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Conditions We Treat
We treat a variety of conditions at PK Health and Wellness, but our main focus are conditions related to your spine, surrounding muscles, tendons, ligaments, and fascia. We excel at referred and radiating pain conditions such as Sciatica, Radiating Arm Pain, Headaches, as well as Sclerotogenous Referral Patterns.
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How can we help?...
01
Lower Back Pain
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Lower back pain can be scary. It can range from being just a small nuisance, to something so debilitating you cannot perform daily activities. The worst is the nocturnal back pain that prevents you from sleeping. The first key in treating lower back pain is figuring out exactly what is going on. This is accomplished by taking a detailed history, performing a detailed physical examination and neurologic examination. There are many causes of low back pain including conditions that require an immediate referral, such as cancer, cauda equina syndrome, fractures, and more. Patients with lower back pain must have an accurate understanding of their condition for treatments to be most effective. That said, most causes of back pain are mechanical in nature. "When you hear footsteps in the woods, think horses not zebras" is a medical expression to say common things happen commonly.
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Chiropractic care aims to unlock the fixated joints that is causing you pain. Therapeutic massage/stretching is performed to reduce muscle guarding and splinting. This is also performed by our chiropractors, but massage can be beneficial if the muscles are extra tight. Acupuncture aims to reduce inflammation and get the muscle to release from the "inside" of the muscle belly, versus from the "outside" of the muscle when massage is performed.
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02
Neck Pain
Much like back pain, neck pain can be just "tightness" or it can be so painful you can't lift your head off the pillow, or turn your neck to drive. There are many causes of neck pain, some that are very serious and require immediate referrals. But most neck pain is postural, staring at a phone or computer all day, sleeping incorrectly, etc, or a sprain/strain from a whiplash or even just turning your neck too aggressively. For acute neck pain, extra care is taken to make sure the minimum force is used to achieve results. Chiropractic care is fantastic for acute neck pain. The acute relief is often instantaneously. The acupuncture will help relieve the muscle tension from the inside of the muscle and reduce inflammation. Massage will be helpful to further reduce muscle tension. Chronic neck pain is generally treated more aggressively, of course, to the patient's tolerance.
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03
Headaches
More people complain about headaches than any other medical ailment. There are approximately 45 million Americans complaining of headaches each year. That is one in every six people or 16.54% of the population. There are many types of headaches, from many primary and secondary sources. Headaches are a common condition that is treated with chiropractic, acupuncture, and massage. Most headaches that come from the back of the neck, up the base of the skull, typically on one side, and radiate into the side or front of the head typically respond best to care. Patients also often have concurrent jaw pain or tightness on the side of the headache that is also relieved by chiropractic, acupuncture, and massage- or any combination thereof.
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Nerve Pain/ Sclerotogenous Pain
Nerve pain and sclerotogenous pain is very different. Sciatica, Brachialgia, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Piriformis Syndrome, Obturator Nerve Entrapment, and many others common nerve disorders are caused by pressure or entrapment of a physical nerve. Chiropractic can take the pressure off of the disc with sciatica, myofascial release can relax the piriformis to take pressure off the nerve in piriformis syndrome, and acupuncture can reduce the inflammation in carpal tunnel syndrome.
Sclerotogenous referred pain is not so obvious- it is caused by structures with similar embryologic development, leading to pain at a region not connected to an actual physical nerve. Myofascial trigger points which refer pain to a different region. Finding the right cause of your referred pain is the most important step to helping your condition. An example of sclerotogenous referral that would not be amendable to chiropractic. acupuncture, or massage therapy would be the flank pain from kidney pain, or right middle upper back pain with liver or gallbladder pain. However, lumbar facet joint or sacroiliac joint referral into the legs, or thoracic facet joint referring into the arms can be very amendable to treatment. This is why having a professional who knows about referred pain is so important in figuring out whether your condition is amendable to treatments.