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What do people come to see a chiropractor
for? |
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Headaches
– the typical
headache that a patient will come to a
chiropractor is one that will originate in
the back of the head and can send pain over
the top of the head to the forehead. Can
also be included with pain or stiffness of
the neck. This is what we would call a
tension headache. This is usually a result
of tight muscles at the base of the skull
and usually will respond well to
chiropractic treatment. The other type of
headache that will present to a chiropractor
is a migraine. The usual complaint is of a
pound in the head that does not go away.
They can last for a few hours to a few days
at the worst. Will be associated with an
increase in pain with light or loud sounds.
The patient will usually respond well to
treatment showing a decrease in the
intensity of the headaches or a decrease in
the frequency of the headaches. These can
be a little more difficult to treat though
and may require more visits than a typical
tension headache. |
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Rib Pain
– normally this is a
situation where the pain in very intense
just offset from the spine. There should be
pain with a deep breath in, or cough or
sneeze. The pain is usually described as a
knife sticking into the back. This
situation will respond very well to
chiropractic treatment |
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Disc Injuries
- These can
occur through out the spine, but are more
common in the lower back then the neck. The
pain will be found in a very specific spot
in the back or neck with pain that will
continue through the leg or arm. The pain
will end in the fingers or toes. There can
be an accompanying weakness in the muscles
of the associated limb. There is usually an
injury or incident that will initiate the
injury, such as a lift or a twist while
lifting and the pain will start
immediately. Can be treated through
conservative methods with varying results,
but some of these injuries are going to need
more direct methods, such as medication or
surgery. |
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Facet injuries
- These are the
joints that are found throughout the spine.
They can be injured with a lift or a twist.
We will call this a sprain of the ligaments
that support that joint. The pain will be
localized to the area of the injury. There
should be little, or no spreading of the
pain. The area will have an associated
muscle spasm. This can be treated well with
chiropractic. |
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Tennis elbow/golfers elbow
–
this is pain that will originate on either
side of the elbow. The pain can follow the
path of the muscles into the wrist and cause
pain there as well. Typically going to be
the result of overuse of the limb. This
condition will respond very well to
chiropractic treatment. |
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Rotator cuff injuries
– these
will show pain in the shoulder that will get
worse with movement. These are the result
of a direct injury, or an overuse injury.
The pain will be localized to the shoulder,
but can involve the neck and upper back.
The pain can spread into the arm as well,
but not all the time. Treatment with
chiropractic is effect in most cases. |
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Remember that these are only the typical
situations that will come into a
chiropractors office. There are other
situations that will respond well to
chiropractic treatment. If you are unsure
as to weather your situation is treatable
with conservative methods be sure to call
your chiropractor of family doctor and ask
the needed questions. Also remember that
the above is for informative purposes, and
not intended to be a diagnostic tool. The
only way to get a true diagnosis of your
situation is to go and see your chiropractor
or family doctor. |
