Can Chiropractic Care Help My Asthma?

When many of us think about chiropractic care, we think of seeking a way to alleviate back or neck pain. While this is a big component of the practice, the goal of chiropractic care is actually to improve and maintain overall health and wellbeing. When you visit Des Moines chiropractor Dr. Paige Roth, she will see all parts of your health as interconnected and use her ability to realign the spine to improve a number of conditions. In fact, many people who suffer from allergies or asthma are able to find relief through chiropractic.

What Is Asthma?

Asthma currently affects 36 million people across the globe, and most of us know someone with the condition. This is because it has been increasing in prevalence in recent years, to the point where it is one of the most common chronic issues there is. The impact of having asthma can range from a mild inconvenience to debilitating and life-altering.

Asthma primarily affects the pathways that allow air to flow through your lungs and throat, as they become chronically inflamed and constricted. This can make it difficult to breathe for long periods of time, causing heavy and painful wheezing. Asthma can be present in people of any age, though it shows up most often in children.

How Asthma Is Treated

The most common forms of treatment for asthma are breathing treatments and medications, often administered through inhalers that return the airways to their normal size. These tools can effectively end an asthma attack and allow the user to begin breathing normally again, which is vital in the moment. If asthma worsens, some people will begin use of heavier corticosteroids to manage their breathing.  Like any medicine, they can come with side effects.

Asthma can be a sign of something functioning incorrectly in the body, and while medicine addresses the symptoms that arise from the dysfunction, chiropractic care works to find the root cause of the asthma and manage it.

Chiropractic Care for Asthma

Dr. Paige Roth focuses on misalignments in the spine that can cause dysfunction in the central nervous system. When these are present, nerve communication is impacted and bodily processes, like breathing, can break down. By performing gentle adjustments that realign the spine, chiropractors are able to enhance the function of the central nervous system and improve the body’s ability to perform normal functions, like breathing.

A number of studies show that people suffering from asthma are likely to benefit from undergoing chiropractic care. In one case study, a 3-year-old boy has had asthma since his birth, leading to multiple weekly attacks; one month of specific chiropractic treatment led to a decrease in his symptoms, and his asthma eventually resolved completely. These adjustments were also shown to work in an 18-year-old with trauma-induced asthma who underwent care for issues caused by an injury to the vertebrae.

If you are struggling with asthma, chiropractic care may offer relief. At True Roots Chiropractic, we aim to return your body to optimal functioning, including your ability to breathe easy. Schedule your first office visit today to see how Des Moines chiropractic care can help you.