At Accident and Sports Injury Clinic we strive to help every patient we can. Since everyone of us unique we try to cater treatment to you uniquely. We make sure not to give blanket treatment plans that last for many months with no end in site.

I've heard many times from patients that they went somewhere and after the first visit they were told that they would need to come in at least 3 times a week for 12 weeks. I want to emphasize that if someone has told you this you should go somewhere else. It is impossible to say that you will such in such visits months from now. It is important to see how your progression is going before you can say how many visits may be necessary.

At Accident and Sports Injury Clinic our chiropractors may recommend coming in for a couple treatments within a week or 2 to see how you respond. This also depends on the severity of the injury, how the injury occurred, and other factors that are unique for you. After each visits we make sure to see how you are responding by checking pain levels, the amount of time you have pain, and your ability to do activities at home, work, or in playing a sport. At around 3-4 visits we will check on your progress and can better make a treatment plan that will fit your needs. Most importantly too is that if we are not making the progress we want we will make sure to get you to the right place so you can improve.

Treatment at our office may involve chiropractic adjustments including manual manipulation, using the activator instrument, using the drop table, and traction the neck and hips. We also have additional therapies available including therapeutic ultrasound, electrical muscle stimulation, roller table, and cold laser. Your chiropractor can also show you some exercises and stretches to strengthen weak muscles, stretch tight muscles, and improve your posture.
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We want to work with you and your goals to help you get back to what you love and get you out of pain. Each patient whether young, old, athlete, worker, retired, parent, etc. is important to us.

 A very common question that is asked when going to a chiropractor is what does the adjustment or manipulation do to help my spine or other joint have less pain. This can be a confusing concept so I wanted to explain it in a simple way in order to help you understand what an adjustment or manipulation can do for you to help with your pain.

A chiropractic adjustment or manipulation is one of the tools the chiropractors at Accident and Sports Injury Clinic use to help our patients have less pain and increased movement. An adjustment is when we apply a force to your joint in order to get motion to your joint. This can also be known as a manipulation. Adjustments come in different forms (check out our previous blog post) but are characterized by getting movement in the joints and there can sometimes be heard an audible crack or a cavitation. The crack is not necessary for a successful adjustment (even though we like it) but just means that there was movement in the joint allowing for bubble formation in the joint. 

After an adjustments is performed the following are the benefits of an adjustment

1. Increased mobility-Increased mobility of a joint is one of the more obvious benefits of the adjustments. This is one of the main purpose of the adjustment. This is seen due to increased range of motion after the adjustment or manipulation is performed.

2. Decrease of muscle spasm or muscle tension-Decreased muscle spasm or tension happens due to 2 mechanism. The first is due to movement applied during the adjustment we are stretching the muscles of the joint including sensory muscles which are smaller connecting from vertebrae to vertebrae. When the adjustment or manipulation is performed the smaller sensory muscles and bigger muscles are stretched which then causes the nerve endings in the muscles to relax and decrease tension. The 2nd mechanism which be explained with pain as it is very similar

3. Reduce pain-This is perhaps the biggest reason a person goes to the chiropractor, seeking pain relief.  Pain relief comes in a very interesting method after the adjustment is performed. When the adjustment is done there is movement in the joint. This signals to the brain through proprioceptive ​nerve endings that there was movement in the joint. The brain then sends back to area through the nerves to decrease the pain and also to the muscles in the areas to decrease tension.

Now that you know what an adjustment can do for you consider adding chiropractic adjustments or spinal manipulation to your treatment plan. It can really help you get back to doing what you love.

Did you know that Medicare covers chiropractic care? That's right, for as little as just your co-pay you can be treated by anyone of our Roseville chiropractors. That means relief from your headaches, neck pain, lower back pain, sciatica, and even hip pain. Chiropractic adjustments can also help increase mobility if you have arthritis. 

Chiropractic care is specifically covered under Medicare part B. At our office we take most Medicare plans. Some of these plans, including Kaiser and Sutter, may require authorization from your primary care physician. Cost of treatment varies per plan, co-pay, and deductible but generally they are under $20, with some exceptions. For questions regarding Medicare plans and costs call us today at 916-784-2727 and we will be happy to answer your questions.

We hope to see you soon at Accident and Sports Injury Clinic, your Roseville Chiropractor

Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) which is also known as neuromuscular electrical stimulation is a therapy we use at our office in conjunction with chiropractic adjustments and other treatments. EMS helps with musculoskeletal pain by activating muscles to contract very lightly to help decrease the pain that is coming from that area. When being used at our office we make sure that the muscles are only activated enough to help decrease the pain but not enough to show visible contraction or activation of the muscles. When it is being used this way you will feel a tingling sensation when the electric muscle stimulation is being used. 

If you haven't tried EMS, come in today and we can show you how it works and how it can be beneficial in helping your back pain, shoulder injury, knee pain, neck pain, or whatever pain you are having.

​Did you know that there are different types of chiropractic adjustments available to help you? There are many different types of adjustments that chiropractors use to make sure that you have decreased pain, increased mobility, and increased ability to perform activities. Lets go over a couple of the different techniques available at our office that can help you.

Manual Adjustment - At our office the most common way we adjust our patients is by manually adjusting you. We use a technique called the Diversified technique which is by far the most common technique used by chiropractors to help patients throughout the world. The great thing about manual chiropractic adjustments is that we are using our hands to make sure you get the movement you need in the joints that aren't moving as well. This mean we can change the amount of force we use making sure to either do a lighter adjustment or a firmer adjustment. Along with doing the adjustment we can do it a light version called a mobilization. The difference between a adjustment/manipulation and a mobilization is that the adjustment is usually quicker with more force that may have an audible crack. Mobilization are more slower with light forces that are just focused on getting movement in the spine. Mobilizations usually don't have the audible crack with the adjustment.

One disadvantage with a manual adjustment is that while we are trying to get movement in certain joints we have to lock out other joints by having them be at the end range of their movement. This can be problematic for this with previous surgeries, severe injuries, or other conditions.  Luckily we have other adjustments we can do that may be better suited for these people that allow us to better isolate the less movable joint.

Activator/impulse - When manual adjustments are too much for a patients or cause a lot of soreness another option is using the activator or impulse to adjust you. The Activator or impulse is a hand held tool that does a quick, low force impulse directly on the part of your spine or other bone which allows for movement directly at the joint. This can be very beneficial for those who don't want their neck or back moved manually as there is no twisting involved. In fact we use the activator when you are in a more relaxed position such as laying down or sitting. The activator can also be really helpful for when we want to get one specific joint moving and not any of the others such as after spinal surgeries. It can also be helpful when a lower force is necessary such as when getting movement in the ribs for those with osteoporosis. All of our doctors are well versed in using the activator or impulse tool and can help you get rid of your pain and get movement back in your joints.

Note: we don't use the activator technique, we use the activator on the joints that aren't moving as they need to.

Drop Table - Another alternative is using the drop table to get movement in the joints. The drop table is a special chiropractic table that allows for certain segments to rise up and go down with an adjustable force. One great thing about the drop table is that it is a hands on adjustment but with the addition of the drop. This allows for us to do a lighter force or a firmer force if necessary. The drop table can be very beneficial because it doesn't involve any twisting when trying to get movement in the joints such as in the lumbar spine or sacroiliac joint. It can also be used in conjunction with manual techniques to help get more movement into the joints. Dr Zachary Owens uses the drop table at our office and he finds it very beneficial for those who don't enjoy the twisting movement with lower back manual adjustments but can handle some more force in the lower back.

Traction - Therapeutic traction is a technique that involves stretching of the spine. It involves pulling at in long axis distraction to help alleviate tight muscles, reduce muscle spasms, and relieve pressure off the discs and surrounding structures including nerves. This can be done at the neck or at the lower back to help relieve pressure off the discs and facet joints of the spine. Our chiropractors may use traction along with adjustment to help relieve pressure at your neck or at your lower back by pulling on your legs.

​Blocking - Using blocking for your lower back at the sacroiliac joints can help to get movement in your joints by using gravity instead of with a direct force on your sore areas. It can be helpful as it can be done for your lower back while either laying on your stomach or on your back and doesn't require any twisting to get movement. It is low impact and can be a great alternative to get movement in your SI joints.

As you can tell there are lots of different types of adjustments or manipulations that can be done to help make sure you are moving better and have less pain. If you have questions about these different techniques you can always ask your chiropractor to see if a different type of adjustment is better suited for you.

A while back I was talking to a patient of mine who has been dealing with back pain for a couple of months. She had been feeling better with chiropractic adjustments and exercising but had a bad flare up. She was concerned that she wouldn’t be able to help out around the holidays with cooking and decorating since it required a lot of standing and lifting which made her back really hurt. She asked if she should buy a back brace and if that would help with her back pain. I want to go over what I told her and when you should and should not get a back brace. 

Firstly let’s go over what a back brace does. The most common area to use a back brace is in your lower back or lumbar region of your spine. A back brace is meant to help stabilize your lower back with outside support. It does this by wrapping snuggly around your lower back and core muscles. By doing so it does decrease movement in your lumbar spine. This can help provide stiffness and help you experience less pain when doing moving around. It also helps encourage keeping your back straight and helps to maintain your posture.

I have no problem with the use of back brace when necessary, however, I see the use of back brace as a crutch not as a long term solution. Normally your lower back muscles and abdominal muscles which combine as your core muscles are what stabilizes your spine. By having strong core muscles your lower back should have more stability which will allow you to get rid of most lower back pain and prevent pain in the future. When using a back brace you are using the brace to stabilize your core which bypasses your stabilizing muscles. That can be ok short term if your are severe acute pain, however, over reliance on the back brace can cause your core to be weak and for a dependence on the back brace. 

Back to the story. I explained this to my patient and as she had been working on her core stability already I had recommended her not to get the back brace. I didn’t want to her lose the progress that she had been making. I also reminded her that it is normal to have flare up but with adjustments as needed and keeping up with regular strengthening exercises the flare ups will get fewer and farther between. 

If you have questions about whether a back brace will be helpful for your condition call today to make an appointment and we can go over this together.