HOW TO GET YOUR ADJUSTMENTS TO LAST LONGER
Wanting to support your body after your adjustments? Increase time between adjustments? Feel like the tension, stiffness, and soreness is coming back too soon?
Here are ways you can help set your body up for success:
It all starts as soon as you get your adjustment.
A chiropractic adjustment restores motion, alignment, and neurological function of a specific joint.
The goal is to keep that joint moving how it should, not letting it fall back into the same pattern that it’s been in (stuck, inflamed, compromising function).
It’s our job as your chiropractors to properly assess your spine and deliver a specific adjustment that you need at the time. When you are in our office, the health of your spine is our job (and we love it!).
BUT...
As soon as you get adjusted and walk out our doors, it’s your responsibility to set up your spine for success!
The first thing you can do is WALK!
That’s right, walk for 5-10 minutes before you get back into your car and drive home.
Taking a few minutes to walk and keep motion in your joints helps your body solidify the adjustment and learn a new muscle memory.
Take a lap around the block, walk around our parking lot, walk down the halls of our building. We don’t care, we just want you to MOVE!
NOW ONCE YOU GET HOME:
HYDRATE!
We’re talking water, herbal teas, bone broth, electrolyte drinks.
Your body needs proper hydration in order to function at its best.
You need a little extra after adjustments. Why?
Because your body stores toxins in the crossfibers that are restricting your joints. So when we adjust and restore movement to that joint, those toxins get released.
Hydrate to flush them out and not let them linger in your body.
This is especially important for long-standing subluxations (misalignments) of your spine and when there’s a lot of inflammation!
ICE!
It’s normal for the areas we adjust to have some residual soreness. We’re restoring motion to areas that haven’t been moving, it’s a big adjustment for your body (pun intended).
Every area that we adjust in your spine has inflammation associated with it. That’s part of the criteria for us choosing to adjust an area.
One way that the inflammation gets reduced is by restoring motion to the joint through the adjustment and allowing for that joint to pump the inflammation out.
Another way to help reduce that inflammation is through ice!
Ice for 20 minutes (no more!) every hour as needed.
I promise you’ll feel the difference!
EAT NUTRIENT DENSE FOOD
Fueling your body with foods that are going to support healing, growth, and proper function is critical.
Fueling your body with highly processed, inflammatory, artificial foods is doing you no favors.
A rule of thumb to follow is filling your diet with as many whole foods as possible. The longer the ingredient lists are, the more processed and artificial foods are.
Some great nutrient dense foods to add into your diets are liver (supplements count!), eggs, sardines, red meat, and bone broth (homemade is a bonus)!
PRIORITIZE SLEEP
Sleep is when your body can heal, repair tissues, grow, store memories and reset from your day.
Without good sleep–both time and quality, your body won’t be able to heal and store your adjustments properly.
Signs that you’re not getting good quality sleep: mouth breathing, jaw tension, muscle soreness in the morning, waking up tired, or struggling to stay asleep.
DON’T STAY PUT FOR TOO LONG
Movement will continue to be your friend after you get home too!
A good rule of thumb is to get up and move–walk, stretch, do some cat-cows for a couple minutes every hour.
Also, avoid lounging on super soft chairs, couches, beds, for an extended period of time. This will put additional strain on your back and cause your muscles to work overtime to stabilize your back!
TRY THESE OUT TO GET BETTER RESULTS WITH YOUR ADJUSTMENTS!