Many people will experience back pain at some point in their lives. While sometimes back pain can go away on its own, people want to find a safe and reliable treatment for back pain, especially before it becomes chronic. Chronic pain can negatively impact all aspects of your daily life and the first course of action with traditional medicine typically involves medications. However, pain medications really only address the symptoms and ignore what is actually causing your pain. Visit a South Austin chiropractor and learn more about this all-natural and drug-free approach to treating your back pain safely and effectively.
The Opioid Epidemic
When at-home treatments and remedies involving over-the-counter pain medications don’t do enough to ease back pain, people turned to doctors for help. Instead of addressing the root cause of the pain, some doctors started prescribing powerful prescription pain medications. Examples of these drugs include morphine, hydrocodone, and oxycodone. These medications may temporarily mask your pain, but they are also extremely addictive and have led to an increase in opioid addiction across the nation.
America is experiencing an opioid epidemic due to the number of over-prescribed opioids that have led to addictions, in many cases. Managing your pain with pain medications that include powerful opioids is a risky decision because you can build up a tolerance to the drugs. Thankfully, there are alternative treatments available that do not rely on these types of dangerous and addictive medications where you can still experience lasting relief from your back pain.
Chiropractic Care vs. Opioid Medications
Government agencies are starting to acknowledge and recognize the opioid epidemic and encourage physicians to consider drug-free and opioid-free treatments for pain management. While it may feel nice to temporarily experience relief from your back pain, pain medication alone won’t make that pain go away forever. You want to see a doctor who knows how to identify the root cause of your pain and provide you with a comprehensive back pain treatment plan that addresses both your symptoms and the underlying reason.
Chiropractors utilize an all-natural approach to treating pain caused by a wide variety of issues, injuries, and conditions. While many people associate chiropractors with treating the spine, they actually address the whole body and work to identify and diagnose what is causing your pain and how it affects your entire body. You can visit a chiropractor when you are experiencing a wide variety of pain and symptoms, including back pain, headaches, whiplash, and muscle strains. Chiropractic care has even been shown to have better long-term efficacy than treatments that involve strong drugs like prescription painkillers.
How Chiropractors Help You Manage Pain Naturally
When you visit a South Austin chiropractor, they will want to learn more about when the pain started, whether it has gotten worse over time, and whether certain movements make the pain worse. In order to get a full picture of how this pain is affecting your daily life, your chiropractor will talk with you about your symptoms and help identify the root cause. Your chiropractor can diagnose what is causing your back pain through your reported symptoms as well as a physical examination. If you were recently injured or in an accident, such as in a car wreck or suffering from a sports injury, then your chiropractor will want to examine the affected area. If you aren’t sure why the pain started up, then your chiropractor may want to assess your spine to identify any potential misalignments that may be contributing to your pain and discomfort.
Chiropractors utilize gentle and therapeutic techniques like chiropractic adjustments, massage, ultrasound, stretches, and exercises. No two treatment plans will be exactly the same because everyone’s body experiences pain differently. Your chiropractor will develop an individualized treatment plan that helps address your back pain promptly and help you heal faster. Chiropractic adjustments help to realign the spine so that vertebrae and spinal discs aren’t putting too much pressure on nearby nerves or one another and contributing to your pain. Misalignments in the spine are also known as spinal subluxations and chiropractors utilize a non-invasive approach to restore proper alignment.
Visit a South Austin chiropractor near you to find out the root cause of your back pain and get started on drug-free, all-natural treatments and non-surgical treatments so you can start experiencing pain relief. Our chiropractors at ProCare Medical Center in South Austin and surrounding areas can talk with you more about this natural and non-invasive approach to your care and how you can get the most out of your treatment with chiropractic care.
