ON Chiropractic
Why Chiropractic and Exercise are a
Powerful Combination
C
hiropractors and their patients
across Ontario understand that
chiropractic is a highly effective
way to treat the causes and symptoms of
dysfunction in the body. Chiropractors
know that therapeutic approaches like
patient education and exercise are powerful
tools and central to chiropractic. Dr. Takes
raised the example of a herniated disc to
make this point. With pain and tissue
injury inhibiting muscles, a progressive set
of core exercises is essential to complement
chiropractic care throughout the treatment
plan of that disc herniation. The role of
exercise changes as the patient progresses
through their recovery. “You have to
graduate them through the treatment plan,”
Dr. Takes said. “The patient only progresses
to the next level of exercise once they’ve
shown that they are proficient in technique,
posture and endurance.”
Dr. Takes recommends adding in more
exercise as the patient improves. Stretching
and static muscle re-education exercises are
more the focus during the inflammatory
treatment phase. Stability exercises are
brought in as you progress through the
mobility phase and are gradually mixed
with strengthening exercises. As the patient
progresses, the level and complexity of the
exercises should progress as well. It is up to
individual chiropractors to determine with
their patients when this moment has been
reached to transition from treatment to a
maintenance program. Ex