How’s your grip? Do you have a weak handshake? Spinal manipulation may strengthen it! Some St Peters chiropractic patients are all thumbs. Occasionally, they don’t really become aware that their hand-grip is weak until we test it. Weak hand grip and clumsy hands may signify a cervical spine condition, but your St Peters chiropractor at Old Mill Chiropractic can figure it out and help you get your grip back!

So how does Old Mill Chiropractic test grip strength? An easy way is just to have you squeeze your St Peters chiropractor’s hands during the examination. That’s pretty subjective but effective! Or you may squeeze a neat tool called a hydraulic dynamometer. It measures how much force you use to grip. You’ll grip it with each hand. That tells us if there is any weakness in one hand grip strength over the other.

Once your grip strength is recorded, Old Mill Chiropractic’s chiropractic treatment plan is set up for you. Spinal manipulation will likely be a part of that plan which is great for grip strength! A new research article just came out which documents how cervical spine manipulative therapy provided a statistically significant improvement in grip strength when judo athletes’ grip strength was tested against a sham treatment. (1) If it works for these athletes, it’ll likely work for you!

You can do some handgrip strength exercises on your own, too. Talk with us first, but these handgrip units may be useful to you as well. Even easier may be picking up books with just your fingers by pinching or squeezing oranges or lemons for juice. (2) It doesn’t have to be a big deal.

So be sure to share with your St Peters chiropractor any noticed grip weakness that may accompany neck pain. Know though that we’ll test your strength, too. Then, we’ll work to improve any weakness you have with St Peters chiropractic spinal manipulation. See you at your next appointment at Old Mill Chiropractic! Contact us today.