Many of the patients we have seen here in the clinic have previously had more traditional chiropractic or osteopathic treatment, which involves manual manipulations to the spine – and sometimes other parts of the body as well. Manual manipulations can be very helpful in some circumstances to provide some immediate relief, as stiff joints that can be manipulated can be particularly uncomfortable. But it’s not the only way that you can help a patient. Our approach here at The Mayfair Clinic is more all encompassing, so we’re going to explain exactly what our approach is, as well as what manual manipulation actually does for your back pain.
What Happens During A Manual Manipulation?
If you’ve got a stiff joint, in your back or your neck, then releasing this will provide some good relief to the patient – but in our experience, a lot of people can find manual manipulation uncomfortable. The ‘cracks’, ‘clicks’ or ‘pops’ that most people associate with manual manipulation can be unpleasant, but also provide a sensation akin to cracking your knuckles: you feel better for doing it, but you become more reliant on doing this to free the stiff joint. As most people also believe that these ‘cracks’ or ‘pops’ are putting their bones back into place, this isn’t the case. These sensations are a release of gas in the joint as the stiffness is relieved. It’s not actually putting anything back int place, it’s just freeing up the joint – which can be really, very helpful for the patient. If you’ve got an injury and you have some associated stiffness, getting the joints moving again can make the whole section work better, take some stress off the joint while it’s healing. For less severe injuries, this can be very helpful. If the patient is in more severe pain, then performing a manipulation that involves a more violent twisting to manipulate a joint may not always be the most sensible approach.
Benefits Of Manual Therapy Vs. Other Therapies
When taking a look at the research for manual manipulation, the best results with this kind of treatment are when used with other therapies. We incorporate an element of joint manipulation here at the clinic, however we use an impulse adjusting instrument, which performs a more specific, more direct application of adjustment that is much more repeatable and more comfortable way. You can read more about our spinal impulse adjusting technology here, but we use it in conjunction with our three other therapies in one treatment session of The Mayfair Method. Vibration therapy is a very useful treatment for anyone with any back or neck condition. With many back or neck misalignments, stiff or tense muscles are a common side-effect. Often relieving this stiffness can cause the patient to immediately feel lighter, free their movement and take more pressure off the injured area. For a lower back injury, for example, loosening off the muscles like the glutes can help the hips move a bit better as well as the lower back.
Back Pain Treatment That Targets The Underlying Injury
The laser therapy is then applied to the injured area. This is a powerful and soothing treatment that works at the cellular level to boost the circulation into an area, help the development of new blood vessels – which can be especially helpful in injuries that have been long-standing – and kick-start that healing process. The treatment warms the area as it works, which can soothe the area of pain even after the treatment has been completed.
The real game changing treatment for many patients is then the spinal decompression therapy. For anyone suffering with a disc injury, they may be able to feel the compression in their spine – they may feel squashed, or have no respite from the pain during the day.
Using spinal decompression therapy, this takes the pressure directly off this area – which for many people may be the one time in the day that this happens. Even in some of the most chronic cases, this treatment can provide almost instantaneous relief, as it uses a small amount of the bodyweight to stretch the spine and alleviate the pressure on an injured area. The therapy then works by gently moving back and forwards to increase and decrease the pressure in the surrounding tissues and discs. This process improves the overall health of the area in a non-invasive way. We’ll incorporate rehabilitation exercises alongside our treatments that can be done at home, this allows for you to strengthen your lower back and core, to help prevent any future relapses.
In short, manipulation can be very helpful for back pain in some cases – but it’s such a small part of so much more we can do here to actually help the patient, and see much better results from a more comprehensive approach – not just in the long-term but also in the short-term too. We hope you found this article helpful, if you did please do make sure to share it with someone who might be suffering with back or neck pain, or who has perhaps tried manual treatment in the past and may not have found it helpful for them. If you have any questions about our approach or about your case, please do get in touch – call us on 02039473222, or by emailing us at info@themayfairclinic.com.
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