Sports and Chiropractic Care

Sports and Chiropractic Care

Trigger Points Explained

VA Research Update: Back Pain Treatments

This article appears in the Spring 2015 edition of Veterans’ Wellness - A Guide to Healthy Living for Veterans in Upstate New York[1]

Back pain - specifically lower back pain - is very common among Veterans and causes significant disability. Given the prevalence of this condition, the Canandaigua VA Medical Center is carrying out three studies to help identify effective treatments.

Results of two of the studies, which involved 380 Veterans from the Greater Rochester area, were recently published in the journals Chiropractic &Manual Therapies  and Geriatric Orthopaedic Surgery & Rehabilitation. The third study is expected to be completed in December, according to Paul Dougherty, DC, staff chiropractor and chiropractic residency director at Canandaigua VA Medical Center and Institutional Review Board chair at Syracuse VA Medical Center.

“Our research so far shows that treatments including spinal manipulative therapy and active exercise can relieve lower back pain,” Dougherty says. In spinal manipulative therapy, a chiropractor applies pressure to the spine to promote movement in spinal joints that are not moving well. Active exercise is exercise patients perform on their own at a doctor’s direction.

Another finding is that fear of pain may actually make back pain worse. “It is important that people with lower back pain continue to remain active and engaged in their lives and not let the pain defeat them,” he says. “If you are suffering from lower back pain, talk to your VA provider about what treatment alternatives are best for you.”

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[1] DeLancey, Darlene A., M.S., and Kathleen Hider, eds. "VA Research Update: Back Pain Treatments." Veterans' Wellness Spring 2015: 11. Print.

Evidence Based Medicine - Back Doctors Near Me

“To the best of our ability, Life in Motion Chiropractic and Wellness agrees to provide our patients convenient, affordable, and mainstream Chiropractic care. We will not use unnecessary long-term treatment plans and/or therapies.”

www.Chiro-Trust.org

At Life in Motion Chiropractic and Wellness we practice evidence based medicine which is:

“The conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence based medicine means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research.”

And therefore we utilize outcome measures such as:

• Oswestry Back Pain Disability Index (ODI)

• Keele STarT Back Screening Tool

• Neck Disability Index (NDI)

• Functional & Visual Analog Pain Scale(s)

• DASH Questionnaire

• Headache Disability Index

In order to show that the treatment given was reasonable and necessary as well as determine when the patient’s clinical status has reached maximum improvement.

Evidence Based Medicine

CHIRO-TRUST

ChiroTrust™ members are a group of Doctors of Chiropractic worldwide who have taken “The ChiroTrust Pledge” (See Above) and are dedicated to providing conservative, mainstream chiropractic care to patients without sales pressure, long-term recommendations, unnecessary therapies or excessive costs.

Neck Pain – Management Strategies: Vol 15 Iss 5 The In Good Hands Newsletter from Chiro-Trust.org

“To the best of our ability, Life in Motion Chiropractic and Wellness agrees to provide our patients convenient, affordable, and mainstream Chiropractic care. We will not use unnecessary long-term treatment plans and/or therapies.”

www.Chiro-Trust.org

More ABC US news | ABC World News

When you make an appointment for a chiropractic evaluation for your neck pain, your doctor of chiropractic will provide both in-office procedures as well as teach you many self-help approaches so that as a “team”, together WE can manage your neck pain or headache complaint to a satisfying end-point. So, what are some of these procedures? Let’s take a look!

In the office, you can expect to receive a thorough history, examination, x-ray (if warranted), and a discussion about what chiropractic care can be done for you and your condition. Your doctor will map out a treatment plan and discuss commonly shared goals of:

• Pain reduction

• Posture/alignment restoration

• Prevention of future episodes.

Pain reduction approaches include (but are not limited to):

  - joint mobilization and/or manipulation

  - muscle/ligament stretching techniques

  - inflammation control by the use of physical therapy modalities (such as electrical stimulation), ice, and possibly anti-inflammatory vitamin / herbal therapies. 

Your chiropractor will also teach you proper body mechanics for bending, lifting, pulling, pushing and help you avoid positions or situations where you might re-injure the area. 

Posture/alignment restoration can include methods such as wall stand and/or stork exercises, respiratory "re-training", spinal stabilization exercises, and/or foot orthotic inserts. 

The third goal of future episode prevention is often a combination ongoing treatments in the office and strategies you can employ at home. This includes (but is not limited to):

• Whether you should use ice, heat, or both at times of acute exacerbation

• Avoiding positions or movements that create sharp/lancinating pain

• DOING THE EXERCISES that you've been taught ON A REGULAR BASIS

• Eating and an “anti-inflammatory” diet (lean meats & lots of fresh fruits/veggies).

Let’s talk exercise! Your doctor of chiropractic will teach you exercises that are designed to increase range of motion (ROM), re-educate a flat or reversed curve in the neck, and strengthen / stabilize the muscles in the neck. Studies show that the deep neck flexor muscles – those that are located deep, next to the spine in the front of the neck – are frequently weak in patients with neck pain. These muscles are NOT voluntary so you have to “trick” them into contracting with very specific exercises. Your doctor will also teach you exercises that you can do EVERY HOUR of your work day (for 10-15 seconds) that are designed to prevent neck pain from gradually worsening so you aren't miserable by the end of work. 

Along these lines, he/she will discuss the set-up of your work station and how you might improve it – whether it’s a chair, desk, computer position, a table/work station height issue, or a reaching problem; using proper “ergonomics” can REALLY HELP! 

Posture & Ergonomics Training

Your doctor will also advise you not to talk on the phone pinching the receiver between your head and shoulder, to face the person you are talking to (avoiding prolonged head rotation), to tuck in your chin as a posture training exercise, and more. 

Chiro-Trust.org

ChiroTrust™ members are a group of Doctors of Chiropractic worldwide who have taken “The ChiroTrust Pledge” and are dedicated to providing conservative, mainstream chiropractic care to patients without sales pressure, long-term recommendations, unnecessary therapies or excessive costs.

Foundation for Chiropractic Progress Highlights Data Shared by Optum Highlighting Cost-Effectiveness of Chiropractic Care

Choose Conservative Care First

The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the value of chiropractic care, points to data from Optum, a global entity that works to improve the delivery, quality and cost-effectiveness of health care, which concludes that spinal manipulation is the single service that -- if not included during management of a non-surgical spinal episode -- will lead to higher total episode costs. Optum data, which covered a two year span, projected a total savings of $1.3 billion had its reported 14.7 million non-surgical spinal episodes begun with chiropractic care.

“Musculoskeletal conditions rank amongst the costliest in health care and are a top concern for all stakeholders – patients and payers, alike,” states Gerard Clum, DC, spokesperson, F4CP. “Doctors of Chiropractic (DC) provide evidence-based, cost-effective care, which includes spinal manual care appropriate for the management of these conditions and other health concerns.”

In the U.S., DCs deliver over 94 percent of spinal manipulations and, according to Optum records, when spinal manipulations occur within the first 10 days of a spinal episode, results include:

• Reduced overall episode costs

• Lower frequency of imaging, injections, prescription medications and surgery

Experts at the F4CP assert that when chiropractic care precedes other options, specifically medical or surgical interventions, costs per episode are reduced by 40 percent. Furthermore, chiropractic care is connected with favorable clinical outcomes and high patient satisfaction scores. 

“Chiropractic care advances the opportunity for optimal outcomes across care delivery, quality and cost,” says Dr. Clum. “In fact, according to research published in Spine, patients experiencing low back pain who first visited a DC versus a surgeon were over 40 percent less likely to experience surgery.” 

Excited about the potential of emerging reports to positively impact our nation’s population, Dr. Clum concludes, “The Optum data further validates the value of chiropractic care and acceptance of the rising trend: chiropractic first, medicine second and surgery last.”

About the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress

A not-for-profit organization, the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress informs and educates the general public about the many benefits associated with chiropractic care. To learn more about the Foundation, visit www.yes2chiropractic.com or call 866-901-F4CP (3427).

Chiropractors in Ridgway, Pennsylvania

From the bottom of our hearts, Dr. Fralick and I would like to thank all of you in the Greater Ridgway area for your support and interest in our practice at 205 Main Street. You have really made us feel very welcome!!

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