The following excerpt is from the web site of a company called KalTire.
It doesn’t take much to knock a vehicle out of alignment: potholes, curbs and even regular wear and tear can take a toll on your vehicle’s suspension system and steering components. And once that happens, everything—your tires, your vehicle and your hands on the steering wheel—will soon feel it.
Vehicle alignment plays a critical role in the performance of your vehicle, and here are the three biggest ways:
Tire life and savings: When your vehicle’s suspension system is out of alignment, it’s probably going to lead to uneven tire wear, and that means a shorter life expectancy for your tires. With regular alignment, however, your tires will last longer and save you money.
Safety: When your wheels aren’t aligned, it can cause your vehicle to pull right or left, undermining your control and handling.
Comfort: Aligned wheels are much safer to drive on, and they also make driving much easier and enjoyable.
How can you tell if your tires need aligning?
Your vehicle will pull to one side.
Your front end is shimmying after hitting a bump.
Your steering wheel will no longer line up straight.
Your front tires will show signs of uneven wear.
If you’re experiencing any of these signs, you need a vehicle alignment performed by certified technicians.
If you’re not experiencing signs that your vehicle needs an alignment right away, we recommend checking your owner’s manual to learn how often the manufacturer recommends alignments, and also having an alignment with every set of new tires, and/or every spring.
Now re-read this and think of it in the context of your body and your joints like this:
vehicle = body
wheels and tires = joints
So if you had, say, pain in your knee and you went to see a health care professional who only treated your knee, that would essentially be the equivalent of changing the tire that is wearing excessively instead of performing an overall alignment. It will provide a temporary fix, but if the alignment is not done the tire will just wear out again.
At M.A.P. Physiotherapy we are the “certified technicians” who will perform an overall alignment of your body allowing us to address the underlying cause of the pain and also prevent future problems. It is also interesting to note that KalTire recommends doing preventative alignments regularly. If we do this for our cars, why don’t we do this for our bodies? Come in and see us for a full body assessment because I don’t think anyone likes it when their “front end is shimmying“!