Education
What is chiropractic?
Chiropractic is based on the belief that the body has the ability to heal itself, provided that it is free from nerve irritation. The doctor of chiropractic analyzes the body for vertebral subluxations using his hands and other analysis tools, and then corrects or removes spinal nerve stress using various spinal adjustment techniques. A subluxation is the misalignment or improper movement of vertebra in the spine. These subluxations put pressure on nerves, lower your resistance to disease, cause pain and deteriorate the spine.
Why chiropractic?
Chiropractic has helped millions of people recover from sickness, disease and disability and minimize the use of drugs and need for surgery.
Subluxation stress.
Subluxations may occur at birth due to a difficult delivery, or during childhood as a result of falls. Later in life, emotional tension or stress can gradually damage your spine, as can sports injuries and violent injuries from motor vehicle accidents.
Who should see a doctor of chiropractic?
Nearly everyone is eventually affected by spinal nerve stress and it is for that reason that we all should have our spines checked by a chiropractor on occasion, just as we get our eyes, teeth and blood pressure checked. If you think chiropractic care might be right for you, please contact us for a free consultation!
How does chiropractic work?
Chiropractors perform treatments by working with the bones and nerves of the spinal column and spinal cord respectively. Chiropractors spend years in highly specialized training in order to locate where misplaced spinal vertebra are impinging the nerves which travel down the spinal cord and out through the spinal column to the muscles, organs and glands. After locating the vertebra impinging the nerves (subluxations) the chiropractor, using various highly specialized techniques, is able to replace the misplaced vertebra and thus release pressure on the nerves. This is called a spinal adjustment.
What is the cracking sound?
When a joint is adjusted (moved), there is a natural change in the internal pressure of that joint. This change results in the release of gas normally dissolved in the fluid which lubricates the joint. The release of this gas may produce a "crack" or "pop" sound similar to that produced when you open a can of soda.
Is chiropractic safe?
Research continues to support the safety and efficacy of chiropractic treatment. Chiropractors do not use drugs or surgery, which have their place but may produce side effects and complications.
Is chiropractic safe during pregnancy?
As the body changes very rapidly during pregnancy, there is a large amount of stress placed on the musculoskeletal system. The joints in the body try to compensate for these changes, and as a result, they are often sore and stiff. Chiropractic is safe for both the mother and fetus and often helps to reduce those "typical pregnancy" aches and pains.
Back Pain
What Causes Back Pain?
The back is a complicated structure of bones, joints, ligaments, and muscles. You can sprain ligaments, strain muscles, rupture disks, and irritate joints, all of which can lead to back pain. While sports injuries or accidents can cause back pain, sometimes the simplest of movements—for example, picking up a pencil from the floor— can have painful results. In addition, arthritis, poor posture, obesity, and psychological stress can cause or complicate back pain. Back pain can also directly result from disease of the internal organs, such as kidney stones, kidney infections, blood clots, or bone loss.
Will Back Pain Go Away on Its Own?
Until recently, researchers believed that back pain would heal on its own. We have learned, however, that this is not true. A recent study showed that when back pain is not treated, it may go away temporarily, but will most likely return. The study demonstrated that in more than 33% of the people who experience low back pain, the pain lasts for more than 30 days. Only 9% of the people who had low-back pain for more than 30 days were pain free 5 years later.1 Another study looked at all of the available research on the natural history of low-back pain. The results showed that when it is ignored, back pain does not go away on its own, but continues to affect people for long periods after it first begins.
What Can I Do to Prevent Long-Term Back Pain?
If your back pain is not resolving quickly, visit your doctor of chiropractic. Your pain will often result from mechanical problems that your doctor of chiropractic can address. Many chiropractic patients with relatively long-lasting or recurring back pain feel improvement shortly after starting chiropractic treatment.3 The relief is often greater after a month of chiropractic treatment than after seeing a family physician.4 Chiropractic spinal manipulation is a safe and effective spine pain treatment. It reduces pain, decreases medication, rapidly advances physical therapy, and requires very few passive forms of treatment, such as bed rest.
How Can I Prevent Back Pain?
- » Don’t lift by bending over. Instead, bend your hips and knees and then squat to pick up the object. Keep your back straight, and hold the object close to your body.
- » Don’t twist your body while lifting.
- » Push, rather than pull, when you must move heavy objects.
- » If you must sit for long periods, take frequent breaks and stretch.
- » Wear flat shoes or shoes with low heels.
- » Exercise regularly. An inactive lifestyle contributes to lower-back pain.
References
1. Hestbaek L, Leboeuf-Yde C, Engberg M, Lauritzen T, Bruun NH, Manniche C. The course of low-back pain in a general population. Results from a 5-year prospective study. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2003 May; 26(4):213-9.
2. Hestbaek L, Leboeuf-Yde C, Manniche C. Low-back pain: what is the long-term course? A review of studies of general patient populations. Eur Spine J 2003 Apr;12(2):149-65.
3. Stig LC, Nilsson O, Leboeuf-Yde C. Recovery pattern of patients treated with chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy for long-lasting or recurrent low-back pain. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2001 May;24(4):288-91.
Neck Pain
Your neck, also called the cervical spine, begins at the base of the skull and contains seven small vertebrae. Incredibly, the cervical spine supports the full weight of your head, which is on average about 12 pounds. While the cervical spine can move your head in nearly every direction, this flexibility makes the neck very susceptible to pain and injury.
The neck’s susceptibility to injury is due in part to biomechanics. Activities and events that affect cervical biomechanics include extended sitting, repetitive movement, accidents, falls and blows to the body or head, normal aging, and everyday wear and tear. Neck pain can be very bothersome, and it can have a variety of causes.
Here are some of the most typical causes of neck pain:
Injury and Accidents:
A sudden forced movement of the head or neck in any direction and the resulting "rebound" in the opposite direction is known as whiplash. The sudden “whipping” motion injures the surrounding and supporting tissues of the neck and head. Muscles react by tightening and contracting, creating muscle fatigue, which can result in pain and stiffness. Severe whiplash can also be associated with injury to the intervertebral joints, discs, ligaments, muscles, and nerve roots. Car accidents are the most common cause of whiplash.
Growing Older:
Degenerative disorders such as osteoarthritis, spinal stenosis, and degenerative disc disease directly affect the spine.
- » Osteoarthritis, a common joint disorder, causes progressive deterioration of cartilage. The body reacts by forming bone spurs that affect joint motion.
- » Spinal stenosis causes the small nerve passageways in the vertebrae to narrow, compressing and trapping nerve roots. Stenosis may cause neck, shoulder, and arm pain, as well as numbness, when these nerves are unable to function normally.
- » Degenerative disc disease can cause reduction in the elasticity and height of intervertebral discs. Over time, a disc may bulge or herniate, causing tingling, numbness, and pain that runs into the arm.
Daily Life:
Poor posture, obesity, and weak abdominal muscles often disrupt spinal balance, causing the neck to bend forward to compensate. Stress and emotional tension can cause muscles to tighten and contract, resulting in pain and stiffness. Postural stress can contribute to chronic neck pain with symptoms extending into the upper back and the arms.
Auto Accident injuries
Whiplash is a generic term applied to injuries of the neck caused when the neck is suddenly and/or violently jolted in one direction and then another, creating a whiplike movement. Whiplash is most commonly seen in people involved in motor vehicle accidents, but it can also occur from falls, sports injuries, work injuries, and other incidents.
What are the common signs and symptoms of whiplash?
Approximately two thirds of people involved in motor vehicle accidents develop symptoms of whiplash. Interestingly, the violence of the crash is not a definitive indicator of pain or even the amount of pain. Generally speaking, however, those involved in more severe accidents have more signs and symptoms.
Another important and interesting aspect of whiplash is that the signs and symptoms often do not develop until 2 to 48 hours after the injury. This scenario is relatively common but not completely understood. Some speculate that it may be due to delayed muscle soreness, a condition seen in other circumstances.
The most common symptoms of whiplash are pain and stiffness in the neck. These symptoms are generally found in the areas that are “whiplashed.” For example, during a whiplash, first the head is lifted up from the upper-cervical spine. This creates a sprain/strain in the region just below the skull, where symptoms usually occur. Symptoms may also commonly be seen in the front and back of the neck. Turning the head often makes the pain and discomfort worse.
Headache especially at the base of the skull, is also a common symptom, seen in more than two thirds of patients. These headaches may be one-sided (unilateral) or experienced on both sides (bilateral). In addition, the pain and stiffness may extend down into the shoulders and arms, upper back, and even the upper chest.
In addition to the musculoskeletal symptoms Some patients also experience dizziness, difficulty swallowing, nausea, and even blurred vision after a whiplash injury. While these symptoms are disconcerting, in most cases, they disappear within a relatively short time. If they persist, it is very important to inform your doctor that they are not resolving. Vertigo (the sensation of the room spinning) and ringing in the ears may also be seen. In addition, some patients may feel pain in the jaw. Others will even complain of irritability, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating. These symptoms also resolve quickly in most cases. In rare cases, symptoms can persist for weeks, months, or even years.
Sports Injuries
Although bones can sometimes be fractured with acute sports injuries, the most commonly injured structures are the muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Tendons attach muscles to bones, and ligaments attach one bone to another.
An acute twisting or overextension of a joint can lead to tears of muscles and tendons, called “strains,” and tears of ligaments result in “sprains.” These tears range from mild to severe. In mild sports injuries, just a few fibers are torn or stretched. Severe sports injuries, where there is a tear through the full thickness of the structure, are most often considered unstable injuries and frequently require surgical intervention. The intervertebral disc, a ligament between the vertebrae of the spine that works as a shock absorber, can also be torn, resulting in a disc bulge and/or herniation.
Ankle sprains most often involve tears of one or more of the ligaments along the outside of the ankle. Knee ligaments, including the larger external supportive ligaments and the smaller internal stabilizing ligaments, can also be torn. The cartilage on the back of the patella (knee-cap) can also become eroded from overuse, leading to a condition termed chondromalacia patella (a painful sports injury).
What Causes Workplace Injuries?
Many work related injuries are called repetitive stress injuries or cumulative-trauma disorders. These work related injuries occur when abnormal stresses are repeatedly placed on normal joints by poor posture or poor joint position during the performance of a task.
Many of these stresses are caused by poor workstation design and/or repetitive task performance. In addition, poor posture at the workstation can also be detrimental. For example, prolonged use of a computer or a mouse, particularly when the work area is not designed well, can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome and/or neck and arm pain (painful and confusing work related injuries).
Many modern product manufacturers are designing their products ergonomically, mixing form with function. Such products blend in easily with the worker’s actions while on the job and make tasks safer and easier to perform.
Tension headaches
What do you do when you suffer from a pounding headache? Do you grit your teeth and carry on? Lie down? Pop a pill and hope the pain goes away? There is a better alternative.
New research shows that spinal manipulation – the primary form of care provided by doctors of chiropractic – may be an effective treatment option for tension headaches and headaches that originate in the neck. A report released in 2001 by researchers at the Duke University Evidence-Based Practice Center in Durham, NC, found that spinal manipulation resulted in almost immediate improvement for those headaches that originate in the neck, and had significantly fewer side effects and longer-lasting relief of tension-type headache than a commonly prescribed medication. Also, a 1995 study in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics found that spinal manipulative therapy is an effective treatment for tension headaches and that those who ceased chiropractic treatment after four weeks experienced a sustained therapeutic benefit in contrast with those patients who received a commonly prescribed medication.
Migraines
Headaches can be primary and secondary. Primary headaches do not result from some other health condition. The most common type of primary headache is caused by problems with the neck muscles. Changes in the blood vessels inside the skull usually cause migraines. Other common types of headache include “cluster” headaches—headaches grouped together over weeks at a time; sinus headaches, associated with allergies and/or sinus infection; and headaches from poor vision.
Secondary headache results from some other cause or condition—head injury, concussion, blood vessel problems, or high blood pressure—or from side effects of some medications, infections in the head or sinuses or elsewhere in the body. Rare headache causes include tumors, aneurysms and other abnormal growths inside the skull, and toxic substances in the blood. Certain foods, such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), a food flavor enhancer, may cause headaches, as well.
Postpartum and pregnancy back pain
How Can Chiropractic Help?
Before you become pregnant, your doctor of chiropractic can detect any imbalances in the pelvis or elsewhere in your body that could contribute to pregnancy discomfort or possible neuromusculoskeletal problems after childbirth.
Many pregnant women have found that chiropractic adjustments provide relief from the increased low-back pain brought on by pregnancy. Chiropractic manipulation is safe for the pregnant woman and her baby and can be especially appealing to those who are trying to avoid medications in treating their back pain. Doctors of chiropractic can also offer nutrition, ergonomic, and exercise advice to help a woman enjoy a healthy pregnancy.
Chiropractic care can also help after childbirth. In the eight weeks following labor and delivery, the ligaments that loosened during pregnancy begin to tighten. Ideally, joint problems brought on during pregnancy from improper lifting or reaching should be treated before the ligaments return to their pre-pregnancy state to prevent further muscle tension.
