A lot of our patients ask us about their medication. They always say, they get on it and feel like they will be on it for life. Although as chiropractors, we cannot help with managing medication, we can help with many other things. If you’re taking medication on a daily basis, and you are tired of doing so, this blog may be what you were waiting for. I’ll answer the question of what medication and chiropractic have in common. Keep reading and take the steps to improve your life.
Is there a drug problem in the USA?
The story begins with 66% of the adult US population taking prescription medication. Unfortunately, there were more than 100,000 deaths due to drug overdose, from April 2020 to April 2021 according to the CDC. 75,673 of these were attributed to opioid overdose.
Research has shone time and again that overprescription is a problem. A study funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 2019, concludes “Among all outpatient antibiotic prescription fills by 19 203 264 privately insured US children and non-elderly adults in 2016, 23.2% were inappropriate, 35.5% were potentially appropriate, and 28.5% were not associated with a recent diagnosis code.”. That means, more than 50% of these prescriptions were inappropriate or were not associated with a diagnoses code.
Regardless of where the medication is originating, there is definitely room for improvement.
Can Chiropractors prescribe medication?
As a chiropractor, medication is outside of our scope of practice in the great state of Texas. That means we cannot recommend a patient get on or off any medication or change the medication they are on.
However, every day, I encounter patients that have a list of medications they take on a daily basis. Some are to treat their symptoms, and others to treat the side effects of the first.
The unfortunate part is that a lot of the time, our patients say that they did not experience an improvement in their symptoms. This is unfortunate because patients put their trust in us as medical professionals and our recommendations. They see us as the experts in our fields and so blindly accept our recommendations.
What is medication?
Medications are chemical substances that aim to cure diseases, treat conditions, and/or relieve symptoms. There are several different types and ways of administration of them.
Generally speaking, their goal is to enter the body and change the chemistry of the internal environment to where it improves the conditions for the host (the human body) to have better chances of survival.
What is chiropractic?
Chiropractic care is a natural, non-invasive profession and should remain as such. Our biggest tool as chiropractors is the chiropractic adjustment. This is a controlled force, directed in a specific direction to correct a restriction in the body. The goal of it is to correct the body’s biomechanics. By doing so, the body intrinsically changes its own internal chemistry. This is how chiropractic care can reduce inflammation and pain.
What to do when in pain?
Let’s start off by saying that if you got this far into the article, the chances are your pain is not life-threatening. If you believe it is a medical emergency, please treat it as such. Seek help from a licensed medical professional immediately.
Over the years, I have personally treated patients that were previously referred for surgical consultations due to severe pain and were even told they would live with their symptoms.
At least once a week, new patients tell me they have gone to their PCP or urgent care for their pain. They always end the story with “I was just given medication and was sent off, but I don’t want that!”. Usually, it’s muscle relaxers, strong anti-inflammatories, but on occasion, it’s opioids and corticosteroids.
More often than not, patients are on medication to relieve anxiety, high blood pressure, depression, and diabetes. These same patients were never told that diet, mental health, and a healthy lifestyle will help them. Even if they were told, they were never given a plan so that they can be successful at it.
The purpose of this blog is to help one person that is fighting their battle, see the light at the end of the tunnel. Find out how to start your own journey of improvement through our house call services.
What do chiropractors do?
Pain, negative thoughts, and overeating are all connected. Our bodies work as one and cannot be broken down into different systems. Manipulating one system, affects the other. That is why there are side effects to medications.
The things we consume, make up our bodies. Whether this is food, light, or sound. The type of energy you surround yourself with and even worse ingest will eventually be a part of you.
As chiropractors, we look at the body as a whole and not in systems. Our main goal is to remove joint restrictions that are keeping you from moving freely and living your best life. Often times something else can help you improve your situation. We will encourage you and help you plan and see your plan through to where you will provide your body with the environment it needs to heal.
Just like when you go to a mechanic for a dead battery. You might find out that the alternator is what’s at fault and not the battery. At PEAKiropractic we will tell you the root cause of your symptoms but also guide you through them. Learn more about us and then reach out so we can help.
Conclusion
So what do medication and chiropractic have in common?
They both support the body overcome difficult situations. Medication can be seen as a restorative type of care, and chiropractic as a preventative type of care. All in all, medication and chiropractic are always trying to improve the patients’ quality of life. The utilization of each depends on a persons’ lifestyle and preference when it comes to health and wellness.
How are medication and chiropractic different?
Medications alter the body’s internal chemistry to improve the body’s mechanisms. This intervention is vital when it comes to life-threatening situations.
Chiropractic facilitates the body in improving its internal chemistry by itself. Chiropractic care can get you through a lot of your aches and pains. However, it can also be seen as preventative care.
If you are someone that is fighting chronic pain, depression, diabetes, or high blood pressure, you should know that there are solutions to these problems and the symptoms that come with them. Some of these are fundamental changes. Your belief systems, your actions, and habits, even your environment. Most likely, you will have to change that very thing that led you into that state to begin with. Whatever the case may be, you should know that there is someone out there that can help you overcome this.