By WIN Provider: Dr. Conner Overstrom, Chiropractor
Do you wonder how chiropractors utilize manual therapy in their care and what you can expect from chiropractic manual therapy?
After seven or eight years of post secondary education, chiropractors earn the badge of being musculoskeletal experts.
This means that throughout our education, we have received intense training in the examination, diagnoses, and treatment of issues involving the musculoskeletal systems.
If you name a joint in the body there is very high chance we can figure out what is going on and treat it using our hands.
Chiropractic treatment consists mainly of three types of manual therapy. These include the chiropractic adjustment, mobilization techniques, and soft tissue techniques.
CHIROPRACTIC ADJUSTMENT
A chiropractic adjustment involves a high-velocity (fast), low amplitude (small amount of force) thrust, a technique in which the joints are adjusted rapidly, often accompanied by a popping sound, but there does not need to be a popping sound to get benefit from the adjustment. The adjustment has the ability to induce immediate relief, but more often it is used to provide the patient with a window of decreased sensitivity in which they can begin working on returning to full pain free movement of the joint. Our practitioners will always make sure that you are comfortable in the adjusting position before the thrust is applied.
MOBILIZATION
A mobilization is a technique in which a joint is brought slowly through its full range of motion with oscillations near the end range of its motion, it is a gentler movement that again takes the joint through its full range of motion.
SOFT TISSUE THERAPY
Soft tissue therapy is used on the soft tissue structures surrounding a joint such as muscles, tendons, and ligaments. This technique will involve taking the joint through its range of motion but with the practitioner applying a force to the muscle, tendon, or ligament. With soft tissue therapy you can expect to experience some soreness the day of or the day after but once this passes you can expect relief and an increase in range of motion in that joint.
At WIN Health our practitioners will often supplement their hands on treatment with an active treatment done in clinic, or as homework to do at home. The active component is just as important as the hands on component as this will lead to long term success.
To conclude, we will also go through a consent process outlining the risks and benefits of every treatment we provide at WIN. We will work with you to build a treatment plan that is patient centred, and ensuring the patient is comfortable with all suggested treatment options.
To visit with a Chiropractic team member at WIN, you can contact us or book online to get started with an individualized Chiropractic treatment plan.