Lots of energy, no pain and feeling good. That’s the kind of health most Americans want.

Unfortunately, it’s not the reality as more and more people find themselves in some sort of chronic pain with low energy, difficulty sleeping and unable to do the fun activities they wish to do.

The good news is, chiropractic care can help you heal and achieve the kind of health you’re looking for. You will have to take action now and use every tool available with chiropractic care in order to reach that goal.

In this guide we’ll show you how to get started building better health with chiropractic care. Then we’ll get into some specific therapies you can use to feel better and increase your energy.

Build better health in 4 steps

If you implement these four common sense strategies, you’ll be building better health immediately, regardless of your age or current health.

1. Eat better
2. Prioritize sleep
3. Improve posture
4. Exercise

1. Eat better

Focusing on eating better and increasing the amount of nutrition you’re taking in can improve your health drastically. Eating well can improve your immune system, increase your bone health, reduce inflammation and help your body naturally recover from injuries and disease.

2. Prioritize sleep

Sleeping is one of the most underutilized health hacks in America today. Consistent nights with good rest can reduce stress, improve your mood and energy levels, allow you to think clearer and lower your risk for health problems like diabetes and heart disease. Unfortunately, at least 1 out of 3 Americans don’t get enough sleep according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

3. Improve your posture

If you can improve your posture by being aware of how you’re standing, sitting and laying, you might find your health, energy levels and mood are improved. That’s because bad posture can have a ripple effect throughout your body, spine and muscles that can cause pain and impair movement. Be mindful of your posture while using technology as well since things like phones, computers and video games usually inspire the worst posture.

4. Exercise Daily

While you’re already focused on your body, you may as well sign up for some light exercise. The benefits of exercise are heavily researched and documented. For you, a 30 minute walk or bike ride could do the trick. Yoga and swimming are also great options. Exercise will help you to begin building health and feeling better immediately.

Those are some basic ways you can immediately start feeling better. However, chiropractic care has so much more to offer. Read on to learn specifically how chiropractic health can improve your health.

How chiropractic adjustments improve your health

Chiropractic adjustments allow your spine, bones, muscles and entire body to be in natural alignment. When you’re not in alignment, there can be many symptoms, ranging from small (like a nagging hip pain) to big (like severe whiplash). Chiropractic care can improve your overall health by promoting better blood flow, increasing your flexibility, reducing pain and stiffness and improving muscle strength. Many patients are able to reduce and/or eliminate medications and improve their energy levels with chiropractic care.

How acupuncture improves your health

The ancient practice of acupuncture has a long history of improving health by stimulating the central nervous system and causing biochemical changes that stimulate the body’s natural healing process. Researchers also believe that acupuncture may encourage the release of endorphins, which reduce pain.

How clinical nutrition can improve your health

We’ve already covered how nutrition can improve your health. Clinical nutrition goes to the next level by using food and lifestyle changes to balance hormones to improve thyroid, adrenal and pancreas health. Clinical nutrition can also help with chronic pain, inflammation and fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. Dr. Llaird Likens has extensive training and experience with nutrition and can also help you detect any food allergies or sensitivities you have that may be impacting your health.

How trigger point therapy can improve your health

Trigger point therapy is a popular option for anyone suffering from back pain and neck pain. However, trigger point therapy can bring relief to anyone who walks into a chiropractor’s office. That is because this therapy targets any area or muscle that is sensitive to pressure or is linked with pain and stiffness. An experienced chiropractor can apply pressure to those areas in order to release tension, increase blood flow to the area, allowing the body to heal and move naturally which in turn decreases inflammation and irritation.

How myofascial release can improve your health

Myofascial release is a gentle treatment that targets and releases tightness, tension, knots and pain in myofascial tissue throughout the body. Also known as soft tissue treatment, it can ease myofascial pain syndrome or even everyday aches and pain. Myofascial release can improve your health by loosening and stretching your muscles, improving your range of motion, reducing soreness and stiffness and adding to your overall relaxed well being.

How muscle stimulation can improve your health

Muscle stimulation is a non-invasive process that causes muscles to contract and can reduce your discomfort during rehabilitation. Muscle stimulation improves your health by improving blood flow, increasing muscle strength, enhancing the link between the muscle movement and the brain, preventing atrophy and encouraging relaxation which can increase endorphin production.

If you’re looking to optimize your health give the Dr. Llaird Likens team a call to schedule an initial appointment. Dr. Likens is has over 21 years of experience as a chiropractic physician, acupuncturist, clinic director, team chiropractor, and lecturer with focused practice attention to the treatment of veterans, acute and chronic pain, auto injury, sports injury and performance, family chiropractic, injury rehabilitation, corrective spinal care, and health maintenance.

At least 8 out 10 Americans experience back pain in their lives. Are you one of them? Did you know 35% of all patients that go to the chiropractor are looking for treatment for back pain? Chiropractic care is a common remedy for back pain. But how do chiropractors help with back pain?

Today we’re sharing with you five ways that chiropractors help with back pain:

• Find the cause
• Realign the spine
• Soft tissue therapy
• Exercise and nutrition
• Lifestyle changes

If you or someone you love is suffering from back pain, read on so you can decide if chiropractic care is the remedy you need.

Find the cause

Finding the underlying cause of your back pain may be the single biggest benefit of seeing a chiropractor for your back pain. Whereas other treatments may focus on reducing the pain through medication or surgery, your chiropractor will seek to find the root cause of your back pain.

Dr. Llaird Likens will create a treatment plan for you that will involve a host of therapies that will pinpoint the cause of your pain and then work from every angle to get your body back to its healthy natural state. By finding the cause of your back pain, you’ll not only get immediate relief but also prevent it from returning.

Chiropractors are particularly skilled at finding the root cause of back pain because they see the entire body as one and understand the domino effect even the smallest misalignment can have. Other doctors often specialize in one particular area of the body, which can make finding underlying causes for back pain less probable.

Realign the spine

Realigning the spine is key to reducing your back pain since your vertebrae being misaligned is likely the cause of your back pain. The spine can become misaligned many different ways including a fall, a car accident and a sports injury to name a few. The ripple effect from that misalignment often gets worse and worse, causing muscle imbalances and overcompensation, stiffness, soreness and sometimes numbness and tingling.

Patients report immediate relief when having the spine put back into proper alignment. The residual effects of a spinal adjustment are just as important however. Once your spine is in its natural position, your tissues can begin to heal naturally because they’re not under stress, tension and not suffering from reduced blood flow and mobility.

Soft tissue therapy

Soft tissue therapy targets the muscles, tendons and fascia in the body to reduce pain and tension by breaking up adhesions and knots, reducing inflammation, increasing blood flow and improving mobility.

Soft tissue therapy allows the body to relax and reset so that the body can begin to heal naturally.

Exercise and nutrition can reduce back pain

Dr. Likens specializes in clinical nutrition and uses that experience to help patients with back pain. Every patient’s body is biochemically different and therefore responds to food differently. The wrong foods can cause inflammation in your body, which can cause or aggravate back pain. When you seek chiropractic care for your lower back pain, Dr. Likens will work to discover and eliminate foods that cause inflammation in your body.

It’s not just about what not to eat, however. Chiropractic care also involves counseling on what to eat in order to fuel overall strength and healing in the muscle tissue and bones. Research has shown that a higher quality diet is linked with lower back and spinal pain.

Chiropractic care also uses exercise as a way to help you with your back pain. Many times strengthening other parts of your body, such as your abdominals and glutes, can provide relief from back pain. However, your chiropractor will be able to prescribe the right strengthening exercises that will not cause you further injury or increase your back pain. This is important since some common moves can actually make your condition worse.

Lifestyle changes

Lifestyle changes? You might wonder what changing little things about your everyday life has to do with back pain. Understandable!

However, your chiropractor can often take one look at you and know immediately how your posture, the way you sleep and the way you sit are all working together to cause you pain. If you’re suffering from back pain, your chiropractor might make recommendations about your posture, the shoes you wear, the way you sleep and even the amount of stress you have on a daily basis. Stress can lead to back pain as it can cause your muscles to stay tense, which can lead to a number of problems. 

One of the biggest advantages of chiropractic care is that it is non-invasive meaning that you can avoid surgery and medications. If you suffer from chronic back pain, that may sound particularly appealing to you. Dr. Likens has helped many patients reduce pain, avoid surgery and get off of potentially addictive pain medication.

If you are experiencing pain and considering alternative, non-invasive treatment, and you live in Gulf Breeze, Navarre, Midway or Mary Esther, please call us. Dr. Llaird Likens is ready and available to schedule an appointment for you. Heis highly trained and experienced with acupuncture and looks forward to the opportunity to help you feel better.

Choosing a chiropractor can seem like a puzzling decision to make for many reasons. You may not have a lot of experience with chiropractic care. You may also be faced with several options and find yourself facing decision anxiety. And to make it worse, you also may be in pain and need to make a decision quickly. All of these factors can make your decision on which chiropractor is right for you feel a little overwhelming.

Fortunately, this guide will give you five specific tips that will help you choose a great chiropractor. In this article, we’ll cover:

• Experience
• Client Reviews
• Credentials & Specialization
• Consider Insurance Options
• Customer Service

Read on to find tips you can use to choose a chiropractor today.

Experience Makes a Difference

When it comes to your health and wellness, experience matters.

While other medical professionals may rely on specific tests or medications to treat what ails you, chiropractors have a different way of doing things. Chiropractors look for underlying and root causes to whatever problem or symptom is causing you pain and discomfort. The longer a chiropractor has been in serving clients, the more likely they will be able to tell immediately what is wrong and how to fix it.

Furthermore, chiropractors often make referrals to other medical professionals like primary care physicians after finding related issues through an exam or x-rays. Ensuring your chiropractor is experienced can give you peace of mind about your treatment.

What Do The Clients Say?

A great way to decide if a chiropractor is right for you is to look at reviews, testimonials and social media comments. As you are no doubt aware, people on the internet can be brutally honest. In this instance, that works to your favor.

When looking over reviews, key in on the client experience, the treatment process, the results and the professionalism of the chiropractor. 

In many cases, chiropractors will offer testimonials so you can see and hear exactly how the treatment worked, the timeline of treatment and, of course, the results of that treatment. Testimonials are especially helpful because they go deeper than the reviews and you might even be able to relate with similar symptoms or challenges. You can find testimonials on websites, social media or even YouTube.

Chiropractic Credentials

Chiropractors have extensive education, testing, licensing and continuing education requirements. What sets chiropractors apart, then, can be their specialization and experience.

For example, Dr. Llaird Likens has been practicing over 21 years and has over 800 postgraduate hours of continued education. He has credentials and certifications in areas including acupuncture, applied kinesiology, clinical nutrition, personal, work and auto injuries.  Dr. Likens uses manual spinal manipulation as well as trigger point therapy and instrument-assisted soft tissue therapy, using them based on patient need.

Most chiropractors will happily present their education and certifications when asked, though you might be able to find the information easily on their website. Ensuring the chiropractor you choose has the proper credentials and specialization that you require is a great step to take before making an appointment.

Chiropractor Insurance Options

Chiropractic self-pay has grown steadily as insurance has gotten more complicated and patients have realized the benefit chiropractic care can have on their overall health. However, there are many instances when insurance is the best option to pay for chiropractic care.

For example, if you’ve been in an auto-accident, you might have insurance that can cover your chiropractic care. Likewise, if you’ve been in a work-related accident, you can often receive chiropractic care through your benefits. In fact, Dr. Likens has extensive experience rendering impairment ratings which represent the degree to which an employee has been permanently impaired by an injury in the workplace.

The Veterans Administration (VA) also provides insurance for chiropractic care, acupuncture and massage.

Be sure to check with any potential chiropractor before making your appointment to see if they participate with your insurance provider. Dr. Likens accepts many insurance options and is proudly a VA Community Care provider.

Customer Service Matters

When you’re already in pain, you certainly don’t want to have to deal with poor customer service. Before you book your appointment, you might consider researching both the chiropractor and their staff to see if they are friendly, courteous and professional.

One way to do this is to see what the experience is during an initial phone call or interview. Reading reviews may also provide insight into the customer service process. You may also be able to tell how a particular practice deals with clients if they have a web or social media presence.

For example, read over this review on Google from Devonne for the Navarre Chiropractic Center:

“This is by far the absolute best chiropractor office!! The entire staff is wonderful! They are so friendly and accommodating. You will not find any other chiropractor in this area that compares to them! The doctors are excellent, professional and caring. I feel like I’ve known them for years! Thank you all for your kindness and care for us!”

Choosing the right chiropractor can make or break your healing process. With the right doctor, you’ll feel at ease and find relief quickly. Be sure to look into the experience, credentials, reviews, insurance options and customer service of any potential chiropractor you’re thinking of booking an appointment with.

Dr. Llaird Likens has been serving Northwest Florida including Gulf Breeze, Navarre, Midway, Mary Esther for 21 years and has helped hundreds of victims of car accidents. He offers affordable self-pay options. If you’re in pain or looking to improve your health, give us a call today and we’ll be happy to answer your questions!

Using pain medication over an extended period of time can mask symptoms and may prevent effective healing. Chiropractic care offers natural pain relief and can help address underlying musculoskeletal issues, reducing the need for long-term pain medication use. Learn more about the benefits of chiropractic care for pain management.

Have you ever asked yourself: “Why am I not getting better?”

The answer may be because you are on pain medication. 

In many cases, patients with chronic pain visit a chiropractor because they are not getting better using traditional medicine methods. 

The good news is that Dr. Llaird Likens can help you even if you’ve been on medication for your pain for a while. 

In order to feel better, we must understand that pain medications can keep you from getting better for three reasons:

• Certain pain medications can slow the healing process 
• Pain medications treat the symptom of pain, not the cause of pain
• Pain medication can mask the actual problem, allowing it to get worse 

How pain medications can slow the healing process

Did you know your body uses inflammation in the healing process? Yes, inflammation is part of the body’s first aid kit. Inflammation is the process of the body expanding the blood capillaries in order to increase the blood flow which circulates important immune system cells like antibodies, proteins and other fluids straight to the injury. This swelling at the site of the injury also protects the damaged tissues as they heal. 

Unfortunately, most pain medications are anti-inflammatory. That means they may mask the pain or make you feel better in the moment, but they can delay the chances and the process of healing your injury all together.

Why pain medications are not the answer for long-term pain relief

If the pain medication is masking the actual pain, you can see how it can be nearly impossible to actually solve the problem causing the pain. If you do not heal the problem causing the pain today, you’re certainly unable to stop the pain that comes tomorrow.

How pain medications may be leading to more pain

When pain medications block the symptom of pain, you may not feel when your injury becomes worse. You might move or stretch in a way that aggravates the problem causing your pain, making it worse. Overtime, your injury can compound into something terrible because you have never dealt with whatever is causing it in the first place.

Additionally, as an injury or source of pain goes untreated, it can have domino effects in related or nearby muscles, bones and joints causing even more pain.

Fortunately, chiropractic care is a great option when you’re feeling pain, particularly when it comes to muscle, bone or joint pain. Chiropractors are a great option for patients on pain medication because of two reasons:

• They are uniquely suited to discover the root of the pain
• Their remedies and solutions are non-invasive and do not require medication or surgery

Why you should see a chiropractor if you’re on pain medication

If you’ve been on pain medication for quite some time but not feeling any better, you should consider seeing a chiropractor. Chiropractors look for the root cause of pain in order to prescribe treatment options.

Many times chronic muscle or joint pain is caused by a misalignment in the spine. That misalignment can have a number of domino effects that cause imbalance, pain and stress on your body. In fact, Dr. Likens can often tell exactly where you’re feeling pain by your posture. 

When you come in to see Dr. Likens, you’ll have a full exam and he will root out the cause of your pain and also explain what is going on with your body to you. Many patients find this to be quite the relief because it may be the first time someone has truly understood how and why they are suffering.

Let your body heal naturally

By finding the root cause of your pain, a chiropractor is able to eventually stop the pain at the source and patients will often wean themselves off of pain medication altogether. Only by stopping the source of pain can you potentially end the pain altogether. 

After finding the root cause of your problem, Dr. Likens has a variety of therapies he can apply to treat your particular injury or problem area. Those treatments can include manual manipulation, massage, acupuncture, strength exercises, stretches and more. Patients often receive a combination of these treatment types as part of their overall wellness plan.

Sometimes these treatments last for a few weeks or months and sometimes they need to be applied over a lifetime. Because the treatments are natural and non-invasive, many patients choose them over a life sentence to pain medication.

If you have been taking pain medications but have not seen your health or injury improve, give Dr. Llaird Likens a call. Dr. Likens has been treating residents and visitors of Gulf Breeze, Navarre, Midway or Mary Esthe for 18 years and looks forward to the opportunity to help you feel better.