Feel Better Fast: Top 7 Chiropractors in San Antonio TX (2023)

FAQs

How do you know if a chiropractor is good? ›

Medical doctors have limited knowledge of anything related to the musculoskeletal system & Chiropractors have limited knowledge regarding pharmaceuticals. If you were to visit a medical doctor suffering back pain, strains, sprains and more you will most likely be instructed to take painkillers.

For example, if your sciatica is mild and you are looking for ways to relieve the pain and improve range of motion, you should see a physiotherapist. If you have a moderate case of sciatica and want to speed up your recovery, you might want to see a physiotherapist first and then see a chiropractor.

A nerve may become compressed or pinched in any number of ways, but the root cause of a pinched nerve tends to be some type of problem with the musculoskeletal system. Because this is a problem of the musculoskeletal system, the care of a chiropractor tends to be one of the best options for addressing this issue.

Your first adjustment will take the longest and could be as much as a half hour but each session after that will see an improvement in your health and a reduction in the amount of time it takes. By the time you reach maintenance sessions, your adjustments should only take around 5 minutes.

When you are just starting a new treatment plan, it's common to have adjustments multiple times a week. As your body begins to heal, that number could drop to just once a week. And if you are pain-free and simply want to maintain your lifestyle, you might only need to get an adjustment once or twice a month.

80% of chiropractic patients achieve 100% success, 10% achieve improvement, but not total relief, 10% of chiropractic cases will not have success at all. We call this the 80-10-10 rule. The 10% that do not have relief from the chiropractor usually have a condition that has reached limitation of matter.

One very specific concern voiced by many medical doctors is that chiropractic neck manipulation has the potential to cause stroke, or — if done improperly — even death.

A chiropractor might be able to help relieve sciatica pain. Using spinal manipulation techniques and other natural practices, chiropractors can help relieve the pressure on your sciatic nerve.

How long does it take a chiropractor to fix a pinched nerve? ›

With treatment, most pinched nerves can be healed in a few weeks.

Can Sciatica Go Away On Its Own? In some cases, sciatica symptoms can get better over time without a chiropractor's help. However, because sciatica is a symptom, not a diagnosis, it's best to seek chiropractic treatment to figure out the underlying cause of your sciatica pain.

Ideally, you want a gentle but firm massage that relaxes the tensed-up muscles and deeper layers of tissue in your body to alleviate the pressure being put on your nerves. Some experts recommend the Swedish massage for this purpose, as it is one of the most relaxing and enjoyable massage styles out there.

Yes, absolutely! They often provide an immediate form of pain relief, due to their effectiveness at relaxing muscles. Massage for trapped nerves works well because it allows a person to relax and lie still for some time, meaning their cortisol drops, which then allows the muscles to relax and repair more easily.

Chiropractic is a preferred treatment option for many people with bulging and herniated discs because it is a non-invasive process and does not require drugs or injections. Once you have reached your diagnosis, you and your chiropractor can work hand in hand to look for the best way to treat your condition.

In fact, this is one of the reasons that a chiropractic visit is so quick when compared to other therapies. When a chiropractor performs an adjustment, this quickly stretches the local spinal muscles, stimulating the GTOs, and causing relaxation. This relaxation of muscles is instantaneous.

One of the main reasons for an adjustment not lasting has to do with tight muscles. Your chiropractor will realign bones and adjust their placement. Still, if the muscles that connect to those bones are particularly stiff, your problems could persist after your chiropractor adjusts you.

Over-manipulation syndrome can begin after high velocity adjustments from a chiropractor or through self-manipulation. While chiropractors provide wonderful care in many cases, there is a risk of damaging the ligament structures and causing joint instability with continued high-velocity adjustments.

That's because your body has shifted into its proper alignment following an adjustment. In doing so, tension is removed from specific areas, like the spine, in turn releasing toxins that were previously trapped there. Drinking water helps to remove these toxins released from your body.

Relief can last as long as a few weeks or as little as a few days. That's why it's critical for patients who are seeking pain relief to have a treatment plan and return as needed for further chiropractic care. In the end, it takes time to retrain the human body and “unlearn” bad habits like poor posture.

How do chiropractors know where to adjust? ›

Chiropractors understand the natural gait and posture and will assess these areas when determining where to adjust. A basic assessment of your gait and posture will provide insights into the musculoskeletal system and its capability to adjust to different strains and stressors.

Following your chiropractic adjustment, we will likely gently pull the neck to alleviate pressure and free up any areas of the spine that are still stuck. Manual traction is not a replacement for the chiropractic adjustment, but you may still feel some pops and cracks when it's being performed.

Chiropractic adjustment cost varies depending on your location, your reason for care, your provider and your treatment plan. It varies widely and can range anywhere from $30 to $300 a visit. Chiropractic care is covered by many health insurance providers.

For many chiropractors, the struggle to balance work and personal life is a daily battle. With so much time spent at work, it's often hard to find the motivation or energy for anything else. But taking care of yourself doesn't have to take up hours of your precious time.

While there is no limit to how often you can go for a chiropractic appointment, make sure that the frequency doesn't exceed your body's tolerance. If you feel uncomfortable after every chiropractic adjustment session or take longer than usual to relieve pain, something is wrong with your treatment plan.

In the long-term, regular chiropractic care can help prevent harmful injuries, reduce stress and depression, improve mobility and balance, enhance flexibility, boost immunity to disease, and increase bodily awareness.

Traditional medicine only works to mask the pain, not treat the root cause. Chiropractic, however, aims to put the body back in alignment so it can heal property – alleviating the cause of the pain or the injury.

"Why are chiropractors allowed to use the title of Dr. in their name when they are not qualified to practice as a medical doctor?" For the same reason that dentists, osteopathic doctors, some professors, lawyers, physical therapists, and many more can. It's because they earned their doctoral degree.

The top two reasons people do not seem to want to go to a chiropractor are a fear of being “cracked” and the fear of having to keep going back the rest of their lives – either because some sort of addiction has been unleashed or because they were hit with a huge care plan in which the chiropractor wants to see them ...

What relaxes the sciatic nerve? ›

Heat can help to increase blood flow around the area of discomfort causing the muscles to loosen, therefore relieving the pressure on the sciatic nerve. A hot bath may provide temporary relief as it relaxes your muscles. Ice helps to temporarily turn off nerve receptors which can help with pain and discomfort.

Normally sciatica improves within a 4-6 week timeframe, however it can sometimes be a lot longer than this.

Use hot packs, a heat lamp or a heating pad on the lowest setting. For continuing pain, try using both warm and cold packs, one at a time. Stretching. Stretching exercises for the low back might provide some relief.

Once the inflammation calms down, heat can help relax any tense muscles near the pinched nerve. Heat can also stimulate blood flow, which can aid in healing. Try using a heating pad or a warm compress. As with ice, you should protect your skin from direct heat.

A chiropractor can help you discover whether your pain is from a pinched nerve. Left untreated pinched nerves will only get worse, and in a worse case scenario require surgery. Chiropractic care's treatment of pinched nerves is designed to find and correct the underlying problem, and not to just treat the symptoms.

The most frequently recommended treatment for a pinched nerve is rest for the affected area. Your doctor will ask you to stop any activities that cause or aggravate the compression. Depending on the location of the pinched nerve, you may need a splint, collar or brace to immobilize the area.

However, a possible complication of sciatica is chronic (long-term) pain. If there's serious damage to an affected nerve, chronic muscle weakness, such as a “drop foot,” might happen. That's when nerve damage causes numbness in your foot, which makes normal walking difficult or even impossible.

In addition to providing hydration, drinking water has the potential to alleviate sciatica, a common source of lower back and leg pain. Drinking water can slow the progression of symptoms and ease discomfort.

Massage therapy can be an important part of your sciatica treatment plan—providing temporary but effective pain relief, stimulating your body to produce natural pain-relieving hormones, and enhancing the body's own healing abilities. A massage can also provide an overall relaxing and enjoyable experience.

I have treated quite a few rsi cases and trapped nerves and have found that in the first instance the best approach is relaxation,heat and de stressing. Massaging the hands, arms, neck, shoulder blades and back is always an excellent place to start finishing with a face and head massage.

What muscle relaxant is good for pinched nerve in neck? ›

Common muscle relaxants include Flexeril, Soma, Baclofen, Robaxin, and Tizanidine. Nerve membrane stabilizers are another class of medications often used to treat the numbness, tingling, shooting, stabbing, or radiating pain associated with a pinched nerve.

Research Shows Why Massage Can Help With Pinched Nerves

If muscle tension is the cause of the pressure on your nerve, massage therapy may provide the relief you seek. Try a gentle, relaxing Swedish massage, which will loosen up your tense muscles and may release the pressure around your nerve.

Using Heat Therapy

Heat may help to increase blood flow and relax the muscles surrounding the pinched nerve. Apply a heating pad to the affected area for 20 minutes at a time, several times a day. You may also take a warm bath with Epsom salts to help relax your muscles.

People who have opted for massage therapy to treat nerve damage have reported feeling better after their sessions as their symptoms reduced. Lighter and softer strokes, often used in Swedish massages, are typical what works in such cases.

Deep Tissue Massage: There are more than 100 types of massage, but deep tissue massage is an ideal option if you have a herniated disc because it uses a great deal of pressure to relieve deep muscle tension and spasms, which develop to prevent muscle motion at the affected area.

Massaging these muscles can restore proper balance and symmetry to the posture, which can allow the bulging disc to migrate back to its normal position in the spinal column. The pressure against the spinal nerves often subsides, and very likely, the pain associated with it to goes away.

Chiropractors do not pop a disc back in place using force, nor can a few quick treatments “fix” your herniated disc. With gentle and usually painless adjustment techniques, over time, a disc can be repaired.

When you are in proper alignment your body will be relatively straight from head to toe. If your body is misaligned you can feel pain in various parts of your body ranging from headaches to sore feet or discomfort in any joints, muscles or nerves in between.

Chiropractors understand the natural gait and posture and will assess these areas when determining where to adjust. A basic assessment of your gait and posture will provide insights into the musculoskeletal system and its capability to adjust to different strains and stressors.

How do you tell if you need a chiropractor or massage? ›

A good rule of thumb is that massage therapy could be just the thing you need if your concern is muscular pain or tension. If you have been experiencing joint, spinal, or musculoskeletal pain, consulting a chiropractor may be in order.

Tradi- tional courses on the philosophy of chiropractic still teach this definition as “the five signs of life; excretion, reproduction, assimilation, adaptation, and growth.”

Since the upper cervical spine is close to the brain stem, the side effects of neck misalignment can range from minor to severe. The most common reported symptoms can include numbness, tingling, pain, stiffness, and weakness in and around the neck.

Because the upper cervical spine is in close proximity to the brain stem, a wide range of both minor and serious issues can result from misalignments in the neck. Numbness, tingling, pain, stiffness, and weakness in and around the neck are the most commonly reported symptoms.

Chiropractors and massage therapists may seem similar but are very different in terms of the approach they take. They both can help alleviate the pain that is disrupting your quality of life. But Chiropractic care address the spine and its alignment and massage therapists are more focuses on the muscles.