Frequently Asked Questions
A. Chiropractic care can be very helpful when recovering from a spinal joint pain/injury. The chiropractic adjustment achieves different results from a physical therapy joint mobilization. A P.T. usually nudges or stretches the joint through its normal range. This can help with alignment and pain reduction. The chiropractic adjustment stretches the joint beyond its normal range to create a neuromuscular release and change. It can create a spontaneous muscle spasm relaxation which can be temporary or permanent. If however, you are having more pain with chiropractic adjustments or need more frequent chiropractic treatments, I would discontinue chiropractic treatment and attempt an alternate treatment. I feel that 75% of the time, the P.T. treatment achieves good results with joint mobility within three visits. If improvement is not made within three visits, or I feel chiropractic treatment would achieve relief more quickly, I will frequently recommend seeing a chiropractor in conjunction with our office treatment. Unfortunately, chiropractors do not usually address the soft tissue aspects of the injury. They also rarely spend much time instructing you on postural instruction or a comprehensive exercise program to assist in your independence. A combination of both chiropractic and physical therapy may be the best rehab for some conditions. Also some insurance plans have maximum dollar amount per year for physical therapy as well as for chiropractic care. This might be the best way to stretch out your allotted money for rehab.
Q. I’ve tried physical therapy before and it didn’t work. What is different about your office?
A. There are many different types of physical therapists. Some focus predominantly on gym and exercise training and offer very little “hands on” treatment. Some focus on modalities such as heat, ice, ultrasound, electrical stimulation and whirlpool. These treatments may be effective for some people.
We have found that with our manual therapy techniques, we can achieve better results in a shorter period of time than with machines modalities, and by feeling the changes during the treatment, we learn more about the condition and your needs. We also are able to trace the injury to its source more easily.
For example: I once treated a man presenting left hip pain after a basketball game. The first treatment focused on relief of the hip pain with manual therapy, and giving his gentle stretches to improve his mobility. The pain was relieved only temporarily. At the second visit, I spent more time assessing the whole lower body and observed a significant problem with his left ankle. He had sprained his ankle in high school, but it had healed with poor positioning. This put excessive stress on his left hip causing stress and pain. After treating the left ankle, he did not require further treatment and the hip pain resolved.
Q. I am unable to perform the exercises that my physical therapist gave me because it increases my pain. My therapist told me I need to push through them to get better. Is the “NO PAIN, NO GAIN” the only option?
A. Pain is your body telling you that something is wrong. It’s a warning signal. In some cases (usually fibromyalgia or other connective tissue disorders) it is necessary to experience some pain with exercise. However, in most situations, pain should not be produced with your exercises. I can’t imagine trying to motivate yourself to do something that hurts you. With treatment prior to performing the exercises and close supervision to assure that your execution of the exercise is correct, you should have no pain with the exercise program. Sometimes supports such as towel rolls or pillows may be necessary if your muscles aren’t strong enough to perform the exercise correctly.
The most common issue is found with women (more frequently than men) performing abdominal strengthening. Usually if the abdominals are very weak, the deeper muscles (iliopsoas muscles or hip flexors) are so tight that they will dominate the exercise. Without treatment to the hip flexors, you may never achieve an adequate contraction of the abdominals and this will create lower back pain and over usage.
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