Orthotics? Aren’t those only for old people?
Individuals who suffer from a recurring medical condition, as well as those who experience an injury of one form or another, maintain the same overall goals; manage the pain, find a successful treatment option, and heal as quickly as possible. Fortunately, chiropractic care helps promote healing and strengthen the body by working on it in its entirety.
Experienced chiropractors understand there are some other treatments in addition to chiropractic care that help aid pain management, increase mobility, and decrease healing time. Depending on the condition, individuals may experience a wide array of benefits from blending these treatments into their chiropractic treatment.
One such treatment is orthotics. If life were a sandbox, chiropractic care and orthotics would be the best of friends. Orthotics treat muscle and skeletal conditions, as does chiropractic treatment. Some of the key benefits of utilizing orthotics as treatment include:
Greater support
Orthotics created to “brace” the body part that is not at full performance strength allows it to heal faster.
Success in keeping certain areas immobile
Sometimes a person’s injury requires little or no movement, and orthotics serve this scenario well.
Decreasing weight bearing on the particular body part
Feet, for example, bear a great deal of the body’s weight, making them one of the more difficult parts of the body to achieve healing. Orthotics provide the weight bearing assistance needed to give the body time to repair and heal itself.
Body stabilization
If a part of the body is not functioning adequately, the entire body may be unstable. This is an unsafe situation that can actually cause other injuries. Orthotics are tools that stabilize the body by providing extra support.
Body alignment correction
A variety of injuries and other health conditions cause misalignment of the spine. Certain orthotics assist the body in achieving alignment over the course of time, especially when combined with chiropractic adjustments.
Used in the course of chiropractic treatment, orthotics provide a valuable factor in the person’s recovery. Marrying the regimens of chiropractic care and orthotics supercharge the healing and recovery time.
Here’s how orthotics can help:
Helps eliminate painful symptoms. With chiropractic visits working on the body as a whole, and orthotics offering support and stabilization, patients often show a decrease in painful symptoms faster than employing one or the other.
Increases the chance of returning to normal activity. Utilizing orthotics gives the area that is underperforming stabilization and support. This allows a person to more likely return to work and other daily activities faster than chiropractic treatment alone.
Minimizes reliance on medication. A chronically painful medical issue is quite difficult to manage without medication. Long-term use of certain medications can create health and addiction issues, leaving a person with one more problem to handle. The combination of chiropractic care and orthotics empowers many individuals to lessen their dependence on drugs.
Maximizes quality of life. While being treated by a chiropractor, a patient’s body may take weeks or longer to stabilize before it completely heals. When orthotics are coupled with chiropractic care, these same people are able to achieve a greater feeling of stability, and consequently, independence. This effect is perhaps the most significant benefit of employing the two practices, as quality of life is immeasurable.
No matter the injury or condition, an experienced chiropractor can determine the best regimen for each individual patient’s needs. By consulting with chiropractors who also utilize orthotics in their practices, most health issues can be tackled more effectively which, in return, provides even greater results.