Chiropractic adjustments hold better

As a chiropractor, your primary goal is to help minimize and eliminate the pain and discomfort your patients experience daily. According to one clinical trial, 94% of chiropractic recipients experienced a 30% reduction in pain, compared with only a 54% reduction from medical care recipients.1

This is why many patients are now turning to chiropractors as their first line of defense when treating back, neck, and shoulder pain as opposed to opioids and surgeries. The national opioid dispensing rate has significantly declined in the last ten years. In 2010 the Centers for Disease Control reported 251,088,904 prescriptions were dispensed in the United States. In 2020, it was reported a total of 142,816,781 opioids had been prescribed.2

Chiropractic adjustments reduce pressure on the nerves, easing the flow of communication and signals between them and triggering the release of endorphins, which cause near-instant pain relief. But what happens when the impacts of your regular adjustments begin to wear off? Or are your patients not receiving the benefits for as long as they could?

Depending on your patient’s unique situation, the first few adjustments may not last longer than a few days, so you may suggest more frequent adjustments within the first few sessions.

In this blog post, we will talk about how you can get longevity out of your adjustments with support from orthotics and through an optimized rehabilitation process based on proven criteria established by the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.

Support Your Adjustments With Orthotics

Knowing that you play such a critical role in the health of your patients, it’s essential that you stay up on the latest when it comes to improving your techniques to ensure your patients are getting the most out of their visits. For your adjustment to hold longer, your patients must maintain proper postural support throughout the day. Frequently, pain or other symptoms in the body start with the body’s foundation: the feet. This may be an indication of problems beyond the spine.

According to a study by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine, six weeks of prescription shoe orthotics have significantly improved back pain and dysfunction by 18.5% compared with no treatment. However, adding chiropractic care improved function by 32.3%. 3

Custom-made functional orthotics are helpful in correcting abnormal biomechanics in the lower extremities and enhancing the effectiveness of Chiropractic care. Since 99% of all people have foot pronation, custom orthotics are essential to helping your patients with a balanced and stabilized foundation.

Only Foot Levelers custom orthotics support all three arches of the foot, which make up the plantar vault and is responsible for distributing the weight of the entire body. If one or more of these arches has begun to weaken, the body’s weight will shift away from the weakened arch and add pressure and stress to the other arches, causing pain and other symptoms throughout the body. This is why prescribing your patients custom orthotics is essential to a holistic chiropractic treatment plan.

Create a Rehabilitation Plan

Creating a solid rehabilitation process is critical in your chiropractic treatment. Chiropractic adjustments can quickly increase your comfort levels, but it can take time to correct any underlying or foundational issues and prevent them from reoccurring. This can be done through a strong rehabilitation and exercise program designed specifically for your patient’s unique problem. The Council on Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters concluded that using exercise in conjunction with manipulation is likely to improve outcomes and minimize episodic recurrence. 4

At Foot Levelers, we offer a variety of resources to help you improve your rehabilitation process, including productsand an educational library with guided video exercises for different areas of the body.

The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research provides clear guidelines for evaluating and treating your patients. Take a targeted approach to the adjustment of the patient’s problem area, support with Foot Levelers’ corrective custom orthotics, and implement a rehabilitation plan to supplement your adjustments.5

 

For over 70 years, patients have turned to Foot Levelers for increased comfort, function, and mobility. As the industry leader in handmade custom orthotics, our mission is to help Chiropractors improve the quality of care they offer to their patients. Learn more about becomming a Foot Levelers provider.

 

Resources 

  1. Schneider M et. al. Comparison of spinal manipulation methods and usual medical care for acute and subacute low back pain. Spine 2015; 40(4):209-217 
  1. TOTAL NUMBER AND RATE OF OPIOID PRESCRIPTIONS DISPENSED, UNITED STATES, 2006–2020, Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/rxrate-maps/index.html#:~:text=The%20overall%20national%20opioid%20dispensing%20rate%20declined%20from%202012%20to,than%20142%20million%20opioid%20prescriptions

  2. Cambron, Jerrilyn A., et al. “Shoe Orthotics for the Treatment of Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, vol. 98, no. 9, 2017, pp. 1752–1762., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2017.03.028.

  3. Chiropractic Best Practices: A Systematic Review by the Research Commission of the Council on Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters. Draft document, 2006. 
  1. Austin, W. M. The New Federal Guideline on Low Back Pain in Adults: What It Means For You and Your Patients.