Chiropractic Care for Treatment of Headaches

Headache is one of the most common conditions seen in chiropractic offices. Over the last decade headaches represented 13 percent of chiropractic patient’s presenting complaints.  Headaches not only have a significant adverse impact on adults but “frequent or severe headaches including migraine in the past 12 months were reported in 17.1 percent of children.” Extensive research has addressed the many types of headache and the last year has seen several important publications investigating the effectiveness of chiropractic treatment and spinal manipulation.

An extensive review of the literature will appear in the next issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT) and provides guidelines for chiropractic treatment of adult headaches.The work was done by a group of Canadians and documents the research support for chiropractic management (high-velocity, low-amplitude thrusts) for both migraine and cervicogenic headaches. Mobilization may also be effective for tension-type headache and cervicogenic headache.

A new Dutch study of chronic tension type headache (CTTH) compared treatment from medical providers in general practice (GP) to chiropractic. That study concluded that “Manual therapy is more effective than usual GP care in the short- and longer term in reducing symptoms of CTTH.”

Sudden Back Pain: Why does it happen and what can be done to prevent it?

As a chiropractor, I often get patients who come in with startling, out-of-the blue onset of intense back pain which is a surprisingly common experience for many back pain sufferers. If you’re lucky enough to not have experienced it yourself, you probably know someone who has. You’re going about your normal business and suddenly your back spasms up, seemingly for no apparent reason, and you just can’t move.

It’s a curious phenomenon, and one that holds a key to understanding why many types of back pain arise and what you can do about it. Of course, there are times when back pain has clear causes, originating from an accident, overuse or sports injury. But just as often, back pain strikes like lightning, for no apparent reason. And if it has happened to you once or twice, the more likely it is to happen again.

While it may seem to be something that strikes from out of the blue, it’s really just the straw that breaks the camel’s back. The movement or sneeze that triggers the back pain incident is preceded by a whole syndrome of muscular imbalances.

For many people, some muscles are chronically way too tight. It can be due to their daily habits or due to structural imbalances, or both. Correspondingly, some muscle groups will be too weak. If these muscular imbalances persist over time, it sets you up for the situation where one little thing is enough to trigger back pain. It doesn’t take much to cause the muscle spasm to start, because for months or years those muscles have been forced to do something that they are not really designed to do.

As the muscles get increasingly worn out, they will be more likely to go into spasm. But in cases like that, there is a generally a long-standing pattern of muscular imbalances behind it, and then one little incident is enough to trigger a muscle spasm.

The point is that back problems are years and often decades in development. Regular chiropractic check ups and Active Release Therapy improve the overall health of the back, so it’s just common sense prevention.

New Treatment for Muscle Pain

Olympian Jeff Pain swears by active release therapy to get sore or injured muscles moving again, and to generally improve his athletic performance.

“There’s no better therapy out there,” says Pain, as chiropractor Conrad Tang uses his thumbs to work the quadriceps muscle of the 2006 silver medallist in skeleton.

So-called “manual release therapies” such as active release therapy, Graston technique and Kinesio Taping are all the rage -Jon Montgomery reportedly used active release therapy prior to his gold-medal win at the 2010 Olympics.

But there’s little scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of the therapies, says Tang, also a kinesiology researcher with the University of Calgary who is embarking on a study to determine if manual release therapies, at the cutting edge of injury treatment and performance enhancement for elite athletes, can help regular folks with kneecap pain.

He’s looking for 20 active people between the ages of 18 and 45 with patella pain femoral syndrome, a common problem that affects about 30 per cent of the population, to participate in a free, eight-week treatment program.

Pain and injuries often lead to muscles that shut down and become dormant, explains Tang. Weakness and pain further hampers a person’s ability to move. By manipulating and applying pressure, manual therapy techniques are said to “wake up” these muscles and improve mobility and range of motion.

“When a muscle is damaged, scar tissue forms and groups of muscles get stuck together. They’re supposed to freely move against one another. But when they get stuck, the muscles shorten and get stiff. This can produce weakness in and shrinking of the muscle,” he says of the downward spiral of injury.

“Patented techniques like Graston and active release are supposed to release the stickiness so that you have more movement and less stiffness and pain.”

Study participants will be treated with one of three therapies.

Graston is a technique where the therapist rubs a spoon-like stainless steel instrument over a patient’s muscles. With ART, the therapist uses his thumbs to stretch and apply pressure to muscles, tendons and ligaments while the patient moves the area being treated. Kinesio Taping involves using a new, flexible kind of therapeutic tape that can be worn for up to four days. It’s thought to work by lifting the skin and activating the muscles beneath.

As an athlete, Pain is curious about the study outcome. Because elite athletes train constantly at intense levels, they’re more prone to repetitive injuries, he says. He currently sees a therapist who uses all three techniques. “It keeps me pain-free, limber and performing well.”

Source: Calgary Herald

Neck pain has many causes. Mechanical neck pain comes from injury or inflammation in the soft tissues of the neck.

This is much different and less concerning than symptoms that come from pressure on the nerve roots as they exit the spinal column. People sometimes refer to this problem as a pinched nerve. The big fancy medical term for it is cervical radiculopathy.

There are seven bones in your neck.

A round block of bone, called a vertebral body, forms each bone, or vertebra. A bony ring attaches to the back of each vertebral body.

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Holiday-Proof Your Body: Part 2

Many common seasonal activities can cause injuries, here are some tips to help you stay healthy during the holiday season.

Holiday Challenge #2: Forearm and Hand Pain

Causes:
• Stirring / mixing while cooking
• Wrapping gifts
• Carrying packages

Solutions:
The hands and wrists can become overworked with holiday errands.  To strengthen the muscles of the hands and wrists and to prevent forearm and elbow injuries use stress balls or tennis balls.  Squeeze and release 10 times on each hand.

Another great way to keep your wrists healthy is to stretch your wrist flexors and extensors.  These stretches are easy and can be done anywhere.  Just extend one forearm with the palm pointed down and with the other hand gently press into the back of the hand to feel a stretch in the top of the forearm.  Then reverse your position so your palm faces the ceiling and use your hand to gently pull your fingers back.  Hold each stretch for 15-30 seconds, repeat 3 times on each arm.