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Asthma is a serious concern for many people in Estero, Bonita Springs and for a society as a whole, since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that this problem currently affects almost 19 million adults and 7 million children in the US. A full-blown asthma attack likely means a emergency room visit. Fortunately, Dr. Green has helped many folks in Estero, Bonita Springs get relief from asthma symptoms.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps With Asthma

The scientific research verifies what we see in our office. For example, a study published in Clinical and Experimental Allergy evaluated 31 adult asthma patients after getting four weeks of chiropractic adjustments. The researchers reported that the individuals who received chiropractic adjustments had a 34% decrease in asthma symptoms.

The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics printed another asthma-based study, except this one involved children. In this article, the 36 participants ranged from 6 to 17 years in age and their asthma was considered either mild or moderate in severity.

After 12 weeks of chiropractic care, as a whole, the children reported a higher quality of life and a decreased level of severity. As a bonus, they also indicated that they relied less on their bronchodilator and these positive effects lasted one year after chiropractic care was complete.

We Can Help Patients Find Relief From Asthma

So, whether you're 8 or 80, if you have asthma, be sure to contact Dr. Green in Estero, Bonita Springs and make an appointment today. We'll do what we can to help you breathe easier!

Sources

• Asthma. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Bronfort G et al. (2001, July-August). Chronic pediatric asthma and spinal manipulation: a prospective clinical series and randomized clinical pilot study. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics;24(6):369-77
• Nielsen N et al. (1995, January). Chronic asthma and chiropractic spinal manipulation: a randomized clinical trial. Clinical and Experimental Allergy;25(1):80-8

We tend to a large number of patients in our Estero, Bonita Springs office, and Dr. Green has helped many people eliminate a wide array of health problems. Even so, a frequent worry that seems to prevent a lot of men and women from seeking treatment is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Luckily, according to three different studies (out of countless on the issue), the answer to this question is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first study(1) was published in Spine and included 183 women and men between the ages of 20 and 85. Each participant reported suffering from some kind of back pain, and half of the patients received real chiropractic care while the remaining patients were given two fake chiropractic treatments. Information was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to identify whether or not any unpleasant reactions were caused by the actual chiropractic treatments.

The doctors reported that no participants reported any serious adverse side effects in any way after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some individuals did report that they got a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) post-treatment, but the effects were not of a serious nature.

Nationwide Survey Reports that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

The second article(2), also published in the influential medical journal, Spine, was done in an attempt to determine the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 individuals. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.

Once again, the experts discovered no serious negative side effects. The experts determined the risk of total adverse reactions to be approximately 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the first study, some volunteers did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), and this caused the researchers to conclude that "the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low."

Chiropractic Care Is Safe for Children

The third research paper(3) is different from the previous two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, the authors analyzed results reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic treatment sessions.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic appointments made for the young ones, chiropractors responding to the survey reported only three cases where there were negative side effects. When parents were surveyed, they indicated only two adverse side effects out of 1,735 visits. Furthermore, both chiropractors and parents reported "a high rate of improvement with respect to the children's presenting complaints."

Based on these three studies (and many more!), chiropractic has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic can do for you, call our Estero, Bonita Springs office and schedule an appointment today at (239) 495-1166.

References

1. Walker BF, Hebert JJ, Stomski NJ, Clarke BR, Bowden RS, Losco B, French SD. Outcomes of usual chiropractic. The OUCH randomized controlled trial of adverse events. Spine 2013;38(20):1723-9.
2. Thiel HW1, Bolton JE, Docherty S, Portlock JC. Safety of chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine: a prospective national survey. Spine 2007;32(21):2375-8.
3. Alcantara J, Ohm J, Kunz D. The safety and effectiveness of pediatric chiropractic: a survey of chiropractors and parents in a practice-based research network. Explore NY 2009;5(5): 290-5.

When you're trying to sustain your family, take care of your household, and pay all of your bills on time, every day at work counts. Work injuries can be a serious problem for many folks, and we see many of these types of injuries in our Estero, Bonita Springs office. Dr. Green understands your situation and is here to help.

The benefits of chiropractic care for work injuries are well-documented. A 2013 research paper involving 651 adults who were suffering with either back or neck pain found that the people who didn't see a chiropractor missed work at twice the rate of those who were seeing a chiropractor.

So, why don't more people use chiropractic care?

According to the respondents in this study, two of the major factors were that they thought they needed a medical referral for chiropractic care (which is typically no longer true) and they overestimated the costs associated with chiropractic treatment sessions by almost 70 percent.

The reality is, chiropractic patients actually spend less on care than medical patients, plus they are less likely to use drugs for their symptoms.

If you live in Estero, Bonita Springs and you've been injured at work, we can help. Give our office a call today at (239) 495-1166 for an appointment.

Resources

"Thousands of Minnesotans with Back and Neck Pain Don't Seek Treatment." (2013, June 12). ChiroCare.

Since trauma to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is frequently quite painful, we do our best to help our Estero, Bonita Springs patients find relief as quickly and effectively as possible. In fact, Dr. Green will tell you that the medical research shows just how much chiropractic can help ease discomfort in the TMJ.

For example, one study published in Physiotherapy Theory and Practice involved 15 people with jaw pain who were treated with neck adjustments, middle-back manipulation, and trigger point therapy via dry needling. Patients were evaluated prior to these methods and at two weeks and two months post-treatment. The authors reported positive results such as reduced pain, greater jaw mobility, and lower disability at both follow-ups.

Another research paper conducted a review of almost 800 papers involving manual and manipulative therapy for conditions such as TMJ and revealed similar results. The group concluded that there is a "fair...level of evidence" that chiropractic care can help ease symptoms associated with jaw pain and other upper extremity disorders.

This is great news since the causes of TMJ are largely unknown. While trauma to the jaw or neck can cause pain symptoms, there are other factors to consider as well, such as bruxism, arthritis, and clenching of the jaw due to stress.

No matter what is making your jaw hurt, call Dr. Green today and schedule an appointment to come into our Estero, Bonita Springs location. We'll do our best to help you smile pain-free!

Sources

• Gonzalez-Iglesias J et al. (2013, November). Mobilization with movement, thoracic spine manipulation, and dry needling for the management of temporomandibular disorder: a prospective case series. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice;29(8):586-95
• Brantingham J et al. (2013, March-April). Manipulative and multimodal therapy for upper extremity and temporomandibular disorders: a systematic review. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics;36(3):143-201
• Oral Care. WebMD. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/temporomandibular-disorders-tmd on November 2, 2015

We see a large number of sports injuries in our Estero, Bonita Springs clinic, and Dr. Green is often able to assist these athletes. Stanford Children’s Hospital reports that over 3.5 million children of the ages 14 and younger are injured each year while playing sports. Add that to the close to 2 million adults injured each year while participating in sports-related activities, as reported by statistics collected by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can start to see the importance of preventing these sorts of widespread injuries. One approach to possible realize that goal, according to a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to receive regular chiropractic care.

In Australian Rules football, hamstring and other leg traumas are commonplace, frequently sidelining the players and affecting their team's chance at securing a win. One particular study was administered using 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers to see whether chiropractic could cut down on these injuries and help keep them in the game.

For this study particularly, every one of the volunteers got medical treatment. Additionally, half of them also engaged in chiropractic treatments at the rate of one session per week for the first 6 weeks, biweekly sessions for the next three months, and one session each month for the remaining three months of the study. The remaining participants had no chiropractic intervention at all and acted as the control group to assess the benefits of chiropractic.

Following twenty-four matches, specialists noticed a reduced amount of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had received chiropractic care. Moreover, that same group also missed fewer matches related to non-contact knee injuries. This lead the researchers to come to the conclusion that chiropractic should be made an addition to sports training programs to effectively lessen the quantity of leg injuries.

If you or your child are active in sports and you would like to ensure more time is dedicated on the field versus on the bench, call our Estero, Bonita Springs office at (239) 495-1166 and make an appointment today. We will do our best to keep you in the game!

References

• Hoskins, W, & Pollard, H. (2010, April 8). The effect of a sports chiropractic manual therapy intervention on the prevention of back pain, hamstring and lower limb injuries in semi-elite Australian Rules footballers: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 11(64), doi:10.1186/1471-2474-11-64
• Misra, A. (2014, March 17). Common sports injuries: Incidence and average charges. Department of Health & Human Services.
• Stanford Children’s Hospital. (n.d.). Sports injury statistics.

Dr. Green sees many back pain patients in our busy Estero, Bonita Springs chiropractic office. Many of our patients have some kind of spinal condition that is causing them pain and distress. Fortunately, Dr. Green finds that spinal decompression therapy is a great way to help these folks.

What is Spinal Decompression and How Can it Help Me?

Non-surgical spinal decompression is a treatment technique that takes all of the positive benefits that one normally gets from chiropractic adjustments, traction, physiotherapy, exercise therapy, and myofascial therapy and combines them all into one.

The objective of decompression is to keep you off the operating table, and that is precisely what it's achieved for a number of folks, as it has a reported 85% success rate.

Some of the issues spinal decompression helps with include generalized back pain, sciatica, herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, compression fractures, and joint pain.

Spinal decompression works by reversing the effects of wear, tear, and gravity that compresses the intervertebral discs in your spine. The movie below shows how it works to eliminate pressure on your back and helps reduce pain and disability.

Dr. Green Can Help People Find Comfort From Chronic Back Pain

If you live in Estero, Bonita Springs and you're suffering with back issues, spinal decompression treatment might be the solution. Call Dr. Green today at (239) 495-1166 for a consultation or appointment.

According to experts, approximately 5 percent of the population will suffer from painful ailments like frozen shoulder syndrome at some point in their lives. That makes shoulder pain a common occurrence and one that Dr. Green sees in our Estero, Bonita Springs practice on a regular basis.

By and large, this ailment is more prevalent for people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, and it tends to affect women more frequently than men. While ice, heat, and gentle stretches can sometimes help alleviate the pain, so too can chiropractic.

As an example, one study published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine looked at 50 patients with frozen shoulder who were given chiropractic care. The duration of care varied from 11 days to 51 days, with 28 days being the average.

The researchers found that nearly all of the study participants fared extremely well with chiropractic care. The authors found:

• 8 of the subjects reported 50-75 percent improvement
• 25 indicated improvement ranging from 75- 90 percent
• 1 participant had complete resolution of their frozen shoulder pain

Only one participant reported an improvement of 50 percent or less, so studies like this demonstrate just how effective chiropractic care can be when it comes to decreasing shoulder pain and improving quality of life.

Let Dr. Green help you ease your pain by contacting our Estero, Bonita Springs office and scheduling your appointment today.

Resources

Murphy F et al. (2012, December). Chiropractic management of frozen shoulder syndrome using a novel technique: a retrospective case series of 50 patients. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine;11(4):267-272

Dr. Green works with countless sciatica patients here in our Estero, Bonita Springs office, and quite a few of these patients were worried that they might require surgery to relieve their pain. The most recent research shows that many people don't require surgery for this widespread problem, and that chiropractic is more beneficial at clearing up sciatic nerve pain.

A common surgery for sciatica is microdiscectomy, and in a 2010 study, researchers examined 80 women and men with sciatica who were referred for this operation.

Forty patients were then randomly sorted into one of two groups. The first group received surgical microdiscectomy and the second group received chiropractic care.

Both groups improved; however, no noticeable difference in results was recorded one year post-treatment between the surgery group and the chiropractic group. In addition, roughly 60% of the participating patients who could not find assistance from any other treatment approach "benefited from spinal manipulation to the same degree as if they underwent surgical intervention."

Simply put, chiropractic delivered the same positive advantages as surgery without having to go through the higher amounts of surgery-based pain or suffer through lengthy recovery times often affiliated with that specific treatment option. Plus, you also don't run the risks affiliated with surgical microdiscectomy, such as nerve root damage, bowel or bladder incontinence, bleeding, or infection.

Surgery should be the last resort for sciatica pain. If you live in Estero, Bonita Springs and you're being affected by back pain or sciatica, give Dr. Green a call today at (239) 495-1166. We'll help determine the origin of your pain and work hard to get you relief.

References

• McMorland, G et al. Manipulation or microdiskectomy for sciatica? A prospective randomized clinical study. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2010;33(8):576-584.
• Solberg TK, Nygaard OP, Sjaavik K, Hofoss D, Ingebrigtsen T. The risk of "getting worse" after lumbar microdiscectomy. European Spine Journal 2005;14(1):49-54.
  

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

Dr. Green has helped many pregnant women with 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 reported pain in their lower back region, 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?

More than half 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. Improvement was still reported at six months post-treatment, which was generally after delivery, and continued to the final data collection one year after treatment commenced.

There are also many additional benefits of chiropractic care during pregnancy. Not only does it efficiently relieve 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 drugs or undergoing any type of treatment that could potentially harm your unborn child.

Additionally, it makes your time spent carrying your baby more pleasant. When you're not distracted with pain, 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 Americans suffer with chronic pain than diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and cancer combined. On top of that, neck pain is the third most reported type of pain, beat out only by lower back pain and headache.

Of course, many patients come to our Estero, Bonita Springs office looking for neck pain treatment, 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 improve with chiropractic care.

Studies Confirm Chiropractic Works

A study published in The Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy included 64 men and women who were suffering with neck problems. Approximately 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 thoracic spine adjustments.

Information was gathered before treatment began and one week after the adjustments. 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 individuals who received neck adjustments showed the same level of improvement, showing 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 were dealing with neck pain. Each person was randomly assigned to one of two groups--thoracic spine thrust manipulation or non-thrust manipulation--with examinations occurring two and four days after the treatments.

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

Chiropractic Even Offers Benefits After Failed Neck Surgery

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

The patient reported reduced pain in her neck and reduced 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 improved as well, with a rating score that represented that it was a "great deal better."

It is scientific studies like these that demonstrate the effectiveness of chiropractic care, even if you've already attempted medical procedures that didn't provide relief. So, if you are suffering 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.

We're located 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.