Fri 3 Dec 2010

Chiropractor Corona CA

Posted by scottroy under Chiropractor Corona CA
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Hi! Welcome to Chiropractor Corona CA

Well, it is not a complete sentence, but there is a reason I choose this name for a website that talks about selecting a chiropractor.

When people experience low back pain, neck pain, sciatica and other similar conditions, most people realize they need a chiropractor. Usually they will type: Chiropractor Corona CA… or something close to that to find chiropractic care in the Corona, California area.

Now, I am not a chiropractor, but my wife and I have both seen many of them, some terrific and some a total waste of money. She had cervical (neck) problems and I’ve had disc bulge problems in my low back. Some of the chiropractors did absolutely nothing for us week after week, except to lighten our wallets. We’ve learned a lot about finding good chiropractic care and because of this I want to help you avoid the problems we ran into.

So, that is how this site got its name. I wanted you to find my site so that I can help you pick a good chiropractic practice for your health needs and avoid the ones that cause more problems and just cost too much.

We have found significant differences in chiropractic care and treatments among chiropractors, some of which lead to fast pain relief, others just more pain – which I want to help you avoid. For example, spinal manipulation, chiropractic treatment of the neck, and similar treatments are among the most common clinical treatments, but are accomplished in many different ways by different doctors.

Do all chiropractors practice good manipulative treatment therapy and techniques?

Some medical doctors claim some chiropractic therapies are not evidence-based nor well researched, and may not have been subjected to clinical trials. Still, virtually all the people I know who visit a chiropractor swear by their effectiveness. The challenge is finding one with the right philosophy who does a proper analysis of your condition and provides physical treatments that are effective for you!

I have found, it is just like any other profession.  Doctors select their occupations and education for various reasons. But invariably, some are better at their practice than others – just like some get better grades in school.

Some seem to take the same approach with just about everyone who walks through the door.  Others are more systematic at identifying the source of the trouble.

So, my experience has shown that the chiropractors who take care to do a thorough diagnostic such as a systematic review of my spinal and neck condition to develop an evidence-based treatment plan, are the ones who have been most effective.

How do these practitioners relieve us of pain?

Many chiropractors refer to vertebral subluxation as the source of pain and disease. Quite simply, these are when one or more bones in your spine gets out of place and irritates spinal nerves. Sometimes, as in my case, the discs between spinal bones develop bulges that press against the nerves.

Systematic spinal manipulation over the course of some weeks is a common therapy. At first this did not seem to work for me, but after a several weeks, the pain did subside.

My wife and I have also both had special spinal-decompression treatments. These clinical therapies provide significant relief from pain in some cases.

The World Health Organization acknowledges a chiropractic definition of subluxations.  These were first described by D. D. Palmer, who founded chiropractic in the 1890’s. The profession continues to use manipulative treatments for various muscluoskeletal conditions, including whiplash, employment injuries, sports injuries, dizziness, headaches, and other body pains.

How do they get a chiropractic education?

In the United States, doctors of the chiropractic profession usually obtain an education including a bachelors degree in science. Then they typically go on to a four-year chiropractic university to complete their chiropractic education.

How do you check out a chiropractor?

You should check to make sure the chiropractor you are considering has been accredited by the Council on Chiropractic Education and see if there have been any disciplinary actions at the State of California – Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

The major United States national chiropractic association is the American Chiropractic Association. The Journal Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (J Manipulative Physiol Ther) is a major source on the latest in chiropractic research. Such journals usually review and cite other articles in their own and medical journals as evidence of the developing research they describe.  Citations often are referenced using PMID (from PubMed) and DOI’s (Digital Object Identifiers).

Another important association to the profession, the World Federation of Chiropractic, represents chiropractic to the international health care community.

You may find that you cannot rely on the Better Business Bureau as a reliable source for referrals to chiropractors. They are not actually an official governing body and get paid by the businesses they represent.

It is my hope that you find the information on Chiropractor Corona CA helpful for identifying a chiropractor who will be effective for you.

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Wed 16 Feb 2011

Chiropractic Treatments

Posted by scottroy under Chiropractic Treatments
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In this part of Chiropractor Corona CA, I am going to share with you some of the common treatments the chiropractic profession uses.

The most common treatment program includes spinal manipulation or adjustment, also known technically as spinal manipulative therapy.  This is when the doctor uses various means to adjust the vertebrae of the spine to reduce or eliminate any suspected vertebral subluxation.

Here is an article that discusses whether you should have spinal manipulative therapy.

If you have back pain or neck pain that is not necessarily linked to an injury, spinal manipulative therapy is likely to lead to the eventual relief because it aligns the spine and reduces pinching of nerves.

The pain relief may not be immediate however. Chiropractors will tell you that the vertebrae may tend to slip back out of place the first few times they are realigned. That is why they advise you to come back several times for ongoing chiropractic care.

A common approach to reliving neck pain is a cervical manipulation called upper high-velocity neck manipulation in which the chiropractor quickly twists your head one way then back the other way. Some do it harder than others and it can hurt a bit.  I have heard there is risk of injury associated with this move, so you may want to ask that it not be done if you are concerned. Most importantly, don’t do this yourself if you have been trained. Some people try this on a friend or family member and cause an injury.

I have had different chiropractors perform spinal manipulations in different ways. Some use a tool called an activator that clicks as they press it and it taps on the vertebrae to move them into place.  One chiropractor I see has a larger electric rubber hammer type device called an impulse adjusting instrument that thumps the vertebrae bones into place.

In some instances, the chiropractor will hold a hand or thumb on the vertebrae that is out of place and bend or move your back in a certain way to get the vertebrae to move back into place. Sometimes they move your back by having you on a special table (flexion/distraction table) that has sections that drop suddenly.

Another technique I’ve had involves laying on one side while they hold my bent leg down and use my shoulder to twist my back. They repeat it on the other side so that the back is twisted both ways.

I’ve also had them place their fist right under a vertebra that is out of place and then lay me back onto the fist in order to crack it. They may also have you lay face down as they run their hands along your spine and press the bones back into place.

Spinal decompression is promoted by many chiropractors as a means to prevent the spinal subluxation from occurring in the first place. You may have heard of regular use of inversion tables as good preventative health care. Some chiropractors have these in their office.  When you strap into one of these and get turned upside down, the weight of your body decompresses your spine and may help with back pain right away.

A few chiropractors have machines that do the spinal decompression without turning you upside down.  They strap you in and the machine pulls your lower body away from your upper body to provide the decompression relief to the spine.

Here is a website that discusses some of the tools a chiropractor uses.

Sometimes the initial sensation after an adjustment is continued back pain or neck pain for a day or so.  Chiropractors will tell you that it may take several adjustments over a several week period (spinal manipulative therapy) to get the vertebrae to remain in place. Then an occasional (monthly) adjustment is suggested.

I can tell you that in both mine and my wife’s cases, multiple spinal manipulations were required. We improved to the point of no pain and the monthly visits pretty much kept it that way.

Some chiropractors use additional other procedures in their practices as well.  These chiropractic treatments might include:

  • Heat therapy
  • Cold therapy
  • Water (hydro or aquatic) therapy
  • Rolling bed (rollers that massage the back)
  • Light treatment
  • K-laser treatment
  • Massage
  • Ultrasound therapy
  • Vibration therapy
  • Magnetic therapy
  • Electrotherapy
  • Acupuncture
  • Supports such as braces, straps, tape, and shoe inserts

Chiropractors often counsel patients about health care issues such as nutrition, exercise,  lifestyle changes, alternative medicine, and stress management.  Chiropractors don’t prescribe drugs or do any types of surgery.

When I learn about more treatments and more details on them, I’ll write about it here at Chiropractor Corona CA. So please check back periodically.

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Tue 25 Jan 2011

How Chiropractors Find the Source of Pain

Posted by scottroy under How Chiropractors Find the Source of Pain
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In this section of Chiropractor Corona CA I will review the general steps chiropractic practitioners go through to identify your source of pain.

From what I understand, nearly half of all chiropractors operate their own practice and there are a variety of types of chiropractic education. So there can be wide variations in philosophy, diagnostic approaches, chiropractic treatment techniques, and methods of accomplishing spinal manipulation.

vertebral subluxation

My wife and I have seen quite a few chiropractors and can share with you a pretty good idea of how they find your source of pain – at least based on the ones we have seen.

Usually a chiropractor will begin with a review of your medical history, health care, medicine you are taking, physical stress, emotional stress, and any pain you may have. This really should be a systematic review that will reveal evidence of your potential need for chiropractic care.

Back pain, low back pain, neck pain, or pain or numbness in the extremities will usually prompt them to quickly examine your posture and spine by running their fingers along the vertebrae to check alignment. Don’t worry, they don’t usually need you to remove clothes for this. A good chiropractor can tell you where you hurt based on this physical examination alone.

Depending on what they learn about you, they may also do other orthopedic examinations to complete their initial review.

They do not always need x-rays, which is a good thing because you want to limit your exposure to radiation.  Fortunately, the new digital x-ray machines use a fraction of the radiation of the old film type. I did need x-rays for some of the chiropractors I visited.

They may ask for additional tests as well, depending on the evidence they find.  Mine asked for an MRI, which I was able to get under insurance coverage because I was being treated for another condition and that medical doctor was concerned about my back pain.

Diagnostic images like x-rays and MRI’s are very useful to the chiropractic profession. These provide evidence-based facts that can quickly lead your chiropractor to an effective therapy.

In my case, the MRI clearly showed evidence of a few disc bulges that informed my chiropractor on appropriate spinal manipulative therapy that ended up working!

Recently my chiropractor ordered a neurological test called a Nerve Conduction Velocity (NCV) test to help him determine if there were any pinched or damaged nerves in my spinal nervous system. This is not a fun test, but it does find any real problems and is also evidence-based.

Here is information on the Nerve Conduction Velocity (NCV) test.

One of the main things most chiropractors are seeking is evidence of vertebral subluxation.  This is a condition in which one or more vertebrae of the spine get out of place somehow and put pressure on the nerves passing near it.  This pressure on the nerve alters neurological function.  Think of it like a car driving over a water hose. When the wheel is on top of the hose it slows or even stops the flow of water. Vertebral subluxation is believed to do the same with the electrical impulses on nerves.

This link will get you can get more details on vertebral subluxation.

Once done with their systematic review, chiropractors will determine if chiropractic treatment is appropriate.  Sometimes they recognize that the patient should be referred to another medical professional. If chiropractic care is deemed appropriate, they will prescribe a chiropractic program.

Here at Chiropractor Corona CA we will continue to add new information on how chiropractors identify your source of pain. So please come back!

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