What should I be doing after chiropractic treatment?

After your first chiropractic visit it normally helps to stay gently active. Our muscles and joints like to be kept moving even if it is sore to do so. Often you will find that the discomfort eases with moderate movement and gets worse with lying or sitting still. It is usually OK to go to the gym, go swimming or go to an exercise class as long as you work out gently. You may find that walking is helpful – there are a surprising number of nice short walks around Moorgate, Liverpool Street, Bank and the rest of the City of London for a chiropractic patient to take!

In the first few days after an injury it is usually better to cool the area down by using an ice pack rather than heat. It is common for the injured area to be inflamed and hot so adding more heat only makes matters worse. A pack of frozen peas is OK but a flexible cool pack is better as they stay cold for longer and are soft when frozen. These are available at the clinic. Wrap the pack in a thin cloth or tissue and leave it on for 10 minutes every hour.

You may want to take prescribed or over the counter medication. Anti-inflammatory drugs and pain killers can be helpful and our onsite GP can advise what is best; alternatively there are plenty of pharmacies in Moorgate, Liverpool Street and Bank.

What should I avoid doing after treatment?

Avoid strenuous activity or long periods of inactivity. The occasional sit down or lie down is OK but get up and move around in between. If you have a job that involves lots of sitting then get up every half an hour and move around. Avoid long periods staring at a computer screen too. If you have to go on a long car journey then take break every hour and walk around.

Avoid carrying heavy loads by yourself. Avoid tasks that involve lots of bending and twisting.

Will I feel sore afterwards?

About one in ten people will feel a little sore after treatment. This is normal and usually goes away in a day or two. Others feel the symptoms moving to different parts of the body. For example pain in the low back may felt on the other side, higher up or lower down. The pain may be sharper and more noticeable. This too is normal. It is the joints and muscles responding to treatment in much the same way as they do after any unaccustomed activity like going to the gym or going for a run. The gyms around us in Moorgate, Liverpool Street, Bank and the City of London usually have personal trainers who will be very happy to help and advise on a return to exercise.

Most of the time, however, you will just feel some improvement after treatment.