Chiropractic Care

What is Chiropractic Care?

Expert chiropractic care helps align your joints and relieve pain in your muscles, bones, ligaments, and tendons. 

Chiropractic care is a hands-on approach to wellness. At Astera Health, we integrate chiropractic services with conventional treatments, such as rehabilitation services. Through chiropractic services, we help Central Minnesota residents feel and function their best. 

Chiropractors treat and aim to restore the body’s natural balance through spinal adjustments. These medical experts promote healing without surgery or medication. Their techniques are especially effective at helping joints affected by tissue injuries. 

When to seek chiropractic care

Pain is a common complaint addressed by chiropractic care. You may benefit from a chiropractic visit if you experience various symptoms, including: 

• Back pain
• Frequent headaches 
• Joint pain 
• Lack of energy 
• Neck pain 
• Poor posture 
• Sleeping difficulties

Chiropractic care benefits

Chiropractic care is an affordable, effective treatment that potentially helps you avoid surgery or other invasive treatments. Going to the chiropractor can also offer the following benefits: 

• Better posture
• Enhanced athletic performance
• Fewer headache symptoms
• Improved management of osteoarthritis, sciatica, and scoliosis
• Lessened need for opioid pain relievers
• Reduced chronic back pain, neck pain, and inflammation

Your chiropractic experience

Your chiropractor is a valuable member of your healthcare team. The start of your visit mirrors a trip to your family medicine provider. Your chiropractor examines your body, discusses your symptoms and health history, and runs necessary tests. This examination helps your chiropractor determine the underlying cause of your issue. 

Next, your chiropractor develops a treatment plan to relieve your symptoms. Most treatment focuses on your spine, but other body parts may be involved. Your treatment may include: 

• Applying pressure to specific body parts
• Manipulating joints to move in certain ways
• Stretching affected joints 

As you undergo treatment, your provider monitors your progress. If needed, your chiropractor adjusts your treatment plan.

Chiropractic methods

Your chiropractor uses one or more methods to help heal your body. Chiropractic treatment approaches used include: 

• Activator. Your chiropractor places a handheld device called an activator against your skin near the injured area. The activator gives a focused thrust to your body, helping to improve joint motion.  

• Diversified. The chiropractor gives quick manual thrusts to problematic areas. Diversified treatment helps restore range of motion. It’s the technique typically associated with chiropractic care. 

• Gonstead. This modified version of diversified therapy relies on unique body positioning. During treatment, you may be asked to use a special chair or table. 

• Sacro-occipital technique. Your provider strategically places blocks under your pelvis. This positioning, along with gentle force from the chiropractor, helps realign your pelvis. 

• Thompson (drop table). Applying the Thompson technique requires a special table. When the chiropractor pushes down during a manual adjustment, a section of the table underneath gives way. The Thompson technique is a gentle approach that often pairs with other chiropractic approaches.  

• Webster technique. Gentle chiropractic adjustments help make space in a pregnant woman’s pelvis. As part of pregnancy care, Webster helps if you’re pregnant with a breech baby or have other pelvis-related concerns during pregnancy.