Whiplash
Whiplash is most commonly received from riding in a car that is struck from behind, inside or front and also from colliding with another object. When the head is suddenly jerked back and forth, the muscles and ligaments that support the spine and head can be overstretched or torn. The soft, pulpy discs between spinal bones can bulge, tear or rupture. Vertebrae can be forced out of their normal position, reducing range of motion. The spinal cord and nerve roots in the neck can get stretched and irritated. While occupants can suffer considerable soft tissue injury, the car may only be slightly damaged.
The resulting instability of the spine and soft tissues leads to, neck stiffness, headaches, dizziness, blurred vision, pain in the shoulder, arms and hands, reduced ability to turn and bend, and other back problems. As the body attempts to adapt, symptoms may not appear for weeks or even months later.
The Certified Injury Recovery approach to these types of injuries is to use specific chiropractic adjustments and soft tissue recovery to help return spinal function. After a thorough examination and case history, the doctor will recommend a series of therapeutic treatment to help restore your proper motion and position of your spinal bones. If caught early enough, inflammation can be reduced and scar tissue can often be minimized.
Consult with our office before enduring constant headaches, depending upon addictive pain medication, or submitting to surgery.
Neck/Low Back Pain
Subluxations (misalignments of the spinal column) of neck and low back are one of the most common causes. When vertebrae are gradually misaligned, they put pressure directly on spinal nerves, causing pain. Muscle spasms may set in, which can increase the pressure further. This extra pressure can cause even more inflammation and irritation, which leads to more pain. And the cycle continues.
Often stretching and massage may only temporarily relieve the pain, because the cause (subluxation) has not been addressed. A chiropractic adjustment focuses on correcting the cause and combined with the right soft tissue therapy can dramatically accelerate your recovery.
Headaches
80% of headaches originate from the neck. Usually an increased amount of stress and tension held in the shoulders causes contractions of all of the surrounding neck muscles. When these muscles contract, vertebrae can become misaligned causing pressure on spinal nerves, and ultimately pain. With a typical cervicogenic (neck origin) headache, a person usually feels pain starting at the base of the skull which radiates into the temples, eyeballs, and forehead.
There may be several other causes of headaches, so a proper examination is needed to determine the actual cause.
Disc problems
The disc is a small cartilage pad that is situated between spinal bones. The soft jellylike center is contained by layers of fibrous tissues. Each disc serves as a connector and spacer, for the spine. When healthy, discs allow normal bending and turning
Since spinal discs have a very poor blood supply, they depend upon proper motion to provide circulation of joint fluids bringing nutrients and expel waste. If a spinal joint loses its normal motion and this pumping action is impaired, the health of the disc deteriorates. A healthy disc is flexible and like a wet sponge. A dry sponge is hard, stiff, and can crack easily. This is how many disc problems begin.
Because of the way each disc is attached to the vertebra above and below it, a disc cannot slip as commonly thought. However, trauma or injury to the spine can cause discs to bulge, herniate, or worse, rupture. This can be quite painful, putting pressure on the spinal cord and nerve roots, interfering with their function.
While results cannot be guaranteed, many patients have avoided needless surgery or a dependency on pain pills, by choosing conservative chiropractic care in our office.
Sciatica
The sciatic nerve is a long nerve originating in the lower back and extending down the back of the leg. When this nerve is irritated, it can cause pain, numbness, weakness, or other symptoms in the lower back, buttocks, side and down the leg. There are several possible causes of this condition. A misaligned vertebra can cause inflammation of the joints, putting pressure on the nerve. Bulging discs and muscle spasms can also cause pressure on the sciatic nerve.
Several other conditions may cause this symptom, so a complete evaluation would be needed to correctly asses the exact cause, but it is often experienced by vicutms of whiplash injury to the low back.
Pinched Nerve
A pinched nerve is just that. It is a severely compressed nerve, often caused by damaged tissue, inflammation, spasms and misaligned vertebra. When nerves get pinched they become severely inflamed and may cause further muscles may spasms, causing even more discomfort. The pain is usually so severe that you can't move that part of the body and it can cause other symptoms as well.
A proper examination is needed to determine the exact cause. Such as X-Ray, MRI and CT Scan
Joint Dysfunction
Joints of the body need to move. When this movement becomes restricted and normal motion is altered several problems arise. Most commonly joint dysfunction results in pain, stiffness, muscle tightness, cartilage breakdown/degeneration, and movement compensation leading to undue stress on other areas of the body. Joint dysfunction are common in the spine and the extremities.
The doctor will assess movement of the joints to feel for areas of altered or restricted movements. Once identified, the abnormal movement can be restored using a combination of chiropractic joint adjustments and soft tissue recovery therapy such as PNT. Whenever possible simple home exercises are demonstrated to help maintain proper motion.
Maintenance Care
What many people dont know is that you don't have to be injured to benefit from chiropractic care. By staying well adjusted with maintenance chiropractic care you can help prevent injury. Some other possible benefits of maintenance care are: optimal nerve output for optimal physical performance, improved posture, decreased stiffness, increased mobility, energy, strength, circulation, and immune function just to name a few.
Everybody benefits from chiropractic a little differently, but one thing everybody has in common is that they just feel better.
Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is a controversial and complicated condition to understand. For proper diagnosis and treatment, a wide variety of factors need to be considered including "head-to-toe" joint and muscle function, nutrition, and lifestyle issues. A thorough examination including orthopedic and neurologic testing, as well as other specialized tests, will help to determine the exact causes of your symptoms and your individualized treatment plan. Very often, a comprehensive treatment program addressing all of these issues leads to significant improvement.
Joint and soft tissue manipulation is often very helpful in relieving the aches and pains of fibromyalgia and related conditions. Other treatment options may include ultrasound or electrical muscle stimulation, acupuncture, therapeutic exercises, and massage therapy & myofascial release techniques. These procedures, combined with nutritional & herbal medicine, and/or homeopathy constitute a comprehensive, holistic approach. Although researchers are still a long way from finding a "cure" for fibromyalgia, chiropractic care is usually very successful in the effective management of this condition. However, if after examination we conclude that your case cannot be helped with conservative care, a prompt referral will be made.
