Chiropractic Treatment + Physical Therapy
We pair chiropractic treatment with physical therapy to effectively and efficiently help patients recover from chronic and/or acute pain. This physical therapy comes in various forms of rehabilitation exercise to strengthen, mobilize, or stabilize a joint or muscle.
Acute vs. Chronic Pain
There are two types of pain people experience, chronic and acute. Chronic pain means the pain has developed over time and possibly worsened. For example, someone who’s experienced back pain for years or an arthritic person are both sufferers of chronic pain. Acute pain comes from specific trauma or injury; and is usually short term. If acute pain isn’t addressed and the injury isn’t treated and rehabbed properly, one can experience chronic pain from it.
Chronic Rehab exercises are carefully chosen to fix imbalances,?strengthen joints and muscles, increase mobility for restricted joints and muscles, and/or improve stability.
Acute – It’s super important to slowly progress back to normal activity after an injury. Rehab exercises will start out extremely light, and progress with the goal of regaining function, strength, and mobility where it was lost.
Strength and Mobility – Can’t have one without the other!
There are many different types and forms of rehab exercises. Generally, they fall into one of two categories. Their goal is to either make something stronger and more stable, or to increase the movability and flexibility of a joint/muscle. Both are essential in rehab!?
Strength anything involving resistance and movement (pushing, pulling, or twisting) of weight: whether that be bodyweight or added weight. Balance and stability exercises focus on improving strength as well.
Mobility foam rolling, stretches, movements that are less focused on pushing weight and more focused on moving a joint through its whole range of motion.
How soon after an injury can I start rehab?
AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
With most injuries, there’s an acute phase lasting around a day or two where rest, ice, compression, and elevation are recommended to control inflammation and promote the initial stages of recovery. However, rehab can be started immediately after an injury or pain occurs!
The longer you wait to seek treatment or start rehab, the more likely the damage will have a snowball effect and cause further problems down the road. Obviously, the initial rehab will likely be very light. But the sooner you can get that joint or muscle gently moving, the better off you will be.