Should RSI Sufferers Consider Trying Chiropractic?

What is Repetitive Strain Injury?

The term RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) does not describe a single condition, but is actually a term that describes a large number of different conditions, all of which occur when a person does a repetitive task over a long period of time. If the RSI condition develops in the arm or hand of an employee, it could quite reasonably be referred to as a Work Related Upper Limb Disorder (WRULD): the more general term for many RSI conditions is "overuse injury".

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Tennis Elbow, Tenosynovitis, Frozen Shoulder, and Writer's Cramp are all examples of RSI in the upper limbs. Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and Housemaids Knee may be the diagnosis given for RSI occurring in the back or the lower limbs. Muscles, tendons, nerves and other soft tissue of the body can be affected by RSI.

Another associated condition is 'Non-Specific Pain Syndrome': a more diffuse, less reproducible pain syndrome, which has sometimes caused those suffering from it to be labelled as shirkers or hysterical, or more kindly 'suffering from psychogenic pain'. Dr.'s Bruce Lynn and Jane Greening at the University College of London demonstrated in 1998 that the underlying cause of NSPS could actually be nerve damage that had resulted from occupational overuse.

People with RSI can experience many different symptoms in the affected areas: pain, numbness, tingling, burning, even muscle weakness and joint stiffness.

Incidences of RSI have been documented for at least 300 years, mainly in clerical-type work. The exact prevalence of these conditions is unclear. Up to one quarter of all workers in some industries may be affected at some level: workers operating computers may be most at risk. Permanent disability is the unfortunate outcome for some people with RSI.

Why do some people get RSI and others not?

The spine may hold the answer to the cause of RSI. Normal movements of the bones of the spine can be reduced if spinal subluxations (misalignments) are present. The result may be a greater amount of pressure on the nerves as they enter and leave the spinal column. This pressure interferes with normal function of the nerves: nerve signals do not travel properly through the nerve, and symptoms of tingling, numbness, weakness, stiffness or pain develop in the affected areas.

Is Chiropractic Care able to help?

Since it is subluxations that may be causing reduced spinal mobility and increased pressure on spinal nerves, the person who might be able to help is someone who has been trained to locate and treat your spinal subluxations: your chiropractor. Once these misalignments have been identified, chiropractic care can realign the vertebrae and allow normal nerve function to occur. In response to a course of chiropractic care, the symptoms experienced by a patient with RSI are commonly reduced or even disappear completely.

Symptoms of RSI: What Else Might Be Part Of The Picture?

Traditional chiropractic care sometimes doesn't provide RSI sufferers the long-term relief they seek. We have noticed that this can occur when another aspect of subluxation has not been effectively addressed. The missing piece of the puzzle may be nerve tension rather than nerve pressure. Where traditional chiropractic may struggle to relieve symptoms related to nerve tension, some chiropractors find that a technique known as Network Spinal Analysis is very helpful to relieve the effects of tension on spinal nerves.

Network Spinal Analysis (NSA) is an extremely gentle form of chiropractic care that does not use the cracking and crunching techniques that many traditional forms of chiropractic use. It is our experience that NSA is an effective way to assist many RSI sufferers to experience significant reduction of the symptoms associated with these conditions.

Reference 1. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 1998 Feb: 71 (1): 29-34 Vibration sense in the upper limb in patients with repetitive strain injury and a group of at-risk office workers Greening, J: Lynn, B. Physiology Department, University College London, England

How Chiropractic Can Help GERD

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a condition in which stomach acid is allowed to leak back into the esophagus. This seepage occurs when the valve at the top of the stomach remains slightly open, and has various causes. There is a muscle which keeps the valve between the esophagus and stomach tightly closed after a meal, thereby keeping stomach contents in the stomach after a meal. When it is weak or relaxed, the contents are allowed to push back up into the esophagus. Due to the high acidity level of the stomach this leaking can cause irritation to the lining of the esophagus. Heartburn is the most common symptom of GERD but other symptoms may include nausea after a meal, sore throat, and difficulty swallowing. Besides these immediate symptoms, GERD can increase the risk of esophageal cancer if left untreated.

Let's take a moment to consider swallowing. We do it every day, so it's quite easy to take this crucial function for granted. We may imagine a slide between our mouth and stomach that we can just drop food down, but in reality, swallowing is achieved only through a sequence of complex and coordinated muscular contractions. Nerves which exit the spine at the base of the neck and between the shoulder blades provide the necessary communication the body needs to swallow properly and begin digestion in the stomach. Pressure on these nerves caused by spinal misalignments can cause a lack of coordination of the throat muscles, a loosening of the stomach valve, or incorrect acid release in the stomach.

Chiropractic can help with GERD in a number of ways. First and foremost, restoring proper spinal alignment relieves pressure on the nerves which control the esophagus and stomach, allowing for proper swallowing and stomach function. This is achieved by restoring proper alignment with chiropractic 'adjustments', which are gentle, specific corrections by hand to the areas which are out of place. A good chiropractor can also assess you for what's called a hiatal hernia, and correct it when it exists. Hiatal hernia occurs when a portion of the top of the stomach pushes up through the valve, thus keeping the valve open to release stomach acid. Your chiropractor can also recommend supplements which can help eliminate harmful bacteria in the stomach, like Heliobacter Pylori, heal damage to the esophagus, and restore an optimal level of healthy bacteria in the digestive tract. Heliobacter Pylori is a strain of bacteria which is commonly found in the stomach of chronic heartburn patients.

Heartburn medication (Tagamet, Prilosec, Pepsid) are a class of drugs called proton pump inhibitors or H2-receptor antagonists. These drugs cause a variety of negative side effects, stop the absorption of vitamin B12, cause higher risk of bone demineralization, and cause a dependency on the drug, with worsening symptoms if patients discontinue taking them. Chiropractic is a crucial part of recovery from GERD. It's natural, safe, and is interested in eliminating the cause of the problem, rather than masking the symptoms with drugs.

Having a Good Chiropractic Business Plan Is a Crucial First Step in Opening Your Practice

A good chiropractic business plan can help new chiropractors get on the right foot in starting and running a successful chiropractic office. It can provide a framework from which to make strategic decisions during the course of setting up a chiropractic clinic. Many chiropractors who fail to conceptualize a business plan find themselves struggling as they don't have a consistent chiropractic business model that delivers results.

Starting a chiropractic practice involves a lot of foresight and planning. It is not as easy to do as it was just ten years ago. Changes in insurance, attitudes, the economy and the way society makes buying decision demand new strategies for setting up a chiropractic office.

For example, there are less insurance companies now as many have merged. As a consequence, there is less competition, higher prices and less service. Insurance coverage for chiropractic has fallen by as much as 50% for some plans. In addition, high deductible plans are now much more common. Most people, especially in a tough economy, strive to spend the least amount of money on health care if they are covered by insurance, so they will typically forgo services that are not covered under their plan.

A good chiropractic business model will therefore take this into account and will advocate a set up that can absorb this loss of income. This basically means designing a low overhead chiropractic office. This can be done much easier today thanks to advances in the internet and wireless devices. Chiropractors must integrate available technology tools to help reduce their overhead. In doing so, it integrates the office with the technology that people increasingly rely on in their daily routines. This includes using Google, Facebook; iPhones and wireless internet.

If you are contemplating starting a chiropractic office, or are an established chiropractor in search of a better chiropractic business plan or chiropractic business model, consider the low overhead business model that leverages technology. As a doctor, it is necessary to not be too burdened with the stress of running your business so that you can truly focus on patient care.

Snap! Crack! Pop! What is the Chiropractor Doing Back There?

Your back is killing you and you're fed up. Now, it's time to see the chiropractor. Do you know what you're in for? It probably involves some guy walking on your behind and making it crackle and snap, right? Seeing a chiropractor doesn't have to be scary. If you know what to expect, it's no big deal at all.

First-The Examination

The first step to treating your problems is for a chiropractor to figure out exactly what those problems are. They will use their skill and expertise to analyze your back and decide on the proper course of action. They'll ask you about your medical history and want to know exactly what hurts, where, and how much. They may run some tests or x-rays as well to pinpoint exactly where the problem lies.

Stretch Like You've Never Stretched Before!

One of the first things they'll have you do is stretch and stretch and stretch. Chiropractors are masters at the art of stretching. They know stretches you wouldn't even dream of. These are all designed to work different parts of the back and neck, and the best part is that you can take them home with you. Remember these new techniques and you can do them any time you feel stiff or sore.

Let The Back Cracking Begin

The most famous chiropractic procedure in the world is the back crack. Probably, it's famous because of how painful it looks and how terrible it sounds. Actually, this procedure (called spinal manipulation), where the chiropractor presses on the spine and you hear a cracking noise, is very simple. You've probably done it yourself without meaning to.

Think of that "crack" as the sound of your pain going away. It is actually the sound of air escaping from your newly opened joints. When a joint is stiff and won't move, the chiropractor "cracks" your back to open it. Afterwards, you may feel more ease of movement and a lessening of the pain in that area.

Other Chiropractic Techniques

There are different schools of chiropractic thought, and these schools use different techniques during therapy. Some practitioners use tools to help ease pain, and some even use mild electric shocks to relax your muscles. Talk to your chiropractor about exactly what tools they will use during your consultation.

One tool all chiropractors use is education. The most valuable part of your therapy, even more important than the back cracking and stretching, is the knowledge. Your practitioner will teach you ways to keep your neck and back steady during your daily life, and this will minimize pain.

What Chiropractors DON'T Do

The good news is that chiropractors will not prescribe drugs, put you under anesthetic or perform surgery. Chiropractic therapy is all natural. It has been practiced this way for thousands of years and it is waiting for medical science to catch up. Now that you have a little bit better understanding of what a chiropractor will do, you don't have to worry about those popping and cracking sounds anymore!

Chiropractic Adjustments and Massage Therapy Combined?

Most people associate back or neck related injuries with chiropractors because of the sheer number of people who choose to see a chiropractor due to their extreme back and or neck pain. After all, chiropractic's main is focus is on the spine. But is addressing the spine alone enough?

The chiropractor deals with the neuromusculoskeletal system, a big word to be sure, but let's break it up into its individual parts. Neuro, referring to the nerves, is managed indirectly by relieving pressure on these structures by manipulating or realigning spinal segments. Thus, the skeletal part of our big word. But how about the muscular?

Though most chiropractors address the muscles during treatment with physiotherapy and manual therapy techniques, massage is often an ideal adjunct to the chiropractor's treatment. In practice, we have found that massage prior to chiropractic adjustment not only prepares the body better, it also helps to maintain the adjustments better.

There are increasingly more chiropractors practicing this form of medicine across the US and around the world. In fact, there is always a Chicago Chiropractic and Massage Spa available to take on new clients. If you find yourself in the market for a chiropractor, consider whether he/she gives as much attention to your muscles as your joints.

Remember: each injury is unique and the treatments offered by each chiropractor will vary. Some chiropractors tend to use more spinal manipulation and even other types of spinal therapy. The best thing to do is to learn as much as you can about your options and make the choice that's best for you.

Stretching - The Truth

There are a couple schools of thought relative to stretching. One school says "why," and my school says because it helps alleviate joint pain, back pain, reduce muscle soreness, reduce stress, aid in workout recovery, loosen tight muscles, improve posture, increase functionality, increase range of motion in joints, and possibly help your social life. Got me?

You don't need an hour a day, but you should stretch everyday. That does not mean a full blown hot yoga routine. It means a few short, effective stretches for; muscles you know are tight, muscles associated with those you know are tight, your calves, hamstrings and core. I include the latter three because; if your calves are tight, that contracture can cascade up through your hamstrings and into your low back. (A virtual show of hands here, who among you has some back pain?) Your core muscles are always in use, and are inclined to some tightness somewhere. It is a good idea to keep the core muscles flexible if for no other reason than eliminating some possible causes of back pain.

To better understand how a muscle functions, look at the basic physiology of stretching. (Use the links for further clarification.) Keep in mind that a muscle can be stretched to 1.5 times its resting length. For example, an 3 inch muscle can be effectively stretched to 4.5 inches. The stretching of a muscle fiber originates at the sarcomere, the smallest unit of contractile property in a muscle. As a muscle contracts, down in those sarcomeres, the area of between the thick and thin myofilaments (tiny protein threads) increases. This is why a muscle looks bigger when you "flex" it. Now, as a muscle stretches, the area between these tiny protein threads actually decreases allowing the muscle fiber to lengthen. It's kind of like a balloon; stretch it, it gets longer and thinner. When you can get all these fibers lengthening together, you have an effectively stretched muscle. (proper credit to the brutally thorough Brad Appleton) The key to getting as many fibers as possible to stretch is relaxation of the muscle. There is a realignment of those muscle fibers when you stretch them. They are reset in a way, similar to how a chiropractor resets, or realigns your spine.

Before I discuss the "how to," I need to mention my two cardinal rules:

1. Relax into and through your stretches. You must think of allowing a muscle to stretch, not forcing the stretch.

2. Never bounce during stretching. When you bounce during stretching you are triggering the stretch reflex. Your muscle recognizes the "abnormal" lengthening and attempts to protect itself by contracting, nullifying your attempt at a stretch.

The first step to stretching a muscle is to locate the muscle to be stretched. Easier said than done. I have listed a few sources below for reference so that you can get a visual of skeletal muscles and what their responsibilities are in terms of joint movement. A short cut to learning the anatomy is to examine which way a muscle moves when you are working it, say, doing a push up. You want to stretch your chest, and during a push up your arms move toward you. Stretching a muscle occurs when you move that relaxed muscle past its resting length in the opposite direction it moves when it's working (bearing weight.) With that in mind you now know that to stretch the chest you move the arms away from it.

Next, find the area of zero tension, maximum relaxation of the muscle. The muscle must be unloaded, meaning, it is NOT bearing any weight. The worst example of this is when I see a runner stretching hamstrings with a leg up on a wall. Very inefficient in that the muscle he thinks he's stretching is actually bearing some of his own body weight. He might feel a stretch there, and might be stretching the muscle somewhat, but there are other ways much more effective and less likely to cause an injury. One of the reason some folks don't stretch is because they have gotten injured during stretching.

Step three is to locate the muscle's resting length. Resting length is a muscle's maximum isometric tension. Isometric meaning static contraction - no movement. When you get out of bed in the morning and raise both arms to a letter Y and down to a letter T, you are sort of reaching resting length in your chest and biceps. If you really "force" that movement, you are stretching those muscles. But you are stretching them past their resting length. To reach a muscle's resting length, gently activate the muscle on its opposite side. For example, if you want to reach resting length in your chest, gently pull your shoulders back.

And now, the stretch: while applying slight, but increasing pressure against the resting muscle, relax, exhale, and allow the muscle to lengthen. Let that muscle go. You must relax during this phase and allow the muscle to stretch. A relaxed muscle will lengthen, it's just up to you to fight the urge to force it to stretch. At the point when you feel you are about to experience pain, slowly back off of the stretch. That's it, the muscle is stretched.

You never want to feel pain while stretching. You want to stretch a muscle to the point of, but not to pain. As you become more flexible your "threshold" and your range of motion will increase. You will be able to stretch farther without reaching the point of pain.

As you get more familiar with these steps you will stretch more effectively, and achieve more stretches in less time.

Keys to effective stretching:

Once you allow the muscle to lengthen, the stretch is over. Release and stretch again.
Your muscles have no concept of time, the a stretch does not need to be held for a long time. If you do the technique properly, a muscle can be effectively stretched in 2-4 seconds. Do the 2-4 second stretch 2-4 times.

You want to feel the stretch over the full length of the muscle, not on the joint. For example, when you stretch your hamstrings you want to feel the stretch in the entire back of your thigh, not in back of your knee. Don't force the stretch, allow the stretch, gradually.

Pull Your Weeds, Not Your Back - Gardening Tips From Your Local Chiropractor

As springtime approaches, weather warms up and leaves turn green, many people will spend more time outside planting bulbs, mowing the lawn and pulling weeds. Gardening can provide a great workout, but with all the bending, twisting, reaching and pulling, your body may not be ready for exercise of the garden variety.

The back, upper legs, shoulders, and wrists are all the major muscle groups affected when using your green thumb. By performing these simple stretches before undertaking any garden task will help prevent injuries, pain and stiffness.

Garden Fitness Stretches

o Before stretching, there are a few tips to keep in mind. Breathe in and out slowly throughout each stretching exercise until the muscle is stretched to its furthest point. At that point, hold your breath in. When you relax, breathe out. Stretch gently and smoothly. Do not bounce or jerk your body in any way and stretch as far as you can comfortably. You should not feel pain.

o Stand up and prop your heel on a back door step or stool with your knee slightly bent. Bend forward until you feel a slight pull at the back of the thigh, called the hamstring. You may need to stabilize yourself by holding onto a garage door handle or sturdy tree branch. Hold the position for 20 seconds, then relax. Do it once more, then repeat with the other leg.

o Stand up and put your right hand against a wall or other stable surface. Bend your left knee and grab your ankle with your left hand. Pull your heel toward your buttocks to stretch the quadriceps muscle at the front of your thigh. Hold that position for 20 seconds, relax and do it again. Repeat with the other leg.

o Weave your fingers together above your head with your palms up. Lean to one side for 10 seconds to stretch the side of your upper body, then reverse. Repeat two or three times.

o "Hug your best friend": Wrap your arms around yourself after letting your breath out and rotate to one side, as far as you can go. Hold it for 10 seconds. Then reverse. Repeat two or three times.

Further Tips for Pain Free Gardening

o Plan your time carefully, set yourself a target and do not do any more.

o Try to vary your tasks; most post-gardening back pain is caused by repetitive work. For example, plan three activities, and alternate between them. Ideally, you should not work for more than half an hour at a time before taking a break.

o Use long-handled, lightweight tools wherever possible. When digging, keep your back straight when lifting the soil - never twist from side to side.

o Plant from a kneeling position, rather than bending or squatting with a bent back.

o Lift carefully; let your legs do the work. If the object is heavy, get help. It is best, when lifting from the ground, to drop onto one knee, gather the item towards you, then lift using your legs. Squatting down to lift is fine as long as you only go into a half squat - too far can put excessive strain on your knees and low back.

o Take care when carrying watering cans. It may be easier for you to fill a dustbin with water, right next to your flower or vegetable garden, rather than walk backwards and forwards with a heavy container.

o Buying in bulk is a lot cheaper. However, you may find that an 80 litre bag of peat is very heavy; it is easy to damage your back when lifting a bag of this size from the boot of your car. If you cannot get someone to help you with this, you may prefer to buy smaller bags. Alternatively, once home, open the bag inside the boot and transfer its contents to smaller containers.

o Finally, be aware of your posture while gardening and alternate your stance and movements as often as possible to keep the muscles and body balanced.

o If you do start to feel any pain, stop. Pain is a sign that there is something wrong. Try taking a warm bath, which may ease the aches. You could also try using an ice pack on the painful area, but take care not to freeze the skin.

If you still feel discomfort or pain contact your local chiropractor. The goal of a chiropractor is to treat the spine and help stimulate your body's natural healing process, therefore allowing you to return to your garden.

How to Operate a Successful Chiropractic Practice

Freedom. Financial. Philanthropy. Ask any chiropractor about their individual reason for beginning a practice and they will eventually emphasize the following words. There are many chiropractors that do very well and others that continually struggle.

Many struggle for a myriad of reasons (capital, location, passion etc.) but one of the main reasons is that business development and marketing are not a major focus. In fact, many colleges fail to instruct in this important area. Colleges immerse students (and rightfully so) in the sciences so that diagnosis and care are paramount. Yet business development is needed because without it practices flounder.

The reason for focusing on business development is:
1. Business Development provides structure - The set of processes and procedures required to develop patients helps provide an operating framework for the practice.
2. Patients - There is only one reason to be in practice - the acquisition and retention of customers.
3. Financial Future - The ability to consistently, relentlessly and aggressively develop business increases the future financial strength of the practice.

Just to be clear there are numerous reasons to be in practice. However without a solid framework for business the practice fails. As many know, the average chiropractor subsists in small office with a light patient load of one hundred visits per month. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (2009) Median annual wages of salaried chiropractors were $66,490 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between $45,540 and $96,700 a year.

What then helps define the successful practice? Practices cannot be defined it terms of profit; they must be defined by acquired and retained patients. Actions create patients. Ultimately the patient determines the practice, what it produces and whether it will prosper.

What is required is an organizational framework. MASS穢 is a strategic framework meant to keep chiropractors focused, motivated and accountable to be successful. MASS穢 integrates four vital areas of practice operations (Marketing, Accounting, Sales and [Patient] Service to create communication channels and messages that deliver clear, consistent and compelling messages that influence and create more patients.

Sales and Marketing areas must create messages that evoke patient output and deliverables. Patient Service must create the organizational culture to influence patient-to-patient communication. Finally, practices must continually reinvest and reallocate organizational funds to find and keep patients. Here is a brief description of how to create a successful practice with these attributes.

Marketing
Marketing is defined as an exchange of information for the benefit of providing value to the practices stakeholders. Simply put, patients do not buy services; rather, they invest in relationships. When marketing is apparent, relationships strong and trust built, revenue is easier to obtain.

Every practice is a relationship business. Therefore it is incumbent upon chiropractors to create community. The larger the community the easier it is to build patient volume. Exemplars include large marketing companies such as Google, Apple, Facebook et. al. Each of these organizations built a huge client base without advertising - the communities of each promoted the organizations brand.

Ask any chiropractor today and they are perverse to tell you they are doctors. Yet when you look at their offices and patient load you wonder how well. Today, to earn a decent living, chiropractors had better be able to attract patients to themselves and their talents and in sizable numbers. More importantly to attract these numbers doctors need to acknowledge that they are a brand and more importantly in the marketing business.

Effective marketing builds brands, which then provide patients. Brands offer instant recognition and identification. They are also promise consistent, reliable standards of quality, size, or even psychological attraction. Several national and regional surveys typically illustrate that patients choose brand by name alone!

Accounting
Certainly we all enjoy the fortunes of making money, however, it is not necessarily true that what we make it is what we keep. The issues with many chiropractors are twofold: 1) the concept of saving revenues for the purposes of volatile economic times and 2) investing revenues back into the business.

Business investment is vital in two functional areas: sales and marketing. While fundamental, almost 91% of business owners surveyed indicated a trivial reinvestment into these endeavors. It is very easy to purchase ornate material items and another to save for a rainy day. Monetary investments help hire additional staff, invest in helpful marketing campaigns, and even save for a future family issue. It is one thing to become marred in frugality another in foolishness.

Sales
The ultimate goal for any practice is exchanging value for services. Selling therefore is an exchange. Whereas marketing provides the template for the communication of value, selling is the end process. However, it is very difficult for many chiropractors to ask a very simple question, "Do you want to make an appointment"? In order to "book" business chiropractors must not only engage in healthy discussions but they must also ask questions that probe for interest. The only way to get business is to tirelessly ask for it.

Service
Over 50% of every patient communication results in patient service. The key differentiator for every practice is treating your patients as the practice's vital asset. This requires engaging patients from first impressions to departure. In fact, the practices culture must hinge on the concepts that the patient is 1) the most imperative aspect of the practice, 2) is not an interruption but its purpose and 3) the practice exists because of it. Treat your patients well continually and they become your greatest marketing and sales force. As service levels increase so do the levels of patient-to-patient influences.

At first glance these might appear as timely burdens. Not true. None of these takes more than just a few moments each day. More importantly, spending on average 25% of each day on any one of them can reap huge business results. The real test stems from developing activities that chiropractors conduct daily to remain on top of their game so that they can create a successful practice.

That said, I challenge each of you reading this. Develop a list of no more than 6 to eight activities that you can conduct daily for the next 21 days. Focus each day on completing each of them. Set goals while also establishing an accountability partner to ensure your success. Monitor your results during this time and look at the new results. You will be amazed at your success. Then continue since what gets remembered gets repeated. Your practice will grow more successful each month.

Stay tuned for my next article installment where I discuss these activities to help you get started immediately.

穢2011. Drew Stevens PhD. All rights reserved.

Understanding How Keywords Drive Traffic to Your Chiropractic Website

Having a website for your chiropractic practice without getting traffic or visitors to your site is like opening a store in the middle of the desert. The purpose of this article is to provide an introduction to one critical component of getting traffic to your site- understanding keywords.

Think of keywords as the word or combination of words that a web searcher enters into the search engines to look for what he/she wants. Understanding how keywords work is one critical key to getting the right people coming to your website. The key to keywords is the following basics:

1. Determine what keywords a web searcher will use to search for what you have to offer- for example chiropractic services.

2. Find keywords that are searched for often and don't have an excessive number of websites with content that are competing for the same keywords.

3. Build pages on your website that contain keywords you have selected.

Although without knowing a lot about you keywords, you might select a general term like chiropractor, you should also select terms which are called "long tail key words." These keywords are searched for less often but often have less competition.

How do you find good keywords to use in the marketing of your web site? There are many tools (many of them free) you can use to do your keyword research. One good basic tool to get started that will show search activity for selected keywords is Google's external keyword tool. Here are the basic steps for using the tool:

1. Enter a keyword or keyword phrase. This first entry is called a "seed keyword" because from it additional information is derived. (For example- "New York chiropractor").

2. Click the button that says "get keyword ideas"

3. A list of related keywords appears and for each related keyword or keyword phrases, you are provided with the amount of monthly searches conducted. In the case of "New York chiropractor" 150 keyword suggestions were displayed. In our example, the term "New York Chiropractor" showed a monthly search volume of 6,600.

4. This tool also lists other additional keyword to consider such as "pediatric chiropractor" which shows 880 searches a month.

How do you get started with keyword research? A first good place to start is to make a long list of the keywords potential patients might use to find out about your chiropractic practice. This basic list will be a good starting point. Important to keep in mind is that you should list keywords that indicate a "buying intent". "Buying intent", in the case of your chiropractic practice means a searcher who needs to see a chiropractor now. Some examples of buying intent keywords are:

- Baltimore chiropractic treatment center
- Baltimore chiropractor phone number
- Baltimore fibromyalgia treatment help

If you are serious about getting people to your website that are in need of chiropractic services, you must understand some basic concepts about keywords, even if you decide to hire an expert to help you. That's because no one understands chiropractic care and terms better than you do.

Chiropractic Injuries

When you are suffering from neck or back pain, one of the options available to you is to visit a chiropractor. Chiropractors advertise their services as being beneficial for spinal health and back and neck problems, which in turn benefits the general health of the individual. While some individuals have reported great success with visiting chiropractors, there is also evidence that suggests that chiropractic treatment may be harmful.

If you have visited a chiropractor for treatment and feel that you suffered further injuries or health complications afterward, you may be a victim of medical malpractice. A personal injury lawyer with expertise in medical malpractice can help you prepare your personal injury case for court and will fight to get you the compensation you deserve.

What Chiropractors Do
A chiropractic treatment involves a form of physical therapy in which the chiropractor will manipulate the patient's spine and joints. One of the most common techniques used by chiropractors is neck manipulation, which involves holding the patient's head and then swiftly turning it to one side. While this may cause some initial relief to the patient and may even be beneficial in the long term for some patients, this kind of joint manipulation has been shown to cause even greater problems in some cases.

Neck Manipulation Injury
According to some medical studies, sharply twisting the neck to either side can cause damage to a major artery that runs through the neck and into the brain. This kind of injury can block blood flow to the brain, resulting in a stroke. Strokes can cause permanent damage to an individual in a number of ways including:

• Slurred speech or other speech impediments


• Trouble speaking or making associations between objects and words


• Trouble with grammar and arranging sentences properly


• Severe headaches and vertigo

If you have experienced any of the above symptoms after visiting a chiropractor, consider consulting a neurologist immediately. A neurologist can determine the extent of the damage and may be able to minimize further injury. Once any immediate danger has been minimized, consider contacting a personal injury lawyer as soon as possible. A personal injury attorney can consult with medical professionals to determine if a chiropractor is legally responsible for your injuries and will fight to hold them accountable for compensation.

Standard Techniques of Chiropractic Adjustment

There is much more damage done by a misaligned spine than just the physical aspects. Chiropractic adjustment is often necessary because of organ dysfunction and mental health problems that have their origins in poor spinal health. While a medical doctor can treat the symptoms produced from a spinal misalignment, chiropractic adjustment has proven to be the best way to address the real problem.

Extremity Chiropractic Adjustment

Chiropractic doctors use manipulation and adjustment of the extremities to mobilize joints and muscles that are often causing musculoskeletal imbalance. Readjusting the functionality of the extremities addresses the problems caused to the nervous system and relieves chronic pain associated with it.

Pelvic Deficiency

One of the causes of extreme pain and misalignment of the spine comes from the way a person stands and holds their hips. Activator Methods Chiropractic Technique analyzes the length of a person's legs to ascertain if a pelvic deficiency is the cause of physical pain. If one leg is shorter than the other, one side of the body will have excessive pressure and cause much discomfort.

This chiropractic adjustment is used to correct pelvic and vertebral misalignments through the use of the Activator mallet, which pushes and sets joints into the correct position for proper use.

The Thompson Technique is another chiropractic adjustment based on analyzing the leg length to determine if it is the cause of imbalance. After the legs are checked, the chiropractor understands where the misalignment exists, which can be in the pelvic or cervical areas among others. Chiropractic adjustment is accomplished with the use of multiple thrusts applied to certain joints.

Addressing Pinched Nerves

One of the more painful problems of spine misalignment is a pinched nerve. In 1923, Dr. Clarence S. Gonstead developed a method that addresses this situation as well as problems caused by other maladies. The Gonstead chiropractic adjustment increases joint and muscle mobility based on the areas of misalignment by way of pressure at different levels.

Many of the chiropractic adjustments are performed so patients do not have to undergo corrective surgery. While there is no 100% success rate with chiropractic solutions, they often are a wonderful alternative to operations. Techniques such as the Cox Flexion/Distraction often restore a range of motion so that surgery may be delayed or deemed unnecessary.

Anyone who has chronic pain from spinal conditions should ask for a chiropractic opinion before submitting to any back operation. It costs less money than surgery and it is often less painful and more fulfilling.

Chiropractic and Osteopathic Treatments

A chiropractic practitioner is a health care professional whose purpose is to diagnose and treat mechanical disorders of the spine and musculoskeletal system with the intention of affecting the nervous system and improving health. It is founded on the assertion that a spinal joint dysfunction can affect the nervous system and result in many different conditions of diminished health. Although it is a sort of alternative health treatment, it should not be confused with Tai Chi, Acupuncture or any other Oriental health care treatment. Chiropractic is thought to be invented in Dr. D. D. Palmer and is now practiced in many countries today.

On a similar line, osteopathy was founded by Andrew Taylor Still in reaction to what he perceived as inadequate medical treatment of his day. Specifically, he believed that medications tended to be over prescribed and that such medications were often toxic in nature.

He intended his new system of medicine to be a reformation of the existing 19th century medical practices.

He invented the name "osteopathy" by blending two Greek roots osteon- for bone and -pathos for suffering in order to communicate his theory that disease and physiologic dysfunction were etiologically grounded in a disordered musculoskeletal system. Thus, by diagnosing and treating the musculoskeletal system, he believed that physicians could treat a variety of diseases and spare patients the negative side-effects of drugs.

Osteopaths consider that the body is a unity of mind, physical body and spirit. They claim to take into account both internal and external problems of the body-present and past; the vitality of the person and their ability to heal. Osteopaths claim to help reduce pain associated with wear and tear in the joints.

Increased weight, poor posture, or misalignment of the spine or lower extremities increase the load on joints, which encourages degeneration. Keeping joints mobile is claimed to help to drain toxins away and encourages beneficial nutrients to the joints.

Incorrect sustained posture is thought to lead to muscular tightness, joint restrictions and even internal problems. Osteopaths claim to identify and help correct faulty posture caused from work or general adaptations. Postural correction may sometimes necessitate a shoe lift called an orthotic device or orthosis. Sciatica is caused by an irritation of the. Osteopaths claim to determine where the nerve is being irritated and to help relieve the pressure on the nerve and thereby relieving the irritation and symptoms.

Chiropractic care is claimed to be a helpful and safe form of health care to treat pain due to spinal related conditions. Chiropractic is thought to be effective because many causes of spinal disorders are related to abnormalities of the spine and the surrounding soft tissue structures. Doctors of chiropractic are supposed to be trained to identify and treat subluxations (misalignments of the vertebrae) and their subsequent effect on the central nervous system.

Chiropractic care has been thought to increase not only the range of motion of the spine but also in the extremities. For some, an increased range of motion means being able to bend down to pick up their grandchildren. For others, it means they can garden without pain. In some cases, an increase in range of motion may follow chiropractic adjustments.

While we do not recommend chiropractic nor osteopathic treatments as options for patients, some patients are still keen despite the risks associated with such treatments.

If you are considering treatment by a chiropractor or osteopath, below are some resources that may be helpful for you to make an informed choice of the potential risks and benefits involved.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiropractic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteopath

Chiropractic Fraud - Perception Vs Reality

Is health care fraud more prevalent in claims submitted by chiropractors than those submitted by members of other health care disciplines? When looking at the various news-sources, chiropractors are not found to make up either the lion-share of health care fraud charges or convictions reported.

Unfortunately, instances of fraud & abuse are present in ALL health care disciplines - Chiropractic, Medicine, Physical Therapy, etc. There is no single discipline that can lay claim to a proportionately higher rate of fraudulent conduct than any other health care discipline. However, despite this fact, there is an ongoing feeding-frenzy of insurers investigating chiropractic claims. These investigations go beyond simply evaluating either the merits or medical necessity of claims to determine if they should be paid.

Insurers are conducting 'post-payment' audits of claims paid in years past - focusing on purported documentation deficiencies in an effort to open the door for carriers to demand the money back! Chiropractors have found themselves faced with large refund demands from insurers. Why?

Is it because the services were not performed? No, the insurer verifies the performance of the services through talking with the patient. Is it because the chiropractor did not document having performed the service? No, the services in question are customarily documented as having been performed. Post-payment audits arise because the insurer has retroactively concluded, perhaps based upon some sense of entitlement, that the services were not documented sufficiently - i.e., to their satisfaction!

Insurers demanding refunds from providers for payments made - armed with allegations that providers failed to adequately document the services that were billed - file complaints with licensing & regulatory boards of the providers. If such complaints are made the real test will be in proving the documentation and standards were not met. The standards for documentation, as well as all other practice activity, for health care providers is established and defined by state health care licensing & regulatory boards. The boards, NOT the insurance companies, or managed care organizations, provide administrative oversight of the activity of licensees with sanctions for those who violate the laws and rules.

Allstate Insurance has established a clear-cut policy of suing chiropractors, alleging fraud and issuing press releases with the fanfare of a New Year's Day parade. News sources, including chiropractic periodicals, do little or nothing to either investigate or evaluate the factual bases of these suits prior to joining in lock-step to print the release giving Allstate the press it so desires.

The news media and public-at-large tend to believe that if Allstate sues a health care provider, alleging fraud, the provider must have engaged in fraudulent activities. It must mean that Allstate believes both they and their insured - were somehow defrauded by the provider's actions or conduct. It must also mean that Allstate relied upon the provider's misrepresentations when paying claims?

Well, that certainly was not the case according to the September 2007 decision rendered by the United States 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Allstate Insurance Co. et al. v. Receivables Finance Company, LLC et al. The Opinion handed down by the Court was that Allstate is a major player in the casualty business - thus when Allstate routinely reviews a health care bill submitted by a chiropractor, performs some form of utilization review on the provider's bill and ends up paying a significantly reduced sum based on the explanation that Allstate believed that a significant portion of the bill was either medically unnecessary or not properly documented and thus not subject to payment - Allstate cannot later come back and sue the same provider claiming that it was defrauded by some scam perpetrated by that same provider.

Nor was it the case, based on my personal knowledge, having worked with Accident & Injury Chiropractic ("A&I"), a named defendant in the case. In 1998, following the execution of search warrants by federal authorities, I assisted A&I on implementing a Health Care Compliance program, a program designed to detect and correct any improper, false or fraudulent action by the company and/or its health care providers- primarily chiropractors. Following A&I's implementation of their compliance program, the federal investigation was formally closed.

The Compliance program that A&I implemented included an intensive internal auditing, monitoring and reporting system to facilitate the identification and correction of any form(s) of misconduct. The Compliance program was well-publicized to insurers and others, who were invited to report their concerns relative to alleged improper conduct and/or activities of the clinics, as well as those chiropractors associated, to A&I's Compliance Board to have those concerns appropriately addressed.

Allstate was well aware of A&I's Compliance program implementation, but never, to my knowledge, reported any concerns Allstate had, Allstate alleged in its highly publicized lawsuit, to the Compliance Board. It is significant to note that, while other insurers in positions similar to that of Allstate, did report concerns and such concerns were sufficiently addressed and corrected to the insurers' satisfaction.

Although an integral part of the creation and implementation of A&I's Compliance program, the only contact I had with Allstate was after it had filed its lawsuit. This contact consisted of speaking with a paralegal of Allstate's attorney. The paralegal indicated she understood that I had assisted A&I with its Compliance program and Allstate's attorney would like to talk with me. On no occasion did I ever speak with Allstate's attorney. The only reason that I did not talk with Allstate's attorney is that Allstate's attorney refused to serve me with domesticated process as an out-of-state witness.

This brings us to Allstate's suit filed in Federal Court in Dallas, Texas in March 2008, viz, Allstate et al. v. Michael K. Plambeck, D.C., Chiropractic Strategies et al. In this suit, Allstate alleges that Plambeck, who owns and operates Chiropractic Strategies Group ("CSG"), orchestrated a multi-state scam involving doctors, lawyers and telemarketers cleverly designed to solicit auto accident victims for free chiropractic evaluations - asserting that these free screenings were some form of subterfuge to enable CSG doctors to "inform" the patients they had severe injuries and to encourage the patients to sign up for legal representation by attorneys in order to prosecute claims for insurance recoveries and/or to participate in lawsuits against Allstate Insurance.

In a March 6, 2008 press release, Allstate reported that the lawsuit against Plambeck was filed following an extensive investigation by their Special Investigative Unit. Edward Moran, Allstate assistant Vice President in charge of the Special Investigation Unit, was quoted as stating, "Insurance fraud is a billion dollar business that costs the average consumer $300 in higher insurance premiums every year... Allstate is aggressively pursuing the fight against insurance fraud to protect consumers and help keep insurance costs down".

This must have been an extensive investigation by Allstate's special investigators! For more than 10 years Allstate has known of the manner in which Dr. Plambeck conducted and operated his chiropractic clinics, as described in its press release!

As a Special Agent for the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) I, as well as other investigative agencies - including Allstate, was familiar more than a decade ago with the specific type of alleged acts of misconduct described. In fact, Allstate's Complaint identified activity back to 1996.

Nothing new was found in the information provided in the (2008) release - except that the average costs passed on to insurance consumers by insurance companies has now risen to $300.00. This is up from figures of $100 to $200 cited in previous years.

Talk about righteous indignation, the major casualty insurance companies regularly complains in the media that those high costs they pass on to the public are the result of health care fraud on the part of chiropractors and other health care professionals. However, carriers rarely, if ever, mention that they operate out of luxurious office complexes and pay multi-million dollar salaries to their executives.

For example, the CEO of Allstate, in his first year on the job, received an annual compensation package worth over $10.7 million, while the departing CEO, received $18.8 million annually and $25.4 million in retirement benefits. Don't think for a minute that those costs are not passed on to consumers in the form of rate increases!

Allstate's press release on Plambeck contained a 'Call to Action,' asking persons who have knowledge of, or have been victimized by, the scheme alleged in a lawsuit filed against the chiropractic industry to report this information to the NICB. Why should this information be reported to NICB?

Is the NICB, a quasi-governmental law enforcement agency, assisting Allstate with civil litigation against Plambeck? Does NICB have a concurrent extensive decade-long criminal investigation of Plambeck's activities?

NICB is a not-for-profit corporation under Section 501(c) (4) of the Internal Revenue Code as a social welfare organization - to combat fraud and theft for the benefit of customers and the public through information analysis, forecasting, criminal investigation support, training, and public awareness.

I suspect that NICB will do what Allstate says. Allstate is one of its biggest customers and funding source! This would include helping them on civil cases because that is what they did in the case referenced above. In A&I's discovery-filings against Allstate, A&I accessed information from Allstate that included NICB claims and financial checks conducted on me!

Is the filing of a lawsuit based on information known for over a decade, and the parallel effort to sway public opinion to its point of view, the most appropriate way to aggressively pursue the fight against insurance fraud?

According to a March 7, 2008 article in the Dallas Morning News - Bill Mellander, spokesman for Allstate's Special Investigative Unit, reports Allstate's adjusters are trained to identify common fraud indicators, such as similarities in dollar amounts or wording in paperwork. When such indicators appear in a health care claim Allstate's concerns are forwarded to Allstate's special investigative units who then look for wider trends that may point to health care fraud and abuse - perhaps perpetrated through some form of a scam. And, per Mellander, that's exactly what happened with respect to Allstate's investigation of Plambeck et al. and its taking this action in an attempt to recover dollars from fraudulent claims purportedly paid by Allstate.

I suspect Allstate adjusters are trained to do more than just identify fraudulent trends and forward such concerns to Allstate's SIU investigators as reported by Mr. Mellander. They have also been trained on how to evaluate claims submitted to determine if they should be paid utilizing sophisticated insurance industry software programs, such as Colossus, or local peer review doctors who are paid by the insurance industry to review and reduce provider claims by significant sums.

These trained adjusters probably interviewed the patients being treated at Plambeck's clinics to determine the following: (1) circumstances of the accident; (2) whether they were hurt; (3) what were their complaints of injury; (4) did they seek medical attention; and (5) are they still being treated.

Why were there no patients identified as co-defendants in Allstate's lawsuit alleging fraud and a collusive scheme in either the A&I or Plambeck cases? In order for such a "scheme" to exist, there must have been some form of patient claim submitted for payment that Allstate deemed to be fraudulent. If that is the case, are not the "patients" who submit the so-called fraudulent claim responsible for their own conduct? Wouldn't such a scheme, as alleged by Allstate, only be successful if you had willing-accident victims to participate? Not according to Allstate's actions.

Is paying claims and later filing a federal lawsuit seeking $10 million in an attempt to recover dollars paid on the claims by alleging fraud for activity known for over a decade the way to protect consumers and help keep insurance costs down?

In the Spring 2008 edition of Fraud Focus published by The Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, where it is reported that Plambeck allegedly cost Allstate so much money that the insurer is trying to "gut his operation" with a $10-million federal lawsuit. It is interesting to note that Mr. Moran, an Allstate Vice President, and NICB's CEO are both on the Board of Directors for the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud.

If Plambeck et al. named in Allstate's lawsuit are in fact engaged in fraudulent activity, then they should be dealt with appropriately and held accountable by the appropriate authorities - but not by an insurer, functioning as a de facto Attorney General, that wants to "gut them" in the public eye - through media releases and press conferences!

Allstate pays NICB large sums of money to facilitate criminal prosecutions of just the type of activity it alleged in its 2008 press release. The NICB, in a 2006 Special Edition of NICB Upclose, states, "Just what the doctor ordered... NICB now has more than 25 Medical Fraud Task Force Units throughout the United States that are creating a big return on investment for NICB members". Interestingly, NICB reports having task force units in all the states identified in Allstate et al. v. Plambeck et al.

Could this desire to gut chiropractic businesses also be the reason for their lawsuits against so many other chiropractors? It definitely appeared to be the case with a chiropractor on the east coast who operated a number of multidiscipline practices. I assisted this provider with his Compliance program. This provider's business was in fact "gutted" and forced into bankruptcy trying to pay legal fees to defend the lawsuit of the "Good-Hands" people.

Are Allstate's protestations that it innocently relied on Plambeck's representations, and was defrauded thereby, plausible? Does the fact that Allstate has been investigating Plambeck for more than a decade militate against Allstate's claim that it "relied" on Plambeck's representations to its detriment?

This issue of reliance is the lynchpin of a fraud claim. If one is convinced that another party is a fraud, and proceeds to transact business with that party, may the aggrieved party subsequently cry, "Fraud"?

May Allstate, the "good hands people," also claim to be the "clean hands people"?

Health care fraud may be a billion dollar business as Mr. Moran states - but the insurance industry is definitely a TRILLION dollar business!

It is disingenuous for Allstate to report its fight against insurance fraud is to protect consumers and help keep insurance costs down.

In a August 18, 2005 press release on yet another federal lawsuit filed against chiropractic, this one in Massachusetts against First Spine and Rehab, Allstate reported that since 2001 Allstate has received more than $55 million in court judgments, where Mr. Moran states, "These judgments against criminals range from individuals to sophisticated organized crime syndicates." Interestingly, Allstate's press releases dating back to 2004 found on their web-site reveals that all but one of the releases relevant to its lawsuits against health care providers involved chiropractors.

It should be noted that The American Association of Justice ranks Allstate Insurance as the worst insurer for consumers, showing a pattern of greed, refusal to pay legitimate claims, and rewarding employees for claim denials with a strategy of "deny, delay, and defend".

In my more than twenty years of working with health care fraud-fighters - including insurers, regulators, law enforcers and health care providers, the one constant I have found relating to chiropractic fraud is that those in the position to make the biggest difference choose to invest the least amount possible in learning how to identify, how to investigate, how to prosecute, and STOP HEALTH CARE FRAUD!

However, these same entities/individuals are likely to COMPLAIN the loudest about how bad the problem is!

This niche targeting of chiropractors by insurers for post-payment audits and civil lawsuits does nothing to really reduce HEALTHCARE FRAUD but are diversion tactics to make everyone think that something is being done.

Tinnitus and Chiropractic - Can Chiropractics Help the Ringing in Your Ears?

For those with tinnitus one thing is universally true, they would do just about anything to make the high pitched whining in their ears go away. Most doctors will tell you there is no cure for tinnitus; this is based on the fact that their treatments for this condition end in limited success, and for many people do not help at all. This does not mean that there is no cure for tinnitus, as much as that your average doctor may not hold the answer to your particular tinnitus problem. Tinnitus and chiropractic treatments are just one example of an alternative treatment that may hold promise for at least some tinnitus sufferers.

Tinnitus and Chiropractic

The truth is that there are so many different causes for tinnitus that not all tinnitus will be solved with the same treatments. What works for one person will not necessarily work for another, much depends on what is causing your tinnitus and sadly there is little research and therapies that can help you to determine this beyond seeing if your tinnitus is caused by hearing loss. For most people the best approach is one of persistence and trying various therapies until one or more of them work.

One of the biggest mistakes most people make is they are so desperate to find a cure for the ringing in their ears that they hop around from one therapy to another much too quickly making the mistake of thinking that if they do not work in the first week or two they are not going to help at all. This is where knowledge and patience can really help, many treatments, chiropractic among them take time to work.

The theory behind chiropractic is to reverse the subluxations in your spine that can reduce blood flow and impair nerves, since research has found that both of these conditions are thought to contribute to tinnitus, chiropractic has been shown for offer great improvement for many of those suffering from ringing in the ears.

What About Those with Hearing Loss?

If you have been told that hearing loss is the cause of your tinnitus and that there is nothing that you can do about it, do not give up searching for solutions. There is some research being done now, which indicates that tinnitus may not be so much a symptom of hearing loss for some, as it may make them more sensitive to, and more aware of the tinnitus as they strain to hear and become more aware of the sounds emanating from their ears.

Chiropractors have found that the same treatments that help patients without hearing loss often help those with hearing loss. Often times there are many underlying causes for the ringing in your ears and addressing each one of these causes can help you have the best results for dealing with your condition.

Does Chiropractic work for Everyone?

Chiropractic for tinnitus is no miracle cure; it merely resolves one of the possible pathways by which many people's tinnitus may occur. It will certainly improve the blood flow and the communication of the nerves to the brain but if there are other underlying causes for the ringing in your ears chances are it will not make it go away completely. In other words chiropractics cannot hurt but may not always help as much as you expect it to. That is not to say you should give up on it, but perhaps you need to look further, try other remedies in addition to this one, as part of a complete solution to the ringing in your ears.

4 Reasons Why Chiropractic Therapy Is Good for You

Do you panic when you hear about Chiropractic Doctors (CD)? Have you ever questioned the chiropractic profession? If you ever do, you're not alone. It's probably because a lot of debates and arguments are ongoing about the nature and activities of chiropractic treatments. So do you want to clear up your mind on whether chiropractic therapy is safe for you? Well, first, we need to define the term chiropractic and then analyze what chiropractic doctors do. The word chiropractic is derived from the Greek and means 'to perform with the hands'. This is because the most important component in a chiropractor's treatment is the manual treatment of the joints and muscles of the body. But is this treatment any good for you? Below are four reasons why chiropractic therapy is OK for you:

It's Safe

Chiropractic therapy is safe for you. Basically, when a patient visits a Chiropractic Doctor (CD), the Chiropractic Doctor will examine the patient first to see if he or she is eligible for chiropractic treatment, just as the medical doctor always does before treating a patient. Although, the title, 'Dr', as used by chiropractors, doesn't imply a medical qualification, chiropractors used it as a courtesy of a highly respective profession. The term 'chiropractor' is protected by law - anyone referring to themselves as a chiropractor has to be registered with the General Chiropractic Council, who can also provide details of registered chiropractors. So when you're afflicted with muscle or joint pain, but doubting whether to visit a chiropractor, be rest assured that you would be in safe hands. Chiropractic doctors are well-trained professionals who can treat your injuries specially.

It's Painless

Chiropractic treatment is painless. Chiropractors used their physical hands to treat all the pains in the patient's body. Whether you're suffering from lower back or neck pain, chiropractors relieved your pains using various techniques such as deep-tissue massage which is drug-free, risk-free and pain-free. Chiropractic therapy is definitely good for you.

It Treats All Your Injuries

Whether you're suffering from shoulder pain, neck pain, carpel tunnel syndrome, muscle pain, joint spasm, headache and migraines, poor posture, lower back pain or any stress resulting from work-related activities; chiropractic therapy relieves all your injuries safely.

It's Soothing

This is another icing on the cake about chiropractic treatment. Chiropractic therapy not only examines the cause of your ailment and treats it heads on; it does that in a relaxed and soothing way as well. Chiropractic Doctors usually treat the patient while the patient is lying down on soft elevated bed. Using only their bare hands, chiropractors manipulate the pain areas of the tissue, ease the nerves and improve body circulation of the patient as he or she lies down in a relaxed fashion.

Chiropractic therapy is very effective in treating different injuries and tensions in the body. It has proven great success in the past years, improving the health condition of millions of patients. It's safe, painless and comforting. Should you have any back pain or muscle contraction, chiropractic treatment is the right solution for you.

Chiropractic Coaching: How to Find a Chiropractic Coach

Any business owner can attest to the fact that there are times when you need to find some help. This can be particularly true in the field of chiropractic because most chiropractic offices are run by chiropractors-most of whom have no business training or experience.

Let's face it, chiropractic college does not prepare its graduates for owning a business. This is not a negative statement against chiropractic schools, because the job of a chiropractic school is to prepare its graduates to be doctors of chiropractic, not necessarily business owners. It just so happens that most chiropractors work in private practice and therefore, if they own the clinic, they must also wear the hat of business owner. This is the reason we find so many chiropractors hiring chiropractic coaching such as business consultants, or practice mentors-not because they are struggling with their hat as the doctor, but because they are struggling with their hat as business owner. If you give this some thought, nearly every pro athlete has their own coach to help maximize their talent, so chiropractic coaching can be viewed in the same perspective: to maximize your talent.

So, how do you find the right help that will fit your needs? Well, although there may not be a perfect way to find the right chiropractic coaching help, there certainly ARE very specific actions you can take to find the right consultant for you.

Chiropractic Coaching Check-up

First, it is helpful to realize that almost every chiropractic consultant out there has successful clients. This is due, in part, because, there are some chiropractors that will be relatively success no matter what chiropractic coaching consultant they use. This same doctor who you might consider "successful" may also do a heck of a lot better if he had the help of a different chiropractic coaching consultant. So, the fact that a consultant tells you about a client that they have who has a big practice may not mean that you'll also do well with their program. You'd also want to find out how that client was doing prior to joining the chiropractic coaching program. Nonetheless, realize that a few big hitters mean little. What you'd want to see is a general trend of success from a majority of clients.

One of the first things to check into when investigating a chiropractic coaching company is what exactly are they going for as an end product of their program. Some consultants specialize in a specific area, such as marketing, or insurance billing. If the chiropractic coaching consultant you are considering is a specialist in one area, you'll want to make sure that they specialize in an area where you want help.

Secondly, with regard to the end product of their chiropractic coaching program, you'll want to see what kind of office their program creates. For example, some coaching programs are geared to create a cash practice, others an insurance practice, while other programs create an owner doctor centered practice that is personality driven-compared to another program which creates a staff driven office. You may or may not want any of these types of practices. Therefore, be sure to determine exactly what kind of office you will end up with if you do the program.

A look around the chiropractic coaching world today reveals the fact that most chiropractic coaching consultants focus on "head space" or philosophy, marketing, insurance billing, or niche practice (such as decompression, etc). There are a few consultants who offer a wider range of help, and quite a few that claim to offer a wider range, but fail to deliver. None of these consultants are wrong to deliver only a specialized area, but you must know what you need and what they offer before making a commitment.

The best method to use when looking to determine what a practice looks like once a chiropractic coaching program is implemented is to speak with current or past clients that have used that program. You can ask the consultant for names and phone numbers of current or past clients and they will most likely give them to you.

Specifically, you want to speak with successful clients. The reason you want to speak to successful clients is because those are the people who obviously benefited from the program. This means that those clients must have utilized the program, and probably implemented the material that they learned. Assuming that you plan to implement the material that you learn, these are the type of people you want to talk to.

Sometimes when a chiropractor is looking to speak with past clients of a chiropractic coaching consultant, they try to find an unhappy former client. The strange logic used in this case is that the doctor wants to "hear both sides of the story" or "wants to see what an unsuccessful client has to say about the program." The reason this is not logical, or helpful, is two-fold.

First of all, obviously someone who did not do well with a chiropractic coaching consultant is not likely to say anything positive. So why bother calling, you know what the answer will be. Even if an objective view of the situation reveals that the reason the client did not do well was that the client never implemented any part of the program, it might be 1 in 100 people that could actually confess that fact. The other 99 out of 100 would blame the company.

Secondly, if a chiropractic coaching company has many successful clients that attribute their success to the program and this can be verified by speaking directly with those clients, then any unsuccessful clients probably failed to apply some aspect of the program, or ran into some unique problem either personally or in practice which they failed to overcome.

The point is that a chiropractic consultant that gives bad advice which doesn't work would soon find itself out of business. Therefore, if you find a company which has a long track record of many happy, successful clients who recommend the program, then you can be fairly certain that some aspect of what that consultant teaches must have been very helpful to those clients.

Implement your Chiropractic Coaching Strategy

Once you have chosen the chiropractic coaching consultant that fits your needs, be sure to implement the strategies that you learn. Of course, you must do your due diligence with regard to making sure that any procedure changes, or marketing strategies, etc are, in fact, legal where you practice-- and, you may find that you need to tweak some things to make them legal. However, those things are usually few and far between.

Make the commitment to yourself to use the material that your chiropractic coaching consultant gives you to help build the practice of your dreams. The world needs more successful, affluent chiropractors. If you deliver a health care service that you believe in, than why not share it with more of the world! When you succeed, the chiropractic profession succeeds, and more patients get to live healthier lives. There's nothing better than that and chiropractic coaching can help you achieve more of that and faster than just learning from trial and error!

Dealing With Shortness of Breath: Advice From a Licensed Chiropractor

Many elderly folk complain of shortness of breath. I have found this exercise to be helpful for my patients.

Start by sitting or standing up straight, shoulders back or as they say in the military, square. (If you are in a sitting position, you'll need to scoot to the front of your chair so that your arms may fall relaxed and straight at your sides for this exercise.)

Drop your arms relaxed with hands by your sides, thumbs inward touching your body, and the back of your hands facing the front. The action required is to turn your thumbs 180 degrees outward (away from the body so that now the palms are facing the front.) You can feel this rotated your arms and shoulders causing them to make you stand or sit straighter! While holding that position, pull your head and neck backward without bending it backward (extension) without the shoulders moving. The ears are now aligned with the shoulders from a side (lateral) view. Imagine your back is to a bookcase and there is a book sticking out slightly. You are using your head to push the book back into the bookcase even with the other books. (This move resembles a chicken's neck while the chicken is walking). You will take five deep breaths slowly while holding this proper posture position, ensuring your stomach expands when you breathe inward. After the fifth breath, you will release the position (relaxing the muscles) but you will not go back to the slouch position. Just relax the muscles in your shoulders and arms. You can perform this exercise daily several times as it just feels great naturally opening your chest by drawing your shoulders back! Increase the exercise weekly by adding a breath each week.

In addition, you may be experiencing dehydration, which will cause inflammation in your lungs. Asthma sufferers experience this lack of hydration on a regular basis. Increase your intake of water daily. Sodas, fruit juices, coffee and alcoholic drinks do not count as a substitution for water intake. Hydration is extremely important at the beginning of your day. It can set the tone of your whole day because it is so important to so many functions in the body, especially your lungs.

By adding exercise and hydration to your daily routine, you will allow your lungs to function more efficiently and you will be better positioned to start a walking exercise program.

TMJ And Chiropractic Treatment

The jaw is a hinge joint connecting the skull and the mandible and is enclosed by sixty eight pairs of muscles in front of the ear on each side of the head. They are in continuous use most of the time and helps in yawning, chewing, swallowing and speaking. This is the joint which is used the most in our body. You can find it by putting a finger in your ear and then pushing It forward when opening and closing your mouth. The condyle head of the mandible and the skull is separated by an articular disk. TMJ or temporal mandibular joint dysfunction takes place when this disk is misplaced. It has been observed that around thirty percent of the American population has the problem of TMJ disorder.

There are various symptoms in case of TMJ but a common one is range of motion and mobility being limited within the joint. If you are having the problem of TMJ and you open and close your mouth, the tissues of the joint may wear. If this problem is ignored, it can cause server problems. Therefore, it is advised to get diagnosis and treatment done from a chiropractor. You can test the range of motion of your jaw. This can be done by holding your palm vertically with your thumb facing the ceiling. You should flex your index finger so that it does not come in the way.

There are various cases of TMJ disorders. Missing or misaligned teeth can put the bone out of its right position. Even trauma from a car crash or fall can result in the same outcome. A very common reason for TMJ is whiplash. At times, it happens that stress causes clenching of the jaw and grinding of the teeth. This can cause a lot of pain and can strain the muscles. This pain can be in your neck, face and head resulting in discomfort and various symptoms. Like in case of a kidney infection, there are problems like diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, bladder infection and loss of appetite, TMJ can have various symptoms like headache and earache that can cause problem. You should consult your chiropractor in case you are suffering from the problem of TMJ. Chiropractic care is a natural way of treating TMJ. It does not have any side effects and hence is safe. TMJ is a condition which should be detected early for it to be treated properly.

Chiropractic Care For Children

The discipline of spine manipulation is another term for chiropractic. Because the spine connects to your nervous system and most system organs, anything wrong with it will probably need some manipulation of the spinal column in order to promote healing. This is how most people understand this healing method. It has been proven safe and effective, especially as any licensed chiropractic doctor will be highly trained and skillful. For many years, people favor the use of this scientific healing technique. Although there are a lot of controversies about it, today, both medical practitioners and chiropractors are working together to provide care for people's health problems.

Although chiropractic is proven safe for adults, there are questions about its safety for children. As per government regulation, chiropractors are allowed to handle pediatric cases. In fact, chiropractic has a branch that specializes in healing children. Usually, chiropractic care for children is needed when they have dysfunction on the neck, back, or spine. However, special care is observed for these young patients because there are body conditions and structures that are unique to them.

There are parents who observe misalignment on their baby's back. Usually, this is caused by trauma during birth and this is one of the more specific reasons to do chiropractic maneuvers on a child. There are other cases as well that would warrant chiropractic intervention.

Kids who are exposed to physically exhaustive activities such as sports could also result to conditions that may be helped by chiropractic treatments. It may not necessary to obtain chiropractic care, however, but for extreme cases in which the child actually experiences troublesome discomfort in the body, a chiropractor can surely help provide relief. Common spinal dysfunctions that occur in kids may manifest as any of the following:

• Abnormal sleeping patterns

• Misaligned shoulders

• Limited mobility of the head or neck

• Recurrence of ear infection

• Scoliosis

• Constant headaches

• Bedwetting

• Persistent colds

• Breastfeeding difficulties (for infants)

Sometimes, spinal problems may exist without visible physical symptoms but if a child is physically injured in any way, parents should go out of their way to check if there are more serious consequences of the injury. Getting chiropractic help will surely help. Depending on the specific condition of the child, seeing a medical doctor may be recommended by the chiropractor himself.

It is very important for parents to be open-minded about their children's development, especially on matters of health. Although chiropractic was once dismissed as quackery, this has long been disputed and it is now widely recognized by the medical community.

When to See a Chiropractor for Joint Pain Relief

Hometown Reno chiropractors can bring you quick relief for your joint pain, and may even be able to provide treatment options for other pain and illness.

Your chiropractor is trained and educated on the body and has studied bone and joint placement extensively. You may find that you feel relief after your first visit to the Reno chiropractor of your choice. Imagine feeling better in just a couple of hours and able to enjoy your favorite activities again with the help of your chiropractic care center. There are treatment options for people suffering from arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and from injuries that have resulted in long term pain issues.

Your joints are held together by ligaments. Over time, whether through injury or use, your ligaments can become thin, and/or damaged. Cartilage that cushions the bones is also found between the joints. Working with your Reno chiropractors to find a treatment option that works for your condition can provide significant relief. The treatment center may ask for x-rays of the affected area or other diagnostic tests before the treatment plan is decided. This process can take a few visits, but the treatment plan will be more comprehensive and customized with the addition of diagnostic testing.

Typically, the chiropractor will work with patients who have joint pain in their neck, back and shoulders. You will also notice an improvement in leg and hip pain associated with your condition, however, since the alignment of the back can affect the entire body. Some common conditions that require a trip to the chiropractor include whiplash, sports injuries, and repetitive motion injuries. These injuries can require treatment that reshapes and tone the back and neck and treatment that aligns the spine.

Your local chiropractor will begin the treatment program that is right for you as soon as possible. You may be asked to get x-rays more than once through the treatment process, simply because this is the best way to see the improvement that is taking place in the joints. Ligaments can become damaged due to sprains and result in chronic pain making even the simplest tasks difficult. In some cases they can tear resulting in extreme pain. This type of pain is usually very intense and can even make simple tasks that you completed before difficult.

With comprehensive chiropractic care from Reno chiropractors, you will be back on your feet again. Enjoying life and living your life to the fullest is just as important to your personal chiropractor as it is to you, so make sure you seek the treatment that you need before it worsens. If not treated properly, ligament and joint damage can actually worsen over time as you use the joints in your body for everyday activities. Your treatment plan will stop the damage you have experienced in its tracks so that you can feel better quickly.

The Thyroid Gland

The thyroid is a small gland located in the front of the neck. It is responsible for setting the body's metabolism. It is this gland that sets the thermostat for the rate at which the body will use energy.

Nearly all the cells in the body have their metabolic rates controlled by the thyroid hormones.

The thyroid is one of several glands in the body that comprises the endocrine system. All of our glands are in constant communication with one another. It starts in the lower part of the brain with a small but extremely important gland called the pituitary. The pituitary is considered the "conductor of the symphony" in that it sends messages to many glands to produce their hormones. The thyroid takes its signal from here in the form of a hormone called TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone).

There are 2 hormones that eventually are manufactured by the thyroid called T4 and T3. The T4 is produced and then gets converted to T3. Higher amounts of T3 in the blood cause a message to be sent back to the pituitary to decrease its production of TSH. This is called a negative feedback, which essentially means we have enough thyroid hormone for now. When T3 gets low it then sends a message back to the pituitary to turn production back on.

The most common medication used to treat the thyroid is in the form of T4. This causes a negative feedback on the pituitary and suppresses TSH production. At the same time the pituitary, which is also responsible for converting the T4 to T3, becomes impaired. This in a sense keeps the thyroid from functioning at its peak performance.

Symptoms of a sluggish thyroid are numerous due in part to the many cells throughout the body that take influence from thyroid hormone.

Common symptoms of a slow thyroid include fatigue, low ambition and motivation. This person typically feels worse in the morning, having difficulty getting out of bed. As the day progresses this individual feels better as the rate of metabolism increases as daily activity ensues. This person will feel better with exercise, if only they can motivate themselves to get out and do it.

The person with a sluggish thyroid will have trouble with fat metabolism, which will lead to elevated levels of triglycerides and cholesterol in the blood. This individual will also gain weight easily and have a difficult time losing it. Some of these people don't appear to have a problem with weight, but maintain their current weight on 500-800 calories a day. If they overeat (for them) on a weekend trip, they may gain three to four pounds. Some of these people have a normal caloric intake but find they may have to exercise heavily to avoid weight gain.

Before these individuals make radical changes to their diet in an attempt to facilitate weight loss they should make sure that their thyroid, pituitary and other endocrine related glands are functioning properly.

This doesn't mean that dietary changes are not important or required. To ask the body to lose weight, in light of a hormonal system including the thyroid that is under functioning by manipulating only the diet, is asking for frustration if not trouble.

Fad diets will work occasionally for these individuals but they will find that just as fast as they have lost the weight is as fast as they gain it back. The amount of stress placed on the body by unusual diets, or the malnutrition caused by calorie restriction often result in short-term gains while creating long- term losses.

It is a much better idea for long term health to normalize the thyroid and other endocrine glands to help the body efficiently utilize its calorie intake, hormone production and thus any dietary regimen that is intended to have the body lose weight.

Here in our office we utilize" Nutrition Response Testing", a specific program for detecting endocrine imbalances and the other most common factors that hinder the body. This is a system that enables us to evaluate the body's nutritional status and whether or not there are barriers suppressing it. To help the body heal itself we utilize whole food supplementation along with healthier eating habits.

Is Chiropractic Advertising a Waste of Money?

Well, what do you think? I don't know one single chiropractor that's build a cash machine of a practice by sending postcards, advertising in the yellow-pages or newspaper, do you? I honestly think that the chiropractic profession has simply become accustomed to wasting money on ineffective advertising and marketing over the years. Seriously, the return on investment tends to be very low and the costs can literally send you and your practice into the poorhouse in the blink of an eye!

We've all tried the same things for the most part, as the same worn-out chiropractor advertising and marketing strategies are just recycled throughout the years. Yet, why do we fall for this stuff when it only has been shown to produce mediocre results? The answer is because of lack of awareness. When studying Bob Proctor, I like what he says. He states "The person that makes $50,000 / year doesn't make that income because he wants to, he makes that income because he doesn't know how to make $100,000 / year!" This quote is spot-on and pertains to all business owners including chiropractors. Awareness is everything.

It's important to make yourself "aware" of new marketing tactics and strategies since we live in a different world now, as opposed to even 3 years ago. So much in the chiropractic profession has changed just like in the communications and marketing field. Allow me to share a personal example. I was getting mediocre results several years ago until I discovered a new way of connecting with people and marketing that revolutionized my practice and really opened the flood-gates. This phenomenon was referred to as Web 2.0, a term that many in the chiropractic profession are still unaware of. I began to utilize social networks, video, and other forms of social media to build myself as a credible expert within my community and boy did it pay off in a major way!

That's when I had this overwhelming amount of chiropractors get wind of the killer results I was attaining and they began to beg me to teach them. I began social media consulting almost three years ago and I've been living a truly abundant and rewarding life helping others. Social media is virtually an untapped, new patient treasure-chest if you know how to leverage it in certain ways. Take video, for example. People have a natural voyeuristic tendency, as proven by the reality TV boom.

Did you know major television networks are now teaming up to try and compete with YouTube (the 3rd most visited website in the world)? Very few people are turning to major network television for news anymore so the networks are freakin out. People are flocking to this video sharing network by the truckload. This sign was one that I caught onto very early and has been the best move I could've every made for my chiropractic marketing and other ventures.

In no other places on the web or offline, can you connect with so many targeted prospects like you can on social networks like Myspace, YouTube, Facebook, BlackPlanet, Tagged, etc... Pay attention to how many employers are now beginning to forbid their employees to navigate these networks at work. It's been a big problem nationally... haha. I mean, this addictive behavior should clue you into the massive drawing power of social media! From a business perspective, it's music to my ears.

The sooner you get involved and understand how to market on these networks, the more profitable and "recession-proof" your chiropractic practice will become. Social media and social networks are not a fad, I assure you. People are becoming rich and famous everyday from their use. The question is, when would "now" be a good time for your chiropractic marketing to evolve into the new world?

Chiropractor - 6 Steps to Become a Licensed Doctor

A Chiropractor goes through intense specialized training in order to be able to offer treatment as a licensed doctor of chiropractic medicine. The initials D.C. after your practitioner's name stands for Doctor of Chiropractic. He or she must put in years of studying and interning with a licensed D.C. in order to be able to offer treatment. Here are the six steps to becoming a chiropractor:

Obtain a four year bachelor's degree. It is important that undergraduate coursework is selected that supports the final mission of becoming a D.C. such as anatomy, physiology, biology, chemistry, and social sciences.

Apply to chiropractic colleges. The college will look over the applicant's GPA and coursework to evaluate whether the applicant is a viable candidate for your school. There are multiple schools of chiropractic medicine around the country so it is important that the applicant take a look at the ones that are located in the regions which would be conducive to their living and studying for four years.

Attend four years of intense schooling in order to prepare for a career as a D.C. The four years will be a combination of academic work in areas such as microbiology, physiology, anatomy, chemistry, and lab-work. There will also be thousands of hours of required hands-on practice working with patients.

Get licensed. After the four years of school has been completed, testing for licensure must be passed. The test which is administered by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners consists of four parts, all of which must be passed in order for a license to be obtained.

Set up practice or join an existing team of practitioners. It is helpful to be willing to relocate, if necessary.

Ongoing education is required in order to stay current on modern practices and discoveries. Most states require continued study in areas that pertain to the field of chiropractic care. Sometimes a specialty will be studied and added to the menu of services that the D.C. offers such as massage or alternative therapies.

If you are looking for alternatives to traditional medicine's prescription drugs and focus on illness, you may want to visit a chiropractor. Turn to someone who is a highly trained individual dedicated to the prevention of disease and the enhancement of wellness. Place your health in the hands of a skilled D.C. and watch your well-being and whole body happiness increase.

Soft Tissue Injuries and Chiropractic Care

Soft tissue injury (muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia) can occur from either a direct trauma injury, like a slip or fall, car accident or through some athletic activity, but they can also occur cumulatively from minor repetitive stresses that can occur from simple everyday life activities. For example, things like typing on your computer creating carpel tunnel syndrome, along with upper back and neck pain and tightness.

Either way the tissue goes through the same stages of healing: inflammatory, proliferative and remodeling.

Repetitive strain injuries manifest themselves as part of the Cumulative Injury Cycle as a broad range of symptoms and conditions that may present themselves as: Numbness, Tingling, Swelling, Weak, Tight, Aching and Painful.

On the histological level, normal, non-injured tissues should be full length and run parallel to one another, but in both traumas (acute and chronic) they cause micro tears within the tissue. As the tissue heals, it heals not only in a shortened manner but different collagen fibers are laid down in a cross bridged manner. You no longer have a full length and parallel tissue. The injured site never achieves the original histologic or mechanical features of a healthy tissue resulting in abnormal tissue tone, texture and length. A shortened muscle or tissue is actually a weaker muscle in that is now more susceptible to re-injury itself and adds more friction, pressure and tension to all the surrounding tissues. This is where the cumulative stress injuries start, and it becomes an ongoing self-perpetuating cycle.

Your best treatment options to date are through soft tissue mobilization, rehabilitation and chiropractic joint manipulation. Soft tissue mobilizations goal is restore the tissue tone, texture and length as close to its original structure and function. This is done by releasing the cross-linked collagen bridges that are formed and re-lengthening the tissue by manually applying a very specific tension, pressure and torque while taking the tissue through its full range of motion. This is best achieved from Active Release Techniques (ART簧), Graston Technique (GT簧) and Trans-Friction Massage (TFM) when combined with Kinesio簧 Taping. Soft tissue mobilization shows promising results especially for the cost and time from a patient perspective, but further data is necessary. Rehabilitation through eccentrically loading and stretching the tissues the tensile forces help to re-lengthen, re-align and strengthen the tissue. This has the best level of evidence to date. Chiropractic joint manipulation, also known as the adjustment, helps to make sure the proper alignment of the joints. Soft tissue injuries can cause joints to become dysfunctional and this is when the joint needs the specific high velocity, low amplitude thrust of the adjustment from a chiropractor.

Know More About Back Pain Problems and Their Effects

Most of the people today are aware of different types of back pain problems. Moreover, it is also considered as one of the most common health issues. Back discomfort is usually originated from the nervous, muscles, bones as well as other joints in the spine. Moreover, it could be a sign of any type of serious medial condition. Therefore, if you are experiencing any type of pain in your back, make sure you will consult a doctor and take the right measures of curing it in the initial stage itself. Moreover, the chances of curing the problem are also high, when you undergo a medication in the initial stages. Back discomforts or pains can also take place after a trauma like an accident or bone fracture. However, if the pain lasts for more than four months, it is known as a chronic back pain.

Know more about back pain:

However, back discomfort will have an unexpected onset or could be chronic in some cases. It could be intermittent or constant and stay in one place or even radiate to other parts of your body. Most of the individuals who have back pains also experience pains in their neck and shoulder. If back pain is not treated properly, it will start spreading to upper shoulder, arms, foot as well as cause problems such as numbness, tingling or weakness. However, a few observational researches suggest that the main two conditions that attribute the pain are degenerative disc disease and lumbar disc herniation.

If you are planning to undergo any type of treatments for your back, make sure you do it under the assistance of an experienced physician or expert. Moreover, these individuals will help you by providing right guidance to get rid of your back pain problems.