How Chiropractic Treatment Helps You Recover from an Auto Accident
Broken bones, cuts, and bruises aren't the only injuries you may experience after a motor vehicle accident. Car accidents can also strain muscles, ligaments, tendons, and joints, causing pain, stiffness, and loss of flexibility. Fortunately, your chiropractor offers several treatments that can ease pain and other symptoms.
Chiropractic Offers a Non-Invasive Way to Treat Whiplash
Whiplash, an injury that happens when your neck moves and back forth suddenly, is one of the most common auto accident injuries. The injury damages or strains muscles, ligaments, and discs in your neck and may move vertebrae out of alignment. The injury affects approximately two-thirds of people who have been in motor vehicle accidents, according to the American Chiropractic Association.
Whiplash can occur at both low and high speeds and can be just as painful no matter how fast the car was traveling. Neck pain, stiffness, headaches, and spasms can happen immediately or might start several days after the accident.
Chiropractic treatment decreases inflammation, realigns the vertebrae in your neck, improves range of motion and blood flow, and decreases pain and spasms. Your chiropractic treatment plan may include several of these therapies:
Tired of Muscle Spasms? A Visit to the Chiropractor Can Help
Even if your body is restrained by a seatbelt during a crash, you may still develop muscle aches and spasms in your back, shoulders, and neck. Massage and soft tissue manipulation, a technique that gently stretches tissues, can reduce pain and spasms. These therapies also relieve stiffness and improve range of motion. Other helpful treatments include hot and cold therapies, ultrasound, and electrical stimulation.
Chiropractic Offers Drug-Free Pain Relief
Over-the-counter and prescription medication can be very helpful when pain interferes with your life. Unfortunately, the effects of the drugs wear off in a few hours, causing your symptoms to return. If you don't treat the source of your pain, you may become reliant on or addicted to your pain medications.
During your first visit to the chiropractic office, your doctor will perform a thorough examination, ask a few questions about the accident and your symptoms, and recommend X-rays or other tests that will provide information about the extent of your injuries. This information will help your practitioner determine why you have pain and create a treatment plan that will pinpoint the source of your pain.
You'll Be Less Likely to Develop Scar Tissue with Chiropractic Treatment
Your body produces scar tissue to repair damage caused by your auto accident. Unfortunately, scar tissue can also limit the movement of a joint or a muscle, making it difficult to reach for a glass on a high shelf or bend to pick up a stray sock. Massage, soft tissue mobilization and manipulation, and other treatments break apart pockets of scar tissue and relieve pain and stiffness.
Treatments Help You Avoid Chronic Pain and Inflammation
Auto accident injuries can increase your risk of arthritis and other chronic conditions without prompt treatment. Unfortunately, if you wait until the pain becomes a constant complaint, it may be too late to eliminate it.
Inflammation isn't limited to your sore neck or shoulder after a car accident but can affect your entire body. The longer inflammation remains, the longer you'll experience aches and pains. Chiropractic treatment can jumpstart your body's natural anti-inflammation response, relieving pain and reducing your risk of developing chronic health conditions.
Are you struggling with pain, stiffness, or headaches after an auto accident? Chiropractic treatment offers a natural solution for your symptoms. Contact our office to schedule your appointment.
Sources:
Spine Universe: Chiropractic Care for Whiplash
Chiropractic Treatment Can Relieve Your Tendonitis Symptoms
Tendonitis pain can linger for weeks or months after you first notice the pain. Fortunately, chiropractic treatment offers an effective way to speed healing and reduce your pain.
Tendonitis Symptoms
Tendonitis occurs due to inflammation in a tendon, a tough cord that connects a muscle to a bone. The condition can affect any part of your body and is known by different names depending on its location. Tennis elbow, golfer's elbow, pitcher's shoulder jumper's knee, and trigger finger are common types of tendonitis, as are biceps, triceps, Achilles, thumb, and rotator cuff tendonitis.
Symptoms of tendonitis include:
You're more likely to develop tendonitis if you participate in a sport or activity that involves repetitive movements. Golf, tennis, baseball, basketball, cleaning, painting, and gardening can strain the tendon, making it more likely to become inflamed. If you have poor posture or work in a job that requires twisting your body into unnatural or uncomfortable positions, your tendonitis risk may be higher.
Age can also be a factor in tendonitis. As you get older, your tendons become weaker and stiffer and can't handle activity the same way they once could. Even if you haven't changed your habits or activity level, you may still develop tendonitis simply due to your age.
Tendonitis can even be related to your use of digital devices. "Smartphone tendonitis" can affect tendons in the thumbs and wrists, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
How Chiropractic Treatment Can Help You
Chiropractic treatment offers several important benefits for tendonitis, including:
Are you struggling with tendonitis symptoms? Chiropractic treatment can help you ease your pain naturally. Contact our office to schedule an appointment.
Sources:
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: Smartphone Tendinitis: An Emerging Problem
Harvard Health Publishing: Tendonitis, 12/14
How Spinal Alignment Can Help You Improve Your Sports Performance
Do you have trouble meeting your athletic goals despite hours of practice time? Skill isn't the only factor that affects your ability to run faster, throw a ball accurately or prevent the other team from scoring. A misaligned spine may compromise your range of motion, recovery time and flexibility, causing performance difficulties. Fortunately, spinal manipulations performed by your chiropractor can correct misalignments and help you excel at your favorite sport or activity.
6 Spinal Alignment Advantages
Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, and Michael Phelps understand the importance of spinal alignment on sports performance. They, like many other exceptional athletes, visit chiropractors regularly for treatments that help them naturally enhance their abilities. In fact, chiropractic treatment offers a medication-free way to improve your athletic abilities without any concerns about side effects.
When your spine is properly aligned, you'll enjoy these benefits:
Would you like to enhance your sports ability with chiropractic treatment? We'll devise a comprehensive treatment plan that will help you improve your performance and strength and avoid injuries. Contact us to schedule your appointment.
Sources:
PubMed: Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 1/12
Traveling Soon? These Chiropractic Tips Will Help Make Your Trip Pain-Free
After spending hours in a car or plane, muscles and joints become stiff and sore, making pain an unfortunate consequence of traveling for many people. If you usually spend the first day or two of your trip in pain, these tips will help you avoid travel-related discomfort.
Take Breaks
Your body wasn't designed to endure hours of sitting. Remaining in one position for too long affects your posture and may strain your joints, muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Frequent breaks reduce stress on bones and tissues and may help you avoid post-trip pain. If you're traveling by car, stop every hour for brief stretching breaks. If you can't stop frequently, schedule rest stops at least every few hours.
Traveling by train or plane? Although frequent rest stops won't be possible, you can keep your body loose and limber by taking a few laps up and down the aisles every hour.
Stretch It Out
Stretching before, during and after your trip works out the kinks, relaxes your muscles, and increases blood flow to your muscles and joints, helping you avoid neck and back pain.
During your trip, try a few simple seated exercises. Roll your shoulders back and forth, move your neck from side to side, lift your legs, and roll your ankles in small circles. If there's room, extend your arms above your head and perform a few vertical punches.
Make Good Posture a Priority
When it's vacation time, your posture is probably the last thing on your mind. Unfortunately, failing to maintain good posture when you're traveling practically guarantees that you'll be achy and irritable when you arrive at your destination. Remind yourself to sit up straight in your seat with both feet firmly on the floor.
Don't Overpack
It's amazing how much stuff your luggage can hold, even if it looks completely full. Unfortunately, the heavier your bag, the more likely you'll strain or injure muscles, joints, and tissues in your neck or back when you remove it from the trunk or try to hoist it into an overhead compartment.
Before you leave home, pick up your bag. If you can't lift it without straining, it's best to reevaluate which things you absolutely need and which can be removed or placed in another bag. Packing light not only prevents injury, but also helps you avoid additional fees for overweight luggage if you're flying.
Bend your knees, and use your leg muscles, not your back muscles, when lifting luggage or placing it in the overhead compartment in a plane, train, or bus. Spine Universe recommends placing your luggage on the seat first, then moving it into the overhead compartment rather than lifting your bag in one movement.
Make Your Seat More Comfortable
Does your head wobble because you're too short for your car's headrest? Or is the problem that you're just too tall for the seat to adequately support you? Both problems may mean that you'll end your trip with a pain in your neck.
Use a neck cushion or pillow (or a rolled-up travel blanket or towel in a pinch) to support your neck during your trip. If lower back pain is a problem for you, buy a lumbar cushion designed to fit and support the curve of your back.
If you're driving, make sure your seat is high enough. According to Geico, your eyes should be at least three inches above the steering wheel. Sit back when you drive. Leaning forward will strain your neck and shoulders and cause muscle pain and spasms that could last for days.
Visit the Chiropractor
Avoiding travel-related aches and pains can be as easy as making an appointment with your chiropractor before your trip. You're more likely to experience pain or an injury if your muscles are already tight or your spine is misaligned. Treatments like spinal manipulation, massage and soft tissue mobilization realign your spine, improve your posture, and keep your muscles and tissues loose and flexible.
Visiting the chiropractor when you get home can prevent minor pain or soreness from becoming major problems. During your visit, your chiropractor will look for misaligned vertebrae, tight tissues and knots and offer treatments that will make returning home a much more pleasant experience.
Do you have a trip planned soon? Now's the perfect time to schedule your pre- and post-trip chiropractic appointments. Contact our office to make your appointment.
Sources:
Geico: Why Your Driving Posture Matters
SPINE-Health: 7 Tips to Alleviate Back Pain on Your Road Trips, 9/12/2019
Arthritis Foundation: 8 Tips for Pain-Free Travel
Spine Universe: Sitting Disease and Its Impact on Your Spine, Mar 14, 2019
Avoid Yard Work Pain and Injuries with These Tips
Do you dread the aches and pains you know you'll face after working in your yard during the weekend? Pulling weeds, pruning your rose bushes, or mowing your lawn may not seem like strenuous chores, but yard work activities are a common cause of stiffness and achy muscles and joints. Following a few of these tips will help you avoid injuries and pain the next time yard work is on your schedule.
Keep Moving
The longer you remain in one position, the more likely you are to experience stiff joints and tight, painful muscles. Change your position at least every 20 to 30 minutes. If you've been on your feet trimming overhead tree branches, switch to a seated activity for a half-hour before tackling the branches again.
Stretch It Out
Stretching is important whether you're going for a run, playing softball, or working in the garden. When you stretch before you tackle your latest yard work project, you'll:
Failing to stretch could mean that your muscles will tighten while you work, limiting your range of motion. When muscles can't extend fully, you're more likely to experience muscle damage, strains, and painful joints.
Think Before You Move
Injuries are more likely to occur when you bend or twist. You can often avoid these injuries if you change the way you move. If you need to reach the flat of petunias behind your back, don't twist from the waist to reach the flowers. Instead, turn your entire body toward the petunias, pick them up, then move your body back to your original position.
Are you planning to spend the afternoon planting new shrubs or painting your fence? Don't forget to alternate hands occasionally. Using one hand for hours not only causes pain in your hand and fingers, but may also strain the muscles, joints, tendons, and ligaments on one side of your body.
Pay Attention to Your Posture
Poor posture stresses your joints, tightens your muscles, and increases your risk of sprains, strains, herniated discs, and other injuries. Unfortunately, it's not easy to maintain good posture when you're working in the yard. If you're planting seeds or flowers, try to bend from the waist instead of hunching your upper back and shoulders. When you operate your push mower, keep your spine and neck in a straight, neutral position.
Use the Appropriate Gardening Tools
The right tool makes any job easier. Stools, cushioned kneeling pads, rolling plant stands, elevated planting beds, and ergonomic gardening tools make yard work more comfortable and less likely to cause aches and pains.
Do you need to move a load of paving stones or bags of soil? Lifting heavy items can strain ligaments, tendons, and muscles, which can pull your spine out of alignment. Use a garden cart or wheelbarrow to move heavy items instead. Be sure to bend your knees and use your leg muscles, not your back muscles, when you move a heavy object into the cart or wheelbarrow. Don't hesitate to ask for help if the object is heavier than you expected.
Poor posture and unsafe lifting practices are common causes of back pain. In fact, 26% of people with back pain attributed their symptoms to physical work, according to a Statista survey.
See Your Chiropractor
Your chiropractor offers treatments that will ease your yard work aches and pains. Spinal manipulation, or adjustments, realign your spine, reduce tension on your muscles and tissues, and increase range of motion. Massage relaxes tight muscles, relieves spasms, and prompts your body to produce natural pain killers.
Want to avoid yard work pain in the future? Schedule regular visits with your chiropractor. When your spine is properly aligned, you'll be less likely to develop joint or muscle pain or experience strains or sprains. Best of all, chiropractic treatment is completely natural and doesn't cause any side effects.
Tired of dealing with pain after finishing yard work? We'll help you work out the kinks and soothe your aches. Contact us to schedule your visit.
Sources:
Harvard Health Publishing: The Importance of Stretching, 3/14/2022
SPINE-Health: Is Poor Posture Causing Your Back Pain?
American Chiropractic Association: Back Pain Facts and Statistics
Statista: Back Pain in the U.S. – Statistics & Facts, 8/25/2021
Palmer College of Chiropractic: April Showers Bring May Flowers…And Yard Work
How Posture Affects Your Health
Could your health issues be related to your posture? Poor posture not only causes back pain but may be the reason for several other health problems and conditions.
Why Good Posture Is So Important
Your bones support your weight and keep your body properly aligned and balanced. If you slouch or contort your body while you sleep or work, you're bound to experience problems with your joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments or even organs eventually.
No one has perfect posture all the time. Although occasional bad posture probably won't cause health issues, you may be more likely to notice a difference in your health if poor posture is a frequent problem.
Shortness of Breath Could Be Related to Poor Posture
Do you struggle to take a deep breath? Although asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, lung cancer and other conditions can cause shortness of breath, poor posture could also be to blame.
Breathing issues are more common in people who hunch over when they work, watch TV, or use their laptops or smartphones. As you hunch over, you round your shoulders and hold your head forward. These positions tighten the chest muscles that help you breathe and make it harder for the diaphragm to expand fully. (The diaphragm is a large, dome-shaped muscle under your lungs. Every time you inhale and exhale, the diaphragm contracts and expands.)
Researchers who studied the effects of cellphone use on breathing discovered that study participants had reduced breathing function after just one hour of phone use. They noted that changes in breathing muscles and the rib cage in cellphone users could play a part in the breathing problems. Their work appeared in the May 2016 issue of the Journal of Physical Therapy Science.
Aches and Pain May Be Caused or Worsened by Posture Issues
Poor posture strains muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons, causing pain, stiffness, loss of flexibility and reduced range of motion. If your body is imbalanced, one muscle may become stronger while the corresponding muscle on the other side of the body weakens.
Neck, hip, back or leg pain may be caused by bad posture, as can arthritis. When you have poor posture, you're much more likely to suffer a misalignment of the vertebrae in your spine. These misalignments can press on nerves or tighten muscles or tissues, increasing pain.
In recent years, more and more people have headed to the chiropractor's office for treatment of text neck. The condition gets its name from the way people bend their necks to look down at their smartphones and other digital devices. Text next causes pain and stiffness in the neck and shoulders, headaches and eye pain and increases wear and tear on the vertebrae in your neck.
Other Health Problems That Can Be Traced to Poor Posture
Poor posture can lead to several other health problems, including:
Follow These Tips to Improve Your Posture
It's never to late to change the way you sit or stand. Improving your posture can be as simple as:
Are you tired of living with posture-related health problems? Give us a call and we'll schedule a convenient appointment with the chiropractor.
Sources:
SPINE-Health: Text Next Symptoms and Diagnosis
Harvard Health Publishing: 3 Surprising Risks of Poor Posture, 2/15/2021
How to Avoid and Treat Tension Headaches
Popping pain relievers temporarily dulls the pain and pressure of tension headaches, but the relief is short-lived. As soon as the medication wears off, your headache pain returns. Fortunately, lifestyle changes and chiropractic treatment can end your reliance on pain medication and reduce the number of tension headaches you get.
Tension Headache Symptoms and Causes
Tension headache pain starts in your forehead and wraps around the back of the neck. Also known as "hatband" headaches, tension headaches are the most common type of headache disorder, according to the World Health Organization.
Pain and pressure aren't the only symptoms of the headaches. After a few hours of pain, the muscles in your neck, shoulders and jaw tighten or spasm, which only worsens the headache. Fatigue, irritability and sensitivity to light can also occur.
Tension headaches have many causes, including:
Tension headaches may also be due to:
What You Can Do About Your Tension Headaches
Like many things, it's much easier to prevent tension headaches than to treat them. Reduce your risk of tension headaches by:
Are you tired of living with tension headaches? Relieve your pain naturally with chiropractic care.
Sources:
World Health Organization: Headache Disorders, 4/8/2016
American Academy of Sleep Medicine: Healthy Sleep Habits, 8/2020
WebMD: Tension Headaches, 11/20/2020
MedlinePlus: Tension Headache, 9/23/2019
Self Care Do's and Don'ts for Chronic Pain
As a chronic pain sufferer, you've probably discovered a few strategies that make your pain more bearable. Unfortunately, some of these practices could actually be worsening your symptoms. In addition to visiting your chiropractor regularly, following these do's and don'ts will help you manage your pain.
Do Bring on the Heat
Heat, whether from a heating pad, hot tub, or warm bath or shower, offers an effective way to ease muscle pain. Tight muscles and tissues loosen when they're warm. Heat also increases blood flow, reduces stiffness and relieves stress.
Don't Overdo It
It's not easy to change your habits if you're used to working long hours or running marathons every month. Unfortunately, things have to change when you develop chronic pain. Sitting at work for hours strains your joints and cause your muscles and tissues to tighten. Ignoring pain when you exercise can lead to painful flare-ups or even worsen your condition.
Frequent stretching breaks during the day will reduce pain and keep muscles and tissues loose and flexible. Chronic pain doesn't have to prevent you from exercising, but it may mean that you need to choose forms of exercise that are easier on the joints, like walking, swimming or riding a stationary bicycle.
Do Be Aware of Your Triggers
Like most people with chronic pain, you probably have a few triggers that worsen your pain. Sitting in a chair without adequate lumbar support could aggravate your aching back, while using your digital devices might intensify your neck pain. If you know your triggers, you make a few modifications that will prevent painful flare-ups.
A new, ergonomic office chair or lumbar support pillow could reduce or prevent back pain. If neck pain is a problem, hold digital devices at eye level, chose chairs that offer neck support, and take short breaks every hour.
Don't Skimp on Sleep
Without enough sleep, you're bound to feel tense and irritable, which can affect the way you perceive and manage pain. Sleep also offers several important benefits for your body. It's essential for tissue repair, may improve immune system functioning, and is important for learning, according to the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard University.
Do Try Massage
Is massage part of your self-care routine? The hands-on therapy can:
Do Meditate
Meditation not only relieves stress but also offers pain relief benefits. The practice reduces pain intensity and unpleasantness, according to a research review published in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences in 2016. Since meditation can be performed anywhere, it's an excellent self-care technique.
Don't Rely Solely on Medication
Over-the-counter and prescription medication offers temporary relief of pain and inflammation. Unfortunately, the pain returns as soon as the drug wears off. Medications can also produce unpleasant side effects and may even become addicting in some cases. When you try some of the techniques mentioned here, you may discover that you can take medication less frequently.
Do See Your Chiropractor
Your chiropractor offers treatments designed to keep your pain under control. Whether you've only been in pain a few months or have struggled with chronic pain for years, spinal manipulation, massage, soft tissue mobilization, traction, flexion-distraction, ultrasound and other therapies offer effective relief for many types of chronic pain.
Sources:
Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard University: Why Do We Sleep, Anyway?
Spine Universe: 15 Ways to Practice Self-Care When You Have Back Pain, 9/29/20
Harvard Health Publishing: Chiropractic Care for Pain Relief, 2/15/21
Working from Home? Chiropractic Care Can Help You Stay Healthy
Working from home has become the new way of life for many Americans. In fact, more than 25% of professional jobs will likely become remote by the end of 2022, according to job search site Ladders. While remote work offers many benefits, it can increase your risk of joint and muscle pain. Have your aches and pains worsened since you began working from home? Your chiropractor offers treatments that will ease your pain and stiffness and help you avoid chronic pain.
How Working from Home Can Cause Pain
Although it's true you can work anywhere, you may soon find yourself regretting your decision to make the couch or kitchen table your new workstation. The couch may be a comfortable spot to watch a movie or game, but it isn't designed to adequately support your body while you work. Spending hours hunched over your laptop or slouching on the couch causes posture changes that affect the alignment of the vertebrae in your spine.
Subluxations, the word chiropractors used to describe spinal misalignments, are a common cause of neck, back and joint pain. Misalignments also increase tension on your muscles, ligaments and tendons, causing muscle pain, soreness, stiffness, spasms and reduced range of motion. If a subluxation affects your neck, you may develop painful headaches that make it difficult to concentrate on your work.
Chiropractic Care Relieves Work-from-Home Pain
Pain relievers aren't the only solution if you have sore muscles and joints. Medication can certainly be helpful, but its effects are only temporary. Once the drug wears off, you're in pain again. Chiropractic treatment doesn't just treat your symptoms but targets and corrects the source of your pain.
Your chiropractor will perform a thorough examination and may take a few X-rays to find out why you're in pain. If subluxations are responsible for your symptoms, spinal manipulation therapy may be recommended. The therapy involves realigning your vertebrae with quick thrusts or a handheld activator. Once your vertebrae are properly aligned, tension on your muscles and other tissues will ease, reducing pain.
Chiropractors also offer other helpful treatments, including:
During your chiropractic treatment sessions, your doctor may suggest exercises that will improve your posture and stretch and strengthen the muscles that support your joints. You'll also receive posture tips and information about ergonomic furniture that properly supports your body while you work.
Working from home doesn't have to be a painful experience. Chiropractic care can help you keep your joints aligned and your muscles relaxed. Contact our office if you're ready to schedule an appointment.
Sources:
CDC: Working from Home: How to Optimize Your Work Environment and Stay Healthy, 11/20/20
Spine Universe: Chiropractic Therapies
Chiropractic Care for Whiplash: Could It Help Your Neck Pain?
Neck pain and stiffness after a motor vehicle accident or fall could be signs of whiplash, an injury that affects the soft tissues in the neck. Without prompt treatment, symptoms could last weeks, months, or even years. Fortunately, your chiropractor offers several treatments designed to improve whiplash pain.
What Causes Whiplash?
Whiplash happens during a motor vehicle accident when your head jerks back and forth. Any act that causes your head to "whip" back and forth violently can result in whiplash. You could develop whiplash if you ride a roller coaster, fall when skiing, or if you are tackled or fall when playing sports.
As your head moves back and forth, several things happen to your neck. First, muscles in your neck become strained as they're pushed past their limits. The sudden movements may also change the alignment of the vertebrae in your neck and back, in addition to straining ligaments that connect bones together and tendons that attach muscles to bones.
Whiplash is a common injury. According to an analysis of crash and hospital data in Accident Analysis and Prevention in 2020, more than 1.2 million people experience whiplash every year.
What Are the Symptoms of Whiplash?
Whiplash symptoms don't always start immediately, but may start hours or days after your injury. Symptoms may include:
Chiropractic Treatments Ease Whiplash Symptoms
Your chiropractor offers natural, drug-free methods that soothe sore tissues and realign the vertebrae in your neck. Therapies that might be included in your whiplash treatment plan include:
Are you struggling with whiplash pain? Chiropractic care could help you get back to normal. Call our office to schedule your appointment.
Sources:
SpineUniverse: Best Practice Guidelines for Chiropractic Care of Neck Pain and Whiplash Disorders, 2/6/20
SPINE-Health: Whiplash Symptoms and Associated Disorders, 4/18/2017
https://www.spine-health.com/conditions/neck-pain/whiplash-symptoms-and-associated-disorders
Science Direct: Accident Analysis & Prevention: Estimating the Number of Crash-Related Cervical Spine Injuries in the United States; an Analysis and Comparison of National Crash and Hospital Date, 7/2020
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457520300713
Mayo Clinic: Whiplash, 2/11/2022
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/whiplash/symptoms-causes/syc-20378921
