Treatments

Whiplash or whiplash associated disorders (WAD), are injuries to the neck caused by a sudden movement of the head, backward, forward, or sideways. Whether from a car accident, sports, or an accident at work, whiplash or other neck injuries warrant a thorough chiropractic check-up. The biggest danger with whiplash injuries is that the symptoms can take years to develop. Too often people don’t seek treatment until more serious complications develop. Even after whiplash victims settle their insurance claims, some 45% report they still suffer with symptoms two years later.

When no bones are broken and the head doesn’t strike the windshield, typical symptoms are as follows: 62% to 98% complain of neck pain, which typically starts two hours up to two days after the accident. This is often the result of tightened muscles that react to either muscle tears or excessive movement of joints from ligament damage. The muscles tighten in an effort to splint and support the head, limiting the excessive movement.

Most of those suffering from whiplash complain of headache. The pain may be on one side or both, on again off again or constant, in one spot or more general. These headaches, like the neck pain, are often the result of tightened, tensed muscles trying to keep the head stable and, like tension headaches, they are often felt behind the eyes.

Shoulder pain often described as pain radiating down the back of the neck into the shoulder blade area, may also be the result of tensed muscles.

Muscle tears are often described as burning pain, prickling or tingling. More severe disc damage may cause sharp pain with certain movements, with or without radiation into the arms, hands and fingers, which are relieved by holding your hand over your head.

Thousands of Canadians suffer from episodes of acute or persistent neck pain each year as a result of injury, strain, overuse or aging. However, a pain in the neck should not be ignored and left undiagnosed and untreated. Problems in the cervical spine, the first seven bones (vertebrae) in the neck running from the base of the brain to just past the shoulder blades, require assessment and treatment to prevent further, more permanent, damage.

Acute or short-term low back pain generally lasts from a few days to a few weeks. Most acute back pain is mechanical in nature – the result of trauma to the lower back or a disorder such as arthritis. Pain from trauma may be caused by a sports injury, work around the house or in the garden, or a sudden jolt such as a car accident or other stress on spinal bones and tissues. Symptoms may range from muscle ache to shooting or stabbing pain, limited flexibility and/or range of motion, or an inability to stand straight. Occasionally, pain felt in one part of the body may “radiate” from a disorder or injury elsewhere in the body. Some acute pain syndromes can become more serious if left untreated. Chronic back pain is measured by duration – pain that persists for more than 3 months is considered chronic. It is often progressive and the cause can be difficult to determine.

(or sciatic neuritis) is a set of symptoms including pain that may be caused by general compression and/or irritation of one of five nerve roots that give rise to the sciatic nerve or by compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve itself. The pain is felt in the lower back, buttock, and/or various parts of the leg and foot. In addition to pain, which is sometimes severe, there may be numbness, muscular weakness, pins and needles or tingling and difficulty in moving or controlling the leg. Typically, the symptoms are only felt on one side of the body.

Also known as adhesive capsulitis, is probably one of the most painful and debilitating conditions faced in the chiropractic clinic. What’s more, it remains extremely painful, and disabling, for a long period of time, if not properly managed (up to three years). Simple daily activities like taking off a t-shirt or putting on a coat, even combing one’s hair become an ordeal. Sleep is invariably disturbed. Prevention is the key! Nip the pain in the bud before your shoulder turns to ice. Depending on how advanced your shoulder pain is, it may take several months and or very occasionally a whole year to resolve, even with chiropractic.

There are a variety of reasons why individuals experience knee pain. And, it’s important to know that anyone, at any age, is at risk. Knee problems can occur due to trauma sustained from a fall, an auto accident, a sports injury, or some other acute, traumatic event. That said, the knee problems that most of us experience, in particular as we get older, are considered “non-trauma knee problems.” This is to say, the majority of knee problems don’t occur because of a sudden injury to the knee, but rather because of long-term dysfunction and stress on the knee due to excessive weight, poor gait, and other stresses on the knee joint and surrounding tissue that, over time, have developed into “noticeable” to “extreme” knee pain.

Chiropractors treat almost as many patients with knee pain as they do patients with back problems. But, we would likely have far less patients with knee problems if more people came in sooner for back care. That’s right, keeping your back in alignment can help prevent knee pain!

Chiropractic care can reestablish healthy muscle balance, restore appropriate movement to the patella and other knee joints, and adjust subluxations of the sacroiliac joints or bones of the foot. Knee replacement surgery in an attempt to relieve knee pain should be a last resort! It is vitally important that you never ignore knee pain, or “play through” knee pain, or continue walking in high heels when your knees are aching. Pain is the body’s way of letting you know that there’s a problem that needs correcting. If knee problems are left untreated, knee joint tissue, particularly the cartilage, will continue to erode. If the bones begin to rub on one another, changes such as bone spurs can occur.

he very nature of chiropractic care is the belief in the own healing properties of the human body. Quite often, we can have small problems in one area of our body, and not even realize it until the effect is felt in a much larger way, somewhere else.

The practice of chiropractic care focuses on the relationship between your spine and your nervous system. The spine is the structure, and the nervous system is the function. Chiropractic believes these two systems work in unison to keep and then restore health of body.

The word “chiropractic” is taken from Greek, and means “done by hand”. This is exactly how chiropractic care works. The chiropractic doctor uses his or her hands to manipulate your body, and help it to heal itself. Chiropractic is the branch of the health sciences which focuses on the neuro-musculoskeletal system. The spine is the highway for the central nervous system; if the highway is blocked or traffic is jammed, chiropractic is usually an able healer.