Spine-related pain is increasingly common in older adults. while medications play an important role in pain management, their use has limitations in geriatric patients due to reduced liver and kidney function, comorbid medical problems and polypharmacy (the simultaneous use of multiple drugs to treat medical conditions).
Examining the spines of Neanderthals, an extinct human relative, may explain back-related ailments experienced by humans today, a team of anthropologists has concluded in a new comparative study.
Neanderthals have long been thought to have a different posture than modern humans. A good part of this perspective derives from the wedging of Neanderthals’ lumbar, or lower, vertebrae — their spines in this region curve less than those of modern humans studied in the U.S. or Europe.
A new study suggests that a combination of physiotherapy alongside psychological interventions can be effective for improving physical function and pain intensity — findings that can help improve the clarity of guideline recommendations to better support patients and clinicians in treatment decision making.
Adults with chronic low back pain (lasting for more than 12 weeks) not only experience physical disability but can also suffer psychological distress in the form of anxiety, depression and fear avoidance (avoiding movement for fear of pain).
A person’s head is one of the most vulnerable parts of the body that can be injured during an auto accident. Symptoms of a head injury may be subtle. Headaches and dizziness after an auto accident can be signs of a more serious head injury. Headaches have been known to mentally and emotionally disrupt a person’s life, and dizziness can turn normal activities into fairly difficult tasks.
Chiropractors can help counteract the stress you face in daily life. Whether you spend long hours driving or you work an office job, stress can manifest in many ways that lead to headache pain. Chiropractors can also give you tips on posture, exercises, and relaxation techniques. Evaluating all possible causes of your headache pain helps us address the pain more effectively.
Most people experience headache pain at some point in their lives. Headaches can range from a mild, dull ache, to severe, throbbing pain accompanied by nausea. The location of the headache and the kind of pain you’re feeling are a good indication of the type of headache you have.
Tension headaches are the most common type and appear as pain almost anywhere in the head, scalp, or neck. As tension headaches are often due to a combination of stress and back or neck strain, chiropractic care has been proven to help provide relief for these headaches.
A nerve becomes “pinched” when the nerve itself has been compressed by surrounding tissues. In some situations, cartilage, bone, or swollen soft tissue can impact the nerve itself. Some of the most common reasons why people develop pinched nerves include:
• Issues related to weight and obesity
• The development of rheumatoid arthritis
• Suffering a traumatic injury playing sports or in a motor vehicle accident
• Stress from poor work ergonomics
• Certain hobbies, particularly athletics, that can lead to a pinched nerve through an overuse injury
It takes some patients by surprise, but one of the first things a chiropractor will do when you visit for the first time is to measure the length of your legs. If you’ve gone to see a chiropractor because your back is bothering you, it’s reasonable to wonder why the doctor is looking at your legs. But here’s the reason: it’s not uncommon for people to have legs that are of slightly different lengths. Since your legs and feet are the foundation on which the body stands, if those lengths differ even marginally, everything above them is going to be slightly off-kilter.
Chiropractic is a licensed health care profession that emphasizes the body’s ability to heal itself. Treatment typically involves manual therapy, often including spinal manipulation. Other forms of treatment, such as exercise and nutritional counseling, may be used as well.
What Chiropractors Do
Soon, people working sedentary jobs will be able to take advantage of an innovation created to prevent troublesome back pain — researchers have created a prototype of an office chair that activates deep muscles and improves trunk stabilization.
Research shows that many people spend almost 80 per cent of their working day sitting and at least half of that time in the same body position. The prolonged and invariable sitting posture is associated with lower back pain due to impaired musculoskeletal control.
Mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) may prove more effective than usual treatment in alleviating chronic low-back pain, according to a new study funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), part of the National Institutes of Health.
If your college student is home for the holidays, you might want to have a discussion with him or her about the benefits of chiropractic treatment during the school year. After all, chiropractic treatment is not just for older adults with back problems. It’s beneficial for all people, and college students are among those poised for benefit. long hours of studying spent hunched over a textbook or laptop can strain muscles and cause misalignment in many parts of the body.
Q: Does chiropractic treatment require a referral from an MD?
A: A referral is usually not needed to see a doctor of chiropractic (DC); however, your health plan may have specific referral requirements. You may want to contact your employer’s human resources department — or the insurance plan directly — to find out if there are any referral requirements. Most plans allow you to just call and schedule an appointment with a DC.
Q: Is chiropractic treatment ongoing?
Q: Are chiropractors allowed to practice in hospitals or use medical outpatient facilities?
A: Chiropractors are being recognized to admit and treat patients in hospitals and to use outpatient clinical facilities (such as labs, x-rays, etc.) for their non hospitalized patients. Hospital privileges were first granted in 1983.
Q: Do insurance plans cover chiropractic?
Q: What conditions do chiropractors treat?
It has long been known that there is an association between food and pain, as people with chronic pain often struggle with their weight. Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience may have found an explanation in a new study that suggests that circuitry in the brain responsible for motivation and pleasure is impacted when someone experiences pain. “These findings may reveal new physiological mechanisms linking chronic pain to a change in someone’s eating behavior,” said Paul Geha, M.D., lead author on the study published in PLOS ONE.
Chiropractic services are an important first line of defense against pain and, in some cases, chiropractic can lessen a patient’s reliance on addictive painkillers or prevent their use altogether. It makes sense to exhaust conservative forms of treatment such as chiropractic care before moving on to riskier, potentially addictive pain medications. Statistics show that as many as one in four patients who receive prescription opioids long-term for non-cancer pain in primary care settings struggle with addiction.
Dr Matthew Hartsburg’s Olympic dream finally became a reality when he was invited, after waiting several years, to join the medical team caring for Team USA athletes in the recent Beijing winter games.
A licensed chiropractor with a practice in Danbury, Connecticut, in 2017 he began treating athletes at the United States Olympic Training Centers in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Lake Placid, New York.
A chiropractor’s Olympic dream has become a reality.
Dr. Matthew Hartsburg, a Shelton, CT resident and owner of danbury-based Hartsburg Chiropractic Health Center LLC, has spent the last six years working with the USA Bobsled and Skeleton teams as part of the world cup and world championship sports medicine team.
Many patients live with low back pain that radiates to the buttock, groin, thigh, and even knees. The challenge for patients, and often their doctors, is determining the origin of the pain — the hip, the spine, or both. A new article published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS) outlines the identical symptoms associated with hip and spine pain and discusses the diagnostic steps and tests required to treat them appropriately.