Active care is a type of rehabilitation that is designed to stabilize the progress patients have made through their chiropractic treatments, and to reduce the chance that pain will return. It’s similar in principle to how many people need to wear a retainer after their braces are removed from their teeth in order to keep teeth properly aligned, and reduce the chance they will move out of position. Much like a retainer, active care ensures that the progress made through chiropractic treatments is not undone.

Typically, active care treatments in the form of exercise that are customized for each patient. It helps with pain and allows patients to achieve balance in their bodies by facilitating underactive muscles and achieving efficient movement patterns. Just like the name implies, active care means the patient is taking an active role in their treatment. This is accomplished by performing exercises “prescribed” by the chiropractor.

While the chiropractor will perform treatment on the patient when they are in the office, they will also teach the patient active release therapy techniques and exercises that they can do at home. Active care exercises are designed to improve strength, stability, mobility and flexibility.

Patients are encouraged to perform these exercises on their own to help build strength, and begin to correct any issues in their bodies that are causing pain. These at-home exercise are performed in addition to a patient’s regular chiropractic treatments and spinal correction plan.

Active care can help alleviate a variety of issues in patients, including:

  • Relief for back pain.
  • Relieve muscle pain.
  • Relief for leg cramps.
  • To relieve neck pain.
  • Help prevent muscle spasms.

Some common causes of pain are skeletal misalignment or a result of muscles and connective tissue that are not quite where they should be. This can lead to other types of pain, like the ones mentioned above. Over time, repeated wear and tear on improperly aligned muscles and tissues can cause injury.

That’s where active care exercises can come into play. Targeted active care exercises performed under the supervision of an experienced chiropractor can help relieve back pain, neck pain and headaches, and prevent injuries from happening in the first place. Not only can these exercises help patients decrease pain and increase a patient’s overall feeling of well-being, but they can also help patients achieve balance and health in their body, and prolong the effectiveness of chiropractic treatments.