Equipment and tools that chiropractors usually use
Your first visit to a chiropractic clinic might make you feel odd if you compare it with visits to the medical clinics you are familiar with. The place might make you feel like visiting a gym as you can see some equipment at a distance beyond the glass partition of the reception area. The experience might confuse you because you have known that chiropractic treatment relies on manual techniques only for curing various pain conditions.
Moreover, you are also aware that they rely on the body’s self-healing powers to relieve pain. While both the facts are true, it is also true that chiropractors use some tools and equipment to assist their manual efforts of treatment for better results, confirms the experts at Active Edge Chiropractic & Functional Medicine.The use of instruments and devices does not violate the principles of chiropractic treatment, hence permissible.
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Spine alignment is in focus
Chiropractors believe that to achieve good health and a pain-free body. One must take good care of the spine and protect it from excessive stress resulting in its misalignment and deformity. Spine correction or manipulation is at the heart of chiropractic treatment that helps correct alignment problems, reduces pain, improves movements and mobility, strengthens muscles, and improves its toning while restoring balance. Correcting the spine and ensuring better integrity of the musculoskeletal system is the goal of chiropractic treatment that drives away the pain.
Here are some tools and equipment used for chiropractic treatment.
Chiropractic table
Although chiropractic tables might appear similar to physicians’ medical examination tables, the table is far different from a regular examination table. The chiropractic table is movable and adjustable. The chiropractor can position it most convenient to treat the patient to ensure easy accessibility to the affected area while making the patient feel comfortable. The table can make a standing patient lie down without the patient making any efforts by pushing a button. Even a part of the table can drop down to facilitate the chiropractor in applying more controlled force on the target area.
Electrical simulation
Trans Electrical Nerve Stimulation or TENS is commonly used equipment for chiropractic treatment with wide application in physical therapy. The small and compact instrument generates electrical pulses, which the chiropractor applies to the affected area with the help of electrodes placed on that part of the body. The chiropractor can vary the frequencies of the electrical pulses from low to high in gradual steps to achieve the desired result.
Full body vibration plate
The equipment looks like a platform scale used for weighing goods and consists of a square metallic platform that might or might not have handrails for safety. A vibrator placed underneath the platform and operated electrically starts vibrating the platform on switching on the equipment. The vibration passes through the patient’s body standing on the platform, thereby stimulating the muscles to improve their strength and improving blood circulation and muscle coordination.
Besides relieving pain, the vibration plate effectively improves the function of the body parts of patients with cerebral palsy.