If you’re suffering from arthritis, you know how difficult it can be to find a treatment option that reduces your pain without forcing you to use medication. While you should always heed the advice of your physician when addressing any medical problem, you should also consider seeing a chiropractor about this issue. Chiropractic care is an effective means of treating numerous types of pain, and may be ideal for your needs.

Arthritis & Chiropractic Care: What You Need To Know

What Causes Your Pain

When you have arthritis, your joints are inflamed. This is why you experience pain. If that part of your body isn’t in perfect alignment, it’s at greater risk of injury, and it may start to grind against other neighboring tissue. As a result, inflammation tends to increase. Over time, you may develop microtears in a disc that’s out of alignment, resulting in even greater pain.

How a Chiropractor Helps

Chiropractors treat arthritic patients by first identifying which joints are the culprits. If they identify misalignments, they can provide adjustments that significantly decrease the odds of injury or grinding. This protects your joints from inflammation. 

More importantly, chiropractors identify subluxations—spinal misalignments—in your vertebrae. These subluxations put additional pressure on nerves, causing inflammation and a worsening of your symptoms. By aligning your spine, the chiropractor releases the pressure. This process also reduces overall stress on the nervous system by restoring the musculoskeletal system to its proper alignment. As a result, the body relaxes, allowing its natural healing mechanisms to kick in.

Chiropractic treatment is unique in that it also frequently involves some degree of lifestyle advice. Your practitioner may offer dietary suggestions to guard against inflammation, exercises you can perform to keep your joints in proper alignment, and a list of habits you should avoid to not exacerbate your pain.

If you’re suffering from arthritis and want to find out more about how a chiropractor can help, schedule an appointment at Midway Pointe Chiropractic, in Elyria, OH. They don’t require patients to commit to lengthy treatment plans, so you can address your pain without making a major financial investment. Contact them online for more information, or call (440) 324-2040 to speak with a staff member.