How Chiropractic Care Assists Addiction Recovery

Chiropractic Care

Chiropractic care is a safe, all-natural medical treatment with various benefits for physical and emotional health. While many people associate chiropractic care with spinal health, it offers a variety of other benefits. One of these benefits is its use as part of a comprehensive addiction treatment plan.

Living with Addiction

Addiction is one of the most difficult challenges anyone can face. Medically speaking, addiction is chronic brain system dysfunction. It develops because someone experiences a reward from doing a particular action (drinking, using drugs, shopping, gambling, etc.) and is then motivated to do it again and again, even if there are negative consequences.

Addiction has physical and emotional health components. Someone with an addiction is likely to:

• Display a lack of self-control
• Dismiss or ignore that their actions cause problems
• Have an ever-increasing desire for the substance or behavior
• Inability to regulate emotions

Addiction tends to occur in cycles. People with addiction experience relapse and remission. Over time, addictions tend to worsen and cause permanent health consequences. Recovery is possible, but managing an addiction is an ongoing effort.

The Role of Chiropractic Care in Addiction Recovery

There are many tools available to help people with addiction. Chiropractic care is one of these tools. It is an excellent addition to most treatment plans and improves overall health in many ways.

The goal of chiropractic care is to improve both physical and mental health. One of the best ways it does this is by reducing stress, a major contributing factor to drug addiction and relapse.

Stressful events are often a trigger for substance use or addictive behaviors. Healthily coping with high stress levels and anxiety is essential to managing an addiction. Chiropractic treatments help you relax by activating the parasympathetic nervous system.

Chiropractic care also improves the recovery experience. Injuries are often a part of addiction. Chiropractic adjustments help your body heal without the need for drugs and other substances. It’s a healthier way of dealing with pain management, whether it was pain that initially led to the development of addiction or it’s a reason for relapse. Chiropractic treatment improves your body’s natural functions and decreases pain.

The Impact of Chiropractic Care on Mental Health

Chiropractic care improves mental health. Treatments reduce stress levels, promote relaxation, and help you enjoy better sleep. Chiropractic care promotes general wellness, an important part of addiction treatment and recovery.

Healthy people understand their needs and recognize how good it feels to maintain sobriety and take responsibility for their health. Regular chiropractic appointments are a great way to check in with how you’re feeling in a low-stress environment focused on your health and well-being.

Addressing Physical Ailments Associated with Addiction

Recovery can be a physically painful experience. Learning to manage that pain healthily without relapsing is essential to recovery.

Chiropractic treatment benefits people who must avoid prescription drugs during their recovery. It offers a drug-free option for managing the pain often accompanying addiction and substance abuse. Whether you developed an addiction because of a painful injury you needed to manage or you developed injuries throughout your drug addiction or due to withdrawal, chiropractic care offers a drug-free option for dealing with pain.

Supporting a Collaborative Approach to Addiction Treatment

It’s proven that a collaborative approach is more successful than not in recovery. Chiropractic care is an essential part of a collaborative approach to treating addiction and substance abuse. It offers a better option for supporting people with complex conditions and improves practices and policies involved in addiction treatment over time.

One study proved that the benefits of collaborative care in addiction treatment are undeniable. An addiction treatment program that includes regular follow-up visits, medication-assisted treatment when appropriate, psychosocial interventions, case management, and holistic treatments, including chiropractic care, are essential features of a successful treatment program.

The JAMA Internal Medicine study mentioned above compared half of the participants using a collaborative approach to treatment with the other half using standard care. During six months, more participants receiving coordinated care remained sober from alcohol and opioids.

Conclusion

Addiction is one of the most difficult health challenges someone can face. A collaborative approach that includes chiropractic care and other holistic treatments supports long-term addiction remission.

Dr. Eric Neumann D.C.

Dr. Eric Neumann grew up in Alberta, Canada where he majored in Chemistry at the University of Calgary. During his time at University, he obtained licensure as a Massage Therapist. It was clear that hands-on healing would be his calling. After suffering multiple sport-related injuries he became interested in Chiropractic. Dr. Neumann graduated from Western States Chiropractic College in 2009. He has since specialized in the treatment and management of acute spinal injuries.