HOME            CONTACT US


Trust The Back & Neck Pain Specialists!

CALL US
(209) 358-6464


Health Education

What is Chiropractic?
“Chiropractic is a health care profession that focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, and the effects of these disorders on general health. Chiropractic services are used most often to treat neuromusculoskeletal complaints, including but not limited to back pain, neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, and headaches.”
American Chiropractic Association (ACA)
https://www.acatoday.org/Patients/Why-Choose-Chiropractic/What-is-Chiropractic

Patient Satisfaction
“Chiropractic patients were found to be more satisfied with their back care providers after four weeks of treatment than were medical patients. Results from observational studies suggested that back pain patients are more satisfied with chiropractic care than with medical care. Additionally, studies conclude that patients are more satisfied with chiropractic care than they were with physical therapy after six weeks.”
Hertzman-Miller et al (2002), American Journal of Public Health

Widespread Use of Chiropractic
“Chiropractic is the largest, most regulated, and best recognized of the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) professions. CAM patient surveys show that chiropractors are used more often than any other alternative provider group and patient satisfaction with chiropractic care is very high. There is steadily increasing patient use of chiropractic in the United States, which has tripled in the past two decades.”
Meeker, Haldeman (2002), Annals of Internal Medicine

Shoulder Conditions
Shoulder injuries and conditions are commonly seen and treated in our office, such common conditions include bursitis, rotator cuff tears, tendonitis, frozen shoulder and impingement syndrome. The shoulder is a complex joint, it is the most mobile joint within the human body. There are four major muscles and tendons known as rotator cuff, together they stabilize the shoulder girdle and each muscle requires correct performance and function. Here at Atwater Chiropractic, we thoroughly evaluate and assess the involved shoulder and take Xrays if necessary. We provide effective, conservative, nondrug, nonsurgical interventions by using myofascial release techniques and physiotherapy to loosen the tight muscles and remove any adhesions inhibiting shoulder function. Gentle adjustments are applied to the associated nearby joints when necessary following the “kinematic chain” such as the neck, mid-back, elbow, wrist and hand. We use kinesio-tape to stabilize the shoulder and provide a natural anti-inflammatory method to speed up healing and remove inflammation. We provide personalized home exercises and stretches which are simple and effective to keep the shoulder pain from coming back.

This article provides a helpful summary of the scientific evidence that doctors of chiropractic use for treatment of common shoulder conditions. For more information on Evidence of Chiropractic Treatment of Shoulder Conditions, the complete article is online at:
http://www.jmptonline.org/article/S0161-4754(17)30009-X/fulltext

Acute and Chronic Lower Back Pain
Lower back pain is common and everyone experiences it at least once in their lifetime. The cause of lower back pain comes in many forms, to name a few we see in our office everyday are slipped discs, sprain/strains, sciatica, arthritis and muscle spasms. Lower back pain can be debilitating and our approach at Atwater Chiropractic Inc. is to find the cause and correct it. We begin by taking a detailed history, perform a thorough exam (including postural analysis, range of motion, muscle tension, orthopedic tests, and neurological tests), and determine if imaging studies are needed such as x-rays or MRI. Treatments are always personalized to patients because our bodies and symptoms are all unique. Common treatment plans include gentle joint adjustments, spinal decompression therapy (refer to our state of the art DRX traction table), muscle work using myofacial release or stretching, ergonomic evaluation, and instructions for home exercises to strengthen your body so there won’t be future recurrences of lower back pain. We want you to be pain free quickly, permanently and safely and we will treat you with that goal as our focus. We successfully treat patients with lower back pain everyday in our clinic. For more information about lower back pain issues and chiropractic care, please refer to articles below:

“[Chiropractic Manipulative Therapy] in conjunction with [standard medical care] offers a significant advantage for decreasing pain and improving physical functioning when compared with only standard care, for men and women between 18 and 35 years of age with acute low back pain."

“In those receiving both standard medical and chiropractic care: Both back pain and physical function significantly improved compared with the group receiving only standard medical. Most (73%) participants rated global improvement as pain completely gone, much, or moderately better. Only 17% reported this improvement in the standard medical care group.”

“Adding chiropractic to standard medical care resulted in significant improvement over the current standard care model for treating acute low back pain in active-duty men and women. This evidence supports the idea that collaborative treatment including chiropractic care can result in improved health outcomes” (library.palmer.edu).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23060056

“Patients with chronic low-back pain treated by chiropractors showed greater improvement and satisfaction at one month than patients treated by family physicians. Satisfaction scores were higher for chiropractic patients. A higher proportion of chiropractic patients (56 percent vs. 13 percent) reported that their low-back pain was better or much better, whereas nearly one-third of medical patients reported their low-back pain was worse or much worse.”
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161475400901702

How many visits is most effective for patients with low back pain?
“Participants receiving 12 sessions of Spinal Manipulative Therapy over a 6 week period had less pain and disability after 12 weeks compared with those receiving 0, 6, or 18 sessions.”
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1529943013013909#

Comparing the Effects of Chiropractic and Medical Treatment for Older Adults
This research suggests: “…when chiropractic care is delivered in practice at care levels comparable to those used in clinical trials… it confers significant and substantial benefits to older adult functional ability and self-rated health” for as much as 2 years.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161475414000323#

For Headaches
“Cervical spine manipulation was associated with significant improvement in headache outcomes in trials involving patients with neck pain and/or neck dysfunction and headache.”
McCrory, Penzlen, Hasselblad, Gray (2001), Duke Evidence Report
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Donald_Penzien/publication/266449595_Evidence_Report_Behavioral_and_Physical_Treatments_for_Tension-type_and_Cervicogenic_Headache/links/54b014bd0cf220c63ccddc8f.pdf

“The results of this study show that spinal manipulative therapy is an effective treatment for tension headaches. . . Four weeks after cessation of treatment . . . the patients who received spinal manipulative therapy experienced a sustained therapeutic benefit in all major outcomes in contrast to the patients that received amitriptyline therapy, who reverted to baseline values.”
Boline et al. (1995), Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics

Neck Pain
Neck pain can have a negative effect on productivity and overall quality of life. Here at Atwater Chiropractic inc., we commonly see patients with torticollis, degenerative discs, whiplash sustained from motor vehicle accidents, pinched nerve causing symptoms that refer or radiate into the one or both arms, straightened or reversed curvature of the neck, chronic muscle tightness, and poor posture induced neck pain. We use the latest methods to determine the factors causing your neck pain. At Atwater Chiropractic Inc. we have been trained in many different techniques so that the treatment of your specific condition can be personalized and effective. We treat neck symptoms everyday in our practice using gentle manual adjustments, low-force Activator instrument, gentle traction and stretching. These methods are used to put motion back into the fixated joints and reduce pain. We perform postural analysis to address poor posture, it is a cause of neck pain especially in our modern society where slumped shoulders and poor upper back posture are commonly seen. We teach our patients proper ergonomics, how to foam roll to increase flexibility and improve their posture at home and work. We use KinesioTape and Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Massage techniques when indicated to help correct posture and get rid of chronic neck tightness and pain. After a few visits, most patients report “feeling taller, have more confidence, more alertness, refreshed, and overall feeling awesome!"

“In a Randomized controlled trial, 183 patients with neck pain were randomly allocated to manual therapy (spinal mobilization), physiotherapy (mainly exercise) or general practitioner care (counseling, education and drugs) in a 52-week study. The clinical outcomes measures showed that manual therapy resulted in faster recovery than physiotherapy and general practitioner care. Moreover, total costs of the manual therapy-treated patients were about one-third of the costs of physiotherapy or general practitioner care.”
http://www.bmj.com/content/326/7395/911?variant=full-text&eaf=

“In this trial of spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) versus medication or Home exercise advice (HEA) for the treatment of acute and subacute neck pain, SMT seemed more effective than medication according to various measures of neck pain and function.”
http://annals.org/aim/article/1033256/spinal-manipulation-medication-home-exercise-advice-acute-subacute-neck-pain

 

Atwater Chiropractic, Inc.
2601 1st Street
Atwater, CA 95301

Call to make an appointment
(209) 358-6464

OFFICE HOURS
Monday - Friday 8am - 6pm
Saturday by Appointment only

© 2024 Atwater Chiropractic, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Powered by  Imedia West