How’s your grip? Do you have a weak handshake? Spinal manipulation may improve it! Some Richmond chiropractic patients even have clumsy hands. Sometimes, they don’t really realize that their hand-grip is weak until we test it. Weak hand grip and clumsy hands may indicate a cervical spine condition, but your Richmond chiropractor at Johnson Chiropractic can figure it out and help you get your grip back!

So how does Johnson Chiropractic test grip strength? An easy way is just to have you squeeze your Richmond 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 both hands, one at a time. That tells us if there is any weakness in one hand grip strength over the other.

Once your grip strength is documented, Johnson Chiropractic’s chiropractic treatment plan is established for you. Spinal manipulation will possibly 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 Richmond 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 Richmond chiropractic spinal manipulation. See you at your next appointment at Johnson Chiropractic! Contact us today.