“It’s fine!” Is it though?
I get it, because I hear it from patients all of the time… It's so easy to normalize aches and pains because they don't bother you 100% of the time, and you can still do most of what you want to do most of the time.
But realistically, you don't have to spend your whole life hoping that you will not wake up with the ache or pain that's been bothering you on and off for the longest time. Getting that ache or pain taken care of early on can help you have better results long term. Plus, it would be great if it didn’t bother you at all, which, in my opinion, is better than bothering you some of the time.
You know that I'm already going to tell you that seeing your favorite chiropractor (hopefully you’ll come see me!) can help you get past these aches and pains for good. Chiropractic care can help you feel better in the short term, but also feel better for the long haul.
Now let's talk about seven things that you've likely normalized for way too long. These seven things are what I hear from my patients during their first appointments over and over again.
Your hip always feels like it needs to pop.
You twist it. You stretch it. You do that little leg thing. Relief lasts approximately 7 minutes. And then it's back to feeling like it needs to pop, or while you're working out, you feel like you need to twist, stretch, and do the leg thing multiple times to get it back to feeling good.
You stretch your low back constantly...
If you're someone who feels like you are constantly stretching your low back in all the ways, but somehow it’s tight again by the end of the day… I’m talking to you.
Stretching and moving your back around feels good, but you keep having to stretch it again and again and again. Your workout warm-up, or the moment that you stand up from a chair, should not be full of stretching out your back for 5 minutes, especially if there's pain associated with it.
You can still work out... technically.
This is one that I hear from a lot of my sports performance clients and clients who are athletes and weekend warriors. They can still do the thing that they love, but they always find that they are:
modifying something
avoiding something
or wondering... “Is this supposed to hurt?”
Honestly, it is never supposed to hurt. Hurt and muscles working hard are two different things. If you are feeling actual pain during sports movements and during your workouts, that is not something that is typical or something you have to just deal with. There are solutions, and you do not need to feel that way.
Sitting and standing are problematic.
Sitting too long bothers you but standing too long bothers you, too. Now you’re basically rotating between positions hoping one doesn’t stiffen you up.
You might feel like when you're standing, your back is tired and tight, and when you're sitting, it just feels like you don't have the muscle support to keep your back upright. You end up folding over in half at your desk and then wondering why your back hurts later on, or, unfortunately, why your neck starts to hurt.
Sitting and standing are basic positions that should not be painful. I will not tell you that you need to be able to stand or sit for hours at a time. That is not ideal, but you should be able to do both and go between each one without feeling like you need to do an entire warm-up and cool-down routine beforehand or afterward.
You’ve been told you’re “just tight.”
you try the stretching routines, you try the warm-ups, and you keep feeling like you are just tight. That is also echoed to you by people that you know on social media, etc.
But the same problem keeps coming back and it feels like it's related to your body being too tight to do what it needs to do in order to move well.
Or you feel like you've crushed that little spot in the back of your shoulder blades for hours, have relief for 5 minutes, and then that knot is back again.
Sometimes you don’t need more flexibility. You need better strength, control, and movement options.
And if I'm being honest with you, all of this stretching and mobility work in the world will not solve this problem because your body does not feel safe in those new ranges of motion. It's just going to continue tightening up to protect you
You've tried modalities, and they didn't work, so you just gave up.
You’ve tried the massage.... The adjustment. The stretching. Maybe even PT.
And some of it helped...but you still don’t really understand: Why does this keep happening? you figured that going to the place and checking the box will ensure that you absolutely will feel better. Unfortunately, that's not the way that it always works.
So you don't have to keep telling people, "Yes, I've tried that." You definitely may have tried that, but maybe you just didn't find the provider that will help you specifically.
that's something that I feel like sets me apart when I treat my patients. I don't just care about the question, "Where does it hurt?" I really want to know, "Why does your body keep ending up here?"
What’s the bottom line?
Treatment shouldn’t just be: Feel bad → get adjusted → feel better → repeat forever.
While that sounds like it might be a good solution, it is reactive care, and it mimics the rest of our healthcare system, which I'm sure, like most people I work with, you are frustrated with already.
Treatment should be evidence-based and include strategies that are going to help you actually treat the root cause and feel better for the long haul, not just immediately after the treatment or the few weeks following that.
Treatment also should focus on looking at your lifestyle and activities that you're doing outside of the clinic. If I only ever work on squats in the clinic, but you deadlift all the time, and the deadlift is what's causing the issue long term, then I haven't done my job. Of course, I always look at everything because without doing so, I'd be doing you a disservice.
Evidence based treatment includes:
soft tissue & manual therapy
mobility
strength
movement strategy
Your body needs to have more options than just going back to the same irritated pattern.
Where to find chiropractic care in Manhattan's Flatiron District and beyond
If you read this whole blog post and couldn’t stop thinking... “This is me!”
Then you’re exactly who I created this style of care for.
Less crack & go. More strategy. More evidence-based care that helps you feel better for the long term and doesn't make you dependent on me for the rest of your life
At Cruz Chiropractic Wellness, we offer in-office chiropractic care in Midtown Manhattan and concierge chiropractic care in NYC designed to treat the actual cause of what you're dealing with, not just the symptoms.
Not located in NYC? I also have virtual chiropractic options.
We'll figure out the root cause of your hip tightness, and then the goal will be to alleviate that tightness long-term, not just for the hour or so after you do all that foam rolling and stretching.
Book a free 15-minute virtual consult and let's talk through what you're dealing with.
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