Adults

What is Arthritis?

ParallelAdmin2025-07-17T16:40:13+00:00July 17th, 2025|Adults, General, Health, Seniors, Wellness|

What is arthritis?

In Latin, “arthro-“ means “joint” and “–it is” means “inflammation,” so together arthritis means inflammation of a joint. Two common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Osteoarthritis (OA): Often referred to as degenerative joint disease, OA is primarily due to the wear and tear of cartilage, leading to pain, swelling, and decreased joint mobility.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA): An autoimmune disorder where the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues, leading to joint inflammation and damage.

Chiropractors can provide drug-free, non-invasive treatments to manage arthritis. Here’s how:

Arthritis in middle-aged individuals

For middle-aged individuals, the early stages of arthritis often present as occasional joint pain and stiffness. At this stage, chiropractors can help by:

Assessing and Diagnosing Early:
- Chiropractors conduct comprehensive history and physical assessments to detect early signs of arthritis.
- Imaging and other diagnostic tools may be used to better understand the extent of joint involvement.
Creating Customized Treatment Plans that may include:
- Joint Manipulation: Gentle manipulations (commonly referred to as “adjustments”) to improve joint mobility and reduce pressure on affected areas, enhancing functionality and reducing pain.
- Soft Tissue Therapy: Techniques such as massage and myofascial release to alleviate muscle tension and improve blood flow to the affected joints and surrounding musculature.
- Physical Rehabilitation: Forms of exercise therapy that may involve resistance training, mobility work, and/or stretching to improve joint health and the functional capacity of your supporting muscles
- Lifestyle and Ergonomic Advice: Guidance on ergonomic modifications at work and home to minimize joint strain.
Discussing Preventive Measures:
- Encouraging regular, low-impact exercise to maintain joint health.

Advising on weight management to reduce stress on weight-bearing joints.

Arthritis in older adults

For older adults, arthritis symptoms can be more pronounced. Chiropractic care can significantly improve quality of life by:

Education
Pain Management:
- Joint manipulation to help manage chronic pain, improve posture, and enhance mobility.
- Consider use of modalities such as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), and heat/cold applications to reduce pain and inflammation.
Enhancing Mobility and Function:
- Developing exercise programs tailored to improve joint flexibility and strength without exacerbating symptoms.
- Balance and coordination exercises to reduce the risk of falls and related injuries.
Holistic Approach:
- Nutritional counseling to support joint health, focusing on anti-inflammatory diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals.
- Stress management techniques, including mindfulness and relaxation exercises, to reduce overall body tension and improve mental well-being.
Integrative/Inter-professional Care: Chiropractors often work alongside other healthcare professionals to provide comprehensive care for arthritis patients.^[2]This might include:
- Rheumatologist: Ensuring that patients receive appropriate pharmacological treatments alongside chiropractic care.
- Occupational therapist: Arthritis Canada explains, “An occupational therapist trained in arthritis management can analyze everything you do in a day and develop a program to help you protect your joints and minimize fatigue.”
- Dietician: To advise on dietary plans that support joint health and help patients reach their health goals, such as keeping your weight up or down, or understanding how medications interact with the foods you eat.

Chiropractors are uniquely positioned to offer comprehensive, non-invasive support to arthritis patients through all stages in life. With personalized care plans, preventive strategies, and an integrative approach, chiropractors can help manage symptoms, improve quality of life, and promote long-term joint health. By addressing both the physical and lifestyle aspects of arthritis, chiropractic care can be an effective component in the holistic management of this common and challenging condition.

Heat vs. ice: which works best for treating injuries?

Alberta College and Association of Chiropractors2025-06-19T20:20:40+00:00June 19th, 2025|Adults, General, Health, Healthy Lifestyle, Healthy Living, Wellness|

Heat vs. Ice … It may sound like the title of an upcoming blockbuster movie, but it’s a question most active people have mulled over during their life after they’ve sustained an injury. Like most dilemmas, there isn’t really an easy answer to this question. Whether to treat an injury with a hot pad or an ice pack depends largely on the situation.

Ice

How cooling an injury works

Applying ice or a cold pack works by reducing blood flow and pain sensation to a particular area. Cooling an injured area, especially a tendon or joint, can reduce inflammation and swelling that causes pain.

When is it best to apply ice to my injury?

Ice is meant to calm down damaged surface tissues that are inflamed, red, hot and swollen. Think of icing as a way to simply dull the pain, and reduce inflammation, nothing more or nothing less. Ice therapy is most beneficial in the first 24-72 hours of sustaining an injury.

After you’ve sustained your injury, you should aim to apply ice to the inflamed area as soon as possible.

Use cold therapy for short periods of time, several times a day.

It’s important not to treat an area with ice for too long. Ten to fifteen minutes is fine, but no more than 20 minutes of cold therapy should be used at a time.

Also, don’t cool an area to the point where you are shivering. If you are already shivering, you should discontinue applying ice until you warm up. The brain interprets an excess of cold as a threat and when the brain thinks there’s something wrong going on it may actually amp up your area of pain as a defense mechanism.

How to apply cooling therapy

Before you apply ice or a cooling pack to the injured area, always make sure there is some sort of barrier between the ice and your skin. Whether it be a Ziploc bag or a washcloth, it’s imperative that the barrier exists. Applying ice directly on the skin can cause damage to the skin and tissues.

Heat

How applying heat to an injury works

Heat therapy works by improving circulation and blood flow to a particular area. Heating an affected area can soothe discomfort, increase muscle flexibility and help heal damaged tissue.

When is it best to apply heat to my injury?

Heat therapy is most effective for sore muscles, chronic pain and repetitive stress injuries. A comfortable, not scalding, heat can take the edge off symptoms like muscle aching and stiffness. Heat can be most beneficial 36-72 hours after the injury is sustained.

How to apply heat therapy

When applying heat therapy to a small, afflicted area you could use small heated gel packs or a hot water bottle.

There are certain cases where heat therapy should not be used. If the area is bruised or swollen, it may be better to use an ice pack. Heat therapy also shouldn’t be applied to an area with an open wound.

Heat therapy, unlike cold therapy, is most beneficial when used for long periods of time.

Minor stiffness can benefit with only 15 to 20 minutes of heat therapy. Moderate to severe pain can benefit from longer sessions of heat therapy lasting between 30 minutes and two hours.

When to see a chiropractor
Whether you go the ice or heat route, both treatments are meant only to mask the discomfort of your injury. If your pain hasn’t subsided after a few days of either heat or cold treatment seek advice from a chiropractor.