We are living in an age where back pain is not just a condition for the senior citizens. The younger generation, teenagers, in particular, are also suffering. Actually, research estimates that 50% of them are affected. This pushes you to wonder: Why? Well, technology is partly to blame. Most of our teens are addicted to smartphones and video games. They spend hours sited while using these devices. In the long run, a lot of stress is placed on their spine and this manifest in the form of back pain.
Teenagers are also known to carry heavy backpacks to school and to outdoor events. The heavy load is not kind to their spine. We also can’t forget to mention poor nutrition and sports injuries which are all risk factors for back pain. If back pain is not treated early, there’s always the probability that it’ll recur later. When you go to most general practitioners, they’ll recommend pain medications for your teenager. The problem with this treatment option is that your teen may become addicted to the medication. Additionally, a majority of prescriptions come with serious side effects.
In case you decide to visit a sports therapist, which is advisable, the expert is likely to recommend exercises and chiropractic care. Most of them will insist on combining the two. This argument is well supported by one meta-analysis. According to it, there’s a massive improvement in pain relief and body flexibility in teens following the use of chiropractic care and exercises. Apparently, chiropractic care played a huge role in the study and it’s highly recommended.
What’s Chiropractic Care? How Can Your Teen Benefit?
Chiropractic care is a natural treatment that involves gentle and fast-acting spinal adjustments. It works on the basis that back pain and most musculoskeletal issues originate from the spine and they are related to a misaligned spine. Thus, by realigning the spine, these issues are fixed. Generally, teenagers can benefit from chiropractic care in the following ways:
- All-Round Pain Management
Chiropractic adjustments do not just target the back. Since all parts of the body are connected to the spine, they can all be relieved from pain by chiropractic adjustments. Whether it’s headache, neck ache, hip pain or earache, they can all be treated by chiropractic adjustments. The bonus is that the treatment is natural. Therefore, your teen doesn’t have to worry about adverse reactions as it’s mostly the case with pain medications. In fact, chiropractic care is not just a pain reliever but may also prevent it.
- Better Posture
A lot of times, poor posture is associated with prolonged sitting. Teens who like watching too much TV and those who play video games for long are the culprits. Such teens could really use chiropractic care. It helps to identify underlying issues on their spine so as to correct them. If there are misalignments along the spine path that may be messing up your teenager’s posture, a chiropractor will definitely fix them. Furthermore, a chiropractor will advise your teenager on ways to improve body posture at home.
- Growth Booster
During teenage life, body growth is at its peak. This is the time that children grow tall and broader. However, this is not given to all teenagers. For some, some parts of the body grow faster than others and this makes them look really awkward. For others, it appears like they are not growing at all. All these issues, luckily, can be fixed by routine chiropractic visits. It plays a critical role in helping them attain optimal growth.
- Strong Back
We’ve already mentioned how teenagers who carry heavy backpacks are at risk of developing back pain. However, the solution is not stopping them from carrying loads on their back. The solution is training their backs to carry reasonable loads without risking back pain or any personal injury. They can do it with regular chiropractic visits. If there are underlying issues related to heavy backpacks, a chiropractor will fix them. In the end, chiropractic adjustments will make their back stronger.
- Lifetime Healthy habits
Chiropractic care is not a short-term treatment but a long-term one. By seeing a chiropractor more regularly, teenagers become used to the fact that they have to live a healthy lifestyle. So, they start adopting healthy habits that they can use for the rest of their lives. Whether it’s eating healthy, exercising correctly or getting the posture right, they are able to learn them the right way. They simply appreciate the benefit of prevention.
- Mental Wellbeing
Teenagers go through a lot in their lives that stresses them. In school, for example, they have to deal with the pressure of bettering their grades and performing in extracurricular activities. At home, there is social pressure that they have to deal with. All these issues are partly the reason why depression is common among teens. So, it’s advisable to take them to see a chiropractor. Through spinal manipulation, they can experience mental calmness and this immensely brings about stress relief and better mood.
- Injury Prevention/Healing
Both athletic and non-athletic teens live an active lifestyle. This means they are all prone to injuries. However, a majority of personal injuries that they sustain are preventable. Chiropractic adjustments can help with this. The adjustments realign the spine properly and flex the muscles so as to make them less susceptible to injuries. Moreover, chiropractic adjustments help to fasten the healing process when the teen suffers an injury. By adjusting the spine, your teen’s immunity improves. This promotes natural healing.
- Enhanced Athleticism
To perform better in sports at school, your teen needs to be very athletic. Basically, they have to be agile, stable, and mobile. All these are possible with routine chiropractic adjustments. By adjusting your teenager’s spine, a chiropractor is able to ease tension throughout the body. In this case, muscles become more relaxed and joints are relieved from stiffness. This means that the overall mobility, on-field flexibility, and body balance is improved. Simply, your teenager becomes a better athlete.
Closing Thought:
Teenage life is generally an active phase. So, you can’t stop them from living their life. What you can do as a parent is to help them live it healthily. One way to do it is by recommending chiropractic care. As seen above, their life is likely to improve at all angles with chiropractic care than without it. The practice is not just a great treatment for most musculoskeletal issues but also an ideal preventive approach. Contact Dr. Hinz today at Cool Springs Chiropractic to get started!