One of the common misbeliefs surrounding chiropractic is that having chiropractic adjustments guarantees that you’re fixed for life.
Even if your spine feels great after an adjustment, this effect is temporary. Once you go home and you are still doing your old habits (e.g. sitting hunched for extended periods in front of the computer)— you will eventually irritate your spine over time. The stress load will accumulate in the spinal nerves, there will be compression in the spine, and the spine will begin to misalign again.
With this, we highly recommend patients to keep an eye on their posture and habits even if they are already going for adjustments regularly.
This is something we expect from our patients. We have done our part to fine-tune your spine and nervous system and hopefully, they do their part to maintain their progress. Much like dentists, they can get rid of tooth decay but their patients have to follow up with appropriate action, like brushing their teeth every day to keep them healthy.
As for taking care of your spine after your adjustments, one should try to:
- Sit up straight constantly and be aware of good posture. Avoid heavy loads and follow a proper form when lifting heavy objects.
- Do not over-exert or extend your spine without proper stretching or exercise.
- If you have some exercises that the doc has recommended you to do, please try to incorporate this into your routine. However, if you cannot recall a stretch and how to perform it, skip it for now and ask us at your next appointment. Some of the exercises or stretches can be counterproductive if done wrong, so better to be safe than be sorry!
- Try to avoid sleeping with the head in one position, or curling up too much on one side. If possible, aim to get sleep for 7-8 hours a day.
- Make sure that you eat a balanced diet and drink adequate amounts of water daily to nourish your spine.
We cannot list all of the things to do and not to do here so it’s best to ask us for additional tips when you go for appointments. We’ll be happy to give you pieces of advice on anything related to chiropractic, like working and sleeping in ergonomic positions, as well as improving your diet.
Final Thoughts
According to our observations, some people only rely on adjustments and forget everything else. Once they reach home, they still adopt a poor stance, hunch, and do a lot of unhealthy habits again.
Of course, it’s not mandatory to follow the proper aftercare. What you do outside our practice is your choice. But, just be aware that it’s easier to maintain your progress and reach your wellness goals if you follow your chiropractic doc’s advice. As long as you do this then you will find that the adjustments will be much more effective and will hold longer.
Feel free to let us know if you are getting bored with your current routine or if you are experiencing pain in a different area so we can easily switch things up to cater to your current needs.
___________________________________________________
For initial consultations, please call or text 022 3914994 to see if we can help. We also have other locations in Auckland which you can contact HERE.