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Ice Therapy
Category:
Treatments, Types of Therapies
In many cases, temporary pain and even additional injury can be minimized and even avoided by a simple application of ice. Ice, applied in a timely manner and in an appropriate way, can reduce inflammation. Inflammation left unchecked can allow the source of the pain to continue doing damage to muscles,
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Jaw Pain
Category:
When to Seek Care, Types of Pain
Pain in the jaw comes from a wide variety of things. Sometimes jaw pain is caused by an injury. In many cases, however, jaw pain is caused by a disorder of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), the ball-and-socket joint on each side of your jaw. This joint connects the lower jaw to the skull near the front
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Joint Disorders: Spine
Category:
When to Seek Care, Conditions/Ailments
The bony structures that allow your back and neck to easily move in different directions are called "facet joints." Facet joints provide about one-fifth of your lower back and neck's twisting stability. Facet joints are located in pairs at each vertebral level (except for the top vertebra) down your
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Knee Pain
Category:
When to Seek Care, Types of Pain
The human knee is a marvel. Although it is an incredibly complex and sturdy structure, it also is more prone to injury than any other bony structure besides the spine.
Common causes of knee pain:
Arthritis of the knee - Arthritis most often causes problems with the knee joint but also can affect other
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Leg Pain
Category:
When to Seek Care, Types of Pain
The largest nerve in the human body may be responsible for one of the most common causes of leg pain. The sciatic nerve connects the spinal cord with the leg and foot muscles, and runs down both sides of the lumbar spine, through the buttock and back of the thigh, and down to the foot.
Many kinds of
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Lifestyle and Nutrition Counseling
Category:
Treatments, Chiropractic Techniques and Tools
Chiropractors believe that when your body is in a state of homeostasis, or balance, all of its varied systems function properly to repair or reverse injury or disease.
It is a holistic approach to patient care, one that focuses on a patient's total wellness, or well being, instead of specific diseases,
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Lifting Techniques
Category:
Health Tips, General Prevention Tips
Untold musculoskeletal injuries occur every day when people lift heavy or even slightly heavy objects without following the proper techniques.
Even a so-called simple task of lifting a box from the ground to place on a higher level such as a shelf or table can cause muscle and back strain.
Remember this
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Lumbar Stabilization
Category:
Treatments, Chiropractic Techniques and Tools
When the muscles supporting the lower spine need to be strengthened, lumbar stabilization may be used in your chiropractic treatment as a form of physical therapy. Lumbar stabilization helps you develop strength, flexibility, and endurance and also has been shown effective in alleviating lower back pain.
The
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Massage Therapy
Category:
Treatments, Types of Therapies
Therapeutic massage involves manipulating the soft tissues of the body to prevent and alleviate pain, discomfort, muscle spasm, and stress. As in many kinds of therapy, therapeutic massage is one part of your overall chiropractic treatment plan.
Massage therapy:
Alleviates headache-associated pain.
Helps
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Mowing
Category:
Health Tips, General Prevention Tips
If you have asthma or allergies, wear a mask
Stand as straight as possible, and keep your head up as you rake or mow.
Try to mow during the early morning and early evening hours, when the sun is not so hot.
Drink plenty of liquids to keep your muscles hydrated.
Protect yourself by wearing a hat,
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Muscular System
Category:
Anatomy
The soft tissues that envelop and support your spine make up an intricate network of muscles. With the help of your body's abdominal muscles, this network helps to keep your body stabilized and upright, and allows it to bend and flex. The types of muscles that support your spine include:
Extensors
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Neck Pain
Category:
When to Seek Care, Types of Pain
Your cervical spine connects your brain stem to your spinal cord. It is an area rich in blood vessels and other soft tissue, such as ligament and tendons. Neck pain is slightly less common than back pain, but no less important or treatable.
Common causes of neck pain include, but are not limited to:
Cervical
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Neck exercises
Category:
Health Tips, Exercise
Tuck in your chin.
Push your head back against your hands or the floor (if your are lying on your back).
Hold 5 counts. Do 20 repetitions.
Alternate or extension:
Place your hand on the side of your head.
Tuck in your chin and push your head to the side, against your hand. Hold 3 to 5 counts. Do 10
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Nerve Disorders
Category:
When to Seek Care, Conditions/Ailments
Your spine includes an incredibly complex network of nerves that originate in your brain, coursing their way downward through the spinal column and exiting at more than 60 different locations from the base of your skull all the way to the top of your lower back.
There are almost limitless ways for nerves
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Nervous System
Category:
Anatomy
Your nervous system looks much like an upended tree, suspended from its roots at the base of your brain, its millions of limbs reaching out to every corner of your body. Your spinal cord is like a thick braid formed by billions of these nerves. Your body has approximately 15 billion nerve cells-all
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Neurological Exams
Category:
Treatments, Chiropractic Techniques and Tools
A neurological examination is sometimes performed to determine if any part of your body has incurred damage to its central nervous system. Many health problems have been associated with nerve damage, and such, this exam can significantly improve the chances of making a thorough diagnosis.
A neurological
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Neuropathic Pain
Category:
When to Seek Care, Types of Pain
Neuropathic pain is a debilitating form of chronic pain that results from peripheral or central nervous system damage. When the damage is peripheral in nature, it is often referred to as nerve pain, sensory peripheral neuropathy, or peripheral neuritis.
Neuropathic pain is really a disease caused by
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Nutrition
Category:
Health Tips
Like exercise, proper nutrition provides a wealth of benefits‚ both physical and emotional‚ that contribute to your body's strength and its ability to ward off disease and disability.
A healthy diet translates into a healthy body; the proper mix of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients are the
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Osteoporosis
Category:
When to Seek Care, Conditions/Ailments
Osteoporosis is a gradual disintegration of bone and it can have a devastating impact on the joints and vertebrae of your spine.
Osteoporosis causes the loss of mass and density in bones, making them highly susceptible to fractures. If the bones in your spine become weak and spongy, your spine gradually
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Pilates
Category:
Health Tips, Exercise
Pilates is an exercise program named after Joseph Pilates, who developed an exercise program in the early-20th century to improve the physical fitness of World War I soldiers. Pilates incorporated resistance into programs for rehabilitating injured patients. He later incorporated springs into exercise
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Posture
Category:
Health Tips
Try this simple posture "reality check" the next time you are standing in front of a full-length mirror:
Are your knees and ankles straight (i.e., not angled inward or outward)?
Are your shoulders and hips level?
As you stand sideways, does your lower back have a natural curve in it?
Do the spaces between
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Pregnancy Pain
Category:
When to Seek Care, Types of Pain
Largely because of the physical and hormonal changes to their bodies, many pregnant women can experience various kinds of back pain.
Here's a look at some of the kinds of pain pregnant women are prone to:
Coccyx (tailbone) pain
Groin pain
Pelvic pain (which usually begins during pregnancy, but typically
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Raking
Category:
Health Tips, General Prevention Tips
When raking leaves, use a "scissors" stance. This entail keeping your right foot forward and left foot back for a few minutes. Occasionally switch by putting your left foot forward and right foot back. Always bend at your knees, not the waist, as you pick up leaves. Make piles small to minimize the possibility
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Scoliosis
Category:
When to Seek Care, Conditions/Ailments
Scoliosis is a medical term that refers to spinal curvatures. Scoliosis is a condition that almost always begins in early childhood. And it is exceedingly rare. In fact, only about 5 out of 1,000 American children usually develop curved spines enough to warrant treatment. Scoliosis affects only 1 percent
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Shoes
Category:
Health Tips, General Prevention Tips
Tips about shoe features/selection
Some serious back disorders and even more common conditions, such as muscle strain, can be linked to one avoidable thing: inappropriate, poor quality, or ill-fitting shoes. A good quality, properly fitting shoe pays big dividends for your spine down the road.
When shopping
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Shoulder Pain
Category:
When to Seek Care, Types of Pain
Shoulder pain can be caused by a wide variety of things, including a subluxation, or vertebral misalignment, or injury.
Most often, shoulder pain can be traced to tenderness or soreness of the rotator-cuff tendon. The rotator cuff is the part of the shoulder that allows you to move your arms in a circular
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Sleep Apnea
Category:
When to Seek Care, Conditions/Ailments
It is fairly normal for most of us to snore from time to time, especially if we are tired.
The rattling sound we hear in people who snore is actually caused by the tissues in your throat, such as the soft palate and uvula, vibrating.
Some people, however, actually have a minor defect in their throat
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Snow Shoveling
Category:
Health Tips, General Prevention Tips
As far as household chores are concerned, snow shoveling is one of the most stressful and traumatic household chores you can do to your spinal cord and muscles.
When shoveling, consider these tips:
Make sure your body is properly conditioned before donning your winter coat and grabbing your snow shovel.
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Spinal Health and Pregnancy
Category:
Health Tips
Pregnancy can wreak havoc on your neck, shoulders, back, hips, legs, and feet.
Most women who go through pregnancy are aware of the importance of good nutrition while carrying their baby. But many are not aware, or ignore, the vital role that good posture and simple exercises can play in guarding against
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Spinal Structures
Category:
Anatomy
The spinal column is an intricate framework of interlocking bones that, when viewed from the side, form a gentle "S" shape. The spine is a sophisticated system-both fragile and sturdy-of muscles, bones, joints, ligaments, discs, a spinal cord, and nerves. Joints, called "facet joints," and discs allow
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Sports Injuries
Category:
When to Seek Care, Conditions/Ailments
Though there is no such thing as a "safe" sport, highly competitive sports, such as football, weightlifting, gymnastics, and wrestling, pose particularly higher risks of injuries, especially among children.
According to experts, as much as 20 percent of all sports-related injuries involve the lower back
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Sports/Recreation Injury Prevention
Category:
Health Tips
By their very nature, sports and other kinds of recreational activities are inherently risky ventures for your entire body, none the least being your neck, spine, joints, and muscles. If you or your children are active participants, proper body conditioning is as essential as the equipment used in these
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Stenosis
Category:
When to Seek Care, Conditions/Ailments
In a normal healthy spine, bundles of nerves exit the spinal column at dozens of tiny locations from the base of the skull to the top of the lower back. When these openings become blocked or narrowed, nerves can become impinged, leading to a condition called stenosis.
The vast majority of cases of spinal
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Subluxations
Category:
When to Seek Care
The spinal column is an intricate framework of interlocking bones that, when viewed from the side, form a gentle "S" shape. The spine is a sophisticated system—both fragile and sturdy—of muscles, bones, joints, ligaments, discs, a spinal cord, and nerves.
Daily activities, such as lifting and exercise,
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Symptoms
Category:
When to Seek Care
If it weren't for our remarkable nervous system, we might never know about most serious problems, or be able to correct them before they get worse. You may benefit from chiropractic care and treatment if:
You have developed any kind of pain in your joints or skeletal structures such as your neck,
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