October is National Chiropractic Health Month and it’s the best time to raise awareness about the benefits of chiropractic care. Chiropractors are health care professionals with a patient-centered, non-drug approach to health promotion and pain management that more than 35 million Americans visit. Chiropractors are best known for their skills in spinal manipulations, but they also recommend therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises and provide lifestyle and nutritional advice.
Celebrate National Chiropractors Month with us by learning about this year’s theme and the benefits of chiropractic health care.
What is National Chiropractic Health Month?
National Chiropractic Health Month is an annual observance in October that aims to increase public awareness about the importance of chiropractic treatment. Chiropractic health care’s natural, patient-centered, whole-person, and drug-free approach to health and well-being makes it a great alternative to traditional medicine.
This year’s National Chiropractic Health Month theme is “Chiropractic: On the Frontline for Pain.” In honor of this year’s theme, chiropractors across the country encourage better access and use of non-drug treatments to manage pain, reminding everyone that chiropractic care’s non-drug approach to pain management is their main remedy against pain. It offers safe, effective, evidence-based treatments and helps eliminate or reduce patient reliance on opioids.
Because opioid abuse is on the rise, it’s important to raise public awareness and provide easy access to non-drug pain management options like chiropractic treatments. This will help make it easier to prevent opioid abuse and overuse. According to guidelines from the American College of Physicians, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and other major health care organizations, people should first try non-pharmacologic pain relief options before looking at their other options.
What Are Opioids and Why Are They Bad?
Opioids are medications that help relieve severe or persistent pain. Doctors often prescribe them for patients suffering from chronic pain and severe cancer pain. Opiods are also often prescribed to patients recovering from surgeries, falls, accidents, and other painful incidents.
Opioids attach themselves to opioid receptor proteins on nerve cells in the spinal cord, brain, gut, and other parts of the body, preventing the body from sending pain messages to the brain, and, thus, relieving the pain. However, it also increases the risk of addiction, especially if they are used regularly to manage pain for a long time.
Sleepiness, nausea, and constipation are some of the common side effects of opioids. They can also cause more severe side effects like shallow breathing, loss of perception, and slow heart rate. You may also experience jittery nerves and insomnia if you suddenly stop taking them.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), more than two million Americans abuse opioids, and about 90 Americans die from an overdose on a daily basis. Addiction is possible because it makes your body and brain think it constantly needs opioids to survive. Your body learns to tolerate the doses you take, making you take more and more to manage the pain, resulting in addiction.
Why Consider Chiropractic Care?
There are many reasons why you should consider adding chiropractic care to your pain management strategies and give chiropractic events a try. Don’t miss out on any of these benefits:
A Place To Start
Pain is often the catalyst for people to seek care. It doesn’t matter if you feel pain in your back, neck, or head; chiropractic care can help you find relief. Chiropractors can ease your tense body and relieve discomfort without medications or surgeries. They are also cheaper than traditional pain treatments, making chiropractic an excellent place to start when it comes to managing your pain.
Reduced Reliance on Medications
People with chronic pain often receive prescriptions for opioid pain relievers to manage their pain. However, these medications have unpleasant side effects and risks. Chiropractic treatment can help reduce your need to rely on them.
An extensive study conducted in 2020 compared the number of opioid pain medications refilled for people who either went to a doctor or visited both a doctor and chiropractor for spinal pain treatment. The results showed that adults who saw a chiropractor were less likely to fill their prescriptions than those who only saw their doctors.
Preventive Measure
Although pain treatment is necessary, prevention is even more critical. Regular care helps keep the body from restrictions and stubborn pains from returning. If the pain does return, it will be less severe and won’t last long.
Prevention is the key to better health. Use this method of care as part of your long-term prevention plan.
Improved Organ Function
Pain relief is not the only benefit you get when you seek chiropractic care. Spinal adjustments relieve the pressure on the spinal cord, improving your nervous system’s functions, like regulating cell function and communication between your organs. This helps increase your flexibility, experience fewer headaches, boost your immune system, and more.
Better Sleep
Pain and tension can cause many sleepless nights. Chiropractic care helps you achieve better sleep by adjusting your body and relieving the pain and tension you feel.
Helps You Feel Good
Anyone will want to make anything that makes them feel good and healthy a part of their lives. Chiropractic care may be one of these things. Most people who have regular chiropractic care say it makes them feel healthier, even improving their mental health.
Key Takeaway
October is National Chiropractic Health Month, where chiropractors worldwide spread awareness about the benefits of chiropractic care and promote non-drug and natural approaches to pain management. Chiropractic adjustments are effective in relieving various types of pain. Chiropractors can help reduce the need for pain relief medications or invasive procedures like surgery.
This year’s National Chiropractic Health Month theme reminds people that they can use chiropractic care as their first line of defense against pain, especially now that opioid overuse and abuse are rising. If you see any chiropractic events this National Chiropractic Month in your area, don’t hesitate to check them out.
Make chiropractic care part of your life today with Advanced Chiropractors Group.
Our affiliate chiropractors in Vail provide chiropractic treatments that help improve pain and overall health. They also cater for patients of all ages; everyone can benefit from chiropractic care. Contacting us is one of the best first steps you can take to live a pain-free life. Call us and celebrate National Chiropractic Health Month with us today.
