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While many women automatically assume that back pain and pregnancy go hand in hand, they are often pleasantly surprised when they learn that this is not necessarily the case. In fact, chiropractic can often help relieve persistant back pain for pregnant women by as much as 85 percent.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps With Back Pain and Pregnancy

We've worked with many pregnant women suffering from back pain in our Estero, Bonita Springs office.

A research study published in Chiropractic & Manual Therapies involved 115 women who were pregnant (most of which were in their third trimester) and presented with pain in their low back, pelvic area, or both. Data was gathered prior to the study, as well as one week, one month, three months, and one year after treatment commenced. At each follow-up, the participants were asked to rate their level of pain based on a 7-point scale to determine whether it was better, worse, or stayed the same. The results?

52% reported that their pain was better after one week of chiropractic treatment. After one month, that amount jumped up to 70 percent, climbing even more to 85 percent showing improvement at the three month mark. Positive effects were still reported at six months post-treatment, which was generally after childbirth, and continued to the final data collection one year after treatment commenced.

There are also many additional advantages of chiropractic care during pregnancy. Not only does it effectively ease back pain, but it does it in a completely natural and non-invasive way. This means that you don't have to worry about taking any medications or undergoing any type of treatment that could potentially harm your unborn child.

Dr. Green Can Help Clients Find Relief From Back Pain During Pregnancy

Furthermore, it makes your time spent carrying your child more pleasant. When you're not sidetracked with aches and pains, you can enjoy the experience even more as you prepare your home and your life for all of the fun and exciting changes that lie ahead.

We're here in Estero, Bonita Springs to help you have a healthy, pain-free pregnancy. Give us a call today at (239) 495-1166 to make an appointment.

Peterson CK, Muhlemann D, & Humphreys BK. Outcomes of pregnant patients with low back pain undergoing chiropractic treatment: a prospective cohort study with short term, medium term and 1 year follow-up. Chiropractic & Manual Therapies 2014;22(15):doi:10.1186/2045-709X-22-15.

According to The American Academy of Pain Medicine, more people in the US suffer with chronic pain than diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and cancer combined. What's more, neck pain is the third most documented type of pain, beat out only by back pain and headache.

As a result, a lot of patients come to our Estero, Bonita Springs office looking for neck pain care, and Dr. Green has helped many of them find relief. This is a smart decision, as some studies have shown that over 90 percent of neck pain patients get relief with chiropractic.

Studies Confirm Chiropractic Works

A study published in The Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy involved 64 people who were suffering with neck pain. Around half were placed in an experimental group and the other half were designated to a comparison group. Both were given chiropractic adjustments of the neck as well as a home exercise plan, while the experimental group also received adjustments of the thoracic spine.

Information was collected before treatment began and one week post-treatment. Researchers found that 94 percent of the experimental group claimed "significantly greater improvements" in regard to pain and disability in their neck symptoms. Just 35% of the patients who received neck adjustments showed the same level of improvement, illustrating that evaluating the entire spinal column is a critical part of restoring the body's normal function.

Yet another study posted in Physical Therapy involved 60 participants between the ages of 18 and 60 who reported dealing with neck pain. Each person was randomly assigned to one of two groups--thoracic spine thrust manipulation or non-thrust manipulation--with follow-up exams occurring two and four days after the treatments.

The investigators found that the study participants who received the thrust manipulations (the same adjustments that provided such positive results in the first study) "experienced greater reductions in disability" than the group that received the non-thrust manipulations. Their pain was lower as well, which shows that this type of technique offers many benefits.

Help After Failed Neck Surgery

One study even found the same sort of positive outcomes after thoracic adjustments in a woman who had a failed neck surgical procedure. This specific case involved a 46-year-old patient who had recently had neck surgery but still endured neck pain, headaches, pain in her elbow, and muscle fatigue.

The woman reported decreased pain in her neck and lower headache intensity, right after the first chiropractic adjustments. After six weeks of care, which involved chiropractic, exercise, and patient education, the patient still placed her pain at a zero on a scale of 1 to 10. Her neck disability reduced as well, with a rating score that represented that it was a "great deal better."

It is studies like these that substantiate the effectiveness of chiropractic techniques, even if you've already attempted medical procedures that didn't provide relief. So, if you are dealing with neck pain and would like to find a solution that has a high success rate, try chiropractic. It may just be the relief you're looking for.

Our office is in Estero, Bonita Springs and Dr. Green can help you recover from neck pain. Give us a call today at (239) 495-1166.

References

• AAPM facts and figures on pain. The American Academy of Pain Medicine.
• Masaracchio M, Cleland JA, Hellman M, Hagins M. Short-term combined effects of thoracic spine thrust manipulation and cervical spine nonthrust manipulation in individuals with mechanical neck pain: a randomized clinical trial. Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy 2013;43(3):118-127.
• Cleland JA, Glynn P, Whitman JM, Eberhart SL, MacDonald C, Childs JD. Short-term effects of thrust versus nonthrust mobilization/manipulation directed at the thoracic spine in patients with neck pain: a randomized clinical trial. Physical Therapy 2007;87(4):431-440.
• Salvatori R, Rowe RH, Osborne R, Beneciuk JM. Use of thoracic spine thrust manipulation for neck pain and headache in a patient following multiple-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion: a case report. The Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy 2014;44(6):440-449.
  

With the Migraine Research Foundation reporting that migraine headaches affect 38 million adults and children in the United States (more than diabetes and asthma put together), it's no surprise that Dr. Green treats a lot of headache patients in our Estero, Bonita Springs office. While some people choose to relieve migraine pain with drugs, chiropractic care is a great, all-natural approach that often provides positive results.

Research Supports Chiropractic Care Helps With Migraines

For instance, one study published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics involved 127 people ranging in age from 10 to 70-years-old who struggled with frequent (at least monthly) migraines. Each subject engaged in up to 16 chiropractic sessions. The subjects noted that their headache frequency, duration, and disability two months before the study began, during the duration of the sessions (which was two months), and two months post-treatment.

What the authors discovered is that chiropractic reduced the frequency, duration, and disability of the migraine headaches when compared with the control subjects who didn't receive chiropractic. Even better, this allowed them to take less medication for the pain, providing them an all-natural answer for a chronic condition.

Another paper found that a combination of chiropractic and neck massage reduced migraine pain almost 68%.

If you have migraine pain and are looking for help, call Dr. Green today and request an appointment in our Estero, Bonita Springs chiropractic office. We'll do what we can to help you become pain-free!

References

Migraine Fact Sheet. Migraine Research Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.migraineresearchfoundation.org/fact-sheet.html on November 2, 2015
Noudeh Y et al. (2012). Reduction of current migraine headache pain following neck massage and spinal manipulation. International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork;5(1):5-13
Tuchin P et al. (2000, February). A randomized controlled trial of chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy for migraine. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics;23(2):91-5

Massage has been used for thousands of years as a natural pain relief approach. We use massage therapy in our Estero, Bonita Springs office, as it works great in conjunction with the chiropractic care that Dr. Green provides. Massage treatment does much more than just feel good. It also offers many positive effects as well. Some are physical and others are psychological, and here are medically documented benefits:

• Pain reduction (back, neck, shoulder, legs, arm, and headache pain)
• Improved range of motion and flexibility
• Improved blood flow
• Enhanced sports performance
• Decreased depression or anxiety
• Increased levels of energy
• Decreased levels of fatigue
• Easier time getting and staying asleep
• Easier labor and delivery for expecting mothers
• Reduced stretch marks
• Less scar tissue

We Can Help You Find Comfort From Neck Pain and Headaches with Massage Therapy

Benefits like these have been found to be particularly helpful for individuals who suffer with chronic conditions such as arthritis and asthma. Massage therapy has also proven advantageous for burn injury patients, people with hypertension, and women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome. Even preterm infants have shown benefits with massage therapy as they have increased levels of weight gain.

To learn more about the massage therapy services we offer in Estero, Bonita Springs, give our office a call today at (239) 495-1166.

Knee pain is a frequent problem for people in our Estero, Bonita Springs chiropractic practice, and Dr. Green has successfully provided many of these men and women relief. This is largely because chiropractic care has been found to help with many forms of knee pain.

For instance, some patients feel pain in and around the knee area due to osteoarthritis. Research has demonstrated that this condition responds very well to chiropractic--and rather quickly, too. In fact, one study published in The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association found that people with osteoarthritis in their knees felt significant pain relief and enhanced function after just two weeks of chiropractic care.

If your knee pain is because of a medial meniscus sprain, chiropractic could likely help with that as well. One case found that combining chiropractic with soft tissue treatment, rest, ice, and compression on the affected knee helped lower the intensity of the pain.

Of course, sometimes a knee replacement surgery is necessary in order to repair the issue, and if that's the case, your chiropractor can also help improve the outcome. How?

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps With Knee Pain

Medical research has shown that people with low back pain frequently have less positive outcomes after knee surgery. So, dealing with your back pain through chiropractic before having a total knee arthroplasty can assist with your post-surgery recovery.

No matter what your knee issue, Dr. Green can likely help. Call our Estero, Bonita Springs practice today and find out what we can do for you!

Sources

• Pollard H et al. (2008, December). The effect of a manual therapy knee protocol on osteoarthritic knee pain: a randomised controlled trial. The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association;52(4):229-42
  Boyle J et al. (2014, March). Influence of low back pain on total knee arthroplasty outcome. Knee;21(2):410-4
• Jarosz B & Ames R. (2010, December). Chiropractic management of a medial meniscus tear in a patient with tibiofemoral degeneration: a case report. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine;9(4):200-8

We see a lot of individuals with headaches in our Estero, Bonita Springs office, and Dr. Green has been able to assist many of them. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that one half of all adults deal with some type of headache problem, so this actually isn’t a surprise. One of the most typical kinds of headaches which our patients have problems with is cervicogenic headache which, thankfully, chiropractic can often help.

What is a Cervicogenic Headache?

A cervicogenic headache is one that arises from a problem in the cervical spine. It might be thanks to a condition with either the spine itself (specifically, the vertebrae, joints, or discs), or it may be attributed to a problem in the muscles and tendons of your neck. This dysfunction in your spine leads to constriction or aggravation of the spinal nerves, which can give you headache pain.

How do you distinguish if the headache you are experiencing is a cervicogenic headache? Apart from obtaining a diagnosis from a healthcare professional, a common symptom of cervicogenic headaches is tenderness or pain in your neck. This is sometimes combined with pain in the back of your head or between your shoulder blades.

How Chiropractic Helps

Since cervicogenic headaches will not subside until whatever issue is generating them is remedied, it is critical to get treatment rather than just trying to "wait it out." Chiropractic care is an excellent approach, and one that can provide a great deal of headache pain relief.

In one study circulated in Chiropractic & Osteopathy, researchers followed 80 people who had frequent cervicogenic headaches. Fifty percent were given chiropractic care and the other half engaged in light massage therapy. Each participant was examined 12 and 24 weeks after the procedures and it was found that chiropractic delivered the optimum effects.

Specifically, this study uncovered that chiropractic adjustments gave patients better pain relief and diminished the frequency of headaches that occurred. In addition, it also lessened the disability that resulted from these painful headaches.

To find out what Dr. Green can do for you and your headaches, call our office today. We'll do our best to get you the pain relief you need!

References

• Haas M, Schneider M, Vavrek D. Illustrating risk difference and number needed to treat from a randomized controlled trial of spinal manipulation for cervicogenic headache. Chiropractic & Osteopathy 2010 18(9).
• World Health Organization. (2012, October). Headache disorders. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs277/en/

We see many patients in our Estero, Bonita Springs office with ankle sprains but Dr. Green has had a lot of success helping them recover more quickly. Why are ankle sprains so common and how can chiropractic care help?

According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), an estimated 25,000 people in the US sprain their ankles every day. As a matter of fact, these injuries make up nearly half of all sports injuries, causing people to spend time away from the activities they enjoy most.

Like any injury, there are many causes of ankle sprains. The most common is inversion, or when the ankle rolls inward. This injury can occur due to one forceful movement, or it can develop over a period of time, and exercises that increase the risk for this type of ankle sprain include running and jumping. You're also at risk if you have past ankle injuries, poor posture or balance, weak muscles, and reduced range of motion.

How Can Chiropractic Treatments and Dr. Green Help?

A paper published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to discover chiropractic's role when it comes to ankle sprain recovery. The authors recruited 33 men and women between the ages of 18 and 45 who had a history of ankle inversion sprains, who were reporting tenderness and/or pain, and had not re-injured the area in the previous six weeks.

Eighteen of the subjects were assigned to participate in rehabilitation and the other 15 patients received chiropractic adjustments in addition to rehab. Each individual had five full weeks of therapy, with the rehab group receiving therapy seven days a week and the rehab plus chiropractic group receiving treatment six out of the seven days.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps With Ankle Sprains

The authors found that the people who had both rehabilitation and chiropractic fared the best at the 4-week mark when it came to pain and joint restriction. Also, no adverse effects were reported, showing that this treatment option is safe.

If you're near our office in Estero, Bonita Springs and you're recovering from an ankle injury, give us a call. We'll do what we can to keep you up and moving... literally!

References

• American College of Sports Medicine. (n.d.). Ankle sprains and the athlete. Retrieved from https://www.acsm.org/docs/current-comments/anklesprainstemp.pdf
• Lubbe, D et al. (2015, January). Manipulative therapy and rehabilitation for recurrent ankle sprain with functional instability: a short-term, assessor-blind, parallel-group randomized trial. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 38(1), 22-34, doi:10.1016/j.jmpt.2014.10.001

Unfortunately, quite a few of our Estero, Bonita Springs patients are familiar with the pain associated with a herniated disc all too well. On a positive note, Dr. Green has helped many people with disc pain, and a number of medical studies have confirmed that chiropractic care can help people recover from this kind of problem.

Research on Herniated Discs and Chiropractic

In one study, a group of doctors from Switzerland selected 148 patients who were suffering with pain in their low back and legs due to a disc herniation (which was confirmed through magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI). Each individual then received chiropractic adjustments that focused on the area of his or her disc problem.

Results were gathered after the initial treatment session at set intervals--namely, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year--to ascertain what kind of short-term and long-term effects, if any, chiropractic offers when it comes to resolving this particular problem. Among the data gathered was the individual's self-reported changes in both low back and leg pain.

The authors found that, as a whole, the patients reported "significant improvement" for both types of pain every time the results were collected. In fact, over 90% of the patients reported that their pain "improved" within the first three months, with 88% still citing improvement one year after their first treatment session.

Even those patients who were defined as "chronic" still reported an improvement in pain at a rate of 89% one year beyond when treatment first began. This is the same positive effect that was found in the following case study.

Disc Herniation and Chiropractic: A Case Study

In this report, a 26-year-old male had presented with disc herniation symptoms such as pain in the low back, left leg, and left groin area, along with left foot drop and muscle weakness. He had suffered with these issues for more than two years after sustaining an athletic injury, and his disc herniation was confirmed via MRI.

After receiving chiropractic care, "The patient responded favorably and his multi-symptom complex resolved within 90 days of treatment." Furthermore, the patient was still enjoying relief one year after the chiropractic intervention.

Studies like these show how beneficial chiropractic can be when it comes to alleviating herniated disc pain and treating the symptoms they produce. So, if you are suffering from back pain caused by a herniated disc and wish to find some relief, chiropractic might be an effective solution.

Don't suffer from chronic herniated disc pain. Give our Estero, Bonita Springs office a call today at (239) 495-1166 for a consultation or appointment.

References

• Leemann S, Peterson CK, Schmid C, Anklin B, Humphreys BK. Outcomes of acute and chronic patients with magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed symptomatic lumbar disc herniations receiving high-velocity, low-amplitude, spinal manipulative therapy: a prospective observational cohort study with one-year follow-up. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2014;37(3):155-163.
• Polkinghorn BS, Colloca CJ. Treatment of symptomatic lumbar disc herniation using activator methods chiropractic technique. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 1998;21(3):187-196.
  

Dr. Green sees a lot of patients struggling with carpal tunnel syndrome in our busy Estero, Bonita Springs chiropractic practice. While some people think that the source of this wrist-related pain is muscular, it's really a condition that stems from the nerves--and not just the nerves in your hands.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

A recent study printed in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy assessed 71 women between the ages of 35 and 59 who were diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Upon studying the subjects' neck range of motion, the researchers found that the patients had reduced cervical mobility when compared to a healthy control group.

In addition, it was also observed that the degree of the women's reported carpal tunnel discomfort was linked to the lateral flexion of the cervical spine. In short, the less range of motion in the neck area, the higher the level of pain.

This study is very important, as you can't successfully resolve a problem until you fully understand its source. By recognizing that the root of carpal tunnel pain is in the neck, this means that all-natural approaches such as chiropractic can often restore normal function, eliminating the need for risky surgery.

We Can Help Clients Find Relief From Carpal Tunnel

If you are suffering from carpal tunnel pain, call our Estero, Bonita Springs office and ask how Dr. Green can help you get relief!

Studies

De-la-Llave-Rincon A et al. (2011, May). Women with carpal tunnel syndrome show restricted cervical range of motion. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy;41(5):305-10.
Simon H. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. University of Maryland Medical Center. Updated May 6, 2012. Retrieved from https://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/carpal-tunnel-syndrome on November 2, 2015.

We see quite a few patients with back pain in our Estero, Bonita Springs office, and Dr. Green has been able to help a lot of them find relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical therapy, as many people utilize both types of care with great outcomes.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with One Another

In a report published by the academic journal Spine experts¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who were suffering from both acute pain and limited function due to back-related issues. Some of the study participants engaged in treatment via standard medical care, while the rest were given chiropractic care along with regular medical care, as the authors wanted to determine which patients fared better.

Researchers discovered that the group that got standard medical care in combination with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that received medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17 percent of the medical care only group who reported the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at the two- and four-week marks.

Accordingly, combining these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medical approaches can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some unique strengths over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Care Wins

Although it might seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one major advantage that chiropractic care has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research done at UCLA² that was published in the American Journal of Public Health reports that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than people undergoing medical care.

According to the experts, the main factors that patients preferred over medical care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors tend to spend much more time advising their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as discussing more carefully what to expect from chiropractic care.

Chiropractic Care Offers a Non-Invasive Approach

Without a doubt, the strategies associated with chiropractic are quite different than those provided with medical therapy, but a large amount of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and well-being. Instead of focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care means searching for the root cause of your pain, which often results in greater improvement as you are addressing the problem at its source.

Furthermore, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to natural forms of treatment such as chiropractic. This means fewer negative side effects from drugs and longer-lasting results.

You don't have to struggle with back pain or other health problems. Give our Estero, Bonita Springs office a call today at (239) 495-1166. We'll do our best to help you get and stay free from back pain.

References

1. Goertz CM, Long CR, Hondras MA, Petri R, Delgado R, Lawrence DJ, Owens EF, Meeker WC. Adding chiropractic manipulative therapy to standard medical care for patients with acute low back pain: results of a pragmatic randomized comparative effectiveness study. Spine 2013;38(8):627-634.
2. Hertzman-Miller RP1, Morgenstern H, Hurwitz EL, Yu F, Adams AH, Harber P, Kominski GF. Comparing the satisfaction of low back pain patients randomized to receive medical or chiropractic care: results from the UCLA low-back pain study. American Journal of Public Health 2002;92(10):1628-1633.