Achieve Health's Blog
by Dr. David Lee, D.C. | Jun 14, 2012 | Acupuncture, Chiropractic Care |
Chiropractic Health Questions Answered How do I find a chiropractor? Chiropractors are “primary contact” health care providers, which means you don’t have to be referred to them by a physician or anyone else. You can select your own chiropractor. As with any other professional, referrals from friends and acquaintances are an excellent way to find a good chiropractor. What conditions do chiropractors treat? Chiropractors are experts trained in the neuromusculoskeletal system . They diagnose and treat disorders of the spine and other body joints by adjusting the spinal column or through other corrective manipulation. Chiropractors provide conservative management of neuromusculoskeletal disorders including, but not limited to, back, neck, arms, legs, knees, shoulders, hips, and head pain (over 80 percent of conditions treated). They also advise patients on corrective exercises, lifestyle and nutrition. Is Chiropractic manipulation a safe procedure? Chiropractic adjustment or manipulation is a drug-free, non-invasive approach to common musculoskeletal conditions such as headache, neck and back pain. As such, it is a low risk therapy. Complications arising from adjustment are rare. Is every patient’s treatment the same? The treatment a patient receives is related to the specific condition diagnosed by the Chiropractor, and will vary from person to person depending on each person’s unique situation. Like M.D.’s, Chiropractors follow generally accepted protocols and guidelines. Can Chiropractic treatment provide a preventative function? Clinical experience suggests that individuals with chronic conditions such as degenerative joint disease (osteoarthritis) or recurrent neck pain, back pain or headaches may experience less frequent and less severe symptoms when under regular Chiropractic care. This also applies to individuals in highly stressful situations and those who...
by Dr. David Lee, D.C. | Jun 12, 2012 | Chiropractic and Kids, Chiropractic Care, Sports Injuries |
Minnesota Chiropractic Care | Sports Injuries According to experts, as much as 20 percent of all sports-related injuries involve the lower back or neck. Running and weightlifting, and other sports that involve repetitive impact, expose children to a high risk for lumbar (lower back) injuries. Contact sports, such as soccer and football, expose the cervical spine, or neck, to injury. Though there is no such thing as a “safe” sport, highly competitive sports, such as football, weightlifting, gymnastics, and wrestling, pose particularly higher risks of injuries, especially among children. More than one-third of all high school football players sustain some type of injury. Soccer participants are easy candidates for mild to severe head traumas, neck injuries, cervical spine damage, headache, neck pain, dizziness, irritability, and insomnia. Heading the ball, the act of using the head to re-direct the soccer ball, has been linked with cervical injuries in children and adults. The trampoline and gymnastics also present significant risks for spinal cord injuries from unexpected and brute falls or contact with hard surfaces. Here’s a look at some of the other common sports injuries: Bicycling – Poor posture can greatly increase your risks of a back injury during cycling. When riding a bike, your lower back is constantly flexing sideways and up and down. Upper back injuries can involve the flexing of the neck. And the bumps and jars incurred on the road during cycling can wreak havoc and possible compression injuries to your spine. Golf – Common injuries incurred during the sport of golf usually involve muscle sprains and strains to the lower back. Running/jogging – Running and jogging...
by Dr. David Lee, D.C. | Jun 7, 2012 | Acupuncture, Arm Pain, Carpal Tunnel, Chiropractic Care, Work Related Injuries |
Suffering From Arm Pain? Carpal Tunnel? Have you heard the terms Golfer’s elbow, Tennis elbow, or Carpal tunnel? Are you taking medications that don’t seem to help? Concerned about the side effects or taking too many pain pills? Consider Chiropractic and Acupuncture to help with your arm pain. Chiropractic Care For Carpal Tunnel Nerves of the left upper extremity Untreated Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Arm pain can originate in many places along the arm, any where between the neck to the wrist. Chiropractors are not only train in evaluation and care of the spine, but also legs and arms! Arm pain can be caused by a variety of causes, such as overuse, injury, and repetitive stress. Symptoms include dull pain, sharp pain, tingling, numbness, burning and weakness. Did you know that Chiropractic and Acupuncture is the best way to get long term relief from Golfer’s elbow, Tennis elbow, and Carpal tunnel? Carpal tunnel syndrome is common in people who perform repetitive motions of the hand and wrist. Typing on a computer keyboard is probably the most common cause of carpal tunnel. Other causes include: Sewing Driving Assembly line work Painting Writing Use of tools (especially hand tools or tools that vibrate) Sports such as racquetball or handball Playing some musical instruments Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatments should be as conservative and as noninvasive as possible. For many people suffering from carpal tunnel, pain relief has been achieved without the use of drugs or surgery. Surgery has mixed outcomes and should be viewed only as a last resort after all conservative methods have failed. Chiropractic treatment has helped many patients suffering from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome...
by Dr. David Lee, D.C. | Jun 5, 2012 | Chiropractic and Kids, Chiropractic Care, Sports Injuries |
Prevent Sports Injury MN | Chiropractic Care MN Summer officially began on June 21st, but for those of us with children, the real first day of summer is the last day of school. Most of our kids can look forward to at least three months without homework, classes or exams to worry about, and can devote their free time to sports, hobbies, or that wonderful youthful pastime of doing nothing at all. Summer brings with it camps, swimming pools, little league, soccer, skateboards, bicycles, in-line skates, basketball, tennis, and all sorts of other physical activities. And with the increase in physical activity, there is inevitably an increase in physical injuries. According to the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons, the summer of 2004 was a banner year for warm weather sports related injuries that required some form of medical treatment. These numbers all affected people under the age of 20. Basketball topped the list with 1,018,619 injuries. This isn’t really surprising considering that you don’t need a lot of expensive equipment to play, and basketball courts are readily available. Bicycling finished second with 820,789 injuries. This might seem surprising to adults who ride bicycles either for exercise or to simply get from place to place, but children often like to race or jump their bikes off of ramps or curbs. Baseball and softball caused 422,000 injuries, many of them leg injuries from sliding into bases. Trampolines caused 248,000 injuries, which is not at all surprising. Those of you who are considering buying a trampoline for summer use should reconsider. All you have to do is think of it in terms...
by Dr. David Lee, D.C. | May 31, 2012 | Chiropractic and Kids, Chiropractic Care, Sports Injuries |
Have A Safe Summer! | Prevent Sports Injury With spring in full swing, everyone is out doing their favorite activities. While you’re enjoying the pleasures of the warm weather, it’s important to be prepared to keep yourself and your loved ones out of harm’s way. Most children enjoy outdoor activities—swimming, biking, camping and more. It’s a time when injuries ranging from playground falls and sunburns to accidents at the pool and the beach are more likely to occur. Sports and Recreation Safety Sports and Recreational Safety Key Facts More than 38 million children and adolescents participate in sports each year in the U.S. Nearly three-quarters of U.S. households with school-age children have at least one child who plays organized sports. Each year, more than 3.5 million children ages 14 years and under receive medical treatment for sports injuries. Approximately two-thirds of all sports-related injuries leading to emergency department visits are for children. The rate and severity of sports-related injury increases with a child’s age. From 2001 through 2009, it is estimated that there are 1,770,000 emergency department visits, 6 percent of these for traumatic brain injuries, among children ages 14 and under for injuries related to sports or recreation. Though rare, traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of sports-related death. Approximately one out of five traumatic brain injuries among children are associated with participation in sports and recreational activities. More than 90 percent of sports-related concussions occur without the loss of consciousness. The most common types of sport-related injuries in children are sprains (mostly ankle), muscle strains, bone or growth plate injuries, repetitive motion injuries, and heat-related illness....
by Dr. David Lee, D.C. | May 29, 2012 | Auto Accident Injuries, Chiropractic Care |
Have You Been Involved In A Car Accident In Minnesota? Does insurance cover chiropractic? Are you worried about the medical bills? Minnesota is a No Fault state which means that every Minnesota auto insurance policy includes Personal Injury Protection regardless of who is at fault. If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident, you automatically have coverage to get your injuries treated. Having an auto accident is bad enough, dealing with the car damage, the insurance, the loss of work, but on top of that, you are in terrible pain. Possible Symptoms From Auto Accidents: • Whiplash • Neck Pain • Stiffness • Headaches • Lower Back Pain • Shoulder Pain • Trouble Sleeping • Dizziness • Ringing in the ears • Blurred Vision What if you are not in pain? Whether you are sore or not, you should get checked out immediately. What if the pain doesn’t set in until a week or even a month after? Whiplash can be a very serious injury. You need a doctor that specialized in Whiplash or other Auto Accident Injuries. Sometimes your injuries can take weeks or months to set in. Chiropractors are trained and can help you with injuries that may not have any symptoms right away. Whiplash Injuries and Chiropractic Even if you don’t have any obvious or immediate symptoms after an auto accident, or other injury, I would recommend that you visit a chiropractor as soon as possible. Only then can an assessment of the severity and recovery of whiplash injury be made. Research has shown that chiropractic has been a very effective approach to healing whiplash. In fact, Chiropractic Is The “Only Proven Effective Treatment” for...
by Dr. David Lee, D.C. | May 24, 2012 | Auto Accident Injuries, Chiropractic Care, Headaches, Lower Back Pain, Neck Pain |
Chiropractic Care MN | Neck Injury Having an auto accident is bad enough, dealing with the car damage, the insurance, the loss of work, but on top of that, you are in terrible pain. What if you are not in pain? Whether you are sore or not, you should get checked out immediately. What if the pain doesn’t set in until a week or even a month after? Whiplash can be a very serious injury. Chiropractic Care Can Help On The Road To Recovery We can help you with that. We find out what is the source of your pain, and we come up with a personalized treatment plan that gets you the fastest relief of pain, using natural remedies, and chiropractic solutions. You need a doctor that specialized in Whiplash or other Auto Accident Injuries. Sometimes your injuries can take weeks or months to set in. Chiropractors are trained and can help you with injuries that may not have any symptoms right away. Possible Symptoms From Auto Accidents: • Whiplash • Neck Pain • Stiffness • Headaches • Lower Back Pain • Shoulder Pain • Trouble Sleeping • Dizziness • Ringing in the ears • Blurred Vision You don’t have to be frustrated with the “unknown”, we will listen to you, and take x-rays and come up with a complete treatment plan that will be the most beneficial to you and your injury needs. We use a healthy natural approach using Eastern Chinese Therapies. We do more than just treat the immediate issue, we follow through with your treatments, making sure to completely correct the issue. At Achieve Health Chiropractic & Acupuncture we realize that our therapies are...
by Dr. David Lee, D.C. | May 22, 2012 | Chiropractic Care, Chiropractic Medicine |
MN Chiropractic Care Champlin Minnesota It is well documented in the scientific community and through medical research that the brain controls all functions and regulation of the entire body. The brain communicates to all organs, tissues, muscles and glands through the spinal cord and nerve system. Dr. Henry Windsor, who was a Medical Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania, has performed a medical experiment in 1921. In his clinical research he wanted to prove the existence of diseased organs and its interconnection to the curvature of the spine (improper posture and misaligned vertebrae. In this study he made 50 experiments on cadavers from the [pathology department. Dr Windsor dissected the bodies and looked at the diseased organs. Out of 50 bodies he found 139 organs that were in a different degree of disease. The finding of this study showed 49 of the 50 cadavers showed curvatures, all were rigid and of long duration, similar to chiropractic subluxation and fixation patterns. All areas of the spinal deformity showed pathological tissue changes or outright disease. The disease found were cancers of involved organs, or disease of heart, gall bladder, kidney, stomach, large and small intestine. The positive correlation for organ malfunction or disease was nearly 99% in all cadavers in this study. The Winsor Autopsies The following are Dr. Winsor’s results: “Two hundred twenty-one structures other than the spine were found diseased. Of these, 212 were observed to belong to the same sympathetic (nerve) segments as the vertebrae in curvature. Nine diseased organs belonged to different sympathetic segments from the vertebrae out of line. These figures cannot be expected to exactly...
by Dr. David Lee, D.C. | May 18, 2012 | Chiropractic Care, Neck Pain |
Chiropractic and Exercise The Best Treatment For Neck Pain Neck pain afflicts at least three quarters of people at some point in their lives, but There’s been little research on what treatments are the most helpful. Many take over-the-counter medications or visit doctors and chiropractors in search of relief. Sedentary office workers tend to be most susceptible to the condition. Now a new study published on January 3, 2012 in The Annals of Internal Medicine has a surprising answer demonstrating the power of alternative therapies for neck pain: Chiropractic care and simple neck exercises done daily at home were much better at reducing pain than taking pain medications like aspirin, ibuprofen or even strong narcotics. It’s good news for patients that there’s something they can do themselves to take a more active role in their care — such as doing the exercises or visiting a chiropractor — instead of just swallowing a pill. Good News For Patients With Neck Pain! When it comes to neck pain the best medicine is no medicine at all! And the relief provided by either exercise or spinal manipulation by a chiropractor was long-lasting — even up to a year later, when researchers checked back in with the study’s participants. Spinal Manipulation, Medication, or Home Exercise With Advice for Acute and Subacute Neck Pain Full Text (PDF) FREE The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, involved 272 adults, aged 18 to 65 years, who had had neck pain lasting for 2 to 12 weeks. The participants were then split into three groups and followed for about three months using three different methods: Medication Exercise...
by Dr. David Lee, D.C. | May 9, 2012 | Chiropractic Care, Migraines |
Headache Solutions Save Billions With Chiropractic Care Migraine headaches cost U.S. employers more than $24 billion annually It was reported by Doheny in 2006 that migraine headaches cost U.S. employers more than $24 billion annually, including direct health care costs and indirect expenses such as absenteeism—when employees whose heads are pounding stay on the job but aren’t performing up to par. Chiropractic vs. Medication Effectiveness & Safety In randomized clinical trials, chiropractic was 57% more effective in the reduction of headaches and migraines than drug therapy. There has been numerous other studies done on the treatment of headaches with chiropractic. The following two studies are the most widely referenced and well respected. Duke Study A literature review performed by researchers at Duke University looked at a number of studies that looked at chiropractic treatment for headaches. Researchers concluded the following: “Manipulation appeared to result in immediate improvement in headache severity when used to treat episodes of cervicogenic control. Furthermore, when compared to soft-tissue therapies (massage), a course of manipulation treatments resulted in sustained improvement in headache frequency and severity.” Migraine Study This study compared chiropractic spinal manipulation to amitriptyline which is a medication often prescribed for the treatment of headache. The researchers found that “spinal manipulation seemed to be as effective as a well-established and efficacious treatment (amitriptyline), and on the basis of a benign side effects profile, it should be considered a treatment option for patients with frequent migraine headaches.” In other words, the safety and effectiveness of chiropractic treatment or spinal manipulation in the treatment of headache should be considered by patients suffering these symptoms. The researchers...
