When many people think of a chiropractor, back and neck pain problems are the first things to come to mind. While a chiropractor can be an essential part of a back or neck pain patient's health care team, chiropractors also provide complementary care for many other medical problems.
Headaches
According to the American Chiropractic Association, nine out of ten Americans suffer from headaches. Headaches are caused by different things, and some may be helped by chiropractic treatment. Many headaches start with muscle tension in the neck, which is more common in modern society due to increasingly sedentary lifestyles.
Chiropractic doctors can help some headache sufferers through spinal manipulation and adjustment, which can reduce stress on the neuromuscular system and relieve tension that acts as a precursor to headaches. Chiropractors can also offer nutritional advice so you can make dietary changes or add supplements to your daily regimen to help reduce the severity and frequency of your headaches.
If you suffer from chronic headaches, your chiropractor might also offer advice on exercises you can do to keep your muscles loose and flexible and offer suggestions on how you can change your posture and work environment to be more ergonomic and cause fewer headache-inducing neck and back problems.
Sinus Problems
Sinus infections, or sinusitis, is a very common illness that is often treated with prescription drugs. Patients who get chronic sinus infections are often advised to consider sinus surgery to prevent further occurrences of sinusitis.
Chiropractors can often help sinusitis sufferers without drugs or surgery. Spinal manipulations of the neck can help encourage the sinuses to drain, which helps relieve the pressure and pain associated with a sinus infection.
Doctors of chiropractic can also manipulate the skull bones around the nasal passages to provide relief. Some chiropractors use trigger-point therapy around the neck and brain stem to help the body relax so the sinuses can drain properly. When the sinuses drain regularly, the pain subsides and the bacteria doesn't have as much sinus fluid to breed in.
Weak Immune System
The immune system is closely linked with the nervous and endocrine systems. One of the molecules that acts as a messenger to communicate between the nervous system and the immune system is called IL-2.
IL-2 was thought to be an immune system molecule, but it has been found in the nervous system as well, which has led researchers to think that nerve dysfunction can cause an abnormal stress response that has a negative impact on the immune system. Subluxations are spinal misalignments that can irritate nerves and affect the body's organs. When the body is under stress from these misalignments, it can decrease immune function and make the patient more susceptible to illness.
Chiropractors can detect and fix subluxation, which helps reduce stress on the nervous system and boosts the immune system's response. Adjustments in subluxated areas can also increase white blood cell count, which helps the body fight infection more effectively.
To learn more, contact a chiropractor.