Everyone associates chiropractic care with back and neck pain. But did you know that chiropractors can also help to ease pain in the extremities?
In this article, we’ll take a look at how chiropractic care can help those suffering from a variety of injuries throughout the extremities.
Lower Body Injuries
Lower body injuries are extremely common. For instance, it’s likely that you’ve suffered from at least one sprained ankle in your lifetime.
In this section, we’ll examine some of the most common lower body injuries and show how chiropractors can aid recovery when one sustains one of these injuries.
Foot Pain/Injuries
Our feet are our direct connections to the earth. As a result, these structures can take a beating throughout life.
Plantar fasciitis, ankle sprains, and heel spurs are some of the most common foot injuries. Each of these issues makes walking extremely hard and can lead to other problems due to gait compensations.
Knee Pain/Injuries
The knees are meant to transmit forces from the feet and ankles to the hips and pelvis. As a result, weakness or dysfunction in any of the joints of the lower body can result in knee pain, because the knees attempt to compensate for problems elsewhere.
Meniscal tears, ligament sprains, and muscle strains are a few knee injuries that are frequently treated by medical professionals. These issues often develop over many years of misuse and overuse.
Chiropractic Care for Lower Body Injuries
Each of the injuries mentioned above relates, in some way, shape, or form to the spine. Specifically, the lumbar spine contains nerves that innervate the hips, knees, and ankles. Therefore, ensuring that this portion of the spine is in perfect alignment can serve to lessen the severity of, or completely resolve, any issues in the lower body.
Upper Body Injuries
Injuries to the upper body bear some similarities to injuries of the lower body. However, there are some key differences.
For one thing, upper-body injuries do not affect weight-bearing/walking as much as lower-body injuries do. So, while upper body injuries can be completely devastating, they often don’t affect activities of daily living to the degree that lower body injuries do.
Now, let’s take a look at a few upper body injuries and discuss how chiropractic care can help with these issues.
Elbow Pain/Injuries
The elbow, much like the knee for the lower body, serves as the transition point between the hand and shoulder. Therefore, this joint often suffers compensatory injuries due to overuse and misuse of the hand or shoulder.
Common elbow pathologies include medial and lateral epicondylitis.
Shoulder Pain/Injuries
The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body. As a result, the shoulder can suffer from a number of injuries when it is pushed to its limit.
Rotator cuff tears and labral injuries are two of the most common shoulder injuries seen by rehab and medical professionals.
Chiropractic Care for Injuries of the Upper Body
Much like the lumbar spine innervates areas of the lower body, the cervical spine (or neck) serves the joints of the upper body.
When the neck is out of alignment, patients will often experience cervical radiculopathies or delayed healing of injuries to the upper body. Chiropractors correct these misalignments with quick, safe treatments that usually relieve pain almost immediately.
Whether you’re suffering from an upper-body injury, a lower body injury, or a problem with your spine, chiropractic care can help. Our team at At Last Chiropractic can aid you in your recovery through tried and true rehab methods. We are the go-to chiropractors in Lithia, FL, and we would be happy to assist you today. Book your appointment now!
