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Saturday, 30 March 2013 00:52

Hip Pain Treated Through Chiropractic

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Pain in the hip can come directly from the hip joint itself or it may be experienced in the hip joint as a referred pain from a problem somewhere else. Referred pain is pain that travels along a nerve that comes from the back. The referred sensation of pain is felt in an area where the nerve travels or ends, but not necessarily from the point of the back where the nerve is being pinched. On the other hand, pain that comes directly from the hip joint can be from inflammation due to injury (Sprains, strains, and fractures), arthritis, infection, or in rarer cases, malignancy (cancer.)
 
One example of referred hip pain is a pinched nerve at the level between the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae. Pinching of this nerve commonly causes referred pain into the hip. The hip joint will ache or burn or may even experience sharp pain; however, the joint itself should not be overly tender to touch or swollen. Because the pain signal originates in the back, bending the spine to one side may relieve the pain while bending the spine to place more pressure on the nerve may worsen it.
 
True hip pain (pain from the hip joint itself) can be caused from an acute (usually accident related) or a chronic (usually arthritis related) condition. The treatment goal for an acute hip injury is first to control and reduce the swelling. After the swelling is controlled, the next phase is to help restore the mobility and return the proper function of the hip joint and leg. The goal of treatment of a chronic hip condition is to try and determine what caused the hip joint to become symptomatic, relieve or eliminate that cause, and rehabilitate the hip joint.
 
A Doctor of Chiropractic has the training and equipment needed to help determine if your hip pain is coming from a pinched nerve in your spine or directly from the hip joint, itself. For more information on referred pain caused by pinched nerves, please see this article: About Pinched Nerves
 
Acute hip injuries can be initially difficult to treat as the actual hip joint resides a few inches beneath the level of the skin. This makes it difficult to ice the area well enough to control swelling. Care must be taken not to extend the use of ice past twenty minutes to avoid the consequences of ice injury (frostbite.) Proper elevation of the area (elevating the joint above the level of the heart) is also a bit of a challenge. For instance, the use of a recliner is usually ineffective since a recliner will not allow the hip to be elevated above heart level. A better choice for elevation is bed rest by lying on the opposite of the hip injury.
 
Passive hip range of motion can also be very beneficial to reduce swelling. The application of passive motion is only to be done with an appropriate device or administered by a trained professional. Ask your chiropractor about the use of passive motion to help reduce swelling.
 
Chronic hip pain requires proper history, examination, and diagnosis to determine a course of treatment. A chiropractor can perform these procedures and will recommend a suitable treatment program for your condition. Your chiropractor may also outline goals and recommend changes in lifestyle to help reduce the chances of a re-injury and to better manage your present complaint.
 
Adjustive procedures can be made to a hip joint and other therapies such as short-wave diathermy and microwave (two methods to deliver moist heat into deep tissue, and massage can be used to help improve the hip joint. Stretching and exercises can also be added at the appropriate time to protect against future re-injury. Nutritional supplements may also be recommended. For instances, a proper uptake of calcium needs to be obtained by many senior citizens, especially women. Several spontaneous hip fractures could be avoided if bone density checks were checked during routine examines in the forth or fifth decade of life. 
 
Hip problems whether acute or chronic can both benefit from supportive care. Proper exercise, stretching, nutrition, and support can all aid in your recovery and enhance your functionality. The goal is to stay active but not create pain in the joint. Pain generally goes hand in hand with swelling and swelling leads to bone loss in the joint (osteoporosis) create calcium deposits around the tendons and joint (tendonitis and arthritis) and reduces mobility. Your chiropractor will work with you with a number of recommendations to help you maintain mobility while minimizing joint irritation.

Recommended Ankle Exercises

Here is a simple exercise that you can do at home with no equipment.
It works the peroneus longus/brevis, tibialis anterior, tibialis posterior, gastrocnemius, soleus muscles.
The purpose of this exercise is to improve muscular endurance, ankle strength, and proprioception.
By doing this exercise you can have the benefits of Improved stability, functional strength and injury prevention.

chiropractor irvine Irvine Chiropractor shares ankle exercises for beginners.
Begin seated in a chair with good posture.
Extend leg.
Attempt to write alphabet from A through Z with toes, moving ankle in all directions.
Repeat for prescribed sets.

© 2005-2010 WebExercises, Inc., Patent Pending, All Rights Reserved.

Monday, 04 March 2013 16:48

Neck Pain and Proper Spinal Curvitures

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Is it hard to look over your shoulder? Is there a constant pulling or throbing pain in your neck? Do you notice a “grinding” sound as you turn your head? Contact a Doctor of Chiropractic for a thorough history and examination.

chiropractor irvine Neck Pain

Your neck has to balance and support the equivalent of a 10-13lb. bowling ball!

A popular response to neck pain is taking drugs to cover up the problem (asprin, analgesics, pain pills) or treating its symptoms (muscle relaxers, massage, hot packs).

But neck pain isn’t caused by lack of asprin or drugs!

The chiropractic approach to neck pain is to locate its underlying cause. This begins with a complete case history and thorough examination. Special attention is given to the structure and function of the spine, and its affect on the nervous system.

chiropractor irvine Neck Pain

Many patients with neck pain have lost the normal forward curve in the neck. This can affect the brain stem and spinal cord

Is the proper spinal curve present? Are the nerve openings between each pair of spinal bones free and clear? Is the head balanced? Are the shoulders level? These and other considerations are used to create a plan of specific chiropractic adjustments to help improve the motion and position of spinal vertebrae.

With improved structure and function, neck pain often diminishes or totally disappears– without addictive drugs or harmful side effects!

chiropractor irvine Neck Pain

While a massage feels good, it doesn’t address the underlying structural problems often associated with neck pain.

One study, published in the Journal of Manipulatice and Physiological Therapeutics found that patiuents who received chiropractic care reported significant improvement in their neck function and reduction in their neck pain wheras those taking pain-killers did not.

© 2003 Black Talk Systems, Inc

Thursday, 10 January 2013 17:10

Dizziness and Chiropractic

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Study Shows Neck Pain and Dizziness Helped with Chiropractic

A study published in the January 7, 2013 issue of the journal Chiropractic & Manual Therapies shows that people with neck pain and those with both neck pain and associated dizziness respond equally as well to chiropractic care. The study was designed to see if the added factor of dizziness created a change in the response to chiropractic care.

In this study the authors describe the reason for the study by stating, "The symptom dizziness is common in patients with chronic whiplash related disorders. However, little is known about dizziness in neck pain patients who have not suffered whiplash."  The authors also wanted to look at any gender differences with the patients in this study to see if gender played a part in the outcome of care.

The study was done with the cooperation of the Swiss Association for Chiropractic. The study notes that consecutive new patients over the age of 18 with neck pain of any duration who had not undergone chiropractic or manual therapy in the prior 3 months were recruited from 81 different chiropractor's offices who were members of the Swiss Association for Chiropractic. A total of 405 patients in Switzerland, who suffered with neck pain and who had consented to be part of the Chiropractic Outcome Study were included.

Researchers conducted telephone interviews at 1, 3 and 6 months after the initiation of chiropractic care to document the patients' progress. A seven point scale ranging from ‘much better’, ‘better’, slightly better’, no change’, slightly worse’, ‘worse,’ and ‘much worse’ was used to track the results. From the total number of patients, 177 (44%) reported neck pain with related dizziness while 228 reported that they had neck pain without dizziness. A significantly larger number of the patients with dizziness were women. As expected the patients with dizziness suffered more severe pain as well as other complaints.

The study results showed that after only the first month of care 72% of the patients with neck pain and dizziness showed improvement in their neck pain, while 73% of those with only neck pain had improved. Additionally, half (50%) of those with dizziness showed improvement in their dizziness in this same one month time frame.

After 3 months of care 81% of all patients, with neck pain only or with dizziness, showed improvement in both the neck pain and their dizziness. After six months the results remained almost the same being within 2 percentage points for any of the groups and all of the complaints.

In their conclusion the authors wrote, "Although neck pain patients with dizziness undergoing chiropractic treatment reported significantly higher pain and disability scores at baseline (beginning of study) compared to neck pain patients without dizziness, there were no significant differences in any outcome measures between the two groups at 6 months after start of treatment." In other words, the participants in this study all got good results regardless of the presence or lack of dizziness with their neck pain.

Thursday, 10 January 2013 16:28

Chronic Fatigue and Chiropractic

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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients Helped with Chiropractic

The Journal of Upper Cervical Chiropractic Research published the results of a study on December 11, 2012 showing chiropractic improving the quality of life of a patient suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).  According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, "Chronic fatigue syndrome refers to severe, continued tiredness that is not relieved by rest and is not directly caused by other medical conditions."

The authors of the study note that medical treatment for CFS is only centered on the alleviation of symptoms while attempting to improve a patient’s quality of life. They also note that since there are no clear indicators or tests for CFS, the diagnosis of CFS is confirmed by ruling out other conditions with the continued presence of the symptoms.

In this study 20 people with CFS were selected to participate. Each was given a chiropractic examination and x-rays. One subject was disqualified due to having a metal plate in her head. Of the 19 remaining subjects 15 were female and 5 were male, with their ages ranging from 18 to 65 years.

The measurement of quality of life for the subjects was accomplished using the SF 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36), a standard health questionnaire form with 36 questions used to measure these types of issues and the quality of a persons life related to their health issues. These forms were filled out by participants before care was initiated and then again at the conclusion of the study 6 months later. 

Specific chiropractic care was rendered for subluxation of the top vertebrae in the neck, the atlas. The subjects initial SF 36 scores were then compared to the scores of the SF 36 after 6 months and the chiropractic care.

The results showed that the SF 36 scores increased significantly for the test subjects. The General Health component increased from a score of 30.3 prior to chiropractic care to 55.6 after the care. Additionally, the Mental Health scores of the SF 36, rose from 46.4 before chiropractic to 68.6 after care. The results of these measurements showed that there was a dramatic quality of life improvement as measured by the SF 36 test.

The authors noted that the improvement noticed with the subjects continued to show improvement. They commented, "Unlike treatment approaches for some chronic illnesses, where measurable changes recorded immediately after an intervention dwindle or vanish over time, our subjects’ SF-36 scores continued to improve compared to baseline; appreciably at three months, and substantially at six months."

Friday, 14 December 2012 16:35

Sensory Processing Disorder and Chiropractic

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Sensory Processing Disorder Helped with Chiropractic

The case of a 3-year-old boy with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) was documented in the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal, & Family Health on Nov. 8, 2012.

A 3-year-old boy was brought to a chiropractor by his mother after the boy had been diagnosed with sensory processing disorder, as well as possible Einstein syndrome which indicates an extreme intelligence coupled with delayed speech.

Sensory processing disorder is a neurodevelopment disorder in which the person has problems processing sensory information. Normal touch, sound, and movement can cause extreme stress, and the 3-year-old boy’s symptoms included head banging, lack of pain response, hiding under the crib or in a corner, rubbing himself against the wall, and chewing holes in his clothes.

The child's development was mildly delayed, and the childcare provider discussed a possible diagnosis of autism with the mother when the child was 16 months old. At 24 months, the child had a MMR vaccination and had a severe reaction. He developed a fever, total body rash, swollen glands, and pock marks.

A chiropractic examination was performed and subluxations were detected by asymmetries in the head and neck regions, as well as shoulder level, foot/leg level, and other indicators of subluxation. A care plan was created and initiated with specific chiropractic adjustments for the child’s subluxations at a rate of two adjustments weekly.

The child’s improvement with touch and vibration, social skills, and gross motor skills were noted in the initial phase of care when he began to receive specific chiropractic adjustments. During this time, the child’s language skills improved immensely. “Meltdowns” were still present, as well as teeth grinding, but were reduced in frequency and intensity.

Continued chiropractic care resulted in improvements in communication with the child stating opinions for the first time, as well as showing signs of increasing imagination, affection, engagement, and attention span. The child is sleeping better, and his gross and fine motor skills have improved.

The parents see great improvement in their son as a result of chiropractic care and adjustments. The 3-year-old boy is continuing under chiropractic care with the expectation of increased improvement and a lessening of symptoms of SPD.

Friday, 14 December 2012 16:33

Prescription Overkill

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Prescription Overkill

 

The Los Angeles Times published a story titled “Legal drugs, deadly outcomes” on Nov. 11, 2012 about deaths from prescription drugs.

 

When people think of deaths due to drug overdose, probably heroin and cocaine as the cause comes to mind before the prescription drugs in the medicine cabinet. An investigation of coroner’s records by the L.A. Times revealed that prescription drugs prescribed by a few doctors were at the root of many drug overdoses.

 

The L.A. Times investigation revealed that Van H. Vu,M.D., was the doctor responsible for prescribing drugs that were used in the deaths of six people due to drug overdose in a time period of 18 months. Ten more of Vu’s patients died from overdoses in the next four years.

 

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2.7 percent of Americans use psychotherapeutic drugs for non-medical reasons with pain relievers being the number one abused prescription drugs with 5.1 million American using the drugs non-medically.

 

Twelve thousand people died from prescription drug overdose in 2008, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Cocaine deaths were numbered at 4,000 people, and heroin deaths were numbered at approximately 2,000 people. Both numbers are significantly less than the total of prescription drug overdose deaths.

 

Prescription drugs are obtained by teenagers helping themselves to drugs prescribed for their parents. The most common of these prescribed drugs are Oxycontin, Vicodin, and Xanax. Teens take the drugs for themselves and they also sell them to students at their schools. Pharmacies are threatened with drug robberies to obtain the prescription drugs.

 

The L.A. Times investigation revealed that prescription drugs caused or contributed to 1,762 deaths in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, and San Diego counties between 2006 and 2011. A small number of doctors were found to be associated with the drug prescriptions. Each of the doctors had prescribed drugs to three or more of the people who died. Vu prescribed the drugs for sixteen of the people who died.

 

"The data you have is something that's going to shock everybody," said Dr. Jorge F. Carreon, a former member of the Medical Board of California.

 

Only four of the doctors associated with this investigation have been convicted of drug offenses, and a fifth has been charged with second-degree murder due to the prescription drug overdoses of three patients. All other doctors, including Vu, have not been charged.

 

According to the L.A. Times article, doctors write around 300 million prescriptions a year for painkillers. This amount could allow every adult in America to be medicated 24 hours a day for a month. Pain relievers cause 3 out of 4 prescription drug overdoses. Additionally, for every death, 32 people go to the emergency room for non-fatal drug overdoses.

Many doctors don’t acknowledge the ease with which patients can become addicted to prescription drugs, or the dangers involved with prescription drug use, according to Dr. Lynn Webster, the president-elect of the American Academy of Pain Medicine.  "It leads them down a path that can be very harmful, and that's what physicians have to watch for," said Webster

Friday, 14 December 2012 16:32

Pregnancy and Low Back Pain

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Pregnant Women with Low Back Pain Helped by Chiropractic

A qualitative study of pregnant women with low back pain, and their chiropractors was published on Oct. 9, 2012 in Chiropractic & Manual Therapies with the title of "The treatment experience of patients with lowback pain during pregnancy and their chiropractors: A qualitative study".

The pregnant women, all in their second or third trimester and suffering with low back pain, were interviewed by the study’s authors to investigate their feelings about the experience of chiropractic care during their pregnancy. Anonymity and confidentiality of the study’s respondents were protected by assigning a number to each respondent.

Low back pain is a common symptom during pregnancy. Between 50 to 80 percent of pregnant women report low back pain during pregnancy because of hormonal, postural, and structural adjustments to the body. Chiropractic care for low back pain during pregnancy is safe and effective according to previously published studies and reviews.

Positive results with no adverse effects were experienced by all the pregnant women in the study. A reduction in low back pain, increase in range of motion, and better function were some of the reported experiences.

“It really allowed me to function. I could barely walk before or stand, the pain was intense, but after I went to the chiropractor I found I could function day to day, I could walk from the bus stop to work, I could do these things, so that was pretty significant. It’s just helping me function. It’s just teaching me how to pick up my daughter so I don’t hurt myself. To still function, to still play with my daughter and be able to go to the grocery store and do all these things without really hurting myself. As well as it allows me to sleep at night,” said patient number 05.

In addition to the reduction or elimination of lower back pain, some of the pregnant women reported that chiropractic care increased their overall quality of life, and increased mobility.

“I can walk longer periods of time. So that’s excellent. I can go standing for four to five hours. Because prior to that I’d be standing 40 minutes to do the dishes and I’d be in agony. Even the basic things, like picking things up off the floor, you’d get stuck in that position, I haven’t experienced that yet [in this pregnancy]. Or just sitting for long periods of time, because I do work an office job from home, so I do sit long periods of time. I know for most people [they] have to get up and stretch for a couple minutes, even in doing that I’ve been doing okay,” said patient number 01.

Some respondents had sought chiropractic care for previous pregnancies due to low back pain, and continued with chiropractic care for later pregnancies because of positive results.

Pregnant patient number 11 said, “It worked so well the first time, I’d even come away from the appointment feeling better. It was almost an immediate fix. So because of my positive experience the first time, there was no question that I was going to use chiropractic care for the second pregnancy.”

The study results conclude that chiropractic care for pregnant women suffering from low back pain is effective for pain relief, increased range of motion, increased mobility, and overall better quality of life. “I think after the treatment, it was decreased pain and increased sense of mobility, increased range of motion and decreased sense of frustration and grumpiness,” said patient number 06.

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Friday, 14 December 2012 16:26

Colic Baby helped with Chiropractic

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Baby with Colic Helped with Chiropractic

A baby with colic who was helped by chiropractic was the focus of a study published in the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal, & Family Health on Nov. 28, 2012.

Colic in babies has classic symptoms of crying for more than 3 hours a day, usually at the same time each day, and for at least 3 days a week. Infants may have a hard abdomen, burp and pass gas a lot, spit up frequently after eating, and cry while pulling their legs up and making tight fists. The crying sounds as if the baby is in pain.

Colic is distressing not only to the baby, but also to the mother and father who witness the suffering of their baby, and are frustrated by their inability to help the baby.

In this case an 8-week-old baby girl was brought into a chiropractic clinic with the classic signs of colic. The mother said that the baby cried constantly for up to 5 hours, and that the baby’s face showed pain when making a bowel movement. The baby also had diarrhea, and would scream and cry during these episodes.

A chiropractic examination of the baby was performed using static, motion, and muscle palpation. Subluxations were found in the atlas and T11, as well as observations of subluxation in other areas of the infant’s spine.

Specific chiropractic adjustments were begun with “…light impulse finger adjustments.” The adjustments were made to C1 (atlas) and T11. The care plan included two visits weekly for four weeks.

Immediate improvement was observed after the initial adjustment, and the colic symptoms disappeared after eight adjustments over four weeks.  The parents of the baby reported,  “after her first visit, she slept the entire night. She did not have the crying spells and we reduced the medication to once per day." After two weeks of chiropractic care the parents further noted, “she (the baby) no longer takes her medication daily. She is now a happy baby. She eats, sleeps and has regular bowel movements with no pain. For the first time since she was born, she slept through the night.” .

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Breech Pregnancy Corrected with Chiropractic

A case study of a pregnant woman, whose fetus presented breech and was successfully turned with chiropractic care, was published in the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health on December 4, 2012. The title of the case study was, Resolution of breech presentation after application of Webster Technique in a 35-year-old female: A case study.

The 35-year-old pregnant woman was in the 30th week of her pregnancy. The woman’s doula (a labor coach or midwife) established that the fetus was in breech position. The woman was in good health and had been receiving chiropractic care for headaches and low back pain with good results for the previous two years. This was the woman’s second pregnancy, with her first child delivered vaginally.

Previous studies have determined that breech presentations occur in 3 to 4 percent of all pregnancies, with the often resulting decision to birth by cesarean section rather than vaginally for the safety of mother and baby. Breech presentations often turn after the 35th week of pregnancy, but 87 percent of breech pregnancies are delivered by caesarian section.

Though safety is argued as the case for a caesarian section, the rate of morbidity was 3.6 percent in a study of 2,088 women birthing with caesarian section. Fetal morbidity can also result from caesarian section with reports of fetal heart-rate abnormalities, spinal cord injuries, skull fractures, long bone fractures, genital injury, and respiratory problems.

A chiropractic examination was performed, and postural abnormalities were found, as well as a decrease of lateral flexion of 5 degrees, and lumbar range of motion significantly decreased due to the pregnancy. Motion palpation found several spinal misalignments, and EMG scans and thermography correlated the determination that spinal subluxations were present in the patient.

Chiropractic care began for the woman using Webster’s Technique—a technique that uses sacrum adjustments and trigger point release in the abdomen area to reestablish pelvic function which can allow the fetus to turn to the desired head-down birth position. After four adjustments in four weeks using Webster’s Technique, the fetus turned from the breech position to the normal birth position.

A healthy female baby was delivered vaginally by the mother at a home birth. The use of the Chiropractic Webster’s Technique resolved a breech presentation, and a possible caesarean section into a normal, natural and healthy birthing experience.

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