Personal Injury / Auto Accident

Eighty percent of people suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. Back pain is the second most common reason for visits to the doctor’s office, outnumbered only by upper-respiratory infections. In fact, it is estimated that low back pain affects more than half of the adult population each year! There are many different conditions that can result in low back pain, including sprained ligaments, strained muscles, ruptured disks, trigger points, and inflamed joints.

While sports injuries or accidents can lead to injury and pain, sometimes even the simplest movements, like picking up a pencil from the floor, can have painful results. In addition, conditions such as arthritis, poor posture, obesity, psychological stress, and even kidney stones, kidney infections, blood clots, or bone loss can lead to pain. Chiropractic care for the low back has been repeatedly shown to be the most effective treatment for low back pain.

Most people do not realize how much they move their necks during the day until they are unable to do so. We associate the neck and upper back together, because most of the muscles that are associated with the neck either attach to or are located in, the upper back. Most neck and upper back pain is caused by a combination of factors. These factors include injury, poor posture, chiropractic subluxations, stress, and in some instances, disc problems.

Headaches affect just about everyone at some point and they can present themselves in many different ways. The pain itself may be dull or sharp and may last for anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. Headaches can be due to a wide variety of causes, such as drug reactions, temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ), tightness in the neck muscles, low blood sugar, high blood pressure, stress, and fatigue.

Numerous research studies have shown that chiropractic adjustments are very effective for treating tension headaches, especially headaches that originate in the neck. Each individual’s case is different and requires a thorough evaluation before a proper course of chiropractic care can be determined.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) has become one of the most widespread occupational health problems we face today. It affects millions of people a year, and with our growing reliance on computers, there seems to be no end in sight. The syndrome is caused by pressure on the median nerve just above the wrist. Pressure on this nerve can be caused by an injury or sustained use from common activities like typing, chopping, hammering, or pushing.

There are a number of different ways to treat this condition. In most cases, a chiropractic adjustment to the affected area is an extremely effective solution.

When nerves become ‘pinched’, injury, spasm, and inflammation of the surrounding muscles causes the nerve to become compressed, resulting in pain. The term “pinched nerve” is somewhat of a catch-all phrase that is commonly used to describe the pain associated with a variety of conditions from subluxations, to tunnel syndromes to the referred pain from trigger points. In most cases, nerves become irritated and inflamed when the bones, joints, or muscles of the spine are not in their proper position or are not moving properly. This condition is called a “subluxation”, the treatment of which is the specialty of the doctor of chiropractic.

You may have heard the term “slipped disc” used to describe a low back injury. Discs do not actually “slip”. Rather, they may herniate or bulge out from between the bones. A herniation is a displaced fragment of the center part or nucleus of the disc that is pushed through a tear in the outer layer or annulus of the disc. Pain results when irritating substances are released from this tear and also if the fragment touches or compresses a nearby nerve. Many factors decrease the strength and resiliency of the disc and increase the risk of disc herniation.

Lifestyle choices such as smoking, lack of regular exercise, and inadequate nutrition contribute to poor disc health. Poor posture, daily wear and tear, injury or trauma, and incorrect lifting or twisting further stress the disc. Mild to moderate disc herniation can usually be treated conservatively with stretching, exercise therapy, and chiropractic care. More advanced cases will often require some form of spinal decompression, such as traction or mechanical decompression, in conjunction with chiropractic care.