Neck pain can be so mild that it is merely annoying or mildly distracting. On the other hand, it can be so severe that it is unbearable and incapacitating. Most instances of neck pain and stiffness are minor and are caused by things you do everyday.  That is, if you keep your head in an awkward position for too long the joints in your neck can “lock” and the neck muscles can become painfully fatigued. As a result of this, they go into spasm and your neck gets very stiff and sore.

The price you pay for carelessness in how you position your head and neck (say, while working, watching TV, using a computer, reading a book, or talking on the phone with the receiver held against your shoulder and under your chin), is a pain in the neck. You may be one of the many unfortunates who, after a long and tiring day, has “harmlessly” fallen asleep in a chair or in bed with your head propped up, only to awake with a stiff and painful neck.

Posture-induced episodes of neck pain tend to persist if no efforts are made to change chronic poor posture during everyday activity! 

Neck pain that just won’t go away after a day or so is a more serious matter. Neck pain that lasts for many days or keeps coming back is a signal that something isn’t right. Disease, an injury (such as whiplash in an auto accident), a congenital malformation, or progressive degeneration that can come with age may be responsible for the more significant pain you experience. An expert must determine the underlying causes of such neck pain. Examination, diagnosis and treatment by a doctor of chiropractic can relieve your mind and may quickly relieve your pain.

Who suffers from neck pain?

Almost everyone experiences some sort of neck pain or stiffness at one time or another. Because you are human and walk upright, your head is “balanced” atop your spinal column. If the muscles that support your head are not kept strong and in good condition, the upper part of your spinal column is vulnerable to strains and injuries. Older people, whose joints have been worn by much use over time, are subject to osteoarthritis (also known as degenerative joint disease or DJD). When this form of arthritis hits your back and neck, you feel it as neck pain that gets worse over time. The pain may radiate into your shoulders and arms, and you may feel numbness or tingling in hands and fingers. Arthritis can also involve symptoms including headaches, dizziness, and even a grating/grinding feeling when you move your head. It is very important for your chiropractor to examine you to rule out osteoarthritis or identify it and see that it is properly treated.

How can chiropractic help?

Doctors of chiropractic have the training and skills to relieve your neck pain, overcome stiffness, and restore the mobility and range of motion of any frozen neck vertebrae. They are devoted to helping you get back to your normal pursuits and start feeling like yourself again. Perhaps their most important contribution is their ability to bring their specialized diagnostic skills, techniques, and equipment to bear in assessing what is causing your neck problems.

Your chiropractor can determine if you have a relatively minor and treatable condition or a more serious underlying condition (from disease, degeneration, or trauma) that may require more intensive, extended treatment or referral to a specialist. Your chiropractor will ask you for detailed information on your behavior, posture, physical condition, and work and home environment He or she will obtain x-rays and other diagnostic images to pinpoint which of many possible causes is a responsible for your discomfort. Only then will the appropriate treatment be recommended. Once your normal feeling and function is restored, your chiropractor will be available to keep the muscles and joints of your neck and back in optimum condition to prevent recurrence of neck pain and related life-restricting symptoms.

Call to see if Chiropractic Care with Dr Jessica can help your neck pain.
303-772-8311 or Click the Contact Button on the left of the page.

Headaches can be triggered by physical or emotional stress, toxic fumes, certain foods, preservatives, alcohol, bright light, trauma, hormonal changes, too much or too little sleep, allergies, or blood pressure to name just a few causes. Another frequently overlooked cause of headaches is misaligned spinal bones in the neck and upper back. When spinal bones lose their normal position and motion, delicate nerves and blood vessels to the head can be affected.

One thing is certain. A recurring headache is a sign that something is wrong. While pain-relievers like aspirin may temporarily ease discomfort, they also mask the symptoms They do nothing to correct the source of the problem. And while the problem remains, the headaches will come back… again and again.

Schedule an appointment today to see if Dr Jessica can reduce the recurring headaches.
Call 303-772-8311 or click the Contact Button on the left.

What Is Sciatica?

Sciatica is a severe pain in the leg caused by compression, irritation, or inflammation of the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerves are the largest and longest nerves in the body, reaching about the size of your thumb in diameter.  Each sciatic nerve is composed of five smaller nerves that leave the spinal cord from the low back, join together, and then travel down each leg. It then divides into smaller nerves that travel to the thigh, knee, calf, ankle, foot and toes.  When these nerves are irritated by the inflammation of nearby soft tissues, doctors refer to this as sciatica.

Symptoms of Sciatica

People with “sciatica” can suffer from a wide range of symptoms. The pain may be constant and unrelenting or it may be on and off, subsiding for hours or days at a time before returning. Some people may feel a dull ache, numbness, or weakness which travels down the buttock into the upper leg. Others may experience intense “shooting pains” that travel all the way down the leg and into the foot and toes. Some may also describe a burning sensation or a “pins and needles” sensation.  For some, the pain may be in both legs or change from side to side. For a number of others, low back pain may occur before the sciatica itself. In the most severe cases, sciatica can damage reflexes, or even cause a wasting of the calf muscles

Many daily activities can aggravate the pain of sciatica.  Sitting in one position for a long period of time, such as when driving or working at a computer, can increase the pain. Working out, running, or even simple things like walking, bending, turning or standing up may be difficult and painful. Tennis, golf, bowling, and other twisting activities can cause sciatic pain to flare up.

Causes of Sciatica

Because the sciatic nerve is so long, irritation can occur at many points. The first place is the lower back.  Commonly, a misalignment of one or more of the lumbar vertebra causing pressure on the nerve is responsible. This condition is known as a subluxation, one underlying cause of sciatica as well as many other health problems.

Another source of sciatica can be the intervertebral disc. Discs are the cartilage-like cushions occupying the spaces between vertebrae. Serving as spinal shock absorbers, they allow the back to turn and bend normally. Trauma or injury from car accidents, falls, or lifting injuries can cause a disc to bulge to one side.  This puts pressure on the sciatic nerve as well, leading to sciatica.

Yet another source of sciatic pain can be the piriformis muscle.  It is a muscle that lies over the sciatic nerve in the buttock region.  If this muscle gets irritated and goes into spasm, it may put pressure on the sciatic nerve, and thus symptoms occur.  Things that can irritate the piriformis muscle are running…look into other causes

Sciatica has also been linked to various non-spinal conditions. Arthritis, advanced diabetes, tumors, constipation, and even vitamin deficiencies have been reported as causes.

It’s easy to trace some spinal problems to a particular traumatic event, such as a car accident. Yet, sciatica is most often the result of small amounts of damage occurring over time. Years of bad posture, poor muscle tone, excess weight or countless other causes set the stage. Then, something simple like bending over to tie your shoes can trigger a flare up of severe sciatic pain!

Treatment for Sciatica

The medical approach managing sciatica is to treat the symptoms. This may include using painkillers, muscle relaxers or anti-inflammatory drugs. Traction, physical therapy or injections directly into the nerve roots may also be used. In severe cases, surgery may be suggested.  Sciatica often worsens with extended bed rest. Pain pills or muscle relaxers are unable to correct the cause of the problem, thus merely masking the symptoms.

The chiropractic approach to treating sciatica is to find the source of nerve irritation and relieve the pressure causing the pain. By correcting the source of the sciatica, the body can heal naturally. Sciatica, like other health conditions that can be traced to the spine, often responds dramatically to the restoration of normal spinal function through chiropractic care.

Treatment will vary according to both the cause and the severity of the condition. With most patients, a series of chiropractic adjustments to loosen up the spine and break up fixations is very effective in reducing sciatic pain.  In conjunction with adjustments, trigger point therapy (which is a focused form of deep tissue massage aimed at reducing muscular spasm) is often very helpful as well.  Combining adjustments with physical therapy has proven very successful in treating most cases of sciatica.

Your chiropractic doctor is uniquely skilled to evaluate and reduce the most common cause of sciatica nerve pain, which is dysfunction of the low back! It’s the natural approach to relief and better health.

Don’t Wait !

Whatever the cause of sciatica, it is important to seek treatment promptly. Too many people wait, hoping the pain will go away or get better by itself. However, it is usually easier to treat a problem when it is first noticed. Too many people wait until the pain becomes unbearable, suffering needlessly. Long-term nerve damage may result from this delay in seeking treatment.

Schedule an appointment today to see how Chiropractic Care help your pain.
Call 303-772-8311 or Click the Contact Button on the Left Side of the Page.

The prize is a $50 gift card for dinner, 2 movie tickets, a box of chocolates, and 2 30 minute massages.

Two Ways to Enter to Win?

1. For every visit you come in, you get to enter 1 ticket.

2. For each new patient you refer in before the drawing on Feb 10th, (even if the new patients appointment is before that date, but is ON the schedule) you get 20 tickets to enter.

The drawing will be Friday Feb 10th and we will call and/or email the winner that day.

Call us today at 303-772-8311 or Click the Contact Button on the Left side of the page to set up your appointment today!

Researchers compared 26 patients with chronic back pain to 26 matched healthy
volunteers. The chronic back pain group consisted of patients who had been
experiencing pain for one year. Along with pain they also experienced radiculopathy,
which is numbness or tingling of the arms or legs caused by compression of the nerve
roots. The normal decrease in gray matter, in people without back pain was found to
be ½ of a percent per year. However, the researchers found that the gray matter in
chronic back pain patients decreased by 11 percent. In addition, the longer someone
experienced chronic back pain, the more gray matter they lost.

The researchers concluded “Chronic back pain is accompanied by abnormal brain
chemistry…implying neuronal loss or dysfunction in this region, reduced cognitive
abilities on a task, and abnormal prefrontal processing.”

While additional research is warranted, the information from this study should serve as a
warning to those with back pain to seek chiropractic care as soon as possible in order to
prevent the condition from becoming chronic. If you suffer from chronic pain, a doctor
of chiropractic can help!

Reference: Apkarian AV, Sosa Y, Sonty S, et al. Chronic back pain is associated with decreased
prefrontal and thalamic gray matter density. The Journal of Neuroscience, Nov. 17, 2004  24(46):10410-10475.

By: Dr. Jessica Thompson

What to expect while you’re expecting.