Common questions about chiropractic care

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Common questions about chiropractic care

I heard that cold laser therapy will help my chronic sinus and allergy conditions, is that true?

Cold laser therapy (Low level laser) is the newest therapy to treat a wide variety of conditions. Sinus infections can be healed with laser in a very short time. The cold laser uses low power light which triggers a response from the body’s natural immune system and is found to induce the cellular healing process (reduce swelling).

According to published medical reports, many acute and chronic conditions can be eliminated with cold laser therapy. Cold laser treatments are painless and completely non-invasive. Laser treatments also: reduce pain and inflammation, heal tissue 60% faster (therefore less costly), improve circulation, increase range of motion and repair damaged cells. At Tri-States Clinic we use the low level laser in conjunction with spinal adjustments to achieve the best results.

I’ve heard so much information on laser therapy, what is the difference in lasers?

Low level laser therapy is a therapy used for many different conditions. It is very different from the more commonly known hot laser treatments. Hot lasers are used to cut, cauterize and destroy tissue.

Cold laser (low level laser) is a healing therapy that works at the cell level to accelerated the healing process. It is used to remove scars, regenerate nerves, heal wounds, stabilize repetitive injuries (carpal tunnel syndrome), and manage many other conditions. The benefits are many and there is no side affects associated with the low level laser. At Tri-States Clinic of Chiropractic the patient is evaluated and it is determined what type of treatment is necessary. Dr. Souder is uniquely specialized in Chiropractic Neurology. If you have any questions for Dr. Souder, please feel free to call 563-585-0800 or check out her website Dubuquechiropractic.com.

I’ve heard laser therapy works well for pain management and many other conditions, is that true?

Laser therapy has helped hundreds of pain sufferers including professional athletes, elderly, and children.

The most common causes of inflammation are improper alignment, uncorrected trauma, and weakened damaged tissues. If this condition is left uncorrected, scar tissue forms around the joint, causing degenerative changes and chronic symptoms. Many chronic sufferers don’t know which way to turn, literally. These conditions have responded extremely well to a combination of laser therapy, chiropractic care and a therapeutic home exercise program through our clinic.

At Tri-States Clinic, we educate patients on ways to eliminate symptoms and do our best to develop specific treatment programs based on individual patient needs. Our specialty training in neurology and spinal biomechanics will allow us to treat each individual patient with the best possible care. Give us a call if you have any questions for Dr. Souder at 563-585-0800 or checkout our website at Dubuquechiropractic.com.

I heard that cold laser therapy will help my chronic sinus and allergy conditions, is that true?

I have been diagnosed with a slipped disc, can chiropractic treatments help?

“Slipped Disc” is perhaps one of the most used misnomers in all of healthcare. Disc’s rarely slip. In fact, the disc connection to the vertebrae above and below is as strong as the bone itself, So, what really happens?

The disc is a circle of cartilage between each vertebra in the spine that acts as both a shock absorber and a shock distributor. Imagine what would happen to the stack of bony vertebra that make up the spine without the cushioning of the discs. Discs depend on water to keep their height and perform efficiently. When we’re young, discs have their own circulation that helps keep them hydrated. As we age, this circulation ends and the spine must move so that water can be drawn into the discs. As dehydration occurs, the discs are more at risk for cracks, fissures and loss of height.

Chiropractic treatments have a long history of successfully providing conservative care for disc conditions, which means it is non-surgical and drugless. In the treatment of low back disc problems, most experts agree that conservative care should be tried before surgery is considered, except in severe cases.

I’ve heard laser therapy works well for pain management and many other conditions, is that true?

Laser therapy has helped hundreds of pain sufferers including professional athletes, elderly, and children.

I had heard that Chiropractic care has helped children diagnosed with learning disabilities, is that true?

Learning disorders and dyslexia affect between three and ten percent of school-aged children in the United Sates. Daily stessors in life can cause misalignments in the spine, called vertebral subluxations. The subluxations can result in inadequate brain stimulation, which can cause problems throughout the body including developmental problems. The only source of constant stimulation to the brain comes from the spine and from the postural muscles. They constantly barrage the brain and try to adjust to the force of gravity. Therefore, chiropractic adjustments to the spine can open up channels to the brain and improve the nerve flow to all parts of the body, even parts of the brain that are not functioning properly and are delayed in their development causing the learning disabilities.

Pain pills help my headache but it keeps coming back. My doctor keeps prescribing different medications but nothing seems to work. I’m at wits end!

About one in six Americans suffer from chronic headaches of one type or another. In severity, chronic headaches may range from a tension headache to excruciating pain of a migraine. They all have one thing in common, they always return, sometimes worse than before. Unfortunately, pain pills do nothing to treat the underlying cause of headaches. Often headaches are associated with misaligned vertebra, postural problems in the neck or tight muscles that attach to the back of the head.

A chiropractor is trained to find the underlying cause of the headaches. At Tri-States Clinic, we use our training in structural biomechanics and neurology to detect the cause of the headache. Our treatments vary with each individual case.

Can Chiropractic help me with Chronic Fatigue?

Chronic Fatigue can adversely affect the liver, nervous system and hormonal balance. Many times the chiropractor is not the first professional a person with Chronic Fatigue has seen, often coming to us as a last resort. The most common symptoms patients describe are muscle and joint pain, extreme fatigue, and headache. The traditional medical approach has limited options for treatment.

A Chronic Fatigue patient will enter our office usually for relief of musculoskeletal complaints that often accompany Chronic Fatigue. After ruling out serious illness, the possible chiropractic treatment could be spinal correction, detoxification as well as dietary changes.

At Tri-States Clinic, treatment for Chronic Fatigue has included spinal adjustments, liver detoxification and low level laser treatments to balance the bodies systems, just to name a few.

I have recently been diagnosed with Carpel Tunnel Syndrome. Are there other options besides surgery?

Different causes have been blamed for Carpel Tunnel Syndrome including computer usage and poor ergonomics. Although irritation of the nerve of the carpel tunnel can cause this condition; nerves at the spine, shoulder muscle, or forearm muscle can also be the cause.

Surgical procedures, which 'release' the pressure on the nerves at the carpel tunnel by permanently severing the ligaments that hold the tunnel together are rarely successful over the long term and almost never address the cause of nerve irritation.

At Tri-States Clinic, treatment for repetitive motion injuries includes a combination of corrective chiropractic adjustments to relieve the nerve pressure of the spinal level and low level laser therapies to reduce the inflammation of the nerve and muscle.

What do chiropractors do?

Chiropractors treat “subluxations” which is a joint (and their supportive soft tissues) that are stuck, glued, stiff, scarred, worn and in improper global and segmental positions. These dysfunctional joints are a result of a lifetime of injuries that can even start at birth, and are also caused by the slow but steady accumulation of daily wear and tear, poor posture and poor ergonomic and exercise habits. Unhealthy joints shut down the motion dependent nerve endings that make the brain work and help quiet pain and increase pain transmission to the brain. Irritated disc and joint degradation continues, disc herniations and bone spurs may deteriorate to a point that nerve roots become compressed, carpal tunnel, sciatica and other conditions can then begin.

My back used to hurt once in awhile, but now every morning and after work my neck and back both throb and ache. Can I be helped?

It is common for that small ache that goes away fairly easily and quickly to snowball into a greater problem that won’t resolve itself without some help. Then, the muscles along with the supporting spinal soft tissues weaken to the point where they can no longer support the spine appropriately. This will then lead to a perpetual cycle of low back or neck pain, fatigue, and weakness, and neurological conditions in the body.

Chiropractors are highly trained in musculo-skeletal conditions, and specialize in spinal related conditions.

The treatments we utilize at Tri-States Clinic often speed healing time by improving the functioning level of the injured tissue, nerve and brain to help them to work at an optimum level.

Are chiropractic treatments only for back or neck pain?

In fact, relieving pain is not the only issue. The purpose of chiropractic is to remove nerve interference at the spinal level and help the body restore its own natural flow of energy, which allows you to adapt to your internal and external environment and heal from the inside out.

There are six primary interferences to health that directly affect the spine. They start with spinal structure, toxicity, emotions, nutrition, electromagnetic stress and allergies/sensitivities. The body will begin to heal itself once some or all of these are removed. Your chiropractic coach can recommend other strategies to stay in control of your health.

Can Chiropractic help my fibromyalgia?

It appears that cases of fibromyalgia are on the increase. Fibromyalgia is characterized by significant muscle pain, which at times is debilitating. “Flair ups” often occur with only a slight increase in activity or even barometric weather changes.

Due to their increased sensitivity, people with fibromyalgia usually require low force procedures which still get to the root of their mechanical imbalances. Often there are chemical imbalances that still need to be cleaned up as well. This can usually be helped by a detoxification process. At Tri-States Clinic we utilize the Energy Balancer foot bath that has been proven to remove heavy metals, toxins from joints as well as other organs within the body. If you know of someone suffering with fibromyalgia, let them know there may be a drug free way to help.

I have been told that I have poor posture. I’m wondering if Chiropractic care may help improve my posture.

Chiropractic considers the structure of the spine and ultimately posture, to be a requisite to maintaining health and normal function. Abnormal posture can cause alterations in some of our basic physiological processes, such as headaches, blood pressure, emotions, lung capacity, and hormonal production to name a few. Yet maintaining an erect, upright position is difficult because postural control is mainly reflexic and involuntary. From this we can logically presume the best way to make a lasting change to spinal structure, or posture, is to correct posture from a reflexive, involuntary standpoint. This is the basis for the biomechanics model of spinal correction that is utilized at Tri-States Clinic of Chiropractic.

I was rear-ended in a car accident 10 months ago, the doctor in the ER told me I would be “okay” within 6 weeks. I have actually gotten worse as time has gone by. Is it in my head or can I be helped?

It would be impossible to say you will definitely be “okay” in 6 weeks time. This is a very old school of thought. Every person reacts differently to accidents such as these. Many factors influence how you heal such as genetics, the prior state of your health, your lifestyle, your employment duties, and the details of the actual accident (collision). What happens after injuries like this, even though you may be in pain, your nervous system and the neurons that make up your nervous system will often be functioning at a high level for awhile, then over time (days, weeks, months…) things reverse as a result of the past accident and you get neuronal cell death, that can result in greater pain and dysfunction at the area of injury as well as pain in places not initially injured.