Tag Archives: spine

Preventing Spinal Degeneration with Chiropractic Treatment

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The very foundation of human anatomy or the physical form and structure is the spine. It is responsible for the human form, structure and numerous functions. While many are aware of the functions of the spine in regards to movement, there are other functions as well such as neural, muscular and healing. The spinal cord sends heaps of neural signals to the brain and also receives them. A properly aligned spine functioning perfectly can enhance the natural ability to heal from many physical injuries.

Spinal degeneration is unavoidable. As a newborn grows to be an infant and then enters the teens followed by adolescence, the spine keeps growing through the years, like almost every other part and organ of the body. Once the adult body is fully formed, the spine stops growing. As one ages, the physical attributes of the spine deteriorates. It is not unusual or a rarity. The spine is subject to consistent labor throughout one’s life. Your spine works all day and night, whether you are sitting, standing, running, working, eating or sleeping. The consistent pressure on the spine, the myriad movements and also physical injury at different stages of life cause spinal degeneration. During younger days, the spine can counter the natural wear and tear because the body is capable of healing itself and neutralizing any damage. With age, this healing ability deteriorates and consequentially there is a time when the spine is no longer capable of countering the wear and tear.

Preventing Spinal Degeneration with Chiropractic Treatment

The wear and tear, tissue scarring, stiffening of muscles, weakening of the bones or the vertebra in the spinal column and other health problems lead to spinal degeneration. The once strong and flexible spine can transform into a rigid, fixated and immobile backbone. The joints in the spine become immobile, there is calcification around the joints, the bones start to suffer damage and lose their density and the muscles do not remain as strong as in the younger days. Spinal degeneration can happen naturally with age or it can be a direct effect of an injury at any age. While all and sundry would suffer from spinal degeneration, the symptoms, pain and apparent problems with the spine will vary among individuals. Some would feel immense pain while others may have sporadic infrequent problems.

The only solution to spinal degeneration is chiropractic treatment. The spine has to be kept healthy, mobile and tissue inflammation, joint calcification, muscle strength and bone mass have to be maintained or restored.

Chiropractic treatments involve identifying the areas of the spine that are suffering from degeneration and with various therapies, the healing or undoing of the damage is facilitated. Chiropractic treatments can help in keeping the joints mobile, relieve pinched, compressed or irritated nerves, improve the strength of the muscles and bones and also improve the range of motion.

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Scoliosis Pain and Chiropractic Treatment

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Scoliosis is a medical condition where the spine of the human body gets deformed. The deformation is most predominantly in the form of curving of the spine laterally. The spine typically forms a complex structure and deviates from its naturally straight form. An x-ray of the spine of a person suffering from scoliosis may portray an image of the spine resembling a C or an S shaped structure. This image suffers from the limitations of an x ray being a 2D image. A thorough 3D diagnosis can reveal that the curved shape, although lateral, may not be exactly in the same plane of axis. That is to say that scoliosis may lead the spine to get bent or curved laterally but without being exactly in the same plane alignment in respect to the back. Some portions of the spine may get protruded outwards or inwards despite being a lateral deformation in shape and structure.

Scoliosis can be caused at the time of birth owing to some vertebral anomalies, it may not have any cause whatsoever and an individual can suddenly start to suffer from it at a certain stage of life and it may be an associated symptom for any other medical condition. Other causes of scoliosis are spinal muscular atrophy, cerebral palsy, physical trauma, spina bifida and also a rare health ailment known as Chiari malformation.

Scoliosis Pain and Chiropractic Treatment

The most common symptom of Scoliosis is uneven bodily structures. For instance, people suffering from scoliosis are likely to have uneven musculature on either side of the spine, uneven hips or legs and arms or shoulder blade. Some patients can also have poor nerve action. Scoliosis may also lead to compressing of the lungs and the heart if the deformed curvature is more towards the upper back region.

Chiropractic treatment is the best solution to help with scoliosis and all the associated symptoms including pain, spinal degeneration and spinal misalignment. A study was conducted with 28 adult patients suffering from scoliosis. They were under a chiropractic rehab program for 6 months. The patients found natural relief from scoliosis pain, disability scores were cut down by half and they reported 40% reduction in pain. The patients also benefited from spinal realignment and were able to breathe normally again. Chiropractic treatment is a great holistic treatment for scoliosis.

The findings of the study were published in Morningstar, Mark W “Outcomes for adult scoliosis patients receiving chiropractic rehabilitation: a 24 month retrospective analysis” Journal of Chiropractic Medicine. January 2011; 10: 179-184

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How Chiropractic Can Help Your Pregnancy

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Chiropractic treatment has been proven to be very beneficial for many people, with many different issues. People that have been injured in car accidents or other mishaps that have impacted their body, often turn to chiropractic treatment to help minimize their pain or alleviate the stress of their body. Many people who suffer from chronic pain rely on a chiropractor to treat their pain, and often find the treatment successful.

Chiropractic treatment is also beneficial for women who are pregnant. Pregnancy causes a lot of aches and pains on the body and as the baby grows, the pains increase. When a woman is pregnant, a woman’s body can be disrupted very easily. Many women complain of lower back pain because the pressure, and the size of the baby. Another common issue among pregnant women is sciatica. Sciatica is when a nerve gets pinched causing a radiating pain down the lower back, leg and even all the way to the foot. When this happens, it can be crippling for anyone, especially a woman who is pregnant.

Sciatica, back pain, stress and pressure can make pregnancy very difficult for women. Many women find that they are restricted to limited activities, because of the pain they are experiencing. Because it is not good to take medications during a pregnancy, many women turn to chiropractic treatment alleviate or at least minimize the pain.
Although there are many who express concern that the treatment is harmful during a pregnancy, chiropractic treatment has actually been proven quite helpful. If you let the chiropractor know you are pregnant, the will exercise extra precautions.

How Chiropractic Can Help Your Pregnancy

Because the body is changing so much, the treatment will be beneficial for women and help them to avoid misaligned spine or joints. This often happens during pregnancy, and if not treated, can negatively impact a woman throughout her life.
A protruding stomach and increase back curve can cause many problems for a woman and increase her discomfort level. Changes in the pelvic area will also increase the possibility of the spine becoming misaligned. Of course, the posture of a pregnant woman changes dramatically over the course of nine months because she will become tired, fatigued, and is carrying additional weight.

Routine adjustments performed by a chiropractor will help to keep the body in alignment. The adjustments are will minimize the pain, and discomfort and will relieve the physical pressure of the baby. In addition, the recovery of pregnancy will be quick, and there will not be any long-term issues as a result of the pregnancy.

Chiropractic treatment is safe and effective for many people, as well as pregnant women.

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Chiropractic and Athletic Performance

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Chiropractic adjustments help make sure the body functions as efficiently as possible. This allows the body to recover and heal from many types of physical injuries.

The main purpose of chiropractic care involves ensuring the nervous system runs properly and efficiently. Chiropractic care helps control and regulate the nervous system, allowing the rest of the body to normally function. The nervous system itself controls every action of the body through sending and receiving nerve ‘messages.’ The major nerves are protected by the bones of the spine, the vertebrae. When arranged in its optimal position, the nerves remain protected, providing enough communication between the body and the entire nervous system.

The spinal vertebra is ultimately susceptible to outside stress and force, which may force them out of position. These vertebral subluxations or misalignment’s may cause interference between nerves and weaken the spines structure. This is common in athletes, where their actions place constant force and/or impact onto their back, torso and limbs. These same actions radiate back to the spine.

Chiropractic care helps athletes recover from both injury and difficult workout regimes. Doctors of chiropractic find and correct the aforementioned misalignment’s found in the vertebrae. Chiropractic care can also improve athletic performance. In a recently conducted study, researchers examined the effects of chiropractic care using 18 professional Brazilian judo athletes as participants.

Chiropractic and Athletic Performance

Half of the Brazilian athletes received care in the form of chiropractic adjustments. The other half, however, received a ‘sham treatment.’

The researchers evaluated the grip strength of the athletes through the use of a device that measured forced used by the athletes. Throughout the course of the study, both groups of athletes maintained a regular training schedule.

The first group of athletes, who received chiropractic care, produced a ‘substantially better’ outcome than the group testing with a ‘sham treatment.’ After three treatment sessions, the chiropractic judo group managed to improve their grip strength by 11 percent on their left side and 17 percent on their right. The sham treatment group only improved their grip strength by 4 percent and 6 percent, in the same order.

This study provides more evidence proving that chiropractic care helps improve the nervous system functions of athletes, which also improves muscles in the long run.

Athletes spanning many sports use chiropractics in place of other treatments, as they provide an ultimately drug-free solution to providing physical care for their bodies, which helps improve their overall health and performance.

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Additional referential chiropractic and athletic performance information can be read here: http://www.palmercenterfornaturalhealing.com/2011/chiropractic-improves-athletic-performance.html

 

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Will Your Back Pain Become Chronic?

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Sometimes a person may lift something wrong and inadvertently hurt their lower back. A person can treat his or her back pain in any number of ways and within ninety days, the issue has usually resolved itself. However, sometimes people do not get their backs treated the way they are supposed to, and they may have another issue which is worse than it was the first time. We are born with only one spine, and it is our job to make sure it is cared for properly before that simple back pain becomes something that never goes away.

It happens to everyone at one time or another. There is something heavy that needs to be lifted, and someone decides to move it without any kind of help. Though the proper way to lift something heavy is to use the legs and not the back, but some people still insist on lifting the wrong way. Incorrectly lifting something or bending over can sometimes cause people to throw out their back, and with this episode comes a lot of pain, stiffness, and the inability to walk correctly or even stand up straight.

When someone is having a problem with their back, they often try and relieve the pain on their own with a heating pad or simply taking pills. However, the best way to relieve back pain is by seeking out the professional services of a chiropractor. Chiropractic medicine has been studied, and many people have gotten their back issues straight by making an appointment with a professional chiropractor.

Will Your Back Pain Become Chronic

Why use chiropractic professionals for a simple back issue? The fact is that people who have injured their back in some way do get relief in less than ninety days, but what happens if the problem does not go away or comes back worse then ever? People who do not get their back pain treated with a professional can have their pain turn into chronic back pain that they have to live with for the rest of their lives.

The back is an important part of the body and it has to be cared for by an expert. Though people may injure their back in some way once in a while, it is still important to be checked out by chiropractic professional. Preventative medicine has helped a lot of people from ending up with serious medical conditions, and the same can be said for physical conditions as well. Back pain will not turn into chronic back pain if the person with the back injury takes the necessary steps to get it treated properly.

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Cervicogenic Headache and Chiropractic Treatment

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There are three types of headaches which are most commonly experienced by people of all age groups, specifically by adults and elderly. They are categorized as vascular or neurological headache, muscular or myogenic headache and cervicogenic headache. The common neurological headache is migraine which presents vascular symptoms. Muscular or myogenic headache is typically tension or anxiety associated headache. Cervicogenic headache is usually caused by a combination of neural and skeletal problem in the neck.

The origin of a cervicogenic headache may be perceived at the neck but in reality the cause is in the spine. Different types of cervical sprain including whiplash, physiological ailments such as arthritis and injury in the neck, spine, shoulders or anywhere in the back can cause cervicogenic headache.

The most common and obvious symptom of cervicogenic headache is a consistent and steady pain at the base of the skull, in the neck, throbbing pain in the forehead and behind the brows. The pain can also stretch over to the shoulders, the blades and to the arms. Upper back pain is not often felt but it exists and is suppressed by the more strenuous pains in the neck and head. Stiffness in the neck, muscle stiffness and immobility around the neck and shoulders are also common. Some associated symptoms of cervicogenic headache are vomiting, fatigue, nausea, dizziness and blurred vision.

Cervicogenic Headache and Chiropractic Treatment

There are not many cures of cervicogenic headache in conventional medication. All drugs that are prescribed for cervicogenic headache are aimed at reducing the pain and are thus painkillers, antidepressants and anti-inflammatory drugs but none of them actually target the root cause of the problem. The symptoms may be controlled but the ailment is not cured with such attempts.

Chiropractic treatment is the best solution for cervicogenic headache. Chiropractic treatment doesn’t use any medication or invasive procedures. It simply uses manipulation techniques and various physical therapies to offer a solution. Chiropractic treatment is safe, cost effective and also doesn’t lead to any side effects which are unavoidable with all medications that you would otherwise take.

According to a study, people suffering from cervicogenic headache when subjected to chiropractic treatment experienced reduced disability and pain. 50% of the people reported reduction in all pains, 33% reported reduction in medication usage and 50% witnessed reduction in headache frequency.

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Reference – Haas M. Spegman A, Peterson D, Aickin M, Vavrek D. ‘Dose response and efficacy of spinal manipulation for chronic cervicogenic headache: a pilot randomized controlled trial’. The Spine Journal 2010, 10: 117-128.

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Why You Should See A Chiropractor For Back Problems

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ack painbSometimes you can accidentally injure your back. The last time you lifted something you may have felt a twinge along your spine. The small sharp pain you might have experienced could have just been because you lifted something too heavy or it may be a warning sign to a bigger problem. There is a highly trained professional that specializes in the care of the back, and this expert on the spine is called a Doctor of Chiropractic or Chiropractor. Though sometimes rest may be the answer to an aching back, most of the time it may take more than this to relieve the back problem. You may need to make an appointment with a professional for spinal issues.

A chiropractor will need to talk to you about your back problems. They will want to know if you’ve had issues with your spine for a long time, or was this something that happened recently? Sometimes a person has had an accident or a fall that can turn into a problem that does not go away in a few weeks. The first step in helping you with your lower body is to sit down and go over your medical history. He or she will want to know what kind of family history you have because there may be genetics involved that has been passed down to you from other relatives.

The spine is a complicated system of nerves, bones, muscle, and ligaments. A chiropractor has deep intimate knowledge of exactly how your spine works. You will be given a physical evaluation to see exactly what is going on. To ensure the treatment is the right course of action, you may be sent to have tests performed on your back like an MRI so he or she can physically see your spine and the areas around it. Once everything is known about the condition of your back, the chiropractor can then suggest the right treatments to help take care of your spinal issues once and for all.

A chiropractor is a person that specializes in everything having to do with the spinal cord. That fall you had or that item that you tried to lift that was way too heavy may have done more than you think to your back. You do not want your injury to turn into a long term back problem, and the best way to take care of your spine is to seek out a chiropractor.

Contact our office today for further details!

Reference used: http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/chiropractic-pain-relief

 

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I suffered from Shoulder and Back Pain

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I came into Abbey Chiropractic for some treatment on my left shoulder, as I had pulled a muscle and it was causing me a lot of discomfort. I was also suffering from back pain, which was bothering me for a while.

During my course of treatment I got a lot of education on the spine and how it affected other parts of the body. I was also given stretches to help strengthen my back and shoulder while receiving the treatment.

I found an improvement after every session, until I wasn’t in pain anymore…

I would recommend the clinic and chiropractic, due to the service I received, and the treatment works!

Brid O’ S

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I thought a Chiropractor would break my Spine

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I first came across Abbey Chiro when I bought a massage deal from Groupon. I loved the massage I received, and while receiving the massage I mentioned some back problems that I was having. The therapist told me it would be a good idea to see one of the chiropractors due to what I had said.

I was nervous about going to see the chiropractor at first, as I thought they might break my Spine and leave me paralysed. That’s a funny idea to have, now that I received the treatment.

But the care I got fixed the neck pain and back pain that I was having!!! I am now more active and well balanced.

I would recommend chiropractic care and Abbey Chiro.

Well done!!!

Genevieve C

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What is a Chiropractor?

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What is a ChiropractorA Doctor of Chiropractic or Chiropractor is something that most of us have heard of and may have even seen for a consultation. They are trained to a similar level as a medical doctor, but rather than focusing on the use of medication, the chiropractor will focus on the central nervous system and spine to help resolve body problems. In Ireland for example all Chiropractors should be members of The Chiropractic Association of Ireland, the association will verify that they have the required training and standards to see patients, before they can become members of the accosication.

The WHO definition – World Health Organisation – is as follows:
A health care profession concerned with the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal system and the effects of these disorders on general health. There is an emphasis on manual techniques, including joint adjustment and/or manipulation with a particular focus on subluxations.
World Health Organization, Guidelines on Chiropractic, 2005

The following explains more about what a chiropractor does and how this natural healthcare professional helps their patients to heal from some major traumas and ailments to the body.

What Do They Do?

A chiropractor focuses on non-surgical approaches to healing problems with the body. The main problems that a Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine will confront are those problems with bones, ligaments, tendons, and joints of the body. The solution to healing common problems and pains with this approach is to shy away from the invasive. Rather, muscle manipulation, rotation, and realignment are completed with care and precision that protects the body from great trauma while aiding in the healing of pain.

What Do They Treat?

A chiropractor seeks to assess and diagnose the whole health of the body. Any aches and pains, therefore, they see as potentially connected to one another. From back pain, spinal pain, neck pain, headaches, pregnancy back pain to other mobility issues, they work with patients to gauge a clear picture of the health of the individual. They can use several different types of techniques that are natural and holistic when treating any problem that may arise. They will use massage therapy potentially, realignment through manipulation of the body, movement, and sometimes, if a patient wants to, a natural healthcare professional like a Doctor of Chiropractic medicine will also use acupuncture. The options are outlined when there is clear diagnostic evaluation and discussion between the patient and the provider.

Benefits of A Chiropractor

A chiropractor is a great option for those who want to go the less modern medicine driven root of invasive procedures and medications. Chiropractors work to stimulate healing and pain relief through the use of the body and its own weight and movement, rather than through more elaborate treatments. That is not to say that a Doctor of Chiropractic procedures is any less modern in their approach. On the contrary, their technique is some of the most skilled available and relies on the own natural movement of the body to aid in healing and pain management. It is for this reason, if someone is seeking a natural healthcare professional, they should consider these individuals to help.

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