new positions and ways of supporting the spine. Especially when your muscles have been used to supporting bad posture, it can take them a minute to learn these newer, better postures to best support your spine.
When your spine is properly aligned it can even affect how you stand and sit, making slight improvements to the way your leg muscles move. This can cause leg pain after an adjustment as your muscles may be sore from these new movements until they get used to them. Talk with your chiropractor about anything you might feel after an adjustment so they can best support your healing process going forward. At AICA Orthopedics located in Atlanta, the team of chiropractors will look at how all these factors are working together to cause you pain and using safe, gentle, and effective adjustments and other chiropractic treatment options so you can experience lasting relief from your lower back pain.