Welcome

Welcome to another installment of all things chiropractic and exercise rehab educational content. Today we are discussing conditions that chiropractic commonly treats.

Interestingly, we are born with 270 bones that eventually fuse to form our adult skeleton of 206 bones. These bones then form up to 360 joints in the body. The function of these joints influences surrounding tissues such as nerves, muscles, connective tissue, glands, and lymph nodes. Therefore, if a joint is displaying dysfunction, problems arise throughout the body. Lets dive into some conditions that Chiropractic can help with.

Neck Pain

Neck pain can range from mild discomfort to severe chronic pain. What exactly could be causing your neck pain could be to a variety of causes. Such as, posture, recent activities, trauma, sleeping posture, exercise frequency, and stress levels to name a few. Art of Function Chiropractic finds the root cause of the neck pain and administers unique treatments to each patient. We utilize adjustments, muscle work, and exercise rehab to solve dysfunctional cervical vertebral joints. Through these treatments we can mend better, more functional mechanics for these joints and reduce muscle spasms.

Shoulder Pain

Arthritis, instability, and tendon tear/inflammation, do any of these problems sound familiar to you? The shoulder joint is frequently on people’s list of painful areas of their bodies. This is due to the amount of work we put through our shoulders everyday. Injuries to the shoulder are caused by trauma/overuse of the muscle, ligaments and tendons. Which will result in pain and tenderness in and around the shoulder joint complex. We aim to bring back motor coordination to the shoulder joint. Through adjusting the area, stretching out short muscles and strengthening weak areas, we can bring stability back to the shoulder and reduce pain.

Low Back Pain

About 31 million Americans experience low back pain at any given time! What !? Worse yet, its estimated that 80% of people in America will experience low back pain at some point in their life. This is a plead to get off your couch, move your spine, get it adjusted, exercise, work on your muscles and fix your s#@t. Phew, alright back to our regularly scheduled educational content…

Our low back bears the load of our upper body and is where most of our torso’s forward bending motion comes from.  Low back pain is associated with degeneration of the spine caused by wear and tear. This wear and tear can be slowed through chiropractic treatment and exercise rehab. Other causes of low back pain include sprains, strains, herniated/bulging discs, sciatica, spinal stenosis, traumatic injury, and spondylolisthesis (forward slipping of the vertebral segment). Art of Function Chiropractic utilizes a plethora of tools and techniques to balance the system and reduce pain in the low back region.

Sciatica

Sciatica refers to pain that radiates along the path of the sciatic nerve, which branches from your lower buttocks through your hips and buttocks and down each leg. Typically, sciatica affects only one side of your body.  Piriformis syndrome, lumbar stenosis, lumbar radiculopathy, herniated disc, or an overgrowth of a bone known as a bone spur can cause sciatica symptoms. We use many assessment techniques to determine what the cause of your sciatic pain is and the develop a treatment plan tailored to you.

Carpal Tunnel

Carpel tunnel is a condition that causes numbness, tingling, or weakness in your hand. It happens because of pressure on your median nerve, which runs the length of your arm, goes through a passage in your wrist called the carpal tunnel, and ends in your hand. The carpal tunnel is created by a ligament that connects side to side at the base of your palm. It keeps 9 tendons, a nerve, and vessels all nice and snug so they do not move around and have a good angle of pull for the fingers to contract.

When the hand and wrist get overused, the tendons can become inflamed and cause compression on the median nerve. Trauma to the area can also cause this. Do not make a wrist brace and a visit to a surgeon your first plan for getting help with this condition. Conservative chiropractic care has a good prognosis for carpel tunnel syndrome. Art of Function Chiropractic has a lot of experience treating this condition and has many ways of treating it. Exercise rehab is the cornerstone of the treatment plan.

Tennis Elbow

Tennis elbow, officially known as lateral epicondylitis. This is caused by the extensor muscles located in the forearm being overused and do not have time to heal. This means, they begin to spasm and become tight. As a result, pain is felt on the outer elbow. Gripping objects, opening doors, and using screwdrivers/wrenches are typical aggravating activities. This condition can be very debilitating for people in trades jobs and those that work with their hands. We utilize specific exercises to target the weak extensors, adjust the elbow, and use muscle treatments to relieve pain. But not only relieving the pain, but creating a plan to PREVENT this from happening in the future.

Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is inflammation of a thick band of tissue that connects the heel bone to the toes. Pain is typically felt along the bottom of the foot. There are several causes of this, ranging from too much running, improper foot mechanics, occupation demands, genetics, and age to name a few. We see patients walking out pain free in only a couple treatments in some cases. The product of well thought out treatment plan and education of the patient.

Need Help?

Do you suffer from one of these conditions? Chiropractic has been proven to be an effective treatment for these conditions and many more including TMJ, scoliosis, golfers elbow, headaches, vertigo, sprained ankles, knee pain, and hip pain. Book an appointment with us and let build a relationship towards better health and living pain free. Its our goal to IMPROVE EVERYDAY and we hope to motivate that feeling in all our patients!

Written by Dr. Cavan O’Brien
Check out some of our other posts here:
What is the Perfect Posture?
What is Chiropractic?

References

https://www.acatoday.org/Patients/What-is-Chiropractic/Back-Pain-Facts-and-Statistics

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sciatica/symptoms-causes/syc-20377435#:~:text=Sciatica%20refers%20to%20pain%20that,one%20side%20of%20your%20body.

-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1114738/