With Memorial Day just past, we may still be reflecting upon our loved ones in the armed forces who gave their lives in service to this country. It also serves as an excellent reminder that we have an obligation to our current veterans to provide them with the best possible health care upon their return from duty.

Dr. Nathen Horst believes that one of the best ways to do just this is to show the benefits of chiropractic care for vets, who often have special needs as a result of their years of active duty service. What exactly are the special needs of vets that chiropractic may be able to address, and how can it help do so?

Chronic Back, Neck, and Shoulder Pain

Our active duty service people are expected to be in peak physical condition to endure the rigors of being in harsh environments.

Unfortunately, many service people suffer from chronic back, neck, and shoulder issues that can plague them long after they are out of the military. This pain may be due to the military backpack that all service people are required to carry while on active duty.

A standard issue military backpack weighs in at approximately 135 pounds, but it doesn’t stop there. Depending upon the soldier’s specific job within their unit, they may need to haul extra equipment, which can range from communications gear, to ammo, to surveillance equipment.

Next, add on a flak jacket, which weighs approximately 30 pounds, as well as gallon sized jugs of water (particularly important in harsh desert environments, such as Iraq and Afghanistan).

Finally, there may be certain circumstances under which military personnel may need to bear even more weight, such as helping a wounded comrade, which often also involves carrying their gear.

Traumatic Brain Injury and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are both all too common among returning vets. Current estimates are than 15 percent of vets suffer from traumatic brain injury, and 30 percent suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Unfortunately, both of these disorders are often not detected until long after the vet has returned home from active duty.

Traumatic brain injuries that are particularly common among vets are concussive injuries resulting from blast explosions. The most common symptoms can be hearing loss, as well as memory, speech, and cognitive impairment.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is a psychological condition in which the vet relives a particularly traumatic moment of service. Symptoms can range from nightmares, to flashbacks, to sweats, to violent mood swings, to disassociation.

How Can Chiropractic Care Help?

To understand how chiropractic care can help vets, it is important to understand the basis upon which all chiropractic care is built, which is the spine, or more specifically, the vertebrae.

If the vertebrae are shifted out of proper alignment, they can place pressure on the nerves leading out through the vertebrae to the various organs and systems of the body. This pressure on the nerves interferes with proper signaling to and from the brain, via the spinal cord, leading to any number of illnesses and symptoms of injury. It may also lead to chronic pain and debilitation.

In order to overcome this misalignment, Dr. Horst will gently open up space between the vertebrae in order to slip them back into proper alignment. This is known as an adjustment and can be done with either his hands or the assistance of a special adjusting tool.

Although adjustments can be made to any joint within the body, the vertebrae are the most common place for Dr. Horst to start, particularly in treating back pain. For conditions such as traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder, he may perform adjustments to the vertebrae at the top of the spine, in the neck. In other cases, he may adjust the joints of the knee or ankle for injuries sustained from falls on rough, rocky terrain.

Our vets have given so much to protect our way of life. The very least we can do is provide them with the care they need to properly recover from injuries sustained in the line of duty. Chiropractic care can enable them to do just that.