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If you are struggling with fibromyalgia, you are not alone, as Gadsden Family Chiropractic sees many people with this particular problem in our Gadsden, AL chiropractic clinic. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that roughly two percent of all adults in the US have fibromyalgia. Thankfully, chiropractic is one treatment option that can provide positive results.

Research Shows Chiropractic Eases Fibromyalgia

In a medical study published in mid-2015, 215 adults with fibromyalgia were evaluated based on factors ranging from pain to quality of sleep to the levels of depression symptoms or anxiety they felt. Then they were divided into two groups with one group receiving a multi-modal therapy program for three months and the second group receiving the same program with the addition of chiropractic adjustments (specifically, to the upper neck tissues) for the same length of time.

The subjects who received chiropractic care in conjunction with the multi-disciplinary treatment approach reported greater results in all areas (pain, sleep, depression, and anxiety) at three months post-treatment when compared to the study participants who received multi-modal treatment without chiropractic care. Additionally, those positive results were long-lasting as the patients reported continued improvement one full year later.

Fibromyalgia can greatly decrease your quality of life, both psychologically and physically. If you're suffering from fibromyalgia, we might be able to help.

You don't have to suffer! To find out what Gadsden Family Chiropractic can do for your fibromyalgia pain, call our Gadsden, AL chiropractic office today.

Research

• Fibromyalgia. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/basics/fibromyalgia.htm on November 2, 2015.
• Moustafa I & Diab A. (2015, July). The addition of upper cervical manipulative therapy in the treatment of patients with fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial. Rheumatology International;35(7):1163-74.

Regrettably, a large number of our Gadsden, AL patients know the pain caused by a herniated disc all too well. Fortunately, Gadsden Family Chiropractic has helped many people with disc pain, and a number of research studies have confirmed that chiropractic can help people recover from this kind of condition.

Research on Herniated Discs and Chiropractic

In one study, specialists from Switzerland recruited 148 patients who were suffering with pain in their lower back and legs due to a herniated disc (which was confirmed through magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI). Each individual then received chiropractic adjustments that focused on the area of his or her disc herniation.

Data was collected after the initial treatment session at set intervals--namely, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year--to ascertain what type of short-term and long-term effects, if any, chiropractic care offers when it comes to treating this particular problem. Among the information collected was the individual's self-reported changes in both lumbar and leg pain.

The authors found that, as a whole, the study participants reported "significant improvement" for both types of pain every time the results were collected. In fact, over 90% of the individuals stated that their pain "improved" within the first three months, with 88% still citing improvement one year after their first treatment session.

Even those patients who were defined as "chronic" still claimed an improvement in pain at a rate of 89% one year beyond when treatment first began. This is the same positive result that was found in the following case study.

Case Study Results

In this report, a 26-year-old man had presented with disc herniation symptoms such as pain in the low back, left leg, and left groin area, along with left foot drop and muscle weakness. He had endured these problems for more than two years after sustaining a sports injury, and his disc herniation was confirmed via MRI.

After receiving chiropractic care, "The patient responded favorably and his multi-symptom complex resolved within 90 days of treatment." Furthermore, the patient was still experiencing relief one year after the chiropractic intervention.

Studies like these show how useful chiropractic can be when it comes to alleviating herniated disc pain and relieving the symptoms they bring about. So, if you are suffering from back ache caused by a herniated disc and want to find some relief, chiropractic might be an effective solution.

Don't suffer from chronic herniated disc pain. Give our Gadsden, AL office a call today at (256) 543-3033 for a consultation or appointment.

References

• Leemann S, Peterson CK, Schmid C, Anklin B, Humphreys BK. Outcomes of acute and chronic patients with magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed symptomatic lumbar disc herniations receiving high-velocity, low-amplitude, spinal manipulative therapy: a prospective observational cohort study with one-year follow-up. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2014;37(3):155-163.
• Polkinghorn BS, Colloca CJ. Treatment of symptomatic lumbar disc herniation using activator methods chiropractic technique. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 1998;21(3):187-196.
  

Gadsden Family Chiropractic sees a lot of patients struggling with carpal tunnel syndrome in our busy Gadsden, AL chiropractic practice. While some people think that the origin of this wrist-related pain is muscular, it's really a condition that arises from the nerves--and not just the nerves in your hands.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Recent research printed in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy assessed 71 women between the ages of 35 and 59 who were diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Upon investigating the subjects' neck range of motion, the researchers found that the patients had reduced cervical mobility when compared to a healthy control group.

Furthermore, it was also found that the degree of the women's reported carpal tunnel pain was related to the lateral flexion of the cervical spine. In other words, the less mobility in the neck area, the higher the level of pain.

This study is extremely important, as you cannot successfully treat a problem until you fully understand its cause. By recognizing that the root of carpal tunnel pain is in the neck, this means that natural approaches like chiropractic can often restore normal function, reducing the need for risky operations.

If you have carpal tunnel pain, call our Gadsden, AL office and ask how Gadsden Family Chiropractic can help you get relief!

Resources

De-la-Llave-Rincon A et al. (2011, May). Women with carpal tunnel syndrome show restricted cervical range of motion. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy;41(5):305-10.
Simon H. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. University of Maryland Medical Center. Updated May 6, 2012. Retrieved from https://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/carpal-tunnel-syndrome on November 2, 2015.

We see quite a few patients with back pain in our Gadsden, AL practice, and Gadsden Family Chiropractic has been able to help many of them get relief with chiropractic. However, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical care, as many individuals utilize both types of care with great outcomes.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with One Another

In a report published by the medical journal Spine researchers¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who were suffering from both acute soreness and limited function due to back pain. Some of the test subjects engaged in treatment via standard medical care, while the remainder received chiropractic adjustments in addition to standard medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which patients fared better.

The authors found that the patients who got standard medical care combined with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that received medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17 percent of the medical treatment only group who reported the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at two and four weeks.

Therefore, incorporating these two forms of care can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medicine can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some unique strengths over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Care Is Successful

Although it may seem as if each method plays a 50/50 role, there is one significant benefit that chiropractic has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research from UCLA² that was printed in the American Journal of Public Health found that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than those undergoing medical treatment.

According to the experts, the main factors that patients preferred over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors tend to spend much more time advising their patients as to how they can better their health on their own, as well as outlining more carefully what to expect from chiropractic care.

Chiropractic Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Without a doubt, the methods associated with chiropractic are very different than those offered with medical treatment, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. Instead of focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves finding the primary cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

Furthermore, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to natural forms of treatment like chiropractic. This means fewer negative side effects from prescriptions and longer-lasting recovery.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health issues. Give our Gadsden, AL clinic a call today at (256) 543-3033. We'll do our best to help you get and continue to be free from back pain.

References

1. Goertz CM, Long CR, Hondras MA, Petri R, Delgado R, Lawrence DJ, Owens EF, Meeker WC. Adding chiropractic manipulative therapy to standard medical care for patients with acute low back pain: results of a pragmatic randomized comparative effectiveness study. Spine 2013;38(8):627-634.
2. Hertzman-Miller RP1, Morgenstern H, Hurwitz EL, Yu F, Adams AH, Harber P, Kominski GF. Comparing the satisfaction of low back pain patients randomized to receive medical or chiropractic care: results from the UCLA low-back pain study. American Journal of Public Health 2002;92(10):1628-1633.

Each year, there are millions of car crashes in the world, and a substantial number of men and women get hurt in a car wreck. While most collisions are "minor," chronic spine pain are still frequent health problems. The good news is that chiropractic is a great way to treat these kinds of injuries.

We've helped many auto injury patients in our Gadsden, AL office, and Gadsden Family Chiropractic has been treating people with these types of problems since 2003. During a collision, your body is subjected to violent forces that it simply wasn't built to handle. These forces put stress and strain on your neck, shoulder, and back, and can cause damage to the ligaments that hold your neck and back together. A crash can trigger a wide range of pain symptoms.

A ligament sprain in the neck can trigger pain, swelling, and radicular pain in the arm and hand. Chiropractic care works well for these types of problems, because chiropractic concentrates on restoring the healthy function and mobility of the injured areas.

Gadsden Family Chiropractic Can Help Clients Recover From an Auto Injury

Gadsden Family Chiropractic, your Gadsden, AL chiropractor, can assist by reducing irritation in the damaged area and can help minimize the formation of scar tissue that can cause chronic pain and disability.

You don't have to suffer from auto injury pain. Discover more about how we can help you recover or call Gadsden Family Chiropractic today at (256) 543-3033.

Jaw pain is a fairly typical problem experienced by many people after a car crash, and it can be tough for some physicians to diagnose the source of the problem. Complicating the matter, many times you won't experience TMJ pain until many weeks or months after a crash.

Gadsden Family Chiropractic has treated many individuals with jaw pain after an injury, and the scientific research explains what causes these types of symptoms. During a crash, the tissues in your neck are oftentimes stretched or torn, causing ligament, muscle, or nerve injury. This can clearly cause pain in the neck and back, but since your central nervous system is one functioning unit, inflammation of the nerves can cause problems in other parts of your body.

For example, with radicular pain, irritation of a nerve can cause prickling or pins and needles in the arm and hand. Similarly, it can affect parts of your body above the injury, like your head and jaw. Headaches after a wreck are very common because of neck injury, and the TMJ works the same way. Gadsden Family Chiropractic sees this very frequently in our Gadsden, AL office.

Research Shows Chiropractic Lessens TMJ Pain After an Auto Accident

Research indicates that the source of many jaw or TMJ symptoms originates in the neck and that treatment of the underlying neck problem can resolve the secondary headaches or jaw symptoms. The key to dealing with these symptoms is simple: Gadsden Family Chiropractic will work to return your spinal column back to health, decreasing the inflammation, treating the injured tissues, and eliminating the irritation to the nerves in your spine.

Gadsden Family Chiropractic has found that jaw and headache issues often resolve once we return your spine to its healthy condition.

If you live in Gadsden, AL and you've been injured in a crash, Gadsden Family Chiropractic can help. We've been treating auto injury patients since 2003, and we can most likely help you, too. Give our office a call today at (256) 543-3033 for an appointment or consultation.

Ciancaglini R, Testa M, Radaelli G. Association of neck pain with symptoms of temporomandibular dysfunction in the general adult population. Scandinavian Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine 1999;31:17-22.

Brantingham JW, Cassa TK, Bonnefin D, Pribicevic M, Robb A, et al. Manipulative and multimodal therapy for upper extremity and temporomandibular disorders: a system review. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2013;36(3):143-201.

The latest numbers show that there are over 500,000 spinal surgeries annually in the US. Although in some cases it's necessary to have back surgery, the fact is that if you can avoid this type of invasive procedure, you're often better off.

Gadsden Family Chiropractic is here to make sure that patients in Gadsden, AL have a healthy, non-surgical option for back pain. We've helped many patients recover from back pain without the need for surgery.

There are countless reasons to avoid unnecessary medical treatments: Surgeries often result in a longer recuperation time and additional complications, neither of which is a desirable scenario. Fortunately, as one medical study has found, chiropractic may actually keep you out of the operating room altogether.

Research Supports Chiropractic Treatment Helps Avoid Back Surgery

In this paper, 1,885 workers with back injuries were evaluated over a three year period. When the workers first sought care with a surgeon, over 42 percent ended up having back surgery. For those who saw only a chiropractor, only 1.5 percent had surgery!

These findings suggest that chiropractic care can help you recover from back pain without surgery.

If you live in the Gadsden, AL area, Gadsden Family Chiropractic can probably help you with your back pain. Give our office a call today at (256) 543-3033 for more information or an appointment.

Keeney BJ, Fulton-Kehoe D, Turner JA, et al. Early predictors of lumbar spine surgery after occupational back injury: results from a prospective study of workers in Washington State. Spine 2013;38(11):953-964.

Approximately 2.3 million people are injured every year in car accidents in the U.S. While some people are able to heal from their injuries relatively easily, many are left to deal with chronic pain and disability. We see many of these patients here in our Gadsden, AL office. Thankfully, Gadsden Family Chiropractic is here to help you heal from your auto injury.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps Prevent Chronic Pain After an Auto Accident

The science confirms what we see in our office: A British study was carried out on 28 individuals diagnosed with chronic whiplash pain. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments and 93 percent of them experienced pain relief following their adjustments, even though 43 percent of whiplash sufferers overall usually never find relief. This confirms that chiropractic care is a great way to avoid chronic pain after a crash.

It's important to remember that research has also found that delaying care after a car crash can adversely affect recovery time, so getting in to see Gadsden Family Chiropractic at the earliest opportunity is key to having a speedier recovery.

We Can Help Patients Find Comfort From Pain After a Car Collision

Gadsden Family Chiropractic has worked with many auto injury sufferers, and we're here to help you, too. Call our Gadsden, AL office today for more information or an appointment.

Sources

• Association for Safe International Road Travel. Retrieved from http://asirt.org/initiatives/informing-road-users/road-safety-facts/road-crash-statistics
• Dies S & Strapp J. (1992, September). Chiropractic treatment of patients in motor vehicle accidents: a statistical analysis. The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association, 36(3), 139-145.
• Woodward M et al. (1996, November). Chiropractic treatment of chronic 'whiplash' injuries. Injury, 27(9), 643-645.

Many people suffer from headache pain, and tension headaches are a common problem in our busy world. Postural problems and stress are common causes of tension headaches, and ones that Gadsden Family Chiropractic and the team here in our Gadsden, AL chiropractic office have a lot of experience in treating.

Research Supports Chiropractic Eases Tension Headaches

The scientific literature confirms our findings: A 2016 study from Spain managed a group of 76 men and women with chronic tension headaches. The participants were divided into four treatment groups: 19 patients were treated with suboccipital inhibition (the therapist presses on the tight tissues at the top of the spine); 19 with chiropractic adjustments; 19 with both adjustments and suboccipital inhibition; and 19 received no treatment.

The researchers found that the spinal adjustments were helpful at relieving pain, and that the best results were found when adjustments were coupled with the suboccipital inhibition.

When we get run down, the nerves and tissues in the neck can be disrupted, leading to pain. Chiropractic works by removing these stresses and restoring the normal nerve function to the tissues.

We're Here to Help Patients Find Help From Tension Headaches

If you live in Gadsden, AL and suffer from any kind of headache, we're here to help you get relief. Call Gadsden Family Chiropractic today at (256) 543-3033 for an appointment or more information.

Source

Espi-Lopez GV, Rodriguez-Blanco C, Oliva-Pascual-Vaca A, et al. Do manual therapy techniques have a positive effect on quality of life in people with tension-type headache? A randomized controlled trial. European Journal of Physical Rehabilitation Medicine 2016; February 29.

We help a large number of men and women with back pain in our Gadsden, AL office, and Gadsden Family Chiropractic finds that quite a few cases of back pain start in the sacroiliac (SI) joint. Research has demonstrated that around 25% of all back pain starts out in the SI joint, and now fresh research confirms what we have observed in our clinic: chiropractic is an effective approach to treating this issue.

Research Supports Chiropractic Treatment Helps Increase Movement in the SI Joint

In the study published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 32 women who suffered from sacroiliac joint syndrome were separated into two groups and asked to take part in one of two treatment therapies. The first group went through a chiropractic adjustment isolated to the sacroiliac joint, and the other group got an adjustment to the sacroiliac joint as well as the lumbar spine.

Scientists observed significantly more improvements in both pain and movement immediately after treatment, two days later, and 30 days after for the group who had been given high-velocity low-amplitude manipulation to both the sacroiliac joint and the lumbar spine. This suggests that chiropractic manipulation administered in these two areas offers both prompt and long term results for sacroiliac joint pain sufferers—even with only a single treatment session.

So, if you are having trouble with sacroiliac joint pain, or have back and leg pain and are ready to see whether your sacroiliac joint is the source, a consultation at our Gadsden, AL office may be the first—and best—step towards recovery. Give our office a call today at (256) 543-3033.

Kamali F, Shokri E. The effect of two manipulative therapy techniques and their outcome in patients with sacroiliac joint syndrome. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies 2012;16(1):29-35.