Does Osteoporosis Rule Out Chiropractic Care?

Chiropractic Care and Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a disease in which your bones become brittle and weak, making them more susceptible to fractures.

So if you have osteoporosis does it rule out chiropractic care?

Not necessarily.

Doctor of Chiropractic – Dr. Jeoun Discusses

Transcript:

Eric: Nice to meet you.

Monica: Thank you for being here. And today we’re going to talk about chiropractic care when it comes to osteoporosis. But first I’m going to allow Eric to tell you a bit about his background. So, Eric?

Eric: Yes. So I have in my background from Queen’s University in Canada. And it was life sciences and pharmacology. And a few years after I went to study chiropractic at Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College. And just obtained my license there.

Monica: Yeah, fantastic. Okay so there’s one question we get a lot from a lot of our customers and our readers, and that is, “I’ve been to a chiropractor before but now I’ve found out that I have low bone density or osteoporosis.”

Eric: Yes.

Monica: “And I’m a bit scared or a bit nervous to go. So my question is, can I go? Is it safe to go?”

Eric: Yes, a great question that you ask, Monica. So as chiropractic, a lot of people when they go see the chiropractor, so they usually go for what we call “adjustments” or “manipulation”. So a simple example would be, “Okay, hey, Doc, could you crack my back?” So a lot of people have strained, very stiff back from working on the desk and things like that. And so that’s what they associate with the chiropractic care. But, because with the adjustment and when the manipulation, we do apply high velocity, low amplitude force.

So it’s very quick and very light adjustment that we apply to a person’s bone, for example. So because we are applying the actual force to the body, so it is very important to know if it’s safe. And so great question. So any prudent chiropractor should go through proper history and they should know your fitness level, and plus your bone density. For example, if an elderly patient above 70 years old, very petite, and then they went in for the chiropractic care, we do not do adjustments but we actually focus more on strengthening the muscles, and other things that we do with the patient.

For example, so we don’t just focus on the manipulation or adjustment, but we do soft tissue therapy so we can be more like a lifestyle coach to them. And then we can show them various ways to improve their bone density through different exercise and things like that. So at the end, so chiropractic care can give great help with a great condition like with any conditions such as back pain and things like that, and it would help patient greatly. But just being said, so they will probably ask you to go to see the medical doctor for the proper bone density test. So once they have that they can do all the adjustment and different modalities with them. Yes.

Monica: Thank you, Eric. So basically what we’re saying, the takeaway is that you can go see a chiropractor but just make sure that they do a thorough history. Make sure that if you have low bone density that they look at the scans, and you’re not just “cracking”. It’s not just always the force, but you’re saying you can do soft tissue, wellness coaching, that kind of stuff, correct?

Eric: Right.

Monica: Yeah.

Eric: So at the end, we call, when people come in with severe osteoporosis in our terms we say it’s a relative contraindication for manipulation. So just applying the force. However, so they are, I mentioned many ways to improve your bone density so the chiropractors, kinesiologists, and any people can help you go through all those, improve your bone health in the end.

Monica: Okay, thank you so much, and we’ll be talking about other topics with Eric. Thank you.

How Chiropractic Care Can Support Osteoporosis

After watching the video above, you can see that chiropractors commonly support patients with nervous system disorders and musculoskeletal disorders such as osteoporosis. 

Common treatments include:

• Manipulation
• Adjustments
• Rehabilitation exercises
• Lifestyle coaching
• Soft Tissue Therapy
• Relaxation Techniques

These treatments can increase your range of motion and strength, which can ultimately decrease your risk of falls and fractures. 

By using these hands-on approach treatment techniques, chiropractors are able to help prevent osteoporosis and even treat osteoporosis related injuries. 

Have any additional questions about osteoporosis and chiropractic care? Comment below!