About a third of the millions of people who make appointments with chiropractors every year seek relief from back pain. Back pain can be acute, meaning it happens suddenly, lasts 6 weeks or less and often clears up on its own; or back pain can be chronic, meaning it comes on gradually and lasts 3 months or more. Chronic back pain can be particularly debilitating and can limit movement and mobility.

Traditional treatments for back pain include medication, physical therapy, surgery or steroid injections. While these treatments may provide symptomatic relief, they do not address the root cause of the pain. They can also be painful and expensive to carry out.

The foundation of chiropractic care for chronic back pain is the understanding that misaligned vertebrae can cause the pain. This misalignment can result in many additional problems, such as headaches, body pains and impaired joint mobility. Chiropractic treatment aims to restore alignment to the vertebrae, returning natural health to the spine and all the body parts the spinal nerves serve.

Chiropractors believe in the body’s natural ability to heal itself. Chiropractic care avoids medications and their possible side effects, and it also avoids surgery. As an example of the differences in treatment, surgeons may remove a herniated disk from the spine in order to relieve pressure on the nerves, while chiropractors use non-invasive spinal manipulation to achieve the same result.

Your chiropractor will treat your chronic pain based on the vertebral misalignments found in your body. A quick, sudden force is applied to the appropriate vertebrae in order to restore the motion of the joint. Another common treatment for chronic pain is known as the flexion-distraction technique. This treatment involves a special table that stretches the spine. It is particularly effective in treating injuries to the discs that have been the cause of long-term back pain.

Chronic back pain will probably also require additional treatments such as massage, exercise, and perhaps physical therapy. A good chiropractor will work with other health professionals as needed to ensure you get the best possible treatment for your pain. He or she will also look at the entire picture of your life, including your diet, health habits, medical history, family history, and other conditions you may have. This approach is holistic and has a better chance of eliminating the root cause of your chronic back pain than traditional treatments that only work on the symptoms.

Every body is different. If you have questions about this article or whether chiropractic is an appropriate choice for your specific situation, please ask. We are here to help!

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) affects about one in a thousand people (mostly women) each year, and is caused by the median nerve being compressed as it runs through the carpal tunnel, a ligament that is located in the wrist. The tendons that control finger movement all run through the carpal tunnel, so when they become inflamed and swollen the amount of space is reduced, putting increased pressure on the median nerve.

In many cases, the cause of carpal tunnel syndrome is not clear. There are some theories as to why women tend to suffer from CTS more than men. One is that they have smaller wrist bones, and thus a smaller space through which the tendons can pass. Another is that, as it is more common during pregnancy and around menopause, hormonal shifts may be a causative factor.

Some people may have a genetic predisposition for CTS. Approximately one out of four people has a close family member who has also has the disorder. Trauma or an injury to the wrist may trigger CTS, such as a sprained or broken wrist. The vibration of power tools or heavy machinery, for instance a rotary sander, can sometimes trigger CTS.

Those who have jobs involving repetitive movements of the arm are more likely to contract carpal tunnel syndrome, such as workers on an assembly line, carpenters, violinists, etc. Interestingly, though long-term computer use was previously thought to contribute to CTS, there is now conflicting information about the relationship between keyboarding and CTS. Some studies, such as one from 2007 published in the journal Arthritis and Rheumatism, have found that those who use a keyboard intensively at work actually have a significantly lower risk of developing CTS.

Some leisure activities can contribute to the risk of CTS as well, including knitting, golfing and anything else that requires you to grip items in your hands for long periods of time.

Among the most commonly recommended treatments for carpal tunnel syndrome are using a wrist splint, resting the wrist, taking pain relievers and physical therapy. If begun within three months of the first signs of CTS, a wrist splint can be a very effective treatment. This can be worn either all day or only overnight, and takes the pressure off your wrist, allowing it to rest and giving your tendons a chance to recover. Chiropractors and physical therapists can physically manipulate the wrist to relieve pain and teach you specific rehab exercises to do at home to help strengthen the wrist and hand.

You may read about surgical options for treating carpal tunnel syndrome, but these should be considered or as a last resort after non-invasive therapies have failed. Treatment of CTS has been evolving rapidly across the last few years so it is important to visit a provider that keeps current on CTS treatment research and treats carpal tunnel patients on a regular basis.

Lumbar back support products are designed to help prevent neck and back pain, which can lead to pain in other parts of the body as well. Many of these products are pillows or cushions that offer additional support when you are seated for long periods of time.

The lumbar region of the spine is usually referred to as the lower back. It is the area just above your tailbone and below the thoracic (middle back) region. The lumbar area includes your spine and all the muscles, ligaments and tendons surrounding your spine. If your ligaments are pulled or torn, you will experience a lumbar sprain or strain, which can lead to muscle spasms and significant pain in your lower back.

What can cause lumbar sprains and strains? Poor posture, poor lifting technique, obesity, and other health-related factors can contribute. In fact, sitting for long periods without lumbar support can itself aggravate lumbar pain. Finally, one of the greatest contributors to back pain is using the wrong type of chair for your body. Surfaces that are too hard or too soft do not encourage proper posture and do not provide adequate support for your back.

Usually all that is required to relieve lower back pain is sufficient rest, but most of us are unable to rest for long enough to overcome lumbar problems. So preventing these problems with a good lumbar support is essential, especially if you spend significant amounts of time sitting down.

The first step to choosing the right lumbar support is to ensure that it fits perfectly in the chair you spend the most time in. An even better option is to choose an ergonomically designed chair that includes a built-in lumbar support, or an individual lumbar support that is specifically designed to be used with your chair. “One size fits all” lumbar support products rarely provide any benefits and should be avoided.

Make sure you test the product in the store before you buy it. If you can, sit with the lumbar support for at least 15 minutes to see if it feels good or aggravates back pain. The best lumbar supports are adjustable, so you can fit it to the chair’s height. Ergonomic chairs with lumbar supports included usually allow you to adjust the height and width of the support. Adjustable separate supports are particularly useful if you use more than one chair throughout the day.

Good health is a combination of many factors including your nutrition, preventative care, appropriate corrective care and the small choices you make every day in the course of living. If you have questions about this article, your general or spinal health, please ask. We are here to help!

Scoliosis is a disorder that affects some 5 to 7 million Americans. A normal spine, as observed from behind the body, is aligned straight up and down. A spine with scoliosis is seen to have excessive side-to-side curvature, resulting in a “C” or “S” shape. It is different from kyphosis (hump back) or lordosis (swayback), which are curvatures of the spine from front to back. Scoliosis is not merely a problem with posture, although people with scoliosis may seem to lean to one side or another. Not only does their spine curve excessively, their vertebrae are often rotated, which may cause a “rib hump” in the middle or thoracic area of the spine. The curvature may result in the shoulders or the hips appearing uneven.

Approximately 85% of all cases of scoliosis are idiopathic, meaning they have no known cause. It is usually diagnosed during childhood and occurs equally in girls and boys: however some cases of scoliosis are caused by osteoporosis or other degenerative diseases of the spine. Scoliosis seems to have a genetic component because it runs in families. For unknown reasons, scoliosis curves are 5 to 8 times more likely to grow and need treatment in girls than in boys.

Mild scoliosis often requires no treatment, but if the curve grows to a moderate size, or about 60 degrees, braces, surgery or other treatments are usually necessary. Attempting to adjust one’s own posture is ineffective in treating scoliosis. When implemented during adolescence, braces can be very effective in preventing the curves from increasing, avoiding the need for surgery. However, braces cannot completely restore the spine to its normal shape, and may not be able to prevent an increase in curvature. Surgery is painful, expensive and requires significant alterations to lifestyle, although it can be effective in reducing curvature. Surgery should be considered a last resort treatment for scoliosis.

Chiropractic care has been shown to be useful in reducing the spinal curvature of scoliosis, reducing pain and limiting disability. However, it is key that a multi-modal approach be used, rather than just one or two techniques. Diagnosis of scoliosis may include the Adam’s Forward Bending Test, X-rays, limb measurements, range of motion tests and a medical history. In addition to braces, treatment may include individualized exercises, X-rays, spinal manipulations and adjustments, shoe lifts and electrical stimulation. Specifically, the combination of spinal manipulation and postural therapy is critical to success. Chiropractors are experts in spinal problems, and they avoid the use of drugs or surgery. They will not only examine your physical condition, but also your lifestyle, medical history, family history and overall health, as all may contribute to the condition, as well as creating the best plan for treatment and rehabilitation. As scoliosis is not a condition that can be treated overnight, a long course of visits may be necessary to see results. A good chiropractor will not only monitor your progress over time but will coordinate with other health care professionals as needed to ensure the best possible outcome.

Resources

• http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2474/5/32
• http://www.chiro.org/research/ABSTRACTS/Scoliosis.shtml

It is good news that your pain is gone. Chiropractic practitioners are experts at detecting, correcting, and preventing spinal misalignments, which can quickly provide pain relief. However, there are two important reasons to return to your chiropractor even though you are feeling better.

First, the underlying problem may not yet be completely corrected. While you may temporarily feel better, if your spine is still structurally misaligned, it will silently continue to degrade. The longer a misalignment has to degrade, the more seriously it affects your body. Your symptoms may return and may be even worse than before. This could cause damage to your spinal structure, in addition to the part of the body that the particular spinal area serves.

It’s not that different from taking medicines. Many people are prescribed a medicine and then take it just until the pain stops. However, this still leaves some of the damaging microbes in the body; in fact it leaves the strongest ones, which then multiply and cause further illness. You will want to be sure that your treatment has completely eliminated the underlying misalignment, and that the process has been able to restore your body’s natural function before you determine that treatment is complete.

Another reason to return to the chiropractor is because they do not just treat existing problems, they provide excellent preventive care. Regular visits to the chiropractor can prevent new subluxations from occurring, and can catch early ones soon enough to halt or reverse the process. Your chiropractor will work with you to determine the most appropriate frequency of periodic spinal adjustments and regular examinations, based on the severity of your current subluxations and your general state of health.

It is also important to remember that subluxations may not cause symptoms. They may begin at birth and lead to later disease or dysfunction. Regular contact with a chiropractor can keep you on top of your health in such a way that problems and symptoms are less likely to develop. Even (or perhaps especially) children can benefit, as their spines are still growing and problems later in life can be avoided with proper spinal alignment during youth.

Finally, since chiropractic treatment is all-natural and avoids medicines or invasive procedures, there is no reason not to continue to have regular chiropractic care. Good chiropractors provide a holistic approach to diagnosing and treating your health, and are not afraid to refer to you to another kind of specialist should you need one.

Your hips and legs support your entire body. They provide stability, strength, mobility, and flexibility. Misalignment or subluxation of the spine can cause both hip and leg pain by irritating the nerves and creating muscle spasms. As these areas of the body receive nearly continuous usage, they can suffer a great deal of stress. In fact, hip pain may be mistaken for back pain, due to the connections between the pelvis and the spine. A chiropractor is likely to be able to treat your hip pain if it is the result of a misalignment in your spine.

The thighbone (or femur) connects with the hipbone (pelvis) in a ball and socket joint. There is a cushion of cartilage between the bones that helps prevent wear. However, eventually the cartilage itself wears down, which can lead to swelling and pain. Arthritis is the typical result. Pain can also occur due to sprains or fractures, which usually only happen to older people who have osteoporosis. Sprains and fractures result in limited mobility, stiffness and swelling.

Another common cause of hip pain is sitting for long periods of time, as well as poor posture. Sitting and posture problems can lead to a slipped intervertebral disc or leakage of the contents of the disc through small cracks, resulting in pressure on the tissues. This usually leads to pain in the hips and legs. Sciatica can occur when the disc presses against the spinal nerve, and can lead to weakness and numbness in the legs. In severe cases, surgery is required to remove the leaked disc material and relieve the pressure.

Chiropractors can treat some kinds of hip pain without surgery or medications.  They cannot reverse age-related arthritis, but they can help slow the progress of the disease and delay possible surgeries. The first thing your chiropractor will do is determine the reasons for your hip pain, because some conditions, such as fractures or metastatic disease, will need to be referred to another kind of health care professional. Most other kinds of hip pain can be treated through manipulations and spinal adjustments. In addition to adjustments, your chiropractor will recommend appropriate exercises to help rehabilitate the hip joint and stabilize the misaligned components. He or she will also work with you on posture, work habits (such as sitting posture and ergonomic office furniture), and perhaps even diet to resolve the root causes of your hip pain.

We all want to look young and beautiful, no matter what our age, and keeping your skin in good condition goes a long way toward that goal. There are a number of things you can do to keep your skin looking supple and glowing that don’t involve expensive treatments or surgery!

1) Drink more water­– This may be the number one tip in achieving healthy-looking skin. Controlled climates such as homes and offices with heat and air conditioning tend to be very drying to the skin. Most people are actually chronically dehydrated, and this leads to an increased in lines and wrinkles, much as a grape becomes a raisin! Optimally, you should drink between 2 and 3 liters of water every day, which will make your tissues more plump and resilient, reducing fine lines and wrinkles. If you can’t stomach that much water, other beverages are fine, but beware of any that contain lots of sugar or caffeine, as an excess of these substances is not good for your health.

2) Cleanse and exfoliate – At the end of the day, after being subjected to the elements, including sun, wind, climate, etc. (not to mention makeup), you need to give your skin a good cleanse. Dead cells can accumulate on the skin’s surface, making it look dull and lifeless. Start by removing all makeup with a gentle cleanser, such as a little plain yogurt on a cotton ball, which removes makeup without the use of harsh chemicals. Then treat it to a light apricot kernel scrub, which can remove those dead cells and expose the fresh ones underneath.

3) Eat healthy – A diet high in fruits and vegetables, particularly the ones with high amounts of antioxidants such as Vitamin C, and low in sugar, unhealthy fats and processed foods, has been shown to promote younger looking skin. Red peppers, strawberries and avocados are among the foods highest in antioxidants and healthy fats.

4) Wear protective clothing – We all know that too much sun exposure is bad, exposing our skin to damage from free radicals. Chemicals in some commercial sunscreens can be almost as bad for you as too much sun and keep you from getting an adequate amount of vitamin D to boot! The best option is to wear protective clothing as much as possible. This includes long-sleeved shirts and hats with wide brims.

5) Moisturize – One way to keep your skin from drying out is to apply a good moisturizer once in the morning and again before bed, after your cleansing routine. Look for a moisturizer that does not contain any SLS (sodium lauryl/lauryth sulfate) or parabens, neither of which are good for you. The best are those containing olive oil, aloe or vitamin E.

6) Quit Smoking – The increased number of wrinkles that appear on the faces of smokers is yet another reason to quit. Smoking constricts the tiny blood vessels that supply oxygen and important nutrients that nourish the skin. It also damages the collagen and elastin that keep skin strong and elastic.

Approximately 65% of the 15 million tennis players in the United States sustain at least one injury per year. Tennis is a sport that involves repetitive motions and ballistic movements. As such, the sport can create both local and systemic stresses on the body. For example, hard foot plants are associated with foot, ankle, and knee stress, but can also affect one entire side of the body, because of side-to-side forces and twisting motions. Continuous start and stop motions, accelerating and decelerating, overhead serves, and ground strokes can put significant stress on the knees, back, ankles, elbows and shoulders.

As you can imagine, injuries are common, even with highly-trained players. The most common injuries in tennis players occur in the lower extremities, such as twisted ankles, Achilles tendonitis, “tennis leg”, which affects the gastrocnemius or calf muscle, and infrapatellar tendonitis, or “jumper’s knee”. One of the greatest causes of these injuries is rapid deceleration during the game. Tennis players put great force in one direction, and they suddenly have to stop it. That effort can lead to injury, in part because most tennis training techniques focus on acceleration, not deceleration. Tennis elbow is another common tennis injury, as well as injuries to the rotator cuff of the shoulder, and lower back pain. The tennis racquet can travel at up to 300 miles per hour over a very short distance. Throwing the racquet overhead extends and stretches the shoulder muscles excessively over time, causing an imbalance in the shoulders.

Chiropractic treatment for tennis players focuses on both prevention and treatment of these injuries. Chiropractic care is an excellent choice for tennis players. Adjustments can be made regularly to prevent injury and are effective in treating problems as well. These adjustments may include manipulations of the neck, knee, spine, shoulder, ankle, and elbow. Additional treatments might include stretching exercises, laser therapy, massage, ultrasound, hot/cold treatments, and light therapy.

A chiropractor can also provide advice on proper shoes, movement mechanics, racquet size and selection, playing surfaces and support braces. A qualified practitioner can help tennis players play the game better, prevent injury, rehabilitate an existing injury, and get back on the court again.

Cold laser therapy (also called Low Level Laser Therapy or LLLT) involves the use of light (a specific wavelength and frequency of coherent light, generated from a low-wattage therapeutic laser) to stimulate the body’s cells and cause them to accelerate the healing process. The therapeutic use of lasers (LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is not a new idea; they have been used to stimulate healing since 1967.

The term “cold laser” refers to the specific wavelength of light used, which is usually in the 630 nm to 980 nm ranges of the electromagnetic spectrum. This wavelength allows for the least energy to be absorbed by surface tissue (meaning that the patient does not experience any sensation of heat or warming), while allowing the healing properties of the light to facilitate wound and tissue healing. Low-level laser therapy has been shown to reduce inflammation and accelerate the body’s own healing mechanisms. When cells are exposed to laser light, cell functions are stimulated, improving immune system function, increasing collagen synthesis and enhancing tissue regeneration.

In chiropractic practice, cold laser therapy has been show to be effective in treating inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and bursitis. The use of laser therapy also accelerates the healing of connective tissue disorders such as sprains, strains and tendonitis, and has proven effective in reducing or managing chronic or acute pain in the neck, thoracic regions or lower back. Lasers have also been used to effectively treat muscle injuries or bruises, and neurological injuries such as herniated or ruptured discs. Chiropractors also commonly use laser therapy to increase the patient’s range of motion, and to build or increase the strength of damaged muscle tissue. In many cases the use of cold laser therapy has cut rehabilitation time following an injury in half.

Obvious benefits of cold laser therapy over drugs or surgery are that it is safe, pain- and drug- free, non-invasive, and has no known side effects. The results are quickly perceived by patients, and laser therapy can be used immediately after an injury. Cold laser therapy has also been studied in over 3000 clinical trials, with proven clinical results. If you are interested in finding out whether it could be of benefit to treat your conditions, consult with your chiropractor.

Resources:

• http://www.acatoday.org/content_css.cfm?CID=4124
• http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=41529

Spinal pelvic stabilizers are specially designed orthotics that help stabilize and balance your feet. They can have a significant effect on your entire body’s performance and efficiency, reduce pain, and contribute to an overall sense of well-being.

How can something made just for your feet accomplish all this?

Our feet form the foundation of our entire body. They provide support for walking, standing, running, jumping, and reaching. In addition, your feet help protect your bones, spine and tissues from stress while moving around. It seems quite logical that your feet can perform these tasks better when their bones, muscles, and arches are in their proper, stable positions. For example, neck pain could be the result of a spinal misalignment that is caused by an imbalance in your feet. Your body’s joints and muscles work most efficiently when they are in balance, and balanced feet provide the foundational balance needed to support many of our daily activities.

Your feet contain three arches that support the weight of your entire body. If one arch is compromised, the other arches try to compensate. This results in additional stress, leading to pain, discomfort, and further compromise. Another common foot problem is flattening of the arches, which is known as pronation, which leads to rotation of the legs.

Spinal pelvic stabilizers balance the foundation of the pelvis and spine and help address structural problems of the feet. If they are properly fitted they can control pronation and supination. In this way they reduce unnatural stress and abnormal forces, and promote healthy functional and structural relationships between your feet and the rest of your body.

These devices also provide improved shock absorption. This reduces repetitive stress on your muscles and joints, allows better function, and reduces arthritic symptoms as well.

Pelvic stabilizers are a cost effective and long-term intervention for many kinds of foot and posture problems. They are worn inside your shoes, and they guide your feet into a more normal pattern as they are used for moving around.

Your chiropractor will use impression images of your feet to create custom-made flexible spinal pelvic stabilizers for your feet and your feet alone. You may wish to ask your chiropractor about the flexibility of the stabilizers that will be created for you. Some technologies use more rigid materials to force the foot into a supposedly ideal position, while most people prefer some flexibility for comfort, controlled support, and better movement from the feet on up through the body.