Exploring New Horizons in Spinal Care: The Upper Cervical Solution for Herniated Discs
While herniated discs are commonly associated with lower back pain, the role of upper cervical chiropractic care in treating this condition presents a holistic avenue for relief and recovery.
Dr. Lisa Olszewski at Precision Spinal Care in Chelsea, MI, brings to light the interconnectedness of the spine and how adjustments to the upper cervical region can influence the body’s ability to heal and manage disc-related issues.
Decoding Herniated Discs: A Spinal Dilemma
The Core Issue:
Herniated discs occur when the soft interior of a spinal disc protrudes through a tear in the disc’s outer layer, often leading to nerve irritation and pain. While the lumbar spine is a common site, the effects can ripple through the spinal column, impacting overall spinal health.
Symptom Spectrum:
Symptoms can range from sharp, localized pain to more diffuse issues, including numbness and weakness in the limbs, depending on the location and severity of the herniation.
Upper Cervical Chiropractic: A Gateway to Healing
Foundational Alignment:
Upper cervical care focuses on ensuring the precise alignment of the atlas and axis. This foundational alignment is crucial for maintaining the health of the entire spine, including areas prone to herniated discs.
Indirect Relief:
By optimizing upper cervical alignment, this form of chiropractic care aims to facilitate the body’s natural healing processes, potentially easing the symptoms associated with herniated discs.
Systemic Harmony:
A well-aligned upper cervical region supports better posture, nerve function, and spinal health, all of which are vital for managing and recovering from herniated discs.
Comprehensive Strategies for Disc Health
Beyond Adjustments:
While specific adjustments form the core of upper cervical care, comprehensive treatment strategies also include:
Posture Education: Learning and implementing proper posture techniques to reduce strain on the spine.
Lifestyle Adjustments: Making modifications to daily activities to support spinal health and prevent further disc damage.
Rehabilitative Exercises: Engaging in targeted exercises to strengthen the muscles supporting the spine, enhancing flexibility and resilience.
The Path Forward: Upper Cervical Care for Herniated Discs
Embracing upper cervical chiropractic care offers a holistic path to managing herniated discs. This approach not only addresses the symptoms but also seeks to correct underlying imbalances that contribute to disc issues.
Navigating Your Spinal Health Journey
At Precision Spinal Care in Chelsea, MI, Dr. Lisa Olszewski is dedicated to providing innovative care for those struggling with herniated discs and other spinal conditions.
Serving Chelsea, Dexter, Grass Lake, Ann Arbor, Gregory, Pinckney, Manchester, Munith, Bridgewater, Whitmore Lake, Lakeland, Norvell, Hamburg, Stockbridge, and the surrounding communities, the team is committed to helping patients achieve optimal spinal health.
For individuals looking beyond traditional treatments for herniated discs, upper cervical chiropractic care offers a promising and holistic alternative. Reach out to Precision Spinal Care to explore how upper cervical adjustments can be part of your solution for spinal health and herniated disc management.
In the realm of health and wellness, the spine’s integrity is paramount. As the body’s structural pillar, it not only supports physical movements but also houses crucial nerve pathways.
Among the various approaches to spinal health, upper cervical chiropractic care stands out for its focused and holistic treatment. This specialized form of chiropractic targets the upper cervical area – a key to maintaining the spine’s overall health.
Understanding the Upper Cervical Area
The upper cervical region, consisting of the first two vertebrae at the top of the spine, plays a crucial role in the body’s balance and neurological function.
Misalignments in this area can have a ripple effect, impacting the entire spine and, by extension, overall health.
Why Focus on the Upper Cervical Spine?
1. Neurological Gateway: This region is a nexus for various nerve pathways. Proper alignment ensures optimal nerve function throughout the body.
2. Foundation for Balance: The upper cervical spine influences the body’s balance and posture. Misalignments can lead to postural issues and uneven stress on the spine.
3. Potential Source of Pain: Issues in the upper cervical area can manifest as headaches, neck pain, and even lower back problems.
Upper Cervical Chiropractic Care: A Specialized Approach
1. Precise Adjustments: Upper cervical chiropractors use specific techniques to correct misalignments in the neck area, often with gentle, non-invasive methods.
2. Holistic Health Benefits: By maintaining proper alignment in the upper cervical area, the entire spine can function more effectively, potentially reducing the risk of various spinal problems.
3. Preventative Care: Regular upper cervical chiropractic sessions can serve as a preventative measure, maintaining spinal health and preventing future issues.
Integrating Upper Cervical Care into Your Health Regimen
Incorporating upper cervical chiropractic care into your health routine involves:
1. Regular Check-Ups: Consistent chiropractic sessions help maintain alignment and catch potential issues early.
2. Posture Awareness: Being mindful of posture during daily activities and while at rest can complement the benefits of chiropractic adjustments.
3. Lifestyle Adjustments: Incorporating ergonomic changes, regular exercise, and stress management techniques can
enhance the effectiveness of chiropractic care and contribute to overall spinal health.
A Proactive Step Towards Spinal Wellness
Upper cervical chiropractic care is not just a solution for existing problems; it’s a proactive approach to maintaining spinal health.
By focusing on the upper cervical area, chiropractors aim to ensure the spine’s optimal functionality, which can lead to improved overall health and well-being.
Embracing a Holistic Health Perspective
Understanding that the body is an interconnected system is key to embracing upper cervical chiropractic care.
This approach goes beyond treating symptoms to address the body’s balance and alignment as a whole, fostering a holistic approach to health.
Conclusion: Aligning with Spinal Health
The journey towards maintaining and enhancing spinal health is a crucial aspect of overall wellness. Upper cervical chiropractic care offers a targeted, effective approach to ensuring the spine’s health, which is foundational to our body’s well-being.
Dr. Lisa Olszewski and the team at Precision Spinal Care in Chelsea, MI, are dedicated to providing top-tier upper cervical chiropractic care. Serving the residents of Chelsea, Dexter, Grass Lake, Ann Arbor, Gregory, Pinckney, Manchester, Munith, Bridgewater, Whitmore Lake, Lakeland, Norvell, Hamburg, Stockbridge, and surrounding communities, they are committed to guiding patients towards achieving and maintaining optimal spinal health.
If you’re looking to keep your spine in check and embrace a healthier, more balanced life, consider the role of upper cervical chiropractic care. Contact us to learn more about how we can assist you in your journey towards spinal wellness.
At Precision Spinal Care, a.k.a A Spine at a Time, our Chelsea, MI, chiropractor and the rest of our team are all about providing you with education and helping you make better, more informed decisions about your health. Today, we’d like to take the opportunity to educate you about subluxations.
As you read our blogs, you may see this word throughout them. While we tout the power of chiropractic care and its ability to correct this issue, it’s helpful to know exactly what one is, giving you a better understanding of how chiropractic care can benefit you.
So let’s get to it!
General Information
Our Chelsea chiropractor uses this term to describe when part of a joint is out of its proper position. It’s most often used when referring to the vertebrae in the back and neck.
Interestingly enough, the word is taken from two Latin words. One is sub, which means slightly or somewhat, while the other is luxate — a word that means to dislocate.
It can affect any part of your spine, including the cervical, thoracic, or lumbar spine.
Signs
When you suffer from a subluxation, it won’t make your spine appear crooked. The misalignment tends to be slight, and sometimes it won’t cause any symptoms right away, though it can. Possible signs of a subluxation in the spine include the following:
Pain
Tenderness
Stiffness
Soreness
Decrease in spinal flexibility
Muscle spasms
Numbness
Tingling
Chronic headaches
Keep in mind that symptoms like numbness, pain, and tingling may extend down the extremities, depending on the location of the subluxation.
The symptoms directly stem from stress and irritation from the misalignment on the surrounding soft tissue and nerves. Ultimately, the subluxation can throw off the body’s normal nervous system function. When left untreated, the problem may worsen over time due to damage.
Causes
Subluxations can happen for a variety of reasons. For instance, if you’re in a car accident, the pressure from the impact can cause one or more misalignments. The impact of a fall, physical assault, and other similar personal injuries may also cause this problem. Even babies can suffer from this issue as a result of the birth process, and a mother can experience it due to pregnancy.
Our Chelsea chiropractor would like to stress that even activities you perform on a normal basis can place stress on the spine and cause a subluxation, such as the position you sleep in, poor posture when you sit or stand, and lifting improperly.
In some cases, the issue lies with the fact that you have a chronic condition or illness. For example, you could develop a thoracic misalignment because of rheumatoid arthritis.
When you live a sedentary lifestyle, you’re specifically stressing the lower portion of your back, referred to as the lumbar region. Over time, this stress can lead to misalignments and recurring pain.
How We Help
At Precision Spinal Care, our Chelsea chiropractor emphasizes the importance of spinal health on overall health and how subluxations can wreak havoc on the nervous system.
As briefly noted, these don’t tend to be major misalignments, allowing us to take a gentle approach to correct them, known as a spinal adjustment, which repositions the vertebrae.
Not only can correcting a subluxation help reduce or eliminate current symptoms, but catching a misalignment early can prevent problems in the future as well.
Besides chiropractic adjustments, our practitioner can also provide you with lifestyle advice to help you prevent them. This may include helping you achieve better posture when you sit or stand or learning how to lift correctly to ease the burden of improper lifting on the back. Book an appointment today to determine if you have a subluxation and receive a personalized care plan for it. Call us at 734-433-9564. We also offer the quick and convenient option of online booking!
Technology improves on the regular. What we never thought was possible now is. However, technology, at least in some aspects, can be harmful. For instance, while having the ability to carry a phone that connects to the Internet everywhere you venture is convenient, it has its share of drawbacks as well.
Precision Spinal Care sees firsthand the negative impact it has on the spine. We’d like to shed some light on the subject and share information about what you can do to help it — and it all starts with a Chelsea chiropractor.
General Information
Think about how you use your phone. You sit with it lower than eye level, causing you to bend your neck to look at it. This habit is causing you to overstretch your spine. Not only is it stretching the soft tissue, but it’s also doing the same to the spine.
If you’re only using your phone occasionally to read a text message, you may not notice any stress from it. However, a few minutes here and there on the phone isn’t how much the average person spends stressing their neck on their devices. In fact, statistics indicate the average person spends three hours and 15 minutes on their phone everyday, with some spending 4.5 hours straining their neck.
With the statistics indicating so much usage, it’s no wonder our Chelsea chiropractor has witnessed an uptick in neck pain patients over the years.
Symptoms
The symptoms of excessive cell phone use go beyond just having a sore neck. While you may have pain in your neck, you may have pain in other places because your musculoskeletal system is connected. Specifically, you may have pain in your shoulders and upper back. This pain can range from an intense or stabbing pain in one spot to achy soreness throughout. As you’re overworking your neck muscles, you may notice spasms as well.
If the pain isn’t enough, all that pressure you’re placing on your cervical spine can reduce your mobility, making it difficult to turn your head in different directions.
Moreover, your central nervous system is affected as you’re continuously stressing the neck, possibly causing you to experience headaches in addition to any pain at the site. It doesn’t help that you’re also hindering you’re breathing, which also can contribute to headaches.
The effects of text neck when you’re repeatedly partaking in phone usage with your head facing down can have a lasting impact on your posture and cause rounded shoulders.
How Our Chelsea, MI, Chiropractor Helps
The process begins with us figuring out about your cell phone usage, learning more about your medical background, and ruling out any other causes of your symptoms. Once our practitioner determines the reason for the problem and the severity of it, we’ll figure out a treatment approach most suited to your needs.
Oftentimes, your treatment will consist of our chiropractor performing one or more alignments. We use a specialized type of alignment known as NUCCA, which stands for National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association. Rather than focusing on your entire spine, our chiropractor will only work on the cervical spine. It’s a gentle type of alignment that targets the neck area.
We’ll also provide you with lifestyle advice to help you reduce your pain at home and lessen the impact cell phone usage has on your spine.
At Precision Spinal Care, our chiropractor understands in this high-tech world, it may be difficult to refrain from cell phone use. Therefore, we want to help you combat the effects and help ease the pain and other symptoms using a natural approach. Book an appointment with us today if you have text neck. You may use our convenient online form or call us at 734-433-9564.
Perhaps, you’re one of those people who tried just about everything for back pain, well, at least you think. Maybe, you’ve been relying on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, NSAIDs, to combat the problem.
Fortunately, at Precision Spinal Care, serving Chelsea, MI, and the nearby region, we offer a few different options to help you, ones you may not have tried before and natural ones at that, and one of them is spinal decompression.
Want to know what that is and if it could benefit you? We’ve got the answer!
General Information
Spinal decompression is a type of treatment that stretches your spine. Ultimately, chiropractic spinal decompression uses a traction table and connects you to a device through a series of rigging.
This device will pull on your spine and ultimately change the position of the vertebrae and ease the pressure on the discs. With less pressure on the discs, they then can heal more effectively without the stress.
Besides being able to heal without pressure, this therapy also encourages water, oxygen, and other nutrients to better reach the discs to promote healing.
Conditions Treated
Our Chelsea chiropractor can use this approach to help with a variety of conditions. We may use it alone or with another treatment to optimize your recovery or better manage your condition to the fullest.
For instance, our practitioner may recommend it if you have a bulging disc which stems from weakness in its lining. As a result, the contents of the disc presses on it and causes the disc to bulge. It can then place pressure on the nearby nerves and soft tissue.
We may also recommend it if you have a herniated or slipped disc. With this issue, you have a tear in the outer shell of a disc, possibly from stressing it, though it can happen for an unknown reason, especially as you age and the lining weakens. The contents of the disc can then leak and aggravate the nearby nerves and soft tissue.
Spinal stenosis, a chronic condition that causes the spinal to narrow, can stress the nerves and lead to symptoms such as pain, numbness, and tingling. Some people experience cramping in their legs or feet as a result, depending on the location of the narrowing.
Our Chelsea chiropractor may suggest this therapy if you have degenerative disc disease, which occurs when the discs in your spine change over time. They dry out over time and become less flexible and less able to handle impact. This condition can be painful, especially when you’re sitting, bending, or lifting. You may also have numbness or tingling that extends from the area of the affected discs down one or both extremities.
We may also use non-surgical spinal decompression for sciatica, and nerve root damage, to name a few examples.
Safety
As a general rule, spinal decompression is a safe procedure for most patients. Since some people shouldn’t receive this therapy, we’ll provide you with a thorough examination prior to administering this treatment or any others.
During the assessment, our Chelsea chiropractor will ask you to complete a medical history report and ask questions about any issues or surgeries you’ve had in the past, among other information. Sometimes, our practitioner may recommend imaging to further assure your safety.
Some examples of people we may not recommend non-surgical spinal decompression to include pregnant women, those with severe osteoporosis, or patients who received hardware, like screws or plates, during back surgery.
At Precious Spinal Care, we’re spinal experts who are happy to be able to provide our patients with spinal decompression that can effectively help with pain and encourage a solid recovery from certain injuries. At our practice, our goal is to help people in Chelsea, a spine at a time, live their best lives possible.
Book an appointment today if you have unresolved back pain and would like to discuss if spinal decompression is right for you. We’re available by calling 734-433-9564 or using our convenient online form.
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