Frontier Integrated Health Center
The Following Links are important Health and Community resources
Important Links
- www.WebMD.com -Multiple medical resources
- www.nccam.nih.gov - The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
- www.4woman.gov - National Women's Information Center
- www.nia.nih.gov/ - National Institute on Aging
- aom2.americaonthemove.org - Healthy living with fitness
- www.nomorecraving.com - Lose weight or quit smoking the easy way
- www.acupuncture.com - Information on Acupuncture
- www.naturopathic.org - Information on Naturopathic Medicine
- www.weightwatchers.com - Nationally known weight loss program
- www.wellness.com - Resource for Health Physicians and Health information
- www.ofallonchamber.org - O'fallon Chamber of Commerce Website
- www.ofallon.mo.us - City of O'fallon Website
About Neck Pain
Neck pain can range from mild stiffness upon neck movement to sharp neck pain with pain shooting into an arm or hand. Mild neck pain is usually the result of strain but can also be a warning sign of a more serious condition that may include underlying structural damage from infection, structural anomalies (bones and joints that did not grow properly) inflammation from arthritis, disease, or malignancy (cancer.) If you experience neck pain that persists or worsens for over two or three days, you should seek professional help. [If you experience high fever and the onset of neck pain, you should seek help immediately as neck pain that occurs with a high fever could be related to a serious infection such as meningitis.] Also, if your pain happened due to an injury, you should seek attention as soon as possible. Treatment outcome is often greatly improved by treating pain from an injury as soon as possible.
A Doctor of Chiropractor is trained and licensed in the diagnosis of neck pain. Through careful history, examination, and the aid of x-rays, or in rare cases, if needed, computer tomography, or MRI. A Doctor of Chiropractic can often determine the cause of your back pain and recommend a treatment program.
Chiropractors commonly adjust (manipulate) misaligned cervical vertebra (the bones of the neck) to relieve neck pain. Your chiropractor may recommend avoiding certain activities and give you back and neck strengthening exercises, too. This will help prevent re-injury.
About Back Pain
Anyone who has ever suffered an acute episode of back pain is also acutely aware of how mechanical stress affects the back. For instance, some back pain sufferers will notice it hurts more when sitting than while standing. This is because sitting actually places 50% more weight on the bones of the lower back and more weight (pressure) equals more pain. Other back pain suffers notice an increase in pain from mechanical stress due to bending, stooping, lifting, or even from coughing or sneezing.
Chiropractors help many patients with mechanical types of back pain, which usually presents as when the bones of the spine, called vertebrae, are out of alignment. This misalignment between vertebra creates a mechanical stress that causes inflammation to the area that surrounds the nerves. When the nerves of the back become irritated, pain and dysfunction are the end result.
Lower back pain comes in many shapes and sizes. Pain can range from mild stiffness to difficulty or the inability to move, bend, or walk. Back pain can be constant or intermittent (come and go.) The pain can be dull and aching or sharp and stabbing. There may also be numbness, tingling, a sensation of heat, or weakness in one or both legs. In some cases, leg symptoms will present with or without back pain. This is due to a specific type of irritation to the sciatic nerve, called sciatica.
A disc bulge could be the underlying cause of some of the more serious types of back conditions and sciatica. A disc acts like a shock absorber and a pivot point between the two vertebra. When a disc gets overly stressed or injured, it begins to bulge. In the lower back, a disc bulge in the side of a disc is more likely to cause leg pain as the predominant or only symptom. A disc that bulges more to the middle is more likely to cause back symptoms, rather than leg symptoms.
Although back pain is most often caused from a mechanical stress, it could also be a sign of more serious trouble including genetic (conditions you are born with), nutritional disorders (osteoporosis), malformation of the vertebra (improper bone growth), infection, and even malignancy (cancer).
No matter how back pain presents, if it persists, you should seek professional help to find out what is causing the pain and why it will not get better. However, if your pain happened due to an injury, you should seek attention as soon as possible, as treatment outcome can be greatly improved by treating the injury early.
There are many types of treatments for back-related pain. These treatments range from massage and acupressure to drugs and surgery. For those of us who would like to avoid taking medication, which only masks the symptoms, and avoid a surgery, there is a leading alternative choice of treatment called chiropractic care. A Doctor of Chiropractor is trained and licensed in the diagnosis of back pain. Through careful history, examination, and the aid of x-rays, or when needed, CT (computerized tomography), or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), a Doctor of Chiropractic can often determine the cause of your back pain and recommend a corrective treatment program. If your diagnosis demonstrates your condition cannot be treated chiropractically, your Doctor of Chiropractic can refer you to the appropriate health care practitioner.
Chiropractors commonly adjust (manipulate) misaligned vertebra (the bones of the spine) to relieve back pain. When the alignment of the vertebrae is improved, the stress on the soft tissue and nerves in the surrounding area is relieved, which allows the natural healing process of the body to overtake the adverse effects of the misalignment. Continued treatment, good posture, proper rest, and exercise will help the healing process continue. Disc problems have also been successfully treated with manipulation or by specialized chiropractic treatments with flexion-distraction, a mild traction technique that helps to reduce both disc bulges and small disc herniations. Advances in the chiropractic care of disc cases has given many back pain suffers a desirable alternative to costly back surgery.
Your chiropractor may also apply various forms of physiotherapy such as massage, acupressure, moist heat, ice, or ultrasound, to help facilitate healing and ease your back pain discomfort. You may be advised to avoid certain activities that could hurt your recovery progress and you may also be shown and advised to do back-strengthening exercises, to help prevent re-injury. (A little known fact is that injured tissue heals first as a glob of fibers that patch the injured area, but over a two-year period, with proper care, strengthening, and stretching exercises, this patch can organize into working tissue that is almost as good as new.)
In addition to helping your body through a physical approach, today’s chiropractors often help their patients further by providing qualified nutritional advice, which can promote healing and result in over-all improved strength of the back and body. If you are one of the many whom suffer from back pain, you may want to consider the benefits of modern chiropractic treatment and take the first step towards putting your back pain behind you.
About Headaches
Headaches can come in many forms from the dull ache nearly everyone has experienced, from being overly fatigued, to pain described as sharp and stabbing. A headache may last for a few hours or as in the case of a cluster headache, may persist for several days only to abate for a period of time and return. A headache can be associated with neck problems, too much stress, fatigue, vision problems, a nutritional imbalance, muscle strain, a circulation problem such as high blood pressure, infection, and even a malignancy (cancer.)
What about using aspirin or an aspirin substitute to fight headache pain? Well, although over-the-counter drugs like aspirin and acetaminophen (found in products like Tylenol) are often effective in relieving headache pain, both of these substances carry warnings as to side effects and over use. So, if you suffer from persistent headaches, you may want to talk with a Doctor of Chiropractic to see if the cause of the recurrent headaches can be determined and treated instead of relying on the use of aspirin or aspirin substitutes.
A Doctor of Chiropractor is trained and licensed in the diagnosis of many forms of headaches. Through careful history, examination, and the aid of x-rays, or in rare cases, if needed, computer tomography, or MRI A Doctor of Chiropractic can often determine the cause of your head pain and recommend a treatment program, which may include adjustment (manipulation) of misaligned vertebra (the bones of the spine) to reduce or eliminate headache pain.
About Migraines
Migraine is a term applied to a special type of vascular (blood circulation) headache that is generally thought of as more sever than a regular headache and has sometimes been referred to as a 'sick headache.' Migraine headaches affect more women then men by a ratio of about 70%. There is thought to be a recessive gene responsible for migraines, which means the problem could be an inherited one (passed down through a family.) Migraines are usually proceeded by a strange sensation called a prodome. This stage of the migraine usually involves seeing an aura (visual disturbance) before the headache begins. The headache is usually unilateral (on one side of the head) but can be felt bilaterally (both sides of the head) in some cases. The throbbing associated with a migraine is associated with changes in blood flow to the brain. It is currently thought that the greatest disturbance is experienced when too much blood is allowed to enter the brain. What triggers a migraine attack? It has been documented that a migraine can occur due to increased anxiety, tension, or rage, often with a stifled expression of resentment. Often there is water weight gain associated with the onset of the event. Migraines can commonly occur upon awakening in the morning.
The number of migraines over a defined period of time, how they feel, where the pain is located, (e.g.,side of the head, behind an eye, etc.) vary a great deal from person to person. If you think you may be suffering from migraine headaches, you should consider contacting a Doctor of Chiropractic.
A Doctor of Chiropractor is trained and licensed in the diagnosis of many forms of headaches, including migraines. Through careful history, examination, and the aid of x-rays, or in rare cases, if needed, computer tomography, or MRI. A Doctor of Chiropractic can often determine the cause of your head pain and recommend a treatment program, which may include adjustment (manipulation) of misaligned vertebra (the bones of the spine) to reduce the number of migraines you experience and the severity and duration of an attack. In some cases, an adjustment has been reported to stop an attack from proceeding to the headache phase.
Dizziness
There are several sensations that people feel and describe as dizziness. It can be any feeling from the world is spinning around you, a feeling that you are moving when you are not, a feeling of loss of balance, light-headedness, etc. The problems areas of the human body that can cause dizziness are varied, as well. Dizziness can come from problems with the inner ear, the heart, the brain. Also, people with MS (multiple sclerosis) sometimes complain of dizziness when walking. Dizziness can even be associated with digestive problems. It is important to determine the cause and type of your dizziness and a Doctor of Chiropractic can be of help in many of these cases. Chiropractic adjustments have been an effective way of treating dizziness in many patients and a careful chiropractic examination may help in determining if treatment with adjustments would help you. If your chiropractor believes your dizziness is coming from an inner ear problem, he or she may recommend you to a qualified medical specialist who treats these disorders for additional help. For a more comprehensive article on dizziness, please visit: Dizziness Explained
About Pinched Nerves
How exactly does a nerve get pinched? That's a complicated question that can be at least partially addressed by thinking of what happens when you hit your funny bone (mild trauma to the Ulnar nerve) or put too much pressure on a limb and it falls asleep. In both cases, a nerve was aggravated or 'pinched' and a sensation of the event that caused the aggravation was felt. In the spine, this can occur when there is swelling near where a nerve exits between two vertebra ( the bones of the spine.) This can cause the nerve to become irritated and result in symptoms of pain, numbness, tingling, etc., as was previously mentioned. The causes for the swelling can be a combination of many things. If the disc in between the vertebra gets thinner due to over-work, damage from trauma, aging, etc., there is less room for the nerve. Subluxation (misalignment) of the vertebra reduces this space. Degenerative arthritis in the bones and joints of the spine can cause inflammation and narrow the passage for a nerve.
How does a nerve only get pinched at the spine? No, there are other areas of the body that can cause similar symptoms. For instance, carpal tunnel is a condition that involves a pinched nerve at the bones of the wrist, not the spine. Peroneal palsy is a condition that causes foot drop (difficulty or inability to lift a foot up at the ankle joint) and comes from damage to the Peroneal nerve, usually around the knee area. Problems called trigger points in muscles can mimic a pinched nerve sensation. There is even the commonly encountered piriformis muscle spasm (a muscle in the buttock) that can cause sciatica. Rarely, there can be direct pressure on the nerve from a tumor, which can be benign or malignant (cancer.)
What about problems with organs, like poor digestion? Well, in short, nerves do go to every organ in the body. Also, studies have demonstrated that if an organ is in trouble there is a reflex to the nerves of the spine. This is closely related to what you may have heard of called referred pain. For instance, someone with a gallbladder problem often complains of pain in the back, usually in the right upper back or between the shoulder blades. If a nerve from the mid-back area is being pinched, the nerve supply to everywhere that nerve goes to, including the organ it supplies, could experience problems. A Doctor of Chiropractor is trained and licensed in the diagnosis and treatment of pinched nerves. In fact, correcting problems caused by pinched nerves is the premise that Chiropractic was created for. Through careful history, examination, and the aid of x-rays, or in rare cases, if needed, computer tomography, or MRI. A Doctor of Chiropractic can often determine if the cause of your symptoms are related to a pinched nerve and recommend a treatment program, which may include adjustment (manipulation) of misaligned vertebra (the bones of the spine) to reduce or eliminate the pressure on the affected nerve or nerves.
A Pinched nerve is a very common cause of numbness and tingling. For instance, a neck injury can cause numbness in an arm while a lower back injury can cause numbness in a leg. A herniated disc, arthritis in a spinal joint, a vertebral misalignment (subluxation) or any other type of problem in spine could also be a potential cause of numbness.
Numbness can also originate away from the spine in areas where inflammation, commonly around joints, can cause nerve irritation. For instance, carpal tunnel syndrome can cause numbness or tingling in your wrist, fingers, hand, or forearm. Water retention such as from pregnancy, hormonal changes, or heart problems, can also result in numbness and tingling in the involved extremities. Other maladies, which can cause a numb sensation are: Migraine headaches, B-12 deficiency (a nutritional disorder) diabetes, underactive thyroid conditions, multiple sclerosis, transient ischemic attacks, or stroke. Certain medications and toxic substances such as alcohol, tobacco, and lead can also cause numbness and tingling. Numbness and tingling can also be a result of radiation therapy (a type of cancer treatment.)
Through careful history and examination, your chiropractor can help determine if the numbness is coming from your spine or from another source. With successful chiropractic adjustments and the use of physical modalities such as heat, exercise, stretching, ultrasound, and massage, if needed, your problems of numbness related to the spine and nervous system could be satisfactorily reduced or eliminated
Pinched nerves commonly cause numbness and tingling. For instance, a neck injury could be the cause of tingling in an arm or a lower back injury could be the cause of tingling down the back of your leg (sciatica.) Herniated disks, arthritis of the spinal joints, vertebral misalignment (subluxation) and other types of spinal involvement are also a potential cause. Tingling that is not related to a pinched nerve in the spine may be caused from nerve interference in areas where inflammation, commonly around joints, can cause nerve irritation. For instance, carpal tunnel syndrome can cause numbness or tingling in your wrist, fingers, hand, or forearm.
Other maladies, which can cause a tingling sensation are: Migraine headaches, B-12 deficiency (a nutritional disorder) diabetes, underactive thyroid conditions, multiple sclerosis, transient ischemic attacks, or stroke. Certain medications and toxic substances such as alcohol, tobacco, and lead can also cause numbness and tingling. Numbness and tingling can also be a result of radiation therapy (a type of cancer treatment.)
A Doctor of Chiropractic can help determine where your symptoms of tingling are coming from. With the use of adjustments and physical modalities such as heat, exercise, stretching, ultrasound, and massage, if needed, your chiropractor may be able to help you improve or eliminate your problems with tingling or numbness altogether.
A sports injury can occur due to an accident or from the repeated overuse of muscles, tendons, and joints. In organized sports, over fifty percent of these injuries occur in practice, rather than during an actual game. The sports that rank among the highest of reported injuries are basketball, football, and soccer. The type of injury received from participation in these sports is referred to as an acute injury.
With an acute injury, the initial response of the body is to create swelling around the site of impact. The swelling is the result of your immune system rushing chemicals to the injury site. This immune response is meant to protect against infection and occurs whether or not the skin was broken. The price we pay for this absolute protection is in swelling. This is because immune system chemicals naturally attract fluid.
Initial action to reduce the amount of swelling was one of the greatest discovers in the initial management of sports injuries. Experts in this field have estimated that an injured athlete treated with the RICE approach (documented below) will recover 50% faster and have less chance of re-injury than an athlete who does not follow this approach.
The RICE Method:
Rest. Reduce your activities and take weight off the injured area. Crutches, a cane or other supportive devices are often used. A cane should be used on the opposite side of a hip, leg, knee, ankle, or foot injury, (e.g., if your right foot or ankle is injured, use the cane on your left side.)
Ice. Alternate an Ice pack to the injured area for 15 minutes on and 15 minutes off and repeat this two or three times. This routine should be used four to eight times a day for a period of 72 hours. You can use a cold pack, an ice bag, or a plastic bag filled with crushed ice and wrapped in a thin towel. (IMPORTANT: To avoid cold damage, use less time with the ice pack on if the injured area has little padding, see remarks below.)
To avoid cold injury, frostbite, do not leave ice on the skin for more than 20 minutes. Also, smaller areas, like the toes, and areas with little padding, like the sides of the knee, elbow, and foot, require much less time on ice. A good rule of thumb is to check the area under the ice. A feeling of pins and needles, numbness, pale skin, hard or waxy skin are signs of early frostbite. Never go to sleep when using ice. It is also a good idea to set a timer to alert you when it is time to remove the ice.
Compression. Apply even compression (pressure) to the injured area to help reduce swelling. Some devices that can be used are bandage wraps, like an Ace bandage, sports tape, or an air cast. Be sure to check to area to make sure the compression is not too tight. The compression wrap should not cause pins and needles (tingling) or numbness.
Elevation. Place the injured area on a pillow or similar soft surface, at or above the level of your heart. This will help to reduce swelling. Remember that the elevation is only effective if the level of the injured area is at or above the level of the heart. Sitting in a chair with your leg on a short footstool does not do enough to return the fluid to the heart.
The RICE method may also be applied to a chronic re-injury, or overuse condition. The use of ice will help reduce the swelling and pain when a flare up occurs. After the swelling has been reduced, the proper management of any chronic condition requires an understanding of why the affected area continues to be problematic. One of the most common reasons is weakened support tissue or damaged muscle. Chronic re-injuries can therefore be reduced by limiting or removing the repetitive or exaggerated forces to the injured area while at the same time improving the strength, flexibility, and integrity to the surrounding tissue.
It is always best to seek the advice of a qualified professional who is knowledgeable in both the treatment and prevention of sports injuries. Chiropractors diagnose, evaluate, and administer rehabilitative treatment for many types of sports injuries, especially those involving sprains to tendons and joints, strains to muscles, and non-paralyzing injuries to the spine. A chiropractor with specialized training in the treatment of sports injuries can help you to recover from your injury and can also help you avoid future re-injury.
Chiropractors diagnose and evaluate sports injury by use of history (how, when, and why it happened) examination, and (if needed) x-ray. After the diagnosis and the severity of the injury are determined, an appropriate treatment program will be recommended. This program may involve the use of adjustive procedures and physiotherapy to help reduce swelling and improve the integrity in and around the site of the injury.
In the initial stage of care, your chiropractor may use certain modalities such as ice massage, ultrasound, or galvanic stimulation to reduce the swelling around a joint or in a muscle. Techniques such as passive range of motion may also be applied (a modern technique proven through research studies to decrease swelling and initiate as well as improve healing to an injured area.)
In the later stages of care, the emphasis is generally placed on improving the integrity of the injured tissue through heat, massage, careful mobilization, and stretching. All of these therapies help to remove the chemicals and waste products from within the injured, which would lead to arthritis if left untreated. A strengthening plan, to help you prevent re-injuries in the future, may be recommended when the injury is well healed.
Early detection of problems, which could lead to an injury are important to recognize. If you have any of the warning signs below, you should consider contacting a Doctor of Chiropractic for an evaluation.
Tenderness or swelling in a joint or muscle before or after an activity.
Numbness or tingling in an extremity.
Pain during range of motion.
Reduced range of motion or stiffness in a joint or unusual looseness from a prior injury.
Weakness in a muscle.
What to do to Help Prevent Sports Injuries:
Stretching. Recent studies suggest that excessive stretching prior to an event is unnecessary; however, stretching the muscles to insure ease of use through the expected range of motion and as a way to warm up the muscle is still highly recommended.
Warm up: Take some time to duplicate parts of the activity, such as a brief jog before a race, rotating the shoulders before pitching a ball, etc.
Ice before use. Recent studies have shown that icing a muscle or joint before warm up actually increases the blood supply to that muscle and joint during the warm up exercises.
Cool down when finished. Take 5-10 minutes to cool down, walk, jog, or do some light exercise before leaving the activity. A properly done cool down will provide your body with the following benefits:
* Remove waste products such as lactic acid from your body.
* Gradually lower your heart rate and respiration.
* Help prevent muscle soreness.
Proper Nutrition. Eating right not only helps you manage your weight but it can also help you to control your cholesterol level as well as help maintain your joints and build healthy muscles. Talk to your chiropractor about a diet program especially suited to your high-activity needs.
Although sports injuries will always be inevitable, the proper care and management of both the injury and the athlete can get the athlete back to doing what he or she loves in less time and with less chance of future re-injury. Always remember to talk with your Chiropractor before starting any sports or exercise program and if an injury does occur, use the RICE recommendations and call your chiropractor immediately.
Collision studies have shown that the greatest degree of stress in a whiplash injury occurs between the 4th and 5th vertebrae when the neck is snapped back and between the 5th and 6th vertebrae when the neck snaps forward. If the neck was turned to one side, the extent of the injury is usually worsened, as shear force and torque (rotational force) is added.
The degree of injury from a whiplash accident is determined by a variety of factors. The types of vehicles involved, speed, seat and headrest construction, whether the vehicle from behind applied the brakes before the collision (decreases the force) whether the vehicle in front had the brakes applied when it was struck (increases the force) are just a few of these factors. Also, each injured person’s height, age, and current state of health (including any prior injuries to the neck) all play an important role in determining the extent of the physical damage.
The full effect of the damage from a whiplash injury may not be experienced until one to three days after the accident. This is primarily due to two known factors. The first factor is adrenaline. Large amounts of a hormone called adrenaline are released into the body when an accident occurs. The affects of adrenaline and the effects of shock may make many people initially unaware of a neck injury. The second factor is that for the first 72 hours, the body responds to the injury with a barrage of chemicals. These chemicals create swelling and in the presence of swelling comes stiffness, and pain. This is why it is important not to state “you are fine” immediately after an automobile accident that snaps you head about. It is important to seek care immediately and have yourself examined for a whiplash injury.
Early treatment is essential to help control the swelling process. Preferably, care should be obtained within the first six hours after the injury. If you have been in an automobile accident and were not taken to a hospital, you should request an emergency appointment from your Doctor of Chiropractic. Your chiropractor can instruct you on the proper use of ice, rest, and other measures to reduce the swelling immediately. Ultrasound treatments or therapy with passive range of motion to the cervical spine may be started after a diagnosis of cervical sprain and strain (whiplash) is obtained.
With early chiropractic treatment, several advantages are gained. For the first 24 – 72 hours, a natural swelling process occurs. Treatment during this phase reduces the amount of swelling. This improves your chance for a more rapid and better recovery. Corrective measures are also easier to apply if the initial phase of swelling is handled properly through early treatment
There are long-term advantages to early treatment as well. One major advantage is the decreased risk of arthritis forming in the joints. Joint arthritis in the neck, called degenerative joint disease, can occur if the swelling in the joints remains too long or if the tissue damage cannot be adequately repaired.
Chiropractors treat thousands of neck injury cases each year. Your chiropractor can help determine the extent of your neck injury through examination and x-ray. A course of treatment can then be outlined to help in the recovery process. Chiropractic treatment can help reduce the initial swelling, aid in the removal of metabolic products that are created when tissue is injured, and help restore proper function to the cervical spine and neck muscles.
Work injuries should be reported immediately to an employer. The employer should then help the injured worker find a qualified health care provider to treat the injury. The employee may request a Doctor of Chiropractic when a work injury involves the back, neck, or result in muscle or joint sprains and strains. If you already have a chiropractor, you may want to have his or her name listed with your Employer or the Department of Human Resources at your work place. The “Doctor of Record” is the term used in the States that allow for this registered doctor of choice by the employee. With a Doctor of Record, it is easier to go through the rigorous process of obtaining the care that you would prefer for your injury. A Doctor of Chiropractic who is knowledgeable in the Workers’ Compensation process can be a great resource and aid with this process. Your chiropractor can even work with an attorney, should the injury be contested.
Nationwide, employers pay out a great deal of money to help cover work related injuries. This is one reason why there are tough existing penalties for workers who make fraudulent injury claims. Also, the employer has the right to have the injured person evaluated and in some cases treated by a company doctor. Claims can even get trickier if partial or full disability is involved. Many of these more complex cases will involve the use of attorneys. In these contested cases, the payment for the injury claim may or may not be paid by the work carrier, depending on how the case is settled. Also, most private insurers (companies like Blue Cross, Etna, etc.) will deny any claim for care if the injury is determined to be work related. However, if at a later time the Workers’ Compensation claim is considered invalid and denied, the same private insurer may elect to review the claim a pay a portion of the bill.
Workers’ Compensation can be difficult to understand but a chiropractor who specializes in such cases can help to guide you through the process while helping you recover from your injury. In some cases, your chiropractor may even accept the case on a “lean” basis. This insures the patient that the doctor will wait for payment when a settlement is reached. If no settlement is awarded, your chiropractor may agree to write-off the balance.
