If you’re experiencing significant back pain, you may be wondering whether you should go to the emergency room or to a chiropractor. How do you determine whether the E.R. vs chiropractic care will be more helpful to you? 

The truth is that it will depend on the cause of your pain. In some instances, your back pain may necessitate medical care, so you should go to the E.R. In many medical cases involving back pain, your medical doctor will refer you to a chiropractor to help you heal after they’ve treated you. In other cases, you can skip the E.R. and just head right to your chiropractor. 

Sometimes, it’s obvious to tell whether you should seek the help of the E.R. vs chiropractic care. In others, not so much. Here’s what you need to know about when you should seek out the E.R. vs chiropractic care. 

When You Should Go To The E.R.

If you have back pain, you’ll probably end up seeing a chiropractor anyway, right? So, why not just skip the emergency room and head right to the chiropractor’s office? Why even question when you’ll need the E.R. vs chiropractic care at all?

While it’s rare that you’ll need to see an emergency doctor for back pain, there are a few instances where you’ll need to go to the E.R. rather than a chiropractor. Usually, this is when your symptoms are severe or your pain is the result of trauma. 

If you’re bleeding, have lacerations, have a suspected broken bone, have a severe headache, dizziness, nausea, or have bowel or bladder incontinence go to the emergency room right away. Some of the above have severe consequences that if you wait too long could lead to severe long term consequences and even death. The emergency department is there to make sure you live and survive. And they do a fantastic job of that!

Once you know you are going to live, or your symptoms are not life-threatening, a chiropractic physician can help you get your health back, so you can enjoy your life!

When You Should See A Chiropractor

Chiropractors are experts when it comes to your spine, which is why more often than not, you’ll see a chiropractor for your back pain. It’s common for people who go to medical doctors for back pain to be referred to a chiropractor, as chiropractors have extensive training and expertise in how to help a wide variety of issues that stem from spinal misalignments and problems. 

This is why people wonder when you need the E.R. vs chiropractic care, if the emergency doctors are just going to tell you to go see a chiropractor anyway. We’ve covered the instances in which you’ll need to go to the E.R., because experts though chiropractors are, chiropractic care is natural and non-invasive, so it wouldn’t be able to fix a problem that necessitates medical procedures, like surgery.

However, more often than not, you’ll be able to see a chiropractor for your back pain, where in the case of the E.R. vs chiropractic care, you’ll opt for the latter. Chiropractors will be able to diagnose the root cause of your pain, and in many cases, can help you avoid other treatments that merely cover up your pain rather than actually treating it. Pain killers may be able to provide initial relief for a couple of hours, but they’re a temporary solution to a long-term problem. 

Chiropractic physicians can diagnose and treat: concussions, whiplash, disc herniations, Piriformis syndrome, brachial plexus neuropathy such as thoracic outlet syndrome  sprains and strains, knee shoulder and hip sprains and strains that are all common motor vehicle injuries. 

A good chiropractor can be your best friend, because chiropractors are all about getting to the cause of your pain and correcting the problem versus just giving you pain pills to cover up the symptoms.

Medication can often help you deal with the initial pain, but if used alone, it’s a lot like trying to deal with the symptoms of a fire only covering up the fire alarm speaker with masking tape or cutting the wires. It never addresses the real cause of the alarm going off. Like a fire, we need to get to the root cause of the problem, the flame, and put it out. Then, the fire alarm will go off by itself.

In addition, a doctor of chiropractic who has extra training in motor vehicle occupant injuries (a whiplash specialist) will have additional tools and methods to be able to help you document your injuries thoroughly, and often has specialized equipment to help you get better even faster.

The E.R. Vs Chiropractic Care: Treatment

If you are not experiencing life-threatening or severe symptoms, you should see a chiropractor for your back pain. E.R. physicians are wonderful, but their job is to stabilize your condition and then refer you out to a specialist, if you need it. They will reduce your pain with medications, but they won’t repair any damages to your musculoskeletal system, which is why they would refer you out to a chiropractor. 

Thus, in many cases, it’s often more beneficial to go right to a chiropractor, rather than the E.R. Chiropractors can often help you avoid more invasive measures such as surgery and offer you more expert, specialized care, seeing as how the spine is their area of expertise. 

When you come to Grant Chiropractic for treatment, we can provide you with said expert care. This includes an in-depth evaluation of your condition that includes questions about your medical history and when the symptoms starts, along with: 

• Full Diagnosis Equipment
• Chiropractic Testing
• Chiropractic Orthopedic Testing
• Neurological Assessment
• X-Rays when needed to find the root cause of the problem
• Individualized Treatment Plans

Chiropractors can treat a wide range of issues, including whiplash, sciatica, back injuries, misalignment, and more. Rather than covering up the symptoms, we get to the root cause of your pain, so that you can enjoy lasting relief.

Do you ever feel like you’re in a mill? Do you want specialized care? Contact Grant Chiropractic to schedule your consultation today, and let us restore your body to its proper functioning and relieve your pain.

Whiplash is a common injury seen after being involved in an auto accident or other traumatic event, such as physical assault or a fall. Many people assume that whiplash is just to be expected as a result of such traumas and that they need to grin and bear this – this isn’t so. Chiropractors help whiplash in a number of ways that can treat your pain and help stimulate your body’s natural healing process. Here’s what you need to know about how chiropractors help whiplash and whether you may be at heightened risk for suffering a whiplash injury. 

What Is Whiplash?

Whiplash is an injury to your neck that results from a forced, rapid back and forth movement of your neck, like that of a whip lash. While most commonly associated with car accidents, especially rear-enders, whiplash can result from a number of other causes too. Sports accidents, falls, physical abuse, shaken baby syndrome, and other such traumas can all cause whiplash. 

Symptoms Of Whiplash

While most people who suffer whiplash can recover within a few weeks, whiplash doesn’t always manifest right away. Left untreated, whiplash can result in long-term complications such as chronic neck pain and more. The sooner you seek treatment, the sooner chiropractors help whiplash, the sooner you’ll be able to recover and return to your life as normal.

Symptoms of whiplash include:

• Neck pain
• Stiffness
• Lessened range of motion in the neck
• Headaches
• Tingling and/or numbness in the arms
• Tenderness and/or pain in your shoulders, upper back, and/or arms
• Fatigue
• Dizziness
• Blurred vision
• Irritability
• Ringing in the ears
• Depression
• Memory problems
• Difficulty concentrating
• Trouble sleeping
• Nausea
• Difficulty swallowing
• Low back pain and/or stiffness
• Pain in your jaw or face

Chiropractors help whiplash symptoms such as these in a number of ways. If you’re experiencing any of the symptoms of whiplash, it’s best to seek out chiropractic care sooner rather than later. 

Risk Factors For Whiplash

The same as everything else, there are factors that can put you at higher risk for this injury. Risk factors for whiplash include:

• Car headrests that are too low or more than 2 inches from your head
• Your seat being reclined too far back
• Poor posture while driving
• Age, as your ligaments become less pliable and your range of motion is already lessened
• Being of a shorter height, as this can put you too close to the steering wheel and air bag or cause your seatbelt to fit poorly
• Pre-existing conditions, such as arthritis

How Chiropractors Help Whiplash

Symptoms of whiplash usually appear within a few days following the injury, but this isn’t always the case. There are cases where it takes years for symptoms to manifest, and they can result in further problems, such as premature disc generation. As such the sooner you can obtain treatment, the better. Chiropractors help whiplash with a variety of different treatment methods. Here’s what you need to know about how chiropractors help whiplash.

Chiropractic Treatment For Whiplash

Chiropractors help whiplash in several of the following ways:

• Spinal Manipulation

What chiropractic care is most renowned for, spinal manipulation is a primary way chiropractors help whiplash. Spinal manipulation involves utilizing spinal manipulation techniques that apply pressure to the areas of your spine that are misaligned, which can provide relief by putting your spine back into alignment. 

• Spinal Decompression

Spinal decompression is another way chiropractors help whiplash. This treatment method involves gentle stretching of your spine in order to alleviate pressure on your spinal disks. 

• Soft Tissue Therapy

Soft tissue therapy restores your muscular function through stretching or applying pressure to your muscles that have excessive tension. This can be done with chiropractic massage, as well as muscle energy therapy and stretch-and-resist techniques.

Other ways chiropractors help whiplash include: muscle stimulation and relaxation, ergonomic changes, exercises that you can do at home, therapeutic massage, and more. The treatment method chiropractors use for you will depend on the circumstances of your specific injury and the symptoms you’re experiencing. 

Benefits Of Chiropractic Care For Whiplash

When chiropractors help whiplash injuries, people report a number of benefits from their treatments. Some of the benefits of chiropractic care for whiplash include:

• Reduced inflammation
• Reduced pain
• Restored range of motion
• Improved muscle tone
• Treatment of and prevention of headache
• Sped up recovery process
• Boosted overall wellness

Professional Certified Care For Whiplash

As it can take a while for symptoms to show, it’s better to obtain chiropractic care for whiplash as soon as you’ve suffered a trauma that could result in whiplash. Grant Chiropractic offers certified, professional care for whiplash. Our chiropractors help whiplash in a number of ways and will be able to determine the best treatment method for you. Contact us today for any questions or to set up an appointment.

Nine out of ten Americans suffer from headaches that range from the occasional stress-induced headache to debilitating migraines. What can you do if you suffer from headaches? Are painkillers the only solution out there? Or could it be that a chiropractor helps headaches the same way they can help stress with their spinal adjustments?

If you suffer from headaches, there’s no need to just grin and bear it and hope that it goes away sooner rather than later. A chiropractor helps headaches in a non-invasive way that can get to the root cause of your headaches, providing relief not just now, but potentially even in the future, depending on what triggered them. Here is what you need to know about how a chiropractor helps headaches. 

What Causes Headaches?

There are many different types of headaches, the same way there are many different causes for headaches. A small percentage of headaches result as a warning symptom for more serious medical problems, while the majority of headaches are the problem in and of themselves. These are called primary headaches, since the headache is the primary concern, rather than an underlying physical problem that is manifesting itself in the form of headaches, amongst other symptoms. 

Most primary headaches are tension, migraine, or cluster headaches, and a chiropractor helps headaches of these varieties by treating the neck. Primary headaches generally don’t result from diseases, but rather from tension in the body, such as muscular tension in the neck. Some other triggers of primary headaches include: specific foods, things such as caffeine withdrawals, environmental stimuli such as stress and lights and noises, and behaviors, such as insomnia or changes in your blood sugar or too much exercise. 

How A Chiropractor Helps Headaches?

More and more, chiropractors see people who suffer from headaches as a result of their lifestyles. Many people work desk jobs or are otherwise sedentary the majority of the day. The more time you spend in a fixed position, the higher the likelihood of muscular tension in your neck, as well as your back and scalp, and the more irritated your joints are likely to be. A chiropractor helps headaches in a variety of ways that are designed to ease this tension and treat your headaches.

Some of the ways a chiropractor helps headaches include:

• Manual therapy
• Soft tissue therapy
• Rehabilitation
• Lifestyle changes
• Education about how lifestyle can affect headaches
• Electrical stimulation
• Acupuncture
• Ultrasound
• Referrals/co-management

Most often, a chiropractor helps headaches through performing chiropractic adjustments that alleviate the stress on your nervous system and improve the function of your spine. Usually, if you have headaches, it results from tension in your neck, which your chiropractor will perform an adjustment on in order to alleviate, although it can result from tension in your back, as well. Sometimes, vertebrae that are out of alignment can put stress of your nervous system, which results in headaches. 

A chiropractor helps headaches in natural, non-invasive ways that can not only treat your current headache, but also prevent future headaches, especially if they resulted from spinal misalignments. Additionally, if your headaches are being triggered by lifestyle choices, such as certain foods, your chiropractor helps headaches through advising you on changes that you can make in order to fix these issues.

Plus, many headaches result from sedentary lifestyles, poor posture, and the like. A chiropractor helps headaches through giving you advice on your posture, exercises you can do to alleviate stress and tension on your body, and relaxation techniques. These can also help to prevent future headaches, if they resulted from issues such as these. 

Preventing Future Headaches

As you can see, there are many ways a chiropractor helps headaches, since many headaches result from stress and tension. If you’re trying to prevent future headaches, a chiropractor can help with this too. The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) has several suggestions for how you can prevent future headaches, such as:

• Taking a break to stretch and move every half hour or hour of work
• Low-impact exercise
• Avoiding clenching your teeth
• Staying hydrated

It’s no secret that lifestyle changes can do a lot to prevent future headaches, especially if yours is fairly sedentary. Some changes you can make include:

• Alleviating stress as much as possible
• Working on maintaining good posture
• Not spending too much time on your computer or phone
• Eating well
• Sleeping well
• Avoiding excessive noise or light

Once you are able to uncover the root cause of your headaches, it’s that much easier to prevent future headaches. Grant Chiropractic can help treat your headaches, as well as provide you with advice on how you can work to prevent future headaches. For more information on how a chiropractor helps headaches, or to schedule your first appointment, please don’t hesitate to contact us today!