As you may know, Doctors of Chiropractic diagnose and treat many different spinal disorders that cause musculoskeletal or nerve pain. When you make that first appointment, your chiropractor will perform a physical and neurological examination as part of the process of making an accurate diagnosis.
At Lagos Health Chiropractic, for example, we’ll check your reflexes, your muscles, your movement, your posture and your blood pressure. We’ll also go through a comprehensive health questionnaire to make sure we know as much about you as we can before we start treatment. Then we set to work to make your pain go away and give you more mobility.
Of course, we mostly see patients with back pain, hip pain, shoulder, leg and neck pain, but we also help patients with fibromyalgia, arthritis, sleep disorders and trapped nerves.
Below we look at the obvious and not-so-obvious spine-related problems that are often evaluated and treated by chiropractic care.
Back Sprains and Strains are experienced by approximately three out of four adults. Typically involving muscles, tendons or ligaments, these can occur when you lift too much weight, play a strenuous sport, bend or twist improperly during regular activities during the day, or just by sneezing! The pain may be aching, burning, stabbing, tingling, sharp, or dull.
Sciatica may occur when the sciatic nerve or a branch of the sciatic nerve is compressed or becomes irritated. The hallmark of sciatica is moderate to severe pain that travels below the knee of one leg. Some people with sciatica describe the pain as sharp, shooting, or similar to an electric-shock.
Cervicogenic Headaches are caused by referred neck pain. The pain from this type of headache is usually felt at the back of the head, in the temples and/or behind the eyes. A cervicogenic headache may be mistaken for a migraine headache.
Short Leg or Leg Length Discrepancy is where one leg is slightly shorter than the other, and can be caused by different types of structural (eg, birth defect) or postural problems (eg, pelvic tilt).
Myofascial Pain is a chronic pain disorder where pressure on sensitive points in your muscles (called trigger points) can cause deep, aching pain in seemingly unrelated parts of your body. Sometimes myofascial pain feels like a “knot” in your muscle, and occurs after a muscle is used repeatedly.
Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD) is usually associated with aging. As you become older, your intervertebral discs (the pillow-like cushions between your vertebrae) can degenerate or break down due to years of strain, overuse or misuse. The discs may lose flexibility, elasticity and shock absorption. They also become thinner as they dehydrate.
Herniated Disc usually occurs in the neck or low back. A herniated disc can cause pain when the outer ring or interior matter presses on a nearby nerve root.
Piriformis Syndrome may occur when the piriformis muscle (a narrow muscle located in the buttocks) compresses or irritates the sciatic nerve. Symptoms may include pain and/or sensations (tingling, numbness) that travel down through the buttock(s) and into one or both legs.
Spondylosis or Spinal Osteoarthritis may affect the spine’s facet joints or other bones. This type of arthritis is often associated with aging.
Whiplash is a hyperflexion/hyperextension injury commonly occurring in a motor vehicle accident. The neck and head are “whipped” suddenly and quickly forward (hyperflexion) and backward (hyperextension), which may lead to severe neck sprain.
If you have questions about any of the above conditions, are suffering from one or more of them, or would like to know how chiropractic care could benefit you or members of your family, please come and see us at Lagos Health Chiropractic. You can call us on +351 282 768 044, or just pop in for an informal chat – we’re next door to the coffee shop in the big pink building by the Lidl Supermarket in Lagos.
You may also like to read some of the informative health articles on the blog pages of our website (www.lagos-health.com), or pick up tips and news by following us on Facebook (lagoshealthalgarve) and Twitter (@lagoshealth).
