Many times low back, hip and knee pain can be traced to the feet. Even if your feet don’t hurt, they may be a major factor contributing to your health problems. I find that if a patient doesn’t respond to treatment, addressing any foot issues can result in dramatic improvement. A foot problem may be the cause of discomfort or pain in your leg/hip, back, arm/shoulder or even your neck. Take the following test and if you answer yes to any of the following questions, you need to have your feet addressed.

Low back pain caused by foot issues are triggered by many things.  Answer the following questions:  Do you stand or walk on hard surfaces for more than 4 hours daily? Don you participate regularly in any physical sport such as basketball, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling etc.? Are you over 40?

Other questions which need to be answered to identify low back pain from feet problems are:  Have you had a prior knee injury, back injury or neck injury? Do your shoes wear unevenly? Do you have joint pain while standing,

You probably already know that Chiropractors treat low back pain but what you may not know is that we feel the cause of the pain is a injury called subluxations.  Subluxation means a vertebral joint of the spine is out of its normal position. It’s the same as a sprain because the ligaments are stretched when this occurs. But how does a joint get out of its normal position? Usually, the culprit is some sort of trauma but not necessarily at the level of a high fall or a major car accident (although these trauma do cause problems).

Many times subluxations causing low back pain are caused by injury and the spine can be injured because it is more vulnerable in awkward positions, such as when we bend forward and add a little twist to a lift. Perhaps it’s putting a baby seat into the back

In my Chiropractic office we treat a lot of neck injuries along with headaches and other problems that start at the top of the spine. We find a lot of weak muscles which cause instability and perpetuate the problems the patient has come in for. The neck is the most flexible part of your spine and just like any other area of the body, movement exercises and good postures are important to maintain its health. Neck pains can be brought on or aggravated by how you treat this vital structure. We often neglect our neck when it comes to exercises, focusing instead on our legs or heart. So try these helpful hints and incorporate them into your daily routine.
Exercising your neck by slowly moving it through all its ranges is key. It is important to do pure movements rather than combinations, rolling the neck around like a ball and socket joint (such as the hip or shoulder) is to be avoided. What I find is that if there is any joint in the neck that are not working perfectly, combination movements can further jam these joints. Instead, flex the neck forward until your chin touches the top of your chest. Then, slowly bend your neck backwards, chin to the sky. These movements should not cause pain if they are done slowly and you have no

As a Chiropractor, I treat a lot of carpal tunnel caused by a condition called Double Crush.  Most people with carpal tunnel syndrome think they have a primary problem in the wrist but a condition called double crush may be the problem. While the wrist and hand may be the site of most of your symptoms, the cause can lie elsewhere. The nerves that course through the tiny tunnel in your wrist, originate in your neck. When the vertebrae are twisted in your neck or disk injury is present this can narrow the tunnels in your neck that the nerves must pass through. When this occurs and there is also a problem with compression at the wrist, it is called a double-crush syndrome. Double meaning the nerves are pinched at two locations.

Researchers (Clin Neurol Neurosurg 2007; Oct.11; Moghaderi A, Izadi S) have looked at risk factors for the double crush syndrome involving carpal tunnel. They specifically investigated age, gender, and body mass index (how heavy you are), as independent risk factors for double crush syndrome.

One hundred forty-two patients (125 females) with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and 109 controls/normal patients were analyzed. One hundred six patients had pure carpal tunnel syndrome and 36 patients had double-crush injuries.

Patients with double-crush syndrome tended to be older. Greater age can have an influence on degeneration of the disks in the neck, which can lead to narrowing of the passages the nerves must course through as they exit the spinal cord and move down the arm. Male patients were also more likely to have double-crush syndrome.

Since double-crush syndrome can be missed if a thorough neck examination is not done, this could lead to inappropriate treatments because the cause is not being addressed.

Chiropractic care focuses on the cause of diseases. Just as a leg pain (e.g. sciatica) usually comes from a lower back problem rather than the leg itself, a wrist problem is not always in the wrist. It’s important to have a comprehensive assessment when carpal tunnel symptoms develop, and this may include x-rays of your neck.

Our clinic tries to address these problems in a holistic, non-drug and non-surgical manner. Our approach will usually involve vertebral adjustments to correct structural problems in the neck region, if these are present. Consider chiropractic care as a conservative option prior to undergoing invasive surgery.

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This information is solely advisory, and should not be substituted for medical or chiropractic advice. Any and all health care concerns, decisions, and actions must be done through the advice and counsel of a health care professional who is familiar with your updated medical history.

Whiplash is an injury to the soft tissues in the neck including ligaments, joint capsules, muscles and their tendons, and intervertebral disks. It can also involve the nervous system tissues in more severe cases, resulting in radiating arm pain.

Whiplash commonly occurs during a car crash, most commonly a rear-end collision. The sudden jolt occurs so fast we cannot brace ourselves adequately and the head accelerates back and forth beyond the limits of the ligaments that hold our bones firmly together (often referred to as a “sprain”). Because of the significant range of motion of the neck, the weight of the head, and how is suspended on the neck, the neck is particularly vulnerable to this type of injury (more commonly worse in woman due to a more slender neck).  It can also occur with sports injuries, falls and any time the head hits the ground and bounces.

The primary symptom of whiplash is neck or upper back pain that may develop immediately or be delayed days,

I treat a lot of headaches in my Chiropractic office.  One of the reported causes of both migraine and tension headache is cervical muscle tension and spinal joint abnormalities in the neck. When considering treatment for headaches, whether it’s a tension-type or migraine, there are many choices available. The question is, which of the many options offer the best benefit?

There have been many studies compairing various treatment for headaches including Chiropractic care.  One study compared the effectiveness of physical therapy (PT) to that of relaxation and thermal biofeedback (RTB). Both groups

Fibromyalgia is a difficult problem to diagnose or determine its cause. Since exercises, diet, and weight loss can be so helpful to fibromyalgia patients, we may think they can completely solve the problem.

Chiropractors recognize the importance of good spinal posture in affecting a variety of health problems, including fibromyalgia. It’s important to not think of the disease as having a single solution, but rather as a more complex entity, needing a comprehensive approach. But is there any research on the spine being involved in patients with fibromyalgia?

Recent research (Holman AJ. Positional cervical spinal cord compression and fibromyalgia: a novel comorbidity with important diagnostic and treatment implications. J Pain 2008; May 20 epub.) has looked into a specific problem seen in fibromyalgia patients: spinal cord compression. The scientist took MRIs of fibromyalgia patients with the neck

There is an interesting and lesser-known relationship is the jaw (frequently referred to as the TMJ) and its association with neck function, especially the upper cervical vertebrae, as well as headaches. The muscles that move the jaw/TMJ are largely controlled by the 5th cranial nerve, also called the trigeminal nerve. Several studies have found that when stimulating structures controlled by the trigeminal nerve, neck and/or jaw pain was created and vise versa. Similarly, patients with jaw problems (called temporomandibular dysfunction or, TMD) often report neck pain.

Neck pain and headaches can occur when we open our mouth wide because head-neck extension always occurs

Before starting the weight loss program

After one month on program

Approaching goal weight after 4 months

If you are interested in more information about this great program go to my weight loss website at www.drcarolgrant.tsfl.com. 

My Chiropractic patients are the typical middle-aged Americans that don’t want to slow down so I give them gym ball exercises. According to the Wall Street Journal, their desire to “keep going” has resulted in a 16 percent growth of the orthopedic industry, with knee replacement surgeries doubling in the 38-56 year old set from 1996-2001. New procedures such as cartilage cell transplants, arthroscopic procedures and artificial knees, hips and discs contribute to a growing $14 billion industry.

This demographic group also has a growing interest in fitness and wellness and gets involved in programs ranging