Chiropractic treatment effectively restores the misalignment in the vertebrae spine. This eventually provides relief to the patient from intense pain in various parts and muscles of the body. However, many patients have reported having felt soreness in muscles after completing their chiropractic treatment.
Let us understand what this soreness is about:
1. The soreness in the muscles after a chiropractic treatment is usually due to the movement of the vertebrae in the spine.
2. This movement occurs as a result of misalignment in the spine being restored. Such re-alignment leads to some slight movement of the muscles near the treated area. Because of this movement, the patient feels soreness.
3. The level of soreness may vary from person to person. In most cases, this soreness usually starts fading away within 24-48 hours of treatment.
4. Before the treatment, the body of the patient gets habitual to function with a misalignment. After the treatment, the body will have to make some slight changes in its musculoskeletal system to adjust to the re-alignment of the vertebrae. Such adjustment leads to soreness.
5. These changes in the musculoskeletal system can be classified into two types:
· Activation of underperforming muscles
· Proper balancing of overperforming muscles
6. Owing to the misalignment of the vertebrae, certain muscles in the body might remain underutilized. They can also be less active during normal day-to-day physical activities.
7. A proper chiropractic treatment will enable these muscles to revert to their normal level of activation. Accordingly, they would now be performing more movements. While recovering, the patient can feel some soreness in such muscles.
8. The misalignment in the vertebrae can also cause some muscles in the body to overperform. This happens because these muscles have to compensate for the lack of activation of the underperforming muscles near them.
9. Owing to this, they have to bear unnecessary load and pressure. This leads to more muscle tension and stress.
10. After the chiropractic treatment, these overperforming muscles will get relief from excess muscle tension. As a result, they would come to a proper balance & alignment. Such re-alignment may lead to soreness in these muscles.
11. Most people think that the soreness is caused due to the pressure applied by the chiropractor during the treatment.
12. However, the reality is that the soreness is actually a sign of your body getting re-aligned properly.
13. Chiropractors recommend their patients the following tips to get relief from soreness:
· Doing icing
· Applying hot water bag on the area of soreness
· Maintaining proper body posture
· Doing the recommended exercises regularly
14. Icing will alleviate the swelling and soreness in the muscles. The heat emitting out of the hot water bag will improve blood circulation near the sore muscle. Both will help the patient to get relief from soreness.
15. Maintaining proper posture will help the body to re-align itself properly. For a proper posture, the patient must make sure that his spine is always in a straight position.
16. Doing regular exercise will keep the muscles and the spine active. This will eventually mitigate the soreness.
17. The soreness in the muscles after a chiropractic treatment is nothing to worry about. This is quite common among patients after a chiropractic treatment.
18. It is as usual as someone feeling muscle ache when he/she is resuming his/her workout after quite a long break.
19. The patient should focus on following what his/her chiropractor has recommended him/her.
In some rare cases, a patient might feel intense soreness even after 48 hours of treatment.
20. For this, a patient must consider re-visiting his/her chiropractor for a consultation.
Conclusion:
The soreness in muscles after a chiropractic session is as usual as having soreness after a workout.
It usually happens as a result of the spine and the muscles getting realigned to restore the misalignment of the spine vertebrae.
In a nutshell, the soreness is just the usual aftermath of chiropractic treatment.
Schedule an appointment at CRM Wellness for chiropractic treatment in Los Angeles.