Chiropractic care for chest pain?

Have you ever had chest pain? If so, you know that it can feel very scary– and the first thing most people assume is, “I’m having a heart attack.” There’s cardiac-related chest pain, which means something’s not right with the heart and its arteries. But then there’s also “mechanical” chest pain. This is where the bones and/or joints of the chest and middle back are not functioning properly. A person feels pain because nerves have been irritated. Mechanical chest pain is often the result of a person’s poor posture, their working at a computer all day, and/or trauma, such as car accidents.

For those with chest pain, it’s important for a cardiologist to first check you out. If they determine your pain is not heart-related, then it’s time to explore options regarding mechanical chest pain.

One of the ways to deal with mechanical chest pain is through chiropractic care. In clinical research, one particular patient had chronic chest pain, along with trouble breathing and anxiety for over four months. The pain was so bad that he couldn’t work at his job and even had a hard time doing physical activities most of us take for granted on a daily basis. This 49-year-old man received chiropractic care for his chest pain. Mechanical force was done through manually assisted short-lever chiropractic adjustment of the thoracic spine, with an emphasis on the area where the ribs meet the breast bone on the front of the chest. Chiropractic care over the course of 14 weeks got rid of the chest pain, and even when he did his 9 month follow-up appointment, he was still feeling good.

Similarly, another test case involved a man’s chiropractic adjustment of both his spine and his sternum-rib complex, which lead to the pain going away.

Basically, chiropractors like Dr. Gerard of Lakewoods Chiropractic, look to relieve “vertebral subluxations,” which are areas where something’s wrong with nerves and muscles. These subluxations can be found in many parts of the body, including anywhere two bones come together– such as the chest.

If you’ve been experiencing chest pain that’s not going away and you want to take a drug-free approach to healing, make an appointment with Dr. Gerard at Lakewoods Chiropractic. Please call the Lakewoods clinic at 651-464-0800 to make an appointment.