 Your new post is loading...
Your new post is loading...
Health care should not be subpar; with so many choices, advertisements, reviews, word of mouth, etc., finding quality health care can be challenging. This can be a physician, dentist, nutritionist, or chiropractor. How to know when a top chiropractic team is treating you? When Chiropractic Care Is Necessary Individuals wonder when they should see a chiropractor. Signs and symptoms that could indicate you should see a chiropractor include: - Trouble standing, walking, bending, or performing daily activities.
- Discomfort or pain when sitting or lying down.
- Headaches.
- Neck pain.
- Shoulder, arm, or hand tingling or pain.
- Back pain.
- Hip pain.
- Pain that runs down one or both legs.
- Knee pain.
- Foot problems like numbness, tingling, or pain.
Top Chiropractic Team A top chiropractic team will harmoniously perform their jobs; even with obstacles, they will get it done. They will communicate effectively with each other and the patients, explain the whole process, provide personalized treatments and not a one size fits all approach, and value the patients' time. Communication Communication is vital for individuals to understand and have confidence in their personalized treatment plan. - The chiropractor and supporting staff will ensure the patient understands what will happen and how it will affect their injury/condition.
- The doctor and staff will continually ask how you are doing.
- The team's ultimate goals are to get the healing process activated and the patient's satisfaction.
Offered Multiple Treatment Options Spinal adjustments are not the only thing individuals should think of when considering treatment. Multiple treatment approaches have been found to achieve the best results when dealing with musculoskeletal conditions and disorders. The chiropractor will discuss and offer specific treatment options that can include: - Massage
- Chiropractic Adjustments
- Physical Rehabilitation
- Stretches and Exercises
- Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression
- Traction therapy
- Health Coaching
- Nutrition recommendations
Patient's Time A top chiropractic clinic doesn't feel like the doors are just revolving with patients rushing in and out like a grocery store. - Every patient's appointment is their time with:
- A detailed consultation
- Therapeutic prep-massage to loosen muscles and joints before the adjustments.
- Thorough chiropractic adjustments
- After-care patient questions - The chiropractor or staff will take the time to answer all your questions and not waste your time waiting around.
- Recommended stretching exercises
- Body analysis
- Nutritional advice
Treatments Are Working Chiropractic care can take some time to treat, rehabilitate, and heal the injury or condition. - The treatments work, and you see and feel the progress.
- You can move around without fear of triggering pain.
- Your confidence grows in yourself and the team.
- If treatment is not working or producing lasting results, the chiropractor will refer you to another medical professional.
- A top chiropractic team wants the best medical treatment for each patient, even if they cannot provide it.
Patient Satisfaction When treated by a top chiropractic team from the front desk, patient care coordinator, massage therapists, nutritionist, and clinic manager, the overall experience is positive and pleasant; you can feel the difference and leave exhilarated. General Disclaimer * The information herein is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional or licensed physician and is not medical advice. We encourage you to make healthcare decisions based on your research and partnership with a qualified healthcare professional. Our information scope is limited to chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, sensitive health issues, functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions. We provide and present clinical collaboration with specialists from a wide array of disciplines. Each specialist is governed by their professional scope of practice and their jurisdiction of licensure. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for the injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Our videos, posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate to and directly or indirectly support our clinical scope of practice.* Our office has reasonably attempted to provide supportive citations and identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We provide copies of supporting research studies available to regulatory boards and the public upon request. We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation of how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900. Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, CCST, IFMCP*, CIFM*, ATN* email: coach@elpasofunctionalmedicine.com Licensed in: Texas & New Mexico* References Clijsters, Mattijs et al. "Chiropractic treatment approaches for spinal musculoskeletal conditions: a cross-sectional survey." Chiropractic & manual therapies vol. 22,1 33. 1 Oct. 2014, doi:10.1186/s12998-014-0033-8 Eriksen, K., Rochester, R.P. & Hurwitz, E.L. Symptomatic reactions, clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction associated with upper cervical chiropractic care: A prospective, multicenter, cohort study. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 12, 219 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-12-219 Gary Gaumer, Factors Associated With Patient Satisfaction With Chiropractic Care: Survey and Review of the Literature,
Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, Volume 29, Issue 6, 2006, Pages 455-462, ISSN 0161-4754, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmpt.2006.06.013 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161475406001588) Kerns, R.D., Krebs, E.E. & Atkins, D. Making Integrated Multimodal Pain Care a Reality: A Path Forward. J GEN INTERN MED 33, 1–3 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-018-4361-6 Pribicevic, M., Pollard, H. A multi-modal treatment approach for the shoulder: A 4 patient case series. Chiropr Man Therap 13, 20 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1186/1746-1340-13-20
Traditional studies of surgery and drugs or medications, naturally, still dwarfs class discussion of complementary and alternative medicine. However, students want to add complementary, integrative and functional medicine methods because they “know their potential patients will be using them,” says Shelly Adler, director of integrative medicine education at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, which has a history of teaching the subject. “I could already see the limits of Western medicine, particularly when treating recurrent pain or other chronic problems. I thought other healing traditions could fill in some gaps,” says Carson Brown, a first year resident at San Mateo Medical Center in California. Spurred in part by the relief which acupuncture had provided her to get hip pain she took a two-week elective last year offered to UCSF students which covered topics from acupuncture to mind-body medicine. A similar optional was started last spring in the Loma Linda University School of Medicine in California; the faculty is likely a second, more in-depth option on functional medicine for chronic conditions. An approach to handling, even reversing, diabetes, as an instance, highlights exercise and also a diet rich in foods that are whole, together with medication as a last resort, to provide overall health and wellness to future patients.
|
Improper posture affects the whole body and can lead to various pain issues throughout the body. Correcting posture is recommended before trying to correct it when pain begins to present. If pain is presenting, chiropractic treatment will bring relief, stabilize the spine, realign/balance the body, and educate the individual on maintaining proper posture through stretches, exercises, physical therapy, and lifestyle adjustments. Improper posture symptoms Neck Pain Discomfort, stiffness, tightness, and pain are common when sitting at a workstation. This comes from a forward head/head jutting position. The head pushes forward and is not aligned with the shoulders. This means that the neck takes on a compromised position. The head forward position places significant strain on the neck muscles. Because of this neck discomfort and pain often occur later in the afternoon and evening. If not sure whether head jutting is taking place, try placing the chin to the chest. If not able or if there is discomfort/pain in the upper back, there is some forward head jutting. Shoulder Discomfort and Pain When we sit for extended periods, the body relaxes muscles that would normally be used if standing. One set of muscles is in the upper back. This causes slouching with a rounded upper back/shoulders. The more time the body stays in any one position, the more it begins to conform to the unhealthy position. This also causes pain in the upper, front part of the shoulders. The pain is noticeable when trying to bring the arm/s overhead or when trying to perform exercises like pushups or pullups. Regular Headaches Regular headaches are another symptom of improper posture. Forward head posture is usually a contributor combined with the long hours sitting or standing. However, headaches can be caused by a variety of causes that include: - Stress
- Tension
- Dehydration
Low Back, Tailbone Discomfort, and Pain Lower back pain is a very common symptom of improper posture. For individuals under 40, pain and discomfort present because of improper posture while sitting or standing and a lack of stretching and exercise. Sitting for a long time causes the muscles that bring the thighs towards the chest, known as the hip flexors to be consistently flexed, with no relief. This causes the hip flexors to shorten and tighten. This pulls the pelvis out towards the front of the body, creating an exaggerated spinal curve. Buttocks or Stomach Pushes Outward Take a look at the body's profile, does the butt and/or stomach stick out? If so this could be hyperlordosis also known as Donald duck posture. This can come from wearing high heels too much, the body having to carry extra weight in the stomach area, and sometimes this comes from pregnancy. Sometimes, this happens when individuals stand with their knees locked. This causes the rear end and/or belly to push out. Correcting Improper Posture The main problem with correcting posture is the ability to maintain proper posture. Many individuals go back to the unhealthy positioning without recognizing that they are doing it. There are devices to help correct poor posture habits. This could be a brace or harness that detects when the body is slouching and vibrates to let the individual return to a proper position. Chiropractic Care and Physical Therapy The most effective and thorough way to correct years of improper posture is to see a professional chiropractor. A complete diagnosis, inspection, and analysis of an individual's posture when sitting, standing, walking, and running will be done. They will educate the individual on correct posture, how to achieve and maintain it. If pain is presenting, the chiropractor will take steps to correct any subluxations, misalignments, and develop a personalized treatment plan, to heal the body first. Treatment modalities can include: - Chiropractic adjustments
- Physical therapy
- Massage
- Heat therapy
- Infrared
- Ultrasound
- TENS device
- Health coaching
- Nutritional advice
Once the body has healed and is moving freely, the doctor will recommend exercises and stretching programs to do at home. This will improve and help maintain proper posture. An experienced musculoskeletal professional will keep the body balanced and prevent further injuries. Hydrating the body with water or a sports drink Many individuals prefer drinking sports drinks during and after physical activities, sports, and exercise. Many are opposed to water because of the lack of taste, while sports drinks have taste and added electrolytes. But many sports drinks have added ingredients and sugars. This makes them not the best choice for individuals trying to lose calories. Take a look at some of the additional ingredients: Electrolytes Minerals, like potassium, sodium, and magnesium, have an electric charge that helps maintain the body’s ionic balance. The body loses electrolytes when sweating. A sports drink can help replace the lost electrolytes. Carbohydrates Most of the carbohydrates come from sugars. Carbohydrates are one of the body’s energy sources and sports drinks are designed to refuel the body after hard physical activity. Amino acids These are protein building blocks. Drinking a sports drink after an intense workout can help the body recover quicker. Therefore, some of the additional ingredients in sports drinks offer hydration extras that water on its own cannot. However, water should always be the first drink of choice. But there are certain times when a sports drink is what the body needs. - When participating in high-intensity physical activities, workouts, sports that last longer than 45 minutes to an hour. Here a sports drinks can help replenish the body’s electrolytes better than water.
- Individuals that sweat high levels of sodium (look for sweat stains/rings on skin or clothing) can benefit from re-hydrating with a sports drink.
- Endurance athletes, triathletes, marathon runners, long-distance athletes, etc can also benefit from a sports drink, from the increased fluid loss.
- In these activities, athletes should make sure the sports drink they are consuming contains carbohydrates and electrolytes.
Disclaimer The information herein is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional, licensed physician, and is not medical advice. We encourage you to make your own health care decisions based on your research and partnership with a qualified health care professional. Our information scope is limited to chiropractic, musculoskeletal, physical medicines, wellness, sensitive health issues, functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions. We provide and present clinical collaboration with specialists from a wide array of disciplines. Each specialist is governed by their professional scope of practice and their jurisdiction of licensure. We use functional health & wellness protocols to treat and support care for the musculoskeletal system’s injuries or disorders. Our videos, posts, topics, subjects, and insights cover clinical matters, issues, and topics that relate to and support, directly or indirectly, our clinical scope of practice.* Our office has made a reasonable attempt to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We provide copies of supporting research studies available to regulatory boards and the public upon request. We understand that we cover matters that require an additional explanation of how it may assist in a particular care plan or treatment protocol; therefore, to further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900. Dr. Alex Jimenez DC, MSACP, CCST, IFMCP*, CIFM*, CTG*
email: coach@elpasofunctionalmedicine.com
phone: 915-850-0900
Licensed in Texas & New Mexico References Hao, Ning et al. “Enhancing creativity: Proper body posture meets proper emotion.” Acta Psychologica vol. 173 (2017): 32-40. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2016.12.005 Jaromi, Melinda et al. “Treatment and ergonomics training of work-related lower back pain and body posture problems for nurses.” Journal of clinical nursing vol. 21,11-12 (2012): 1776-84. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2012.04089.x O'Connor B. Sitting Disease: The New Health Epidemic. The Chopra Center Web site. http://www.chopra.com/articles/sitting-disease-the-new-health-epidemic. Accessed January 7, 2017.
Have you ever wondered how many years your treating chiropractic doctor went to school for or how their education compares to that of other health care professionals? Knowing your doctor’s educational background and additional certifications is often essential to helping you choose the health care provider that is right for you. While the word “doctor” automatically implies an extensive academic curriculum, each health care specialist has a unique and individualized educational program to complete prior to practicing in the field. Our doctors have designed this article to help you understand your chiropractor’s educational background and how it may affect your care.
Chiropractors Educational Requirements?
As with many professionals, the specific requirements outlined often vary from state to state. Typically, chiropractors are required to have completed undergraduate pre-medical studies and obtained a bachelor’s degree prior to admission to a post graduate chiropractic college. Each chiropractic college has undergone a meticulous evaluation process to become certified by the Department of Education as an accredited educational institution.
The amount of time that your chiropractic doctor spends at a specific chiropractic academic institution is impressive. In fact, your chiropractor has spent a minimum of 4,200 hours at a chiropractic college prior to receiving his diploma. This time is spent in the classroom, laboratory, and clinic learning about the various aspects of the chiropractic profession and health care in general.
In the classroom, your doctor focuses his studies on the subjects of anatomy, physiology, diagnosis, pathology, biochemistry, neuromuscular and orthopedic evaluation, pediatric and geriatric care, microbiology, nutrition, immunology, radiology, philosophy, and clinical research. While this may seem like a lot, all of this information is assimilated and tested prior to advancement to clinical work. Once the student has completed his academic work, he will typically spend a minimum of 1,000 hours at a campus clinic under the guidance of a clinic doctor. During this time he will learn hands on how to diagnosis and treat patients in real clinical situations.
During your chiropractors education they will be tested through a number of different evaluations. Not only is your doctor subject to evaluation by their chiropractic college, they must also pass a series of national board examinations. Chiropractors practicing in the United States are required to have passed a series of four national board exams which evaluate them on their understanding of the basic sciences, clinical sciences, physiological therapeutics, diagnostic imaging, case management, and clinical competency. In addition to these requirements, following graduation and completion of national board examinations, each chiropractor must become certified by their state licensing agency.
The completion of these standards is not the end of the educational journey for chiropractic doctors. Depending on the state, each chiropractor is required to complete additional approved course work at designated times following their licensure. For example, Wisconsin requires a minimum of 40 hours of continuing education every two years following graduation.
Chiropractors Education In Comparison To Other Health Care Professionals?
After reading the above information, I feel it is safe to say that your chiropractic doctor knows far more about your health than just treating your back. To help understand this it is useful to compare a chiropractor’s education to other members of the health care community. Since many people are familiar with a medical doctor, we will compare their educational background with that of a chiropractic doctor. For starters, the typical chiropractic student will have completed a total of approximately 2,419 hours of academic work prior to the initiation of clinical studies. In comparison, the majority of medical students will have completed somewhere around 2,047 hours of study. Further, while each health care discipline has its strengths, chiropractic students undergo more hours of study in the fields of anatomy, embryology, physiology, biochemistry, diagnosis, x-ray, and orthopedics. In contrast, medical practitioners have had more classroom hours studying the subjects of pathology, psychology, and obstetrics.
When analyzing these numbers it is important to understand that while differences exist, each of your doctors has undertaken and completed a similar core education. In addition, it is important to remember that each of your doctors (even in the same health care discipline) possess various strengths to compensate for other health care professionals’ weaknesses and utilize a different approach to healing the body. In the end, finding the doctor that understands your needs and has the tools to provide you with the most appropriate care is what is important.
|
Finding a quality chiropractor can be challenging. These are the things to look for when a top chiropractic team is treating you. For answers to any questions you may have, please call Dr. Jimenez at 915-850-0900 or 915-412-6677