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Chiropractic and Back Pain Treatment

 

People visit the chiropractic office for a wide array of reasons, from asthma to injury.  Perhaps one of the most common, or at least well known, reasons for those chiropractic visits is back pain.  And studies show it works: In a survey conducted by Consumer Reports, a whopping sixty-five percent of all people receiving chiropractic care for back pain claimed they experienced “a lot” of relief from their treatment.  If you are considering a visit to the chiropractor for your own discomfort, here is a guide to how a chiropractor can help your back pain:

 

bigstock_Back_Pain_Concept_14697167Preparing for the treatment plan.  Before a chiropractor will work on your back, a lot of care must go into understanding the cause of your back pain, the current condition of your overall health, and the best way to treat your discomfort.  To create a treatment plan suited especially to your specific needs, you will first have to provide the chiropractor with a detailed medical history, and then you will have to submit to a comprehensive health examination.  If need be, the chiropractor may even refer you for further lab tests or X-Rays before treating you.

 

Goals of the treatment plan.  Of course, the immediate goal is to relieve your back pain.  However, chiropractors are also concerned with maintaining the positive benefits of your chiropractic care long after you experience pain relief.  Specific goals are to keep the pain at bay for good, and as well to prevent any further injury that can cause even more, or different types of, pain.

 

What does the treatment plan involve?  The severity and nature of your back pain will determine how frequently you may visit the chiropractor.  Once you have established a good base line, you will go into the chiropractor’s office on a regular basis for spinal manipulation.  During the vertebral alignment process, the chiropractor will adjust your spine using a variety of manual methods.  Many chiropractors also offer deep tissue massage and acupuncture as therapeutic solutions for back pain.  Additionally, chiropractors often use a well-rounded approach to treating your condition, including nutritional counseling and guidance for exercises/activities you may do on your own to help ease the pain.

 

How does chiropractic care work?  When a chiropractor manipulates the spine to achieve vertebral alignment, it frees up space between the discs in the vertebrae, which may be cramped due to bulging/herniated discs and/or the swelling in the surrounding tissue.  When the discs are properly spaced, tension and pressure between them is often reduced, allowing nerves to communicate more effectively with the rest of the nervous system (and to stop sending those pain signals!).

 

If you have back pain, you owe it to yourself to explore the possibility of seeking treatment from a chiropractor.  Consider these points when determining how chiropractic care may be of help to you.

 

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Redwood City, CA Chiropractor | (650) 367-1948

Many individuals seem surprised to learn that the chiropractic education procedure is so substantial. Whether you’re preparing to become a chiropractic doctor, medical physician, or dental practitioner, it takes 4 years of university followed by and additional 4-5 years of additional education (med institution, dental institution, chiropractic university) simply because there is that much to discover about the body to become a competent healthcare carrier.

Depending on the location of interest an individual has in the wellness care industry, it takes a comparable quantity of time to complete the educational program.

DID YOU KNOW …

*The preliminary action is finishing a common “pre-med” undergraduate or university degree.

* Courses including biology, organic and inorganic chemistry, physics, psychology, various science laboratories, in addition to all the liberal art requirements should graduate are included in the undergraduate education procedure.

*Many states now need 4 years of university in addition to the 4 to 5 school years of chiropractic education to practice in their specific state.

*When entering a chiropractic university, the same format exists as a lot of healthcare disciplines.

*The basic sciences are covered in the first half of the educational procedure after which time effective completion of the National Panels Part I examination is needed to move into the 2nd half – the clinical sciences.

* From there, internships, residency programs, preceptorship programs become offered to the chiropractic student.

* When graduated, residence programs including (however not limited to) orthopedics, neurology, pediatrics, radiology, sports medication, rehabilitation, internal medication, and others are options. Many various Masters and doctorate programs in specialty locations are likewise offered.

At one of the chiropractic colleges, the academic core program or Medical Practice Educational program consists of 308 credit hours of course research and consists of 4,620 contact hours of lecture, laboratory and clinical education.

There are 4 years of education arranged in a mandatory series.

The degree of Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) is awarded upon effective completion of the needed course of research.

In order to get a degree, a student must have pleased all academic and clinical requirements and should have made no less than the last 25 percent of the overall credits needed for the Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree, enabling up to 75 percent of the overall credits with advanced standing.

The academic program could be finished in 3 and one-third fiscal year of constant residency. College graduation, nonetheless, is contingent upon completion of the program in accordance with the standards of the College, which fulfill or go beyond those of its accrediting companies.

In addition to courses included in the curriculum, a range of treatment electives are offered to the students. These electives are developed to match the research of adjustive treatments included and help with examination of specialized methods.

As Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.), we are dedicated to offering the greatest quality care offered to our patients. We coordinate care with other physicians when proper in pursuit of reaching the goal of our assisting our patients in the most effective, economic, and evidence-based method possible.

back pain treatment redwood city

You may additionally be interested in this: www.acatoday.org/‎

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What Your Insurance Company Does Not Want You To Know

whiplah treatment questions

If you have been in an auto accident there’s some critical information you need to know. Information your insurance company doesn’t want you to know. Even if a medical doctor has examined you, you need to be checked by a spinal expert – a Doctor of Chiropractic. Why? Only Chiropractors can detect subtle injuries to the spine, so call our office today.

 Here’s what you need to know:

  • Many injuries sustained in auto accidents are hidden injuries to the ligaments and muscles of the spine.  When they don’t heal properly they form scar tissue, predisposing you to degenerative disc disease later on in life.
  •  The insurance company will tell you if there is no damage to the car, you could not possibly be hurt. Numerous studies have shown you cannot correlate the amount of damage to the vehicle to a person’s injury. There are over 3 million new whiplash injuries each year, and in low speed rear impact crashes, the risk of injury is 30 to 60%. Of these people, 30 to 50% never fully recover and 14% become disabled.
  • Contrary to what you may have been told, whiplash type injuries do not typically resolve in 6 to 12 weeks. Numerous studies show a significantly longer recovery time. Many injuries can take up to a year to resolve.
  •  A change in velocity between 2 vehicles in an accident of as little as 5 mph is enough of an impact to cause significant damage to your body. Most modern vehicles have bumpers that don’t sustain damage until 8 to 12 mph, far above the speed that can cause an injury. When this difference in speed becomes about 15 mph, spinal cord injuries can occur.
  •  Symptoms such as pain and stiffness, pain between the shoulder blades, headaches, numbness and tingling in the arms or hands, dizziness, and irritability often don’t begin until days, weeks, or even months after an auto accident. The insurance companies know this, and that’s why they try to get you to settle your claim quickly.  Don’t do it!
  • Although up to one in four people that sustain whiplash injuries have symptoms that become chronic, there is hope.  A recent study in the Journal of Orthopedic Medicine showed 85% of people with chronic symptoms improved after just 4 weeks of chiropractic care and 31% were completely relieved of all symptoms.
  • If you are not at fault in an auto accident, it is illegal for your insurance company to raise your rates because you have put in a claim for medical treatment. Furthermore, an insurance company cannot dictate what type of care you get.  Beware! Some insurance adjusters will try to intimidate you into settling your claim to early. Don’t be bullied!
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My Car Just Got a Dent. Why Does My Neck Hurt?

whiplash treatment redwood city

Whiplash discomfort can be much different from other injuries. When a car crash is severe, the discomfort will come on right away. If the injury produces a moderate or moderate strain, often it takes a couple of days for the pain and swelling to reach its peak. In some cases it is stiffness that is the primary symptom and you may not even notice for  couple of weeks after the accident. The delay in pain is commonly seen in low speed crashes where usually there is minor damage to the cars.

There are a lot of factors that determine the extent of injury following a low speed whiplash. One of these is the position of your head prior to the impact. Was your head turned? Were you looking up in in the rear-view mirror?  Were you aware of the impending impact? All of these factors can turn a low speed accident into a significant injury.

Another factor is the size and age of your car.  Modern cars are designed with crumple zones, and absorb much of the force of an accident. Older cars transfer much more of the force of the impact into your body.  Combine that with a vulnerable body position, and you have a recipe for a significant injury.

Another contributing factor is the position of your head-rest.  A proper head-rest position needs to be close to the back of the head and slightly above the top of the head. In a rear-end crash, the force of the seat being driven into you body causes you to become temporarily “taller”.  If the head- rest is too low, then the neck will bend around it like a fulcrum, triggering much more damage to your neck. The same thing takes place if the seat is reclined too far and the head whips backwards before hitting the head-rest.

Since symptoms can begin slowly and minor car damages is a poor indicator of injury, a comprehensive assessment of your spinal health is paramount.  We are spine specialists, and have a systematic approach to treating people with whiplash injuries, giving you the best chance to recover from your auto accident.  Call us today, or contact us by clicking here.

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New Whiplash Video

Whiplash is a serious injury that afflicts thousands of people every year.  Unfortunately, whiplash injuries are frequently misdiagnosed, or dismissed by the medical profession and the insurance companies, because no “visible evidence” can be seen with existing diagnostic devices.

Treated incorrectly or untreated, many will be left with lifelong pain and / or disability.  Check out this new video that will help explain whiplash injuries.  Just click on the picture below, or click here.

whiplash treatment redwood city

 

 

 

Your head sits atop of your neck like an upright pendulum.  Without notice, a car slams into your rear bumper. Your head extends forward, then immediately backward as your neck compensates for the sudden movement. In this split second, the ligaments, tendons, and nerves in your neck can all be torn instantaneously.  Occurrences like this happen thousands of times each day.  Even after all the paperwork has been accounted for and the car has been fixed, whiplash still remains.

 

Car accidents are one of the many causes of whiplash; other cases may be a result of sports injuries, or a serious fall.  However, with an abundance of motorists on the road each year, the risk of being in a whiplash-related accident is a high probability.  The slightest impact in a car can result in neck and cervical distress.  “An 8mph car collision produces two times the force of gravity (or a G-2) deceleration of the car, and a 5-G deceleration of the head.  This unnatural and forceful movement affects the muscles and ligaments in the neck, stretching, and potentially tearing them.”    Anyone that experiences pain after an accident should not ignore the symptoms.

 

The broad range of symptoms and lack of significant tangible evidence (i.e. scarring, broken bones) leads many medical doctors and insurance companies to dismiss whiplash and prescribe rest and temporary painkillers.  The most common source of pain is usually caused by stretched or torn ligaments, which cannot be seen by the naked eye.  The spinal structure is incredibly vulnerable during an accident, discs in the vertebrae could slip out of alignment and pain could show up days or even weeks later.  Symptoms can start off fairly mild and progressively get worse.  Initially, whiplash pain may be similar to muscle soreness, but as it intensifies, concussion-like symptoms may appear such as fatigue, dizziness, and blurred vision.

 

It is important for whiplash patients to seek a chiropractor for corrective help because of their expertise in spinal manipulation.   “Chiropractic care, with its emphasis on comprehensive spinal health, is well suited to the complex, diverse symptoms and therapeutic response that have contributed to seeming confusion regarding whiplash….  A chiropractor’s systematic approach to treatment, with a realistic focus on active rehabilitation, can achieve better-than-average results for many patients.”   Through methods of manipulative care, chiropractors provide a critical approach for whiplash patients by slowly strengthening the damaged ligaments and tissues back to health.

The primary goal for a whiplash patient is to restore movement and functionality in the damaged areas.  Inactivity will not help the muscles become reoriented with their original range of motion.  Routine adjustments from a chiropractor are critical, but patients must be proactive at home as well.

 

During the night, patients who use ordinary pillows do not receive the corrective support to the head, neck and spine. Cervical pillows offer proper alignment, which is essential to maintaining good posture.  Proper alignment and posture will help to reduce tension throughout the day, enabling greater mobility.

 

Between regular visits with a chiropractor, whiplash patients should begin at-home rehabilitation to the injured spinal structure.  As the soreness subsides, treatment for whiplash must involve re-strengthening the ligaments in the neck that have been overly strained.  As mobility in the neck is restored, resistance should be gradually increased to enhance balance and strength.  Whiplash is a very severe injury to a critical part of the body.  Effective recovery must include a solid balance between chiropractic care, rest, and proper exercise. These methods of treatment are cost efficient and many can be done in the convenience of home.  Whiplash is not something that you “live with.”  The pain can be defeated and life can resume back to normalcy.

 

[1] Walker, Kamiah A., (2010 Feb, 1) Causes of Whiplash.   HYPERLINK “http://www.spineuniverse.com/conditions/whiplash/causes-whiplash” \t “_blank” http://www.spineuniverse.com/conditions/whiplash/causes-whiplash

[2] Practical Research Studies (1993)

 

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Doctored: The Movie

The Movie the AMA DOES NOT Want You to See:

If you value your health and those of your friends and family, you MUST Watch the Trailer Below:

“Your back pain will require SURGERY”
“Without these pills, you face life-long PAIN”
“Your child’s behavior requires MEDICATION”

That’s what the doctor tells you, but who tells the doctor what to say?

A visit to the doctor can be traumatic enough. Now we learn about the “influencers” – the people you never see, but whose job it is to turn you into a compliant, pill popping, revenue generation unit. And at all costs.

Medical Inc. reveals the unseen tactics of these “influencers” in an investigation that leads to the highest levels of the American Medical Association (AMA) and reveals an alarming portrait of deception and criminality. Along the way we wonder:

  • Is much of what we “know” about modern medicine just slick marketing from companies that profit when we’re in pain (or by putting us in pain)?
  • Why aren’t we being told about the successes of natural therapies?
  • Why do so many people think chiropractors are “quacks,” nutritional supplements a waste of money, and acupuncture a fringe therapy?

Is it because the “Medical Monopoly” spends millions a year attacking, ridiculing, and trying to discredit these natural therapies? The answers are almost beyond belief, until Medical Inc. takes us into the courtroom with five chiropractors who, having been labeled “an unscientific cult,’ fought back and won a landmark verdict.

Their heroic story forms the backdrop of one of the most personally compelling documentaries ever. Because of their bravery, the medical industrial complex is no longer blocking access to safe natural alternatives, pill popping is giving way to smarter preventative care, and purveyors of sickness are being shoved aside, resulting in a healthier life for us all.

Content from www.doctoredthemovie.com

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Best Type of Headache Treatment

headache treatment redwood city chiropractorWhen confronted with  power or recurring headaches, many people are not sure about which type of treatment is the best one.  In every single place you look, you see pharmaceutical corporations promoting medicines for relieving headaches. However, what about curing the reason for headaches? Although there are a variety of headache triggers, the majority stem from issues with the neck, and that is where the Chiropractic adjustment might be extraordinarily effective.

Headache Symptoms are a typical complaint in patients presenting for professional care, including chiropractic management.  Patients with headache symptoms search chiropractic care as a result of they discover manipulation or changes utilized to the cervical backbone and upper back area are highly effective in decreasing the depth, frequency and length of the headache pain.  It’s because the cervical spine / neck, is commonly the origin of the headache because the three nerves in the higher neck (C1, 2 and 3) cross by way of the thick, overly taught neck muscular tissues in route to the scalp / head.  When the muscles of the neck are in spasm, the nerves get “pinched” or squeezed by the overly tight muscular tissues resulting in headache pain.  Each nerve runs to a distinct a part of the top and subsequently, ache may be described as “…radiating excessive of head (typically into the forehead and eyes),” or, into the top and over the ear, typically reaching the temple.  Additionally, an area located in the back and side of the head is the area where the C1 nerve innervates, so pain may additionally be reported in that location.  When greater than one of the C1-three nerves is pinched, the entire facet to the top of the top could also be involved.

In the October 2009 issue of The Spine Journal, Western States Chiropractic College, Center for Outcomes Studies, reported advantages are obtained with the utilization of spinal manipulation within the therapy of chronic cervicogenic (which means coming from the neck) headaches.  The phrase ” chronic” means at  least 3 months of headache symptoms have been present.  This new study compared 2 completely different doses of therapy using a number of final result measures including the pain grade, the number of headaches in the final four weeks of the study, and the amount of medicine utilized.  Data was collected every four weeks for a 24 week period and patients had been treated 1-2 instances/week and separated into either an 8 or a 16 treatment session with half the group receiving either spinal manipulative remedy or a minimal light therapeutic massage (LM) control group.

The outcomes of the study revealed the spinal manipulation group obtained better results than the control group at all time intervals.  There was a small benefit within the group that received the greater amount of therapies with the mean number of cervicogenic headaches decreased by 50% in both pain intensity and frequency.

The importance of this study is critical as there are a lot of uncomfortable side effects to medicines continuously utilized for the remedy of headaches.  Many patients do not want to take medications, and for that reason,  spinal manipulation therapy (SMT) offers a perfect treatment for these patients.  Couple SMT with dietary administration, lifestyle modifications, stress management, and a pure, vitamin/natural anti-inflammatory (akin to ginger, turmeric, boswellia) when wanted, a natural, holistic strategy to the administration of chronic headaches is accomplished.

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Back Pain: Should I See a Chiropractor or an MD

The Difference in Effectiveness of Medical vs. Chiropractic In The Treatment of Acute and Chronic Back Pain

bigstock_Back_Pain_Concept_14697167 Have you ever contemplated who is the most effective suited to treat back pain? Since there are so many treatment solutions available today, it is very challenging to make this determination without a little advice.

To assist in, a study assessing this very question compared the effectiveness between medical and chiropractic treatments. Over a 4-year period, 2780 patients were assessed with questionnaires. Low Back Pain patients were treated using traditional approaches by both MDs (Medical Doctors) and DCs (Doctors of Chiropractic).

Chiropractic treatments included spinal manipulation, physical therapy, an exercise program, and self-care education. Medical therapies included prescription drugs, an exercise program, self-care advice and about 25 % of the patients received physical therapy.

The study concentrated on present pain degree and functional disability (activity interference) measured by questionnaires mailed to the patients. It was disclosed that chiropractic was favored over medical treatment in the following areas:.

  • Pain relief in the first 12 months (more evident in the chronic patients).
  • When low back pain radiated below the knee (more evident in the chronic patients).
  •  Long term LBP patients with no leg pain (during the first 3 months).

Very similar trends leaning toward chiropractic were seen for impairment but were of smaller significance. All patient groups saw significant progress in both pain and disability over the four year study period.

Acute patients saw the best degree of improvement with numerous having symptom alleviation after 12 weeks of care.

This study also found earlier intervention reduced chronic pain and, at year 3, those acute LBP sufferers who received early intervention declared fewer days of LBP than those who waited longer for treatment.

While both MDs and DCs treatment approaches helped, it’s quite clear from the information reported that chiropractic should be utilized.

These results sustain the value of early intervention by chiropractic physicians and make most sense for those of you debating the question of who to see for your low back pain.

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Mild Pressure Reduces Nerve Output by 50%!

“Feeling the Pressure?”

bigstock_Burning_Red_Pain_199804710 mm/Hg (millimeters of mercury) is a measurement of pressure. It isn’t very much pressure at all. If a blood pressure cuff were inflated to that level, you would barely notice it. It certainly wouldn’t interfere with the function of the nerves in your arm. Yet, this same level of pressure can be significant elsewhere in the body.

More than 25 years ago, a researcher from the University of Colorado presented data on the effects of pressure on nerve fibers.1,2 It turns out that it only takes 10 mm/Hg of pressure to cause significant interference to the function of nerve fibers at the point of exit from the spine, decreasing nerve output by 50%!. This finding reinforces what doctors of chiropractic have noted clinically for decades: Relatively minor misalignments or restrictions in the spine (subluxations), which only generate minor pressures, can cause significant nerve interference.

Ordinary methods of measuring spinal range of motion, analyzing X-rays, and even reading MRIs often fail to detect subluxations. The specialized skills required to locate and correct these subtle disturbances is the central focus of chiropractic education and practice. This specialized training probably accounts for the fact that of all spinal manipulation performed in the United States, 94 percent is in the form of specific adjustments administered by doctors of chiropractic.3

Recent research supports the importance of chiropractic’s unique targeted approach to subluxation. Relief from neck pain and back pain has been shown to be significantly better under chiropractic care than under physical therapy.4,5 An economist at the University of Ottawa has concluded that medication and physical therapy are much less cost-effective than chiropractic care in resolving the pain and loss of overall health in patients with low back complaints.6 These findings argue strongly for inclusion of doctors of chiropractic along with the other valuable members of your health care team.

It is hoped that this information is of use to you in making wise health care decisions and informed referrals.

For more information on low back pain and sciatica, click here.

References

  1. Sharpless SK: Susceptibility of Spinal Roots to Compression Block, p.155. In Goldstein M, editor: The Research Status of Spinal Manipulative Therapy, Monograph #15, Bethesda, MD, 1975, NIH/NINCDS, U.S. Department of Health, Education & Welfare.
  2. Ruch WJ: Autonomic Neuroanatomy of the Vertebral Subluxation Complex. In Masarsky CS, Todres-Masarsky M, editors: Somatovisceral Aspects of Chiropractic: An Evidence-Based Approach, Churchill Livingstone, New York, 2001.
  3. Shekelle PG, Adams AH, et al: The Appropriateness of Spinal Manipulation for Low Back Pain: Project Overview and Literature Review. RAND, Santa Monica, Calif., 1992.
  4. Koes BW, et al: A randomised clinical trial of manual therapy and physiotherapy for persistent back and neck complaints: subgroup analysis and relationship between outcome measures. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 1993;16(4):211.
  5. Rosner AL: Musculoskeletal Disorders Research. In Redwood D, Cleveland CS, editors: Fundamentals of Chiropractic, Mosby, St. Louis, Mo., 2003.
  6. Manga P: Enhanced Chiropractic Coverage Under OHIP as a Means for Reducing Health Care Costs, Attaining Better Health Outcomes and Achieving Equitable Access to Health Services. Report to the Ontario Ministry of Health, Ontario, 1998