Chiropractors - More than "Back Doctors"

Too often treatment precedes diagnosis. For far too many patients who are seeking care from a provider, treatment is often directed at delivering symptomatic relief without gaining a full clinical picture of why they are symptomatic in the first place. It's almost as if these providers deliver treatment goal of simply reducing or eliminating symptoms and that once absence of symptoms is achieved, the patient is free to return to activities as they were pre-injury status.

However, this model of treatment is why many patients are recurrently dealing with pain once they do return to activities.

For example, someone that works overhead or uses their arms all day (painter, drywall hanger, hair stylist, etc.) will more than likely run into shoulder impingement at some point in their professional careers. An anti-inflammatory will help reduce pain. Getting a quick adjustment to the mid-back and cupping may provide a sense of relief in reduced muscular tension and improved range of motion, but what will really make a difference is making sure the muscles around the shoulder are doing their job to keep the joints stable and moving the way they're supposed to. You see if proper function is not restored, pain will be quick to return because unnecessary stress is being placed on the shoulder joint. This unnecessary stress will eventually lead to injury.

FOCUS ON THE ROOT CAUSE, NOT SYMPTOMS 

When it comes to many of the above musculoskeletal conditions, a trip to your primary care physician should probably not be your first stop. That's just being honest. Medical doctors have little training in the diagnosis of musculoskeletal conditions. This is generally why they simply prescribe anti-inflammatory medications, muscle relaxers, and tell you to go easy for few days. Although this may enable your pain levels to reduce, it does not mean you are going to be problem free once you return to your activities. This is why making functional changes in the body is so important.

Again, this is why diagnosis is so important. Not only is it important to understand your sensitivities and what specific movements or activities you have pain with, but it's important to identify what is driving your pain. The driver of your pain is known as the root cause and, sometimes, the root cause of your pain is not in the same location as where you feel pain.

Once we identify what is driving your pain, then treatment is design to not only get you out of pain, but to also create the functional changes in your body to become more resilient so that pain does not return.

This is why we blend specific manual therapy, joint manipulation, and neuromuscular stabilization exercise progressions to improve control of movement and posture. If it's a muscle or joint issue, we treat it. If it's something we can't treat, we'll make sure you receive recommendations on the right specialist for your condition. We want you to achieve your goals whether it's getting back to work, sport, or just simply the activities you enjoy. Regardless of your goal, we pride ourselves on helping you achieve them as efficiently as possible.

Don't let a joint or muscle injury stop you from reaching those goals. Let us help. After all, we take care of more than just backs.