How a Chiropractor Evaluates Movement Patterns Before Treating Pain

When most people think about chiropractic care, they picture a provider cracking someone’s spine with strategic thrusts and pressure. But how do practitioners know which part of the spine to treat? Will they always perform a chiropractic adjustment, or are there other options for correcting musculoskeletal imbalances?

Diagnoses and treatment plans usually follow a chiropractor’s movement assessment, which is the foundation of chiropractic care. Discover what this entails and how it helps experts effectively treat your pain. 

What To Expect When You Visit a Chiropractor for Musculoskeletal Pain

It doesn’t matter whether you’re experiencing lower back pain, a stiff neck, or persistent tingling in your legs. Doctors of chiropractic can help treat these issues and other musculoskeletal conditions. Your first visit to a clinic will focus on diagnosing your injury and discussing the possible treatment plans. 

If you’re on the fence about seeking care, it helps to know how a chiropractor in Fort Lauderdale, FL, addresses musculoskeletal pain. These licensed medical professionals don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all solution. By analyzing biomechanical movement patterns, they can pinpoint each patient’s pain source and take a personalized approach to relieving it. 

Key Components of a Chiropractor’s Movement Assessment

Learning about your medical history is a vital first step in treating you. However, providers have to conduct a physical exam before jumping into treatment. Chiropractors will focus on a few major components during this exam, including: 

• Functional mobility and gait assessment: By asking you to stand and walk around the room, practitioners gauge how your condition impacts your balance and mobility. 
• Range-of-motion testing: Experts may move your limbs to determine whether your injury limits your range of motion. 
• Posture evaluation: Chiropractors observe the spine structure and curvature, as well as how your posture affects it. 
• Palpations: Palpating your spine or affected joints allows a chiropractor to feel tense muscles or misaligned vertebrae. 
• Orthopedic and neurological testing for spinal health: These tests help rule out nerve issues and further pinpoint the source of the problem. 

The purpose of a chiropractor’s movement assessment is to determine the scope of one’s physical limitations, formulate a diagnosis, and develop a proper treatment plan. 

What Happens After Your Physical Exam?

In many cases, chiropractors can diagnose your condition and proceed to treat your injury after evaluating your mobility and range of motion. However, some patients may need diagnostic imaging tests to obtain a clear diagnosis. Your chiropractor could order X-rays, MRI scans, and other images to confirm any abnormalities in your musculoskeletal system. 

Once they diagnose the problem, they’ll begin identifying muscle compensation strategies and hands-on treatments to relieve pain. These may include:

• Spinal manipulation
• Spinal decompression therapy
• Soft tissue therapy
• Acupuncture
• Shockwave therapy

Expect a personalized treatment plan that targets the root cause of your pain. You may experience relief immediately after a chiropractic adjustment, or you could require ongoing treatment using different methods to find one that provides lasting relief. 

Stick to your provider’s treatment plan and follow their advice for improving your spinal health. For instance, if your pain is due to poor posture, it will likely continue unless you correct your posture and strengthen your spine. 

Why Movement Evaluations Are so Important in Chiropractic Care

Perhaps you experience chronic pain due to fibromyalgia and receive regular chiropractic adjustments for relief. You might not undergo a chiropractic movement assessment before each treatment since the provider already knows your diagnosis. However, if you suddenly hurt your shoulder and turn to a chiropractor for treatment, they’ll need to evaluate your joint strength. 

Asking about your medical history will uncover some helpful information about your injury. The best way to evaluate your musculoskeletal health and treat your pain is to cover all of the bases in a preliminary exam. Monitoring your gait, posture, range of motion, and more helps narrow down your treatment options. 

If a chiropractor doesn’t perform a physical exam and immediately starts manual therapy, the treatment may not be as effective. Experts should always get a clear understanding of a patient’s health and physical limitations before treating their pain. 

Seek Chiropractic Care From Our Licensed Professionals

Based on a chiropractor’s movement assessment, they may recommend chiropractic adjustments, soft tissue therapy, or other treatments. Come to ChiroCare of Florida if you’re looking for natural, long-lasting pain relief. Our healthcare providers treat everything from sore muscles to whiplash injuries and even pregnancy-related pain. 

Schedule an appointment to see how we can help you. Call (954) 371-0460 to get started.