Another option is a form of specialized traction called Decompression therapy. The patient is placed on a comfortable table while an intermittent tractional force is applied via a computerized head at a specific angle, depending on the level of the disk and the appropriate weight designed to create a negative pressure within the disk to suck it in away from the neural structures. We have been treating with this device here at Frostwood Chiropractic for over 10 years with excellent success. The intermittent nature of the force allows for a pumping effect, to bring healing blood flow from the vertebral body, while allowing for comfortable muscular stresses. What does this mean? It means its super comfortable?

We have had great success with radiating arm pain, numbness, tingling and weakness in the arm or hand caused by disks bulging or herniated in the cervical spine. We have treated hundreds of patients with sciatic pain radiating down the posterior and lateral leg extending as far as the foot as well as pain and/or numbness radiating down the front of the thigh, or along the femoral nerve. Back pain conditions that use to respond to Chiropractic manipulation but no longer does many times will adjust once the compressional affect has been neutralized. Nerve pain is not to be played with and should be considered a very serious condition. The longer it remains the more difficult it is to correct and the more threat to the nerve it involves. This is a tremendous, very conservative, non-invasive and much less expensive approach to significant disk problems.

Here at Frostwood Chiropractic our first job is to take the fear and worry out of your mind by doing a thorough exam and diagnosing the nature of your condition. Once you know the nature of the condition and your worse fears are not realized, all the tension begins to come out of your body and mind. At times my patients are putting their body and mind through so much work stress that their body starts to shut them down. It has taken them into a state of dis-ease. We will show you exactly what is causing your symptoms through some diagnostic testing and give you an approach to correction of the condition. We even show you films (X-rays) of a similar case we have helped in the past. The next step is having your first adjustment. It is explained thoroughly, what the doctor needs to do to restore the condition from that state of dis-ease. This is usually very comfortable and many times there is some degree of pain relief with the first treatment. Each visit will be pleasurable. You will receive therapies that reduce the symptoms and prepare the tissues and joints for the adjustment. You will be treated with a smile and a happy face because we are blessed that you have asked for our help.

The next step is to get you to focus your thoughts and actions into helping correct the problem. Many times you have created your own problem through inactivity, too much sitting at work, deconditioning and resulting loss or functional motion. Many patients try to play to get in shape instead of getting in shape to play. These weekend warriors stress joints and muscles without preparing them for the stresses of the playing. Once a week softball guy or pickup basketball guy are common examples. Sometimes they have gotten overweight and the stress on your back or joints is too much for your body to overcome. Whatever the nature of the condition, this must be brought into your awareness so you can give mindful attention and take action to help yourself. Taking control over your thoughts and following them with the proper daily actions and then feeling the results of these actions propel you into an empowered state of mind where you take control of your healing. You can do it! And we can show you how.

Here at Frostwood Chiropractic our primary goal is to first get rid of your fear! We take a lot of time to find out what is causing your symptoms and give you a game plan. We take your body back to a state of at-ease and teach you how to stay healthy once we get you there. Fear and health are like oxymorons. They can’t occupy the same space within your body. We will do a diagnostic test to explain your condition. We send out for X-rays on almost every patient. MRIs are second level exams that may show injury to the disk, or damage to the rotator cuff, that can’t be visualized by the X-ray. The most important thing is we don’t guess at your health or condition and you and myself the doctor, knows exactly the nature of the problem. If you’ve had a condition for several weeks, months or even years there is likely something significant there to be addressed.

The next step is to develop an approach or game plan for correcting the problem. In the spine, the shoulder, and most joints, there is usually some dysfunction that is preventing motion. The joint is injured and the muscles around the joint, whether the spine or shoulder go into lock down mode to limit any damaging motions. The process of fixing the problem is always reducing the inflammation, restoring the joint and musculature to its normal range of motion, and allowing for some healing time. Next step is strengthening the area sufficiently to get a nice balance to the joint structure. When certain muscles compensate for weak muscles it makes them more prone to injury. Yes we will ask you to do some stretching and strengthening at home to encourage a speedier and more thorough condition but also to teach you how to take care of yourself for the long run. We can live 90-100+ years if you are so blessed but accruing health problems can make the golden years not so golden. We do run into conditions that have progressed beyond our ability to help you heal. In 26 years of practice I have met some of the best doctors in Houston. We will do our best to get you the appropriate care. When you look back on your worse fears, they are never as bad as you anticipated.

They were False Expectations Appearing Real!

short leg before

short leg corrected

One of the most common causes of recurrent lower back pain and stiffness as well as sciatica is an anatomical short leg.   The patient will talk about having lower back pain and stiffness almost always on the same side of the body every time.  They have no history of trauma but have been suffering from the same complaint ever since high school.   The condition seems to get more significant as they age complaining the exacerbation last longer and intensifies in severity per occurrence as they age.  Many times they will have been to a Chiropractor, who on examination, will mention a short leg.  The patient may have wear on the bottom or their jean pant leg on the short leg side or wear on the outside heal of the short leg side.  They may have been told that they have a scoliosis.  If they are a runner they will have recurrent Ilio-tibial band discomfort on the long leg side or recurrent bursitis.  They may have even started developing medial knee pain or bunions as a result of the foot compensation and resulting pronation.

On X-ray exam you will see un-leveling of the  pelvis and femur heads.  The spine will either lean into the curve causing scoliosis formation on large deficiencies or compensatory leaning away from the short side both of which will cause disk wedging and premature wear of the lower lumbar disk and arthritic changes as a result.  The patient presents with neck and upper back symptoms as well due the leaning tower of Pisa affect.  IF the base of the spine is not level there will be stresses all up above which can cause recurrent neck and upper back pain as a result.

The answer can be as easy as leveling the pelvis with a shoe insert and/or an orthotic as well as restoring the function to the spine caused by the imbalance.  Here at Frostwood Chiropractic we take films of the spine prior to treatment to know the condition of the spine we are treating.  We measure the pelvic, and femur heights using the films so we know the height or the lift for the shoe.  The arches of the feet are also evaluated due to un-leveling that can occur if one arch has fallen as a result of the imbalance.  If you keep going to your Chiropractor and the same problem on the same side recurs maybe ask about this type of evaluation.  Chronic pain can lead to expensive steroid injections or even surgery if not treated appropriately.

Think about a baseball pitcher. After he has thrown a big game, what do they do with his arm? They ice it down. Why? He has just physically stressed his arm and shoulder. The same thing you do with a workout or with any other increased physical activity like yard work. When you stress a muscle there are micro tears that occur within the muscle. This stress and these tears create inflammation. The best thing to naturally slow and minimize inflammation is ice. Heat will do nothing but make the inflammation worse. Large whirlpool baths that athletes use are filled with cold water, not hot. All for the purpose of reducing inflammation after a hard workout.

Now, heat can be good for the body before exercise. It helps to loosen up the muscles and tendons and prepare them for physical activity. But never use heat after exercise. Again, let me stress that this includes any physical activity you perform that regularly causes soreness and pain afterward. If your back is sore and ache after every round of golf you play, then you should be using ice to help calm it down. If your elbow is sore and painful after every tennis match you play. Ice it down. I could go on and on with examples, but I think you get the point. Any aches and pains that come about by physical activity are usually a result of inflammation within the body. Heat will feel good while applied, but will cause the inflammation to increase, resulting in greater pain afterward. In a previous post “Ice vs. Heat for Back Pain” I discuss this even more.

So there you have it. Ice after exercise to reduce and minimize inflammation. You want to ice for up to, but no longer than, 20 minutes at a time and you want approximately 40 minutes of time between icing sessions. You can repeat this cycle as often as you want. Don’t forget to stretch after exercise too. Check out these stretches in “Back Pain Relief” for your low back.

How do you choose which chiropractor to go to? One difference between chiropractors is their method of treatment. At Frostwood Chiropractic, we primarily utilize the Diversified Adjustment Technique. This is the most common technique utilized by chiropractors. It is a manipulation of the spine or other joints of the body to remove fixations and restore proper function to the damaged joints. Most of the manipulations using Diversified technique are accomplished with only the use of the chiropractors hands. You can check out our treatment section to learn more about additional therapies we provide at Frostwood Chiropractic, such as spinal decompression therapy.

Another difference between chiropractors is their approach to your condition. Many chiropractors focus solely on the treatment of pain. This follows more closely to the medical model of, “if it doesn’t hurt there is no problem”. Meaning the focus of treatment is on the symptom of pain. Once pain is relieved your treatment is done.

Other chiropractors like those at Frostwood Chiropractic approach your condition from a more rehabilitative position. Meaning our initial goal is relief of your pain, but then we also work further to completely heal and correct your condition so it does not return and does not cause further damage to your body in the future. You can read more about our approach to chiropractic care on our website under the “About Chiropractic” section.

I have met and know many of the chiropractors in Memorial, Texas. They are all wonderful doctors and would be happy to help you with your condition. As chiropractors, we would all be extremely pleased just to know you utilized chiropractic care for the treatment of your condition and avoided invasive risky procedures or prescription medication. Any chiropractic success is a win for the patient and a testimony to the power of chiropractic.

Okay, since that is out of the way now we can discuss a little more why. Most likely if you are reading this looking for relief, you are in pain significant enough to cause you to read it. This means there is likely a reasonable amount of inflammation occurring within your body. The inflammation occurring is the key. Ice is great for slowing down the progression of inflammation. Heat is great for increasing circulation, but in turn will increase any inflammation present. This means more pain after you take the heat off.

When I set out to right this article it was in response to the question I am always asked, “Should I use ice or heat?” About 95% of my patients state on their initial visit that they have utilized heat to try and find relief. When asked if the heat has helped they almost always reply with, “It feels great while it is on, but overall is hasn’t helped much”. And that is correct. Ice and heat are both analgesics, meaning they help reduce pain. Heat helps reduce the feeling of pain while the heat is applied. Ice in turn numbs the area by slowing the transmission of pain through your nerves. So, they both reduce pain while applied, but the numbness created by the ice will last for several minutes after the ice is removed, continuing its effectiveness.

In addition to the analgesic effect, ice will slow circulation which will slow the progression of inflammation. What do you do if you injure your ankle? Everyone will answer, “ice”. Many will quote the classic RICE acronym for injuries. Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Why do you use ice? To slow the swelling/inflammation, because the swelling is a significant factor in producing pain and limiting range of motion. Everyone knows to put ice on their ankle when it is injured, so why doesn’t everyone do the same for their back or neck? My only explanation is the multitude of commercials on TV that advertise heat patches for back pain. Heat can be beneficial for chronic arthritic pain, but definitely not acute pain.

When I did a search on this topic before writing about it I expected to find many articles telling you to use heat for back pain since that is what most people use. However, I found the opposite. Nearly all the articles on the internet stated the same thing as me, use ice for back pain.

Now you know. Use ice. No longer than 20 minutes at a time. After 20 minutes of ice you begin to get adverse effects you don’t want. You can then repeat the application as often as every hour. So 20 minutes on, 40 minutes off. You can buy gel ice packs that work well because they mold well to the surface of your body for good contact. You can also make a good homemade ice pack with a plastic freezer bag filled with ice and a little water. Put a thin cloth like a pillow case or t-shirt between your skin and the ice pack for comfort. If you are in severe pain you want to ease the ice pack onto the painful area. If you throw it on too quickly the shock of the cold along with the pain could send your muscles into further spasm.

Now, ice certainly won’t solve all back pain. If your pain continues please see a doctor. We would be happy to help you at Frostwood Chiropractic at either of our locations in Katy or Memorial. But now when we ask you what you have done to try to reduce the pain for yourself you should say “ICE”.

The results? 60% of the patients in the chiropractic group had positive outcomes equivalent to those who underwent the surgery. A follow-up one year later showed these same patients continued to have positive results. The other 40% that did not have improvement in their condition, subsequently underwent surgery with positive outcomes.

What does this mean? If you try chiropractic manipulation before electing for surgery, you have a 60% chance of alleviating your sciatica without the use of surgery. And if it is successful the odds are that even a year later you will continue to have positive results. Additionally, if after trying chiropractic manipulation you do not have positive results, this does not effect your odds of having a successful outcome with surgery. Many people have been concerned that chiropractic treatment might worsen their condition and as a result make a surgical intervention less successful, but this is not true as determined by this study.

One interesting fact I found from the study was when the study was explained to the potential patients, a significant number refused to participate because they had never been told that chiropractic manipulation was an option before. They were upset that their medical doctors did not inform them of this potentially helpful therapy. They then elected to receive chiropractic manipulation for the opportunity to avoid surgery.

This is so true of the medical model. The majority of medical doctors do attempt some form of conservative treatment prior to sending a patient to surgery. However, this same majority rarely utilizes chiropractic as one of their conservative treatment options. Hopefully this study will begin to shed some light on the reality that chiropractic is a very viable, successful, conservative and cost effective treatment for sciatica resulting form a herniated disc.

With our unique style of rehabilitative chiropractic care, we have enjoyed restoring active, healthy lifestyles to hundreds of moms, dads, kids, athletes and everyone else in between. We look forward to continuing to serve and provide chiropractic care to Katy, Texas and this wonderful community for years to come.