Auto Injuries
Even a “minor” crash can result in serious injuries like ligament sprains. This can lead to chronic pain and disability if not treated properly. In fact, research shows that early treatment is the best way to prevent long-term symptoms. Chiropractic adjustments are effective because they help restore the healthy, normal function of your nervous system without the use of drugs or surgery.
Back Pain
This is one of the most common reasons for a chiropractic visit. It is also one of the most common reasons for a visit to a general practitioner, except they know nothing about the low back unless it’s which anti-inflammatory drug or NSAIDs to give you. (The medical school curriculum doesn’t focus on the anatomy of the low back.) These drugs might help, but they WON’T CORRECT THE PROBLEM. That’s what we as Chiropractors do. What is the problem? It can be a slipped disk, a hip misalignment or a malposition of the lumbar vertebrae (to name but a few, however the most common). These take various times and number of visits to adjust, but the weakness, misalignment, or subluxation can be corrected. There is hope – although 80% of adults will experience back pain, only 1-2% will need lumbar spine surgery!
Disc Injury
The discs are round, spongy pads of cartilage called between the intervetebral segments. They allow for flexibility in the lower back. As we age, they often lose their normal structure and function, becoming thinner and more prone to injury.
Over time the collagen (protein) structure around the disc weakens and may become structurally unsound. One of the primary reasons for this is that the water content decreases. These changes are linked and may lead to the disc’s inability to handle mechanical stress.
Any subsequent motion may result in a disc problem (e.g. herniation). This is when a section of the disc protrudes from between the vertebrae and pushes against a nerve within the spinal canal.
Within a few months, healing is often achieved. With surgery, the recovery rate after 5 years is exactly the same. So, don’t rush to have it operated on; the same results can be achieved through chiropractic care.
Headaches/ Migraines
This office is especially equipped to deal with head pain, trauma to the head, and pain originating from the upper neck. All of the above, and many other conditions arise out of the brainstem. The brainstem collects all the nerves from the brain, several tens of millions of them, and bundles them all together in a long tube (the spinal column) that runs down the spinal cord to the various organs and parts of the body. Right under the skull is the top bone in the spine – C1 – or THE ATLAS. (That’s easy to remember because Atlas is the Greek who balances the whole world atop his extended arms.) It’s not a large step to compare the head of person, including the brain, to the entire world!
This is the least symmetrical bone in the spine. That’s true among people and between the 2 sides of the Atlas. The other bones are fairly regular, but the Atlas, and the bone below it – C2 – THE AXIS, are known to be very asymmetrical. That’s why the Blair Chiropractic – the upper cervical work we do, is so unique. This method, unlike most Chiropractic, bases the adjustment not on the ideal alignment found in the anatomy books, but on these asymmetries arising from each individual’s anatomical structure and specific traumatic experiences.
By taking x-rays specific to the individual, we can determine the best method of correction of these bones. And the amazing part of this method is that there are countless variations between people, but THEY CAN ALL BE ADJUSTED ACCURATELY. Even better than that, if the bones (and nerves) go back to their previous position, they can be recorrected precisely according to those angles.
How often do these bones need to be recorrected before a permanent resolution happens? That depends upon how long they’ve been out of position. The time intervals vary between 1 adjustment for a fresh trauma case (several of our patients) to several adjustments every week for several years (Dr. Dorrin’s case where there was an accident which destroyed the stability of her cervical spine on top of a birth injury 23 years before.) Don’t worry, we’ve never found another case that drawn out…
Our X-Ray
We’ve solved the problems commonly associated with upper cervical doctors! In most cases, the radiation required to get these precision top of the neck x-rays can be prohibitive. Dr. Bob, was both a steamfitter/welder, and an electronics technician before he became a Chiropractor. Thus, he was able to build a functional and STATE-OF-THE-ART setup for a pulsed fluoroscopy system that uses less than 1/10 the radiation of a normal x-ray unit and sends the images directly to a computer system to be read. It’s safe, effective, and NOT AT ALL DANGEROUS.
We can take several full series of x-rays (5-7) for the same amount of radiation you get in one hospital x-ray. One of the advantages is that over time, we can take more x-rays to pinpoint specific vertebral levels and subluxations. Also, we can examine the changes that happen over time, to more specifically adjust the temporal changes that are an inevitable part of a whiplash.
Head/Neck Misalignment
Brain messages control all body functions! The critical head/neck area can easily become subluxated; a fall, an accident, a bump on the head, bad sleeping habits or poor posture. Misalignment can even occur during the birth process, a simple twist of the head during delivery can bring on future problems! Any type of misalignment, regardless of how it occurred, restricts or distorts brain to body messages in this critical area at the top of the neck. Left unchecked this imperfect connection can cause pain and symptoms to develop and increase during one’s lifetime.
That part of the body that cannot effectively communicate with the brain will begin to develop health problems. These symptoms will grow worse until the misalignment (bottleneck) is corrected and effective brain to body communication is restored.
Personal Injury
Our goal is to help you receive the proper care after a personal injury, auto accident or fall. Our staff is devoted to helping you obtain the most comprehensive treatments and the care you deserve, so you may maintain your quality of life after an injury and can begin to feel like yourself again.
Too often, individuals involved in an auto injury or wreck have minimal or no symptoms until several weeks after the auto accident. That is where the professionals at State of the Art Chiropractic come in, and can assist you with all aspects of auto accident personal injury recovery.
Sports Injury
Sports can be very taxing on your body, no matter what you play. Our trusted staff will work with you to get to the root of your problem and help you feel better again. We help treat and also prevent injuries in the neck, back, shoulders, knees, and ankles. We are able to manually adjust your spine, relieving any pain that you are feeling. This will allow your body to function much better after the injury.
Sciatica
This is the name for the intense leg pain that is often described as either numbing, tingling or burning. This pain extends down the back of one leg (from the hip) along the sciatic nerve. This is both the largest and the longest nerve in the body, and it extends from the buttocks to the inside of the ankle. It is generally agreed that the lower the pain extends, the more serious the problem is. However, there is hope!
While recovery from sciatica is most often slower than that of simple back pain, it is very probable for total recovery given time and judicious chiropractic management. After one month, 30% of people will recover completely and 70% will recover fully in 6 months.
