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Your chiropractor in Grand Rapids has treated many men, women and children who suffer from the unusual side-to-side, or lateral, curvature of the spine called scoliosis. Your chiropractor wants you to be aware that there is a major difference between bad posture and the condition referred to as scoliosis. Bad posture is easily correctable, while scoliosis, an abnormal lateral curvature of the spine, is considerably more difficult to change.

Even prior to seeing your chiropractor in Grand Rapids, there are several ways for you to observe the difference between poor posture and scoliosis. If you were to look at a person with scoliosis in a standing position, you would probably be able to see that one shoulder is higher than the other, and that the scapula (shoulder blade) is raised or more prominent. In addition, if the person’s arms were hanging loosely at his or her sides, you might notice a wider space between the arm and the body on one side. Moreover, one hip might elevated or more prominent than the other. And finally, the head will not appear to be in plumb with the pelvis.

Scoliosis is often mild in nature, but it can be quite severe. In fact, both pulmonary and cardiac functions can be restricted if the curve and rib rotation are severe enough. In the majority of cases of scoliosis, the cause is unknown. This type of scoliosis (Idiopathic) tends to run in families and is thought to have a genetic component.

In general, Idiopathic Scoliosis takes place during adolescence when the body is completing the final major growth spurt. This type of scoliosis is most frequently found in girls. If found, a scoliotic curve should be monitored for any progression. Your chiropractor in Grand Rapids will not only provide periodic examinations, but will suggest standing x-rays if needed.

As mentioned above, most (nearly 90 percent) of scoliotic curvatures are mild to moderate, and make a brace unnecessary. In these cases, regular chiropractic care is beneficial in both in decreasing and adjusting any compensatory musculoskeletal conditions that might happen.

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I speak from years of experience, so you can be confident when I confess that I know a lot about back pain! I am an auto appraiser, which is to say that when someone wants to know the value of their own car or how much an automobilie is authentically worth that they are thinking of buying, I’m the guy who spends innumerable hours bending over and looking under the hood and crawling, sliding, or otherwise placing my body under a car that may be parked on cold concrete, hot blacktop, or gritty, abrasive gravel. And, I have to confess that my most worthwhile relationship is the one I have with my chiropractor, don’t get too busy to keep my monthly maintenance appointments with her, instead of waiting for sudden mechanical difficulties (like not being able to walk upright), then I find that I’m ready to hit the road every day pain-free!

Are you wondering what is involved in an auto appraisal? It’s something many people wonder about when it is required. So, let me explain one or two of the services that an experienced auto appraiser provides:

• An auto appraiser is your experienced set of eyes and can save you travel time and money, whether you are attempting to buy on e-bay or trying to buy a car “from afar.” After talking with you by phone, your auto appraiser will thoroughly check out the automobile you’re interested in and will find out all that you need to know to help you decide if the car is for you and if the selling price is a fair one.
• If you’ve been in an accident, a good auto appraiser can get your damaged vehicle inspected within forty-eight hours of accepting an assignment, write an estimate, and attempt to get an agreed price with a repair facility.
• And, if that accident turned our vehicle into a total loss, and you’re upset about the settlement your insurance company is offering for your totaled car because you’re pretty sure that you won’t be able to replace your car for the amount offered, your adjust can reveiw the facts and help you in making a decision.

A qualified auto appraiser doesn’t stop at cars. He’ll appraise semis and RVs too. But, really what I want you to take away from this article is that your auto appraiser often makes a lot of pain for himself on your behalf in order to assist you in making your auto-related decisions pain-free!

Technorati Tags: auto appraiser, back pain, chiropractor, total loss

Most professional athletes know what to do when they’re injured, but the average sports participant is often caught off-guard both with the injury, itself, and what to do until professional help is found. Here are a few helpful tips:

• Be sure to protect the injury to avoid further damage

• Stop all activity once you are injured and rest the injury

• Ice the injury to decrease swelling, bleeding, muscle spasm, and pain

• Compress the injury, if possible, with a specialized support or elastic bandage to support injured tissues

• Elevate the injury, especially when the damage is to ankles and knees

Of course, proper diagnosis and treatment are essential in order to insure complete recovery. Many chiropractors are expert in the field of sports injuries and can accurately determine the magnitude of your injury. Seeing a chiropractor as soon as possible after an injury has occurred is essential in getting a jump-start, so to speak, on recovery treatment. Sprain and strain injuries, for instance, can cause long-lasting problems, e.g., joint instability, painful and weakened joints and muscles, and lack of mobility, if not cared for correctly. Most sprains and strains are related to some degree of swelling, even internal bleeding, especially where ankles and knees are involved. Strains and sprains require appropriate attention, particularly during the initial stages to assure proper healing and protect against future disability. Experienced treatment of your sports injury by a chiropractor will help to insure that your injury mends quickly and properly, and you’re back in the game!

Technorati Tags: chiropractic, chiropractor, repetitive stress, sports injuries, sprain, strain

Walnut Creek Chiropractor

I’m just giving the facts, here, so let me say with great professional satisfaction that chiropractors like me, your Walnut Creek chiropractor, have a superior reputation when it comes to relieving back pain. This is due to the fact that chiropractors are spine authorities. In fact, if I had my way, the word “chiropractor” would follow the word “spine” in the dictionary! Anyone who’s ever suffered from back pain — be it mild, moderate, or severe — who has chosen chiropractic treatment — whether from a chiropractor in Walnut Creek or anywhere else in the world where chiropractic treatment is available — has discovered the power of this exceptional non-invasive, drug-free method for relieving back pain. And, you won’t find it surprising to know that since chiropractors are also experts when it comes to addressing the rest of the musculoskeletal system, chiropractic care can often get rid of neck pain, shoulder pain, elbow pain, hip pain, knee pain, and ankle pain. Chiropractic treatment can also give relief from conditions like stress headaches, migraines, carpal tunnel, and plantar fascitis.  The healing capabilities of chiropractic are many!

Sometimes, even for chiropractors, the potency of chiropractic treatment and its superiority to help people get rid of pain and back into participating in life can seem, well, almost miraculous. I feel gratified when I read the variety of testimonials given by chiropractic patients who have not only experienced pain relief through chiropractic treatment, but also experienced more life and energy, stress reduction and peace of mind, and a greater ability to get a good night’s sleep.

Still, sometimes I come across something, like this particular research article I read in the scientific periodical, Journal of Pediatric, Maternal and Family Health, and I am moved to a new level of admiration for my profession. The research detailed the case of a severely disabled 16-year-old girl suffering from Cerebral Palsy with muscle spasticity and sleep disturbances. It was her inability to sleep through the night that caused her family the most distress. To compound the young girl’s condition,when she was seven years old, surgeons fused metal rods in her spine, from neck to base.

The mother of the girl hoped that chiropractic treatment could correct her daughter’s spinal subluxations and help to decrease her all too frequent severe pain. One can only imagine that the examination was difficult. Fortunately the chiropractor was able to determine that there were several subluxations that could be safely addressed. Care was initiated at a frequency of twice per week. By her sixth adjustment, the girl was sleeping normally through the night. A measurable improvement in her muscle spasticity was found by her ninth visit.

Yet, even though full recovery was not expected, the authors of the research article noted that “the patient and her family were able to return to a normal sleep schedule as well as enjoy improved quality of life.”

Improved quality of life. Can anyone ask for more from treatment? Not likely!  But, do you want to know something? More chiropractors hear those words from their patients than medical doctors do.

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A regimen of acupuncture and chiropractic treatment may be the perfect coupling of natural, effective modalities. Those who suffer from arthritis have found the a modern acupuncture treatment that sends electrical currents through the acupuncture needles very beneficial in relieving arthritic pain. And, of course, since arthritis is commonly caused by inflammation and degeneration of particular joints within the skeletal system, chiropractic treatment helps to reduce both. Acupuncture and chiropractic care non-invasive, drug-free treatments by well-trained professionals who treat the body as a whole system rather than a “body of symptoms.”

So, the riddle is solved. If you are experiencing the pain of arthritis and you want to do more for your body than simply “silence the messenger” through drugs, acupuncture and chiropractic are the “dynamic duo” that can help!

Technorati Tags: acupuncture, arthritic changes, arthritis, chiropractor, joint degeneration

San Diego Chiropractor

As a Chiropractor in San Diego, I counsel many individuals who come to my clinic who want to lose weight. I know how hard it can be, and I also know how important it is to lose those extra pounds. Before you decide to add a little more “stretch” to the fabric in your wardrobe, there’s something you may want to know regarding those few extra pounds you may have gained. Over time, they can add up to a surprising number of health challenges from heart and pulmonary diseases and diabetes to back pain and joint degeneration. Surplus poundage puts harmful stress on organs, like the heart, as well as on joints in the low back, hips, and knees. Over half (62%) of men and women in America are overweight or obese, according to recent studies. That is an extremely compelling figure and an enormous problem (no pun intended).

It is likely no surprise to you to learn that the human body was not intended to transport surplus poundage in the form of body fat. Just 20 or 30 extra pounds can, in point of fact, overload and even overwhelm the joints and muscles of the body. Excess weight in the abdominal region, for instance, requires that the body compensate (counterbalance the weight) by tilting the pelvis forward. This angle puts pressure on the joints of the low back. Joint compression inhibits nerve activity and causes painful inflammation. Most people who have a heavy midsectionsuffer from low back pain caused by  a compressed sciatic nerve or spinal misalignments that restrict nerves due to weight-bearing stresses. If ignored, misaligned vertebra not only continue to irritate the degenerative changes that have taken place already, but can produce new arthritic changes in the spine in the future.

Are you wondering how chiropractic can help? To begin with the obvious, a “normal” body weight is necessary in order for the musculoskeletal system to act and respond in the way it is designed to. Chiropractic treatment can not only relieve pain created by excess weight compensation, but it can aid in weight reduction. Here’s how. Chiropractic adjustments relieve nerve impingements in the spine and assist in getting motion back into the joints of the musculoskeletal system, such as in the low back, hips, and knees. And, naturally exercise and physical activity are a lot easier, and more beneficial for the body, when the spine is in alignment and the joints have good movement. The added benefit of exercise the, in addition to helping with weight reduction, it can actually reduce degenerative changes as we age.

It is always a good idea to review your diet and exercise options with a healthcare professional, like your chiropractor. In addition to assisting men and women suffering from back pain and joint inflammation, chiropractors can provide expert guidance regarding the particular lifestyle changes that can help you to stay healthier, more energetic, and more active through the years. Arthritis and immobility due to aging don’t have to be compulsory. The structure of the human body is designed for an entire lifetime of pain-free movement.

So, if you’ve been throwing your weight around and all you’ve been getting in return is back and joint pain,as your San Diego chiropractor and someone who cares about your health, I can help relieve your suffering. Make an appointment today!

Technorati Tags: arthritis, back pain, chiropractic, chiropractor, excess weight, joint inflammation, weight loss

Corona Chiropractor

Where hip pain relief is concerned, your chiropractor in Corona provides potent non-invasive, drug-free treatment. As most of us know, surgery should be a last resort whenever possible. Therefore, before you schedule a surgery to replace that hip, ask yourself the following questions: Does hip pain wake you up at night and make it impossible for you to get a good night’s sleep? When you get up in the morning, and/or when you get out of your car, are you stiff and do you find it hard at first to get your legs moving properly? Do you feel pain whenever you rotate or twist them or when you cross your legs? If so, you may have asymmetries and alignment problems in your lower extremities that are not only causing your hip pain, but can over time lead to osteoarthritis in your hips if not treated. The good news is that whether or not degenerative changes have already taken place, chiropractic treatment can help!

It may be true that you’re getting older and your hip joints just aren’t what they used to be. Nonetheless, did you know that your hip pain (and related problems), which routinely are thought to be age-related degenerative conditions, may not actually be created by osteoarthritis? That’s right. In the majority of cases, rather than being the original source of your condition, osteoarthritis of the hip joint is more often than not the outgrowth of a earlier injury (or injuries) to your hips.

More often than not, hip problems have to do with asymmetry or imbalance when you are in motion, like walking for example. If you tend to walk “pronated” with your toes pointing away from your body (like a duck), it is inevitable that you will feel pain in your hips as a result of the asymmetrical stress on your hip joints and your body’s efforts to compensate. However, you can make changes in your gait pattern at any age, and your chiropractor in Corona can help you to do it.

In addition, you may have undergone gait changes due to an ankle sprain or knee strain, and since “the knee bone’s connected to the hip bone,” these biomechanical accommodations create pain in the hip(s). There is no doubt that, if not treated, your hip joints will suffer further consequences, like wear and tear that produces degenerative changes.

Other activities that can frequently adversely affect the hip joints are starting a new job or beginning a new sport that makes it necessary for you to move your body in atypical ways. Also, carrying a child (or grandchild) on one hip can create hip pain. Even your sitting position or driving for prolonged periods of time on a routine basis can cause hip injury and pain.

See? Not every pain is caused by “old age,” though we may start to feel more pain as a consequence of the progressive activity of untreated injuries.

In addition to your adjustments, as an integral part of your chiropractic management, your Corona Chiropractor will recommend appropriate rehabilitative exercises that include gentle muscle stretching and strengthening, and will also analyze your gait and may recommend simple pattern changes.

Your hip pain won’t go away on its own. Hip pain means that there’s an injury that needs treatment. If neglected, it is very likely that at some point you will require that hip replacement surgery. So, don’t put off until tomorrow, what truly needs to be done today. Your chiropractor in Corona can eliminate your hip pain, get your body back into balance, and help you get to back to enjoying your life again!

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For instance, arthritis. In point of fact, with the exception of pharmaceuticals, allopathic medicine doesn’t address this age-related condition. Why? The answer is that most medical professionals are only concerned with the symptoms of arthritis. The chiropractic method is to uncover the cause of the condition and get rid of the pain at its source.  For more than one hundred years, chiropractors, like your Chiropractor in Santa Clara, have been helping people suffering from back pain and other challenges caused by arthritic changes in the musculoskeletal system.

Arthritic changes occur as your body ages because, over time, wear of particular joints takes place due to repetitive stresses, and years of poor gait, bad posture, and lack of beneficial movement. Chiropractic treatment brings back motion into your joints and reduces pain, and it corrects any vertebral misalignment that may be causing irritation and restriction. In addition, did you know that misaligned vertebra, along with causing arthritic changes in the spine and escalating pain, can also weaker your resistance and immunity? It’s true, and this could be one of the reasons why it may seem that as you age you experience more health issues and that it frequently takes longer for you to feel better again. Studies have shown that older individuals who are under chiropractic care stay healthier. To put it another way, as you get older, chiropractic care is good for what ails you!

When it comes to the health of the musculoskeletal system, chiropractors are highly proficient whether it’s the small, growing frame of an infant or the full-grown body of a mature adult.  Your chiropractor understands the aging process and has special observational and diagnostic skills that aid in finding spinal misalignments and joint conditions. A chiropractic examination can, in fact, frequently reveal some age-related changes before they’ve had a chance to create noticeable pain. Moreover, your Chiropractor in Santa Clara can assess your posture and observe your gait to determine if there are any inappropriate patterns that could cause more arthritic changes in the future.

So, if you have been feeling your age lately, but you’d like to feel a whole lot better, see your Santa Clara Chiropractor today!

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Are you sidelined by your tension headaches? Do they cause you to be absent from work or ineffective while you’re there? Do they disrupt your family and social life? Tension headaches are common and most people have experienced more than one in their life. If you are one of those people who has had tension headaches, then you know that the pain usually feels like an intense, but dull ache in your head. Such pain is commonly accompanied by a feeling of tightness or pressure along the forehead or on the sides and back of the head. Sometimes, you may experience tenderness of your scalp, neck and shoulder muscles, and every now and then you might experience a loss of appetite or even nausea.

Though the severity of pain varies from one person to another, and can vary in intensity from one headache to another in the same person, most tension headaches are usually defined as mild to moderate intense. Do your headaches occur frequently? Headaches are considered chronic if they occur fifteen or more days days a month for a minimum of three months.

The good news is that chiropractic treatment can help get rid of the pain whether tension headaches are interfering with your life once in a while or chronically. Whether someone suffers from back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, hip pain, knee pain, foot pain, or headaches, Dr. Helwig has been helping the Oak Lawn Community to get out of pain for over twenty years. Just in case you didn’t know, chiropractor don’t just treat back pain. They treat the entire musculoskeletal system!

So, if tension headaches have been holding you back from living the life you want, call Dr. Helwig, your Chiropractor in Oak Lawn, Illinois today. Get your life back!

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