A holistic chiropractor is a healthcare professional who uses non-invasive adjustment and massage techniques to address pain issues. They also address a patient’s overall well-being in terms of their physical, mental, social, and spiritual health.
A lot of people are seeking ways to deal with pain issues without having to resort to invasive options like pain medication and or surgery. In many cases, these very same people are also looking for ways to improve their overall health for a better quality of life.
It is the job of a holistic chiropractor to look at each patient’s overall well-being in order to determine the proper course of treatment. They will be charged with looking at how they can use their chiropractic techniques to improve each patient’s physical, mental, social, and spiritual health.
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ToggleWhat Is the Objective of Holistic Medicine?
The objective of holistic medicine is to treat patients with a focuses on the whole person. That includes the patient’s body, mind, and spirit, attributes that encompass a person’s overall well-being. Doing this often requires avoiding invasive treatment options like prescription drugs and surgical procedures whenever possible.
What Are the Objectives of Holistic Chiropractic Care?
When providing holistic chiropractic care, a holistic chiropractor will invest extra time in getting to know everything about each patient’s personal circumstances. After looking at the whole patient, a holistic chiropractor will select chiropractic treatment options that will address each patient’s overall needs in terms of the following:
- Pain Relief and Improving Physical Health
- Improving Mental Health Through Stress and Anxiety Relief
- Addressing spiritual well-being to improve life balance and connectivity to the world
How Does Holistic Chiropractic Care Differ From Standard Chiropractic Care?
It’s very simple. Holistic chiropractic care employs non-invasive chiropractic techniques that are designed to improve every aspect of a patient’s life. Meanwhile, standard chiropractic care tends to focus solely on a patient’s physical body alignment issues, injury healing, or need for pain relief.
A Holistic Chiropractor Can Help With What Types of Stress Issues?
Pain is not always the primary reason that a patient will seek help from a holistic chiropractor. Stress relief in the form of relaxation techniques is another reason that patients will see a holistic chiropractor on a regular basis.
Experience has shown that holistic chiropractors can employ adjustment and massage techniques that will deal with the stress brought on by pain, anxiety, depression, physiological issues, eating and sleep issues, and hormonal problems.
In general, holistic chiropractors will find themselves dealing with three primary types of stress:
1. Acute Stress – Varied instances of feeling stress brought on by everyday activities and responsibilities. This type of stress can trigger physiological symptoms like a racing heart, high blood pressure, irritability, anxiety, sadness, and muscle/back/neck pain.
2. Episodic acute stress – The symptoms of this type of stress are very similar to the aforementioned symptoms related to acute stress. The fact the stress is far more frequent and tends to last a lot longer makes it episodic acute stress.
3. Chronic stress – This type of stress never goes away if left untreated. It leaves people feeling burdened by life with feelings of hopelessness. Chronic stress is often brought on by major life events like trauma and abuse.
What is the Focus of a Holistic Chiropractor?
Holistic chiropractors are trained to look at each patient as more than a patient. In other words, they see patients as whole individuals as opposed to seeing them as the embodiment of the physical issues that prompt patients to seek chiropractic care.
A holistic chiropractor will use a larger range of treatment tools with the goal of fine-tuning a patient’s body, mind, and spirit. To do this, they will typically start with adjustments and massage techniques that target bringing balance to the patient’s overall being. They will also educate patient’s about the value of eating properly, getting exercise, and meditating to heal the spirit.
Dealing with Physical Stressors
Holistic chiropractors can use very specific treatment techniques to address physical stressors like
- Back/neck/joint pain
- Lack of healthy blood flow for healing of injuries
- Chronic migraine headaches
- Strained muscles
- High blood pressure
- Digestive issues
Dealing with Chemical Stressors
Holistic chiropractors can use very specific treatment techniques to deal with chemical or hormonal stressors. These are stressors brought on by chemical or hormonal imbalances in the brain that can cause certain body functions to behave abnormally. The hormones in question can include serotonin (for sleep), oxytocin, testosterone, melatonin, thyroid hormones, dopamine, and cortisol.
Dealing with Mental Stressors
As part of the holistic approach to chiropractic, holistic chiropractors have to invest time in helping patients deal with mental health issuers like depression, anxiety, and sadness. It’s typically a matter of causation because mental health issues can cause physical issues like pain and conversely, pain can cause mental health issues.
In What Ways Can a Holistic Chiropractor Improve Your Health
The list of ways a holistic chiropractor can improve one’s overall health is quite impressive. It’s because of this list that people should consider scheduling regular visits to a chiropractor as a means of preventing future physical/mental/spiritual health issues. The following subheadings represent some of the ways a chiropractor can help improve your health.
Relief of neck and back pain
Adjustments and massage techniques can relieve neck and back pain brought on by muscle strain and pinched nerves caused by skeletal alignment issues.
Reducing inflammation that causes pain
Certain massage techniques can increase the flow of healthy blood to areas where inflammation is creating pain issues. This produces a healing effect.
Reducing chronic migraine headaches
Muscle strains and stress can cause chronic migraine headaches. Holistic chiropractors know how to make adjustments and employ massage techniques that will manipulate the pressure points that cause headaches.
Protecting connective tissues in and around joints
By increasing the flow of healthy blood to the joints, it creates stronger tissue fibers that can help protect joints.
Improving neurological function
Healthy blood flow to the brain plays a key role in good neurological function. This is prompted by making sure hormone levels are optimal.
Helping to improve posture
Holistic chiropractic adjustment can straighten out the skeletal system, which will usually result in better posture and balance.
Reducing the need for opioid and over-the-counter medications to manage pain
Given the addictive properties of opioid-based pain medication, chiropractic treatments for pain relief can diminish the need for drugs.
Lower blood pressure
Various massage techniques are often employed by holistic chiropractors to improve heart health. That will almost always result in the lowering of one’s blood pressure.
Helping to improved the digestive system
Again, a balanced body will function properly. That’s a very important part of digestive health, which serves to make sure nutrients are processed properly and harmful toxins/bacteria are being properly discharged from the body.
Reenforcing a stronger immune system
The entire immune system demands healthy white and red blood cells to fight off bacteria and viruses. Certain adjustments and massage techniques can help make sure the immune system has an ample supply of healthy blood.
Reducing stress and anxiety
Holistic chiropractors are very good at employing massage techniques and mental relaxation exercises that will help relieve stress and anxiety.
Helping enhance athletic performance
For optimum athletic performance, athletes need flexibility, range of motion, and balance. Holistic chiropractors know how to bring the spine into alignment to enhance a patient’s athletic prowess. They can also employ certain techniques to help prevent and heal athletic injuries.
Questions
What are the two methods of chiropractic?
The two primary methods of chiropractic are mechanist chiropractic and vitalistic chiropractic.
Mechanist chiropractic focuses on an intellectual approach to how the neuromuscular skeletal system is supposed to work and where the failings could be that are causing the pain issues. Vitalistic chiropractic focuses on how the body reacts to the manipulation of pressure points to locate the source of the pain.
Which chiropractic method is best?
Both methods are very effective. The best one would be the one that will most effectively and efficiently address a patient’s specific issues.
What are three methods chiropractors use?
The three methods or treatment techniques that a holistic chiropractor will usually have at their disposal include:
- Spinal manipulations and adjustments – bring the skeletal system back into alignment
- Stretching exercises – relieve muscle strains
- Massage techniques – for relaxation and to relieve pressure point issues that can interfere with blood flow
What is holistic medicine mean?
Holistic medicine involves the use of treatment methods that address the whole patient. The whole person refers to the person’s physical body, mind, and spirit.