Winter has come and with it, snow-capped mountains, icicles hanging off roofs, children pleading to go sledding, and hot chocolate becoming a coffee shop staple. It’s also brought with it increased risk of injury and stiffness, seasonal depression, and is begrudgingly renowned as ‘cold and flu season’. Winter chiropractic care is a must in order to help with the risks winter brings so that you can better enjoy its delights. Or, if you’re not a winter person, winter chiropractic care will still be able to benefit you in a number of ways to make getting through the season more bearable. Here are five of the ways anyone can benefit from winter chiropractic care.
#1. Decrease Stiffness
The colder you are, the stiffer your body as it tries to maintain a consistent temperature to keep you warm. Unfortunately, your body’s natural response to the cold may be its way of trying to preserve your body heat, but it also increases the likelihood of injury because it’s harder to move if you’re stiff. Winter chiropractic care helps loosen your muscles and joints, improving your mobility and range of motion, which ergo decreases stiffness and lessens risk of injury.
While dressing appropriately for the cold temperatures will also work to reduce stiffness, since it lessens your body’s need to stiffen up to stay warm, chiropractic care can keep your spine properly aligned, which helps keep your muscles and joints looser, easier to move, and less likely to be injured.
#2. Help Fight Off Sickness
While winter chiropractic care isn’t a cure-all, it is very beneficial in helping your body fight off and heal from illnesses, like the dreaded cold and flu. It does this through treatments designed to help your lymphatic system drain and to reduce the stress that being sick places on your nervous system. This helps you heal quicker. Plus, winter chiropractic care can help you stave off getting sick in the first place, by improving the overall health of your body. It’s no secret that the healthier you are, the less susceptible you are to sickness.
#3. Reduce Depression
The days are shorter, and that means less sunlight, which is nature’s mood booster. In addition to the lessened light, we typically don’t spend as much time with others during the winter months, because with the cold, unless you’re an outdoorsy person, you don’t really want to be going out and doing things. Winter chiropractic care is not the same as seeing a psychiatrist or a therapist, but it can help with depression through adjustments that reduce the tension in your body and boost your nervous system’s performance. If your body is less tense and your nervous system and your brain are able to communicate properly, this can help with depression, at least a little.
#4. Minimize Risk Of Injury
As mentioned above, the stiffer you are, the more likely you are to get injured. This is especially true for those of us who enjoy winter sports, making winter chiropractic care a fantastic option in order to minimize your risk of injury when you hit the slopes or the ice skating rink or what have you. Winter chiropractic care involves the typical adjustments and treatments to help your body perform at its best and stay in good condition, yes, but it also includes exercises and stretching.
Chiropractors can work with you to advise on the best exercises and stretches for you to do before any sort of winter activity in order to reduce your risk of injury. These aren’t just for those of us who are athletically-inclined, but for those of us who would rather stick to more tame outdoor ventures, only going out when we need to, or who need to shovel snow. Did you know that winter sports injuries and back pain from shoveling snow are among the most common reasons why people see chiropractors in the winter?
While we’re more than happy to help you with any injury you sustain to get you back to your normal self as soon as possible, we want to help you prevent that from even happening. Regular winter chiropractic care sets your body up for success, and while it won’t eliminate the risk of injury, it will help make you less likely to sustain it.
#5. Treat Injuries
So, you’ve sustained an injury, either from a sport or shoveling snow or slipping and falling on ice or whatever other reason. With our chiropractic adjustments and other treatments such as spinal decompression therapy, we can get to the root cause of your pain so that you don’t just mask it, but actually treat it. If you’re hurt, winter chiropractic care may be an option for you.
Let Us Provide You With Winter Chiropractic Care
Elite Chiropractic provides exceptional winter chiropractic care no matter your needs. We personalize our treatments to you in order to best help you get or stay healthy and in good condition. Contact us today to schedule an appointment and let us help you stay happy and healthy all winter long!
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