I Stretch Every Day – Do I Still Need to See a Chiropractor?

There are many ways that you can ensure that you build the right amount of stretching into your daily routine, so that you maximize connective tissue health, flexibility and range-of-motion. You may have your own regimen, you may use yoga to keep you loose, or you may have routine stretching built in to other physical activities, such as tennis, volleyball, weightlifting or gym workouts. You may ask yourself—if I’m doing a good job on my own of regularly stretching, is there any reason I need to see a chiropractor (unless it’s after a traumatic injury)?

Simply put, there are ways that an experienced chiropractor can improve your physical health, even if you engage in daily stretching:

• A chiropractor can help improve your range of motion — Your neck, arms, legs and back are all connected. You may move fairly well in your daily activities and believe that you have maximum range of motion. A good chiropractor, though, will break down your range of motion, looking at each of the joints, determining the flexibility and strength of each. That’s ultimately better that simply looking at your overall range of motion.
• A chiropractor can safely adjust your spine — You may have techniques that allow you to “pop” your back, and mistakenly believe that what you are accomplishing is the same thing you would get from a spinal manipulation by a chiropractor. It’s not. In many situations, attempting to “pop” your own back will only make the situation worse. Typically, if certain joints in your spine have limited range of motion, the surrounding joints make up for this by moving more. Trying to manipulate your own spine can aggravate this even more.

Another way to look at it — Would you want your best friend performing a spinal adjustment on you? Probably not, as they’re not professionally trained. Well, neither are you. Even a professional chiropractor won’t attempt a self-adjustment. It’s not safe.

Schedule an Appointment with Premier Health Center

Contact our office online or call us at 817-261-6100 to set up an appointment with Dr. Gittiban. We are available Monday through Thursday, from 9 am to 6 pm, and Fridays from 9 am to noon. We also see patients on the first Saturday of each month. Our offices are conveniently located on South Bowen, just off Highway 20 near the Parks Mall.