Pain that lasts for more than three months is referred to as chronic pain by most medical experts. The pain you feel can be constant or intermittent and it can be severe or mild. It can take place anywhere on your body, including your head.
An initial injury, such as a back sprain or pulled muscle, is usually the source of chronic pain. It’s believed that nerve damage leads to the development of chronic pain. The nerve damage causes the pain to be more intense and lasts for long periods.
Relieving Chronic Body Pain
Chronic pain can make it difficult for you to carry out daily activities such as working, maintaining a social life, and caring for yourself or others. Long-standing body pain can decrease an individual’s way of living too. Fortunately, there are treatment options available.
Pain relievers may give you momentary relief for a few hours but after they lose their efficacy, you’re left to deal with the same pain all over again. Hence, over-the-counter medications aren’t a long-term solution for those suffering from chronic pain, including you.
Luckily, many healthcare professionals in the field can assist you in managing and eventually overcoming these types of pain. A chiropractor and a physiotherapist are two healthcare professionals that specialize in nerve pain and muscle spasms who can provide you with a diagnosis, medical advice, and treatment options.
What Is Chiropractic
Chiropractic is a medical specialty zeroing on the spine and other joints of the body and their relationship to the nervous system. It’s a complementary and alternative medicine focusing on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of some disorders in the muscles, the nerves, or the musculoskeletal system, particularly in the spine.
And because it’s a specialty, a bona fide chiropractor must complete a five-year chiropractic university degree program to become qualified in the field.
How Chiropractors Manage Your Pain
A chiropractor, referred to as chiro in this feature, manipulates the body’s joints with their hands or with the help of special instruments. It’s a chiropractic procedure or adjustment referred to as spinal manipulative therapy or manual therapy. It can aid in the reduction of pain and the correction of the spine’s alignment and overall physical function of the body.
Manipulative therapy, also known as manual therapy, is a treatment that combines joint movement and jolting with a massage. Its purpose is to minimize joint pressure, lessen bodily inflammation, and better nerve performance by increasing blood flow to affected areas. Manipulative therapy is frequently employed in treating shoulder, neck, and back pains, and headaches.
Other Disorders Treated By Chiropractic Adjustments
A practicing chiropractor can handle other illnesses experienced by the body. They include:
- Herniated disc or slipped disc
- Degenerative disc disease
- Spinal osteoarthritis
- Whiplash
- Shoulder muscle spasms
- Short leg syndrome
- Myofascial pain
- Referred neck pain
- Coccydynia
- Piriformis syndrome, and others
What is Physiotherapy
On the other hand, physiotherapy or physical therapy is an allied health profession focusing on the physical rehabilitation of patients who suffer from injuries or disabilities. Physiotherapy sessions help in the restoration of body or muscle movement and function. It also helps patients learn and maintain good posture and live a healthier lifestyle.
A physiotherapist, also called physio in this feature, assists patients during these physiotherapy sessions. They’re trained professionals that help assess and treat the abnormal physical function of their patients. It may be caused by injury, bad posture, disability, or other health conditions that affect their daily routine.
Physiotherapists always work with the patient’s family to make an effective physiotherapy program for the patient. The treatment includes physical rehabilitation programs that engage the patient in regular exercises or physical activities to improve body function and overall health.
How Physiotherapy Restore Physical Health
Physiotherapy can help people live healthier, more fulfilling lives by assisting patients to focus on essential aspects of their physical health and well-being. Exercises and new ways of doing things are taught to patients to help deal with discomfort and stiffness, improve body movements, and speed up their recovery after an injury or illness.
Adults and children that are afflicted with physical disorders affecting their body movements are helped by physiotherapists to regain confidence in themselves. Along with at-home remedies, these therapy exercises and activities also help patients resume their work or sport. It’ll also help them become more capable of other physical activities that were previously hampered or unable to do because of physical ailments.
Other Disorders Treated by Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy practitioners are known to help with the following bodily disorders:
- Fibromyalgia
- Swelling caused by lymphedema
- Muscular dystrophy
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Vertigo
- Fatigue
- Osteoporosis and disabling fractures
- Voluntary and involuntary muscle movement due to Huntington’s Disease.
Which Is Better For Chronic Pain: Chiro Or Physio?
You may choose physiotherapy if you have a high pain tolerance. It’s said to be applicable only if the cause of your pain is one of those listed here where physiotherapy is most effective. If you’re one of those individuals who are not confident to submit to the sudden jolting manipulation of a chiropractor, you can stick with a physiotherapist.
Nevertheless, submitting to chiropractic manipulation would give instant relief for chronic pain caused by herniated discs or degenerative disc diseases of the spine. Plus, it’s also effective for chronic pain in your neck and shoulder tendons and ligaments.
Conclusion
Whether you submit to the care of a chiro or physio, the decision is yours to make. Pain and its management ultimately depend on your own choice. Both chiropractic and physiotherapy, along with each other’s techniques, medication options, and the like, can provide relief to long-standing bodily pain and deal with its root cause.
