Can a Chiropractor Get Rid of Inflammation?

Chiropractic treatment of inflammation.

What is Inflammation?

Inflammation is a term to describe a response by the body to an irritant. For example, you get a splinter in your finger. The immune system of your body recognizes the wound and sets off a series of chemical events to protect you. The textbook result of inflammation is localized redness, swelling, possibly heat, pain and loss of function.

Inflammation is a Protective Action

We look at inflammation as bad. The media portrays inflammation as something to stamp out completely at all costs. That’s why anti-inflammatory drugs are so prevalent.

However, inflammation is necessary to heal our bodies. It is part of the immune systems response. When the immune systems sees a germ, or splinter, or if a body part is injured, it acts to heal the problem. Redness occurs because blood is shunted to the area to provide nutrients and blood cells that are required for healing. Swelling occurs because fluids are released from blood vessels to flood the area with immune blood cells. Heat occurs due to increased blood flow. Pain occurs as a consequence of swelling in the area affecting the sensory nerves.

Without all these activities, we could not heal ourselves when exposed to a bacteria or suffer a physical injury.

Chiropractors Want to Control Inflammation Not Get Rid of it
Obviously, we need inflammation. However, too much all at once can be a problem. Imagine so much swelling that a joint cannot be moved. Or a sore throat so swollen and painful that it prevents eating or drinking. So, chiropractors try to lessen the inflammation to tolerable levels but that still allow healing to occur.

How Does Chiropractic Reduce Inflammation?

If you suffer an injury, such as a car accident and your neck muscles and ligaments are damaged, there is much inflammation. Since it occurs from an acute injury sometimes your body gets carried away and too much inflammation occurs. Your chiropractor will use physiotherapy modalities as simple as alternating heat and ice to disperse excess fluids. Also, they may employ more high tech methods. Treatments such as cold laser and/or electrical stimulation can reduce inflammation to specific areas to decrease pain. These treatments won’t completely remove inflammation so healing will continue.

Injured or stuck spinal joints become inflamed. Chiropractic adjustments moves the affected joint and this naturally allows the body to disperse fluids, reduce pain and improve function.

What About Everyday Aches and Pains?

Most conditions that involve the sensation of stiffness or pain in the joints is actually inflammation. We can develop inflamed joints from being sedentary and having poor posture. The lack of movement and bad positioning of your body can prevent normal flow of fluids through joints. This causes build up of pressure and the joints become inflamed. [LINK HIP PAIN]

Did you know many headaches are caused by inflammation? The most common headaches stem from tightness of neck muscles and misalignment of the spinal bones in the neck. Unbelievably, these conditions account for 90% of headaches. Inflammation of the stuck joints and tight muscles of the upper neck results in inflammation of nerves between the head and the neck.

“Pinched nerves” are actually inflamed nerves. Injuries of the spine or bulging discs can put pressure around nerves causing them to become inflamed. Inflamed nerves cause numbness or tingling sensations in the arms, hands, legs or feet.

Inflammation Caused by Your Diet?

Certain foods are “pro-inflammatory.” Things like sugar, refined seed oils (canola, “vegetable”, sunflower, soybean, safflower, etc) cause your body to produce more inflammation. Not only in joints but also within blood vessels and other tissues. Your chiropractor may provide you with resources on foods that are inflammation fighters and ones that cause it.

Suffice it to Say, Chiropractors Can Help with Inflammation

So the next time you reach for the bottle of aspirin or other anti-inflammatory, consider seeing your chiropractor. Chiropractic treatment will not only help reduce inflammation, but will also relieve the underlying cause of it so it doesn’t come right back.