Is Chiropractic Care Safe and Effective for Seniors to Manage Pain?
Persistent joint and back pain can become a common and frustrating challenge as we age. Around 37.8% of seniors in the US suffer from chronic pain due to health conditions, past injuries, and spinal degradation.
Another challenge is that many patients hesitate to take medication, as they’re concerned about the side effects. Thankfully, alternative approaches like chiropractic care offer a safe and effective way for seniors to manage pain and regain their quality of life.
This blog explores this noninvasive method to determine whether it suits you or your loved one’s needs.
Why Seniors Often Experience Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is a common problem among adults and seniors. Knowing what triggers it is the first step toward healing and improving physical health in the long term. Here are common contributing factors:
- Age-related degeneration: Joint cartilage and spinal discs lose their cushioning as we age, causing bones to painfully rub against each other.
- Musculoskeletal Disorders: Osteoarthritis and similar conditions cause joints and bones to degrade, which results in joint stiffness, neck pain, or worse.
- Muscle Weakness: Muscles naturally weaken with age, a process called sarcopenia. They offer less support and, in effect, increase joint pain and muscle strain.
- Poor Posture and Inactivity: Such a lifestyle affects spinal alignment over time, leading to conditions like chronic lower back pain.
- Previous Injuries: These conditions disrupt normal nerve signals, triggering pain and increasing sensitivity around the injury even after healing.
These causes typically interfere with sleep, mobility, and overall quality of life. Understandably, senior patients seek relief, many are hesitant to undergo surgery or take long-term medication due to potential side effects (considering their age).
Here is where senior chiropractic care steps in.
Are Chiropractic Treatments Safe for Elderly Patients?
Yes, chiropractic services are safe for seniors—provided they're performed by trained professionals. In fact, emerging evidence indicates that patients aged 65 and older receiving chiropractic care experience positive clinical outcomes and high satisfaction with their treatment.
Chiropractic treatments offer natural pain relief for seniors using low-force adjustments to realign the spine, improve joint mobility, and restore normal nerve function. It also works on soft tissues to relieve deep-seated pain and discomfort.
Having cold feet? Don’t worry. Our healthcare professionals at Core Health Spine & Rehabilitation ensure every patient receives a thorough evaluation to guarantee their safety throughout treatment. We’ll be with you at every step of your recovery.
Benefits of Chiropractic Care for Seniors
Chiropractic treatments offer numerous benefits for elders looking to manage chronic pain conditions or maintain spinal health.
Improved Mobility
Poor mobility often results from spinal misalignments and joint restrictions that limit one's range of motion. Going beyond these limitations usually results in pain and discomfort.
Spinal and joint adjustments help by addressing misalignments to improve flexibility. They also restore balance, making movement easier without falling or sustaining balance and coordination problems.
Natural Pain Relief
Spinal misalignments, herniated discs, and sciatica put pressure on the nerves along the back that trigger consistent pain, tingling, numbness, and inflammation around affected areas.
Instead of masking these sensations with painkillers, gentle chiropractic techniques address their underlying causes, allowing the body to heal naturally. This makes chiropractic treatments ideal for seniors who are already taking several pills.
Better Posture
Posture generally worsens as we age. The spine loses flexibility, compressing and forming a forward tilt called kyphosis.
Integrating chiropractic care into treatment plans helps manage the underlying causes of posture problems or, at the very least, slow their progression. For instance, spinal adjustments loosen up the back, making it easier to move and maintain a good and healthy posture.
Increased Independence and Activity
As their backs weaken and joints stiffen, seniors often rely on assistive devices and others to navigate their surroundings, a loss of independence many dislike or even fear.
Thankfully, chiropractic care can help seniors get back on their feet with minimal help. Improved mobility and coordination enable them to perform daily tasks more easily and participate in activities they enjoy, considerably improving their physical and mental well-being.
Less Reliance on Medication
Many seniors, especially those with existing conditions, take at least five prescription drugs in a month. While these help manage symptoms, they also present several side effects that heavily affect their quality of life.
Chiropractic treatments allow older patients to enjoy pain relief and improved mobility without adding another pill to their list of medicines.
Common Conditions Seniors Get Treated with Chiropractic Adjustments
Chiropractic care has helped countless seniors enjoy better health outcomes through natural pain management in The Woodlands. Seniors often seek out this treatment to manage a variety of common conditions, including:
- Arthritis: Regular chiropractic adjustments use low-force techniques to relieve arthritis pain and stiffness, allowing patients to move freely again.
- Spinal Stenosis: Chiropractic therapies help manage chronic back pain, numbness, cramping, and weakness typically associated with spinal stenosis.
- Joint Dysfunction: Gentle adjustments target joint inflammation, making limbs that were difficult and painful to move more mobile.
- Neck and Back Pain: Spinal realignment eases the strain on your spine and addresses nerve irritation that could be causing pain and discomfort.
- Poor Balance and Postural Issues: Chiropractic care focuses on the underlying imbalances contributing to these issues.
Conventional medical treatments for many of these conditions typically include surgery or painkillers. Chiropractic care is a game-changer for those who want to avoid these approaches.
When to Consider Chiropractic for Older Patients
Chiropractic care is a safe and effective way for seniors to heal from various conditions more naturally than other medical treatments. Patients often get it when:
- Medication doesn't relieve pain
- Their range of motion is limited
- They begin avoiding activity due to discomfort
- Poor posture leads to an increased risk of injury
- They're looking for natural treatment options
If you're in The Woodlands, having a trusted care provider nearby, like Core Health Spine & Rehabilitation, can make a big difference to your recovery. Our qualified chiropractors will guide you throughout your journey, ensuring you get the best help possible.
Regain Your Quality of Life with Core Health Spine & Rehabilitation
No need to spend your golden years in pain and discomfort, or resort to risky treatments. Chiropractic care is a safe and effective way for seniors to manage pain, utilizing their body's innate healing ability to help them get back on their feet quickly.
Core Health Spine & Rehabilitation offers tried-and-true manual therapies, including chiropractic care, to help patients of all ages get the relief they deserve. Find out how we can create a personalized care plan for you.
