Health Conditions

Since ADHD is a neurological disorder, chiropractic may help because it is focused on the neurological system of the body.

Begin by including chiropractic while making nutritional and lifestyle changes, ADD symptoms may decrease.

Remove food dyes, preservatives and additives from the diet. Eat natural, organic foods grown without pesticides or herbicides. Reduce or eliminate dairy or gluten as often people are allergic to them. Also reduce or eliminate all sugars and artifical sweeteners. reconsider what you use for cleaning products such as cleaning agents, detergents, fabric softeners and other chemicals. Try to use more environmentally friendly options.

Hyperactivity isn’t the result of a medicine shortage. Instead, chiropractic tends to the disturbances to a child’s nervous system and spinal distortions in the upper neck. The link between the spine, brain stem dysfunction and ADHD is well documented in anecdotal cases. If you child is physically active, they may have incurred a spinal distortion of some kind that may be preventing optimal nerve function throughout the spine and body.

Do you suffer from rheumatoid arthritis?

We can help you plan an individualized exercise program that will help you restore the lost range of motion to your joints; improve your flexibility and endurance; and increase your muscle tone and strength.

In addition to chiropractic care, we can also provide you with nutrition and supplementation advice that can be helpful in controlling and reducing joint inflammation.

Medical treatments usually include anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator drugs. These drugs tend to lose effectiveness over time and need to be increased. Children on these medications are often depressed or drowsy from the side effects and are not able to live normal, active lives. Parents do not like to see their children live like this and will often seek out chiropractic for their children.

What does chiropractic do?
The majority of children with asthma treated by chiropractors are found to have improper curvatures in the thoracic spine. When the misalignment is corrected and managed properly, some of these children are able to live more normal, comfortable, and active lives.

The anatomy of a carpal tunnel is intricate.
Across the back of the wrist, eight small irregular bones (called carpals), form a letter “C.” Closing the circle on the innerside of the wrist is a tough ligament. This is what creates the carpal tunnel. Nine tendons, which transmit forces from the forearm to the fingers, pass through this narrow tunnel along with the soft median nerve. This tunnel is about the size of your pinky.

When things go wrong, pain sets in.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is a condition in which the median nerve becomes irritated and swells. As the nerve swells, it causes pressure in the tunnel. This increased pressure then further irritates the median nerve. This causes more swelling. The condition worsens.
Typical symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome include paresthesias (abnormal sensations) such as tingling and numbness in the thumb and index and middle fingers on the palm side night pain, weakness in grasping, thumb and index finger pinching, and other thumb movements clumsiness, such as awkward hand movements and dropping things.

So, you have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Now what?
Tens of thousands of people have benefited from chiropractic care for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome problems because chiropractic treatment directly releases pressure on the nerves, We also provide rehabilitative and preventative exercises.

Ear infection or otitis media accounts for over 35% of all pediatrician visits in the United States. Antibiotics, the usual treatment, are not always effective and may even lead to a recurrence of ear infections.

Antibiotics only treat the infection and not the cause.
Many children are dealing with a continuing cycle of repeat ear infections, which lands them back at the pediatrician for more antibiotics. This heavy use of antibiotics results in antibiotic resistance.

A study published in the Journal of Clinical Chiropractic Pediatrics indicates that there is a strong correlation between chiropractic adjustments and the resolution of ear infections.
332 children with chronic ear infections participated in the study. Each child, ranging in age from 27 days to 5 years, was given a series of chiropractic adjustments.

The results show that close to 80% of the children did not experience another ear infection within the six-month period following their initial visits.

The loss of movement in the spine results in a neurological reflex that causes the muscles to tighten further. This vicious cycle will continue and over time will lead to increased pain, increased muscle tightness, a loss of movement, more difficulty sleeping and the development of more and more trigger points.

The only option is to continually adjust the spine and keep it moving. It is not uncommon for those with fibromyalgia to be adjusted three to four times per month to keep everything mobile and relaxed.

What is the biggest concern?
The biggest concern in treating people with fibromyalgia is that their muscles have a diminished healing ability. For this reason, chiropractic adjustments are usually modified slightly to be more gentle than normal. This helps to decrease the stress on all of the small supporting muscles of the spine, which can be easily injured. Dr. Chris Berard of Methuen’s Berard Family Chiropractic is familiar with the muscular changes that occur with fibromyalgia and adjusts treatment accordingly.

How can Trigger Point Therapy help?
The overwhelming characteristic of fibromyalgia is long-standing, body-wide pain with defined tender points, and frequently, trigger points. Trigger points are often confused with “tender points.” They are not the same. A trigger point needs firm pressure to elicit pain, while tender points are painful with even very light pressure. Trigger points will refer pain to other areas of the body, whereas tender points will not.

Unlike tender points, trigger points can occur in isolation and represent a source of radiating pain, even in the absence of direct pressure. As discussed earlier, trigger points are purely comprised of muscle fibers in spasm, whereas tender points are knots filled with ground substance. Those with fibromyalgia almost always have a combination of the two – trigger points and tender points – and can improve dramatically with light trigger point therapy.

Trigger point therapy for fibromyalgia is much like trigger point therapy for low back pain, neck pain or headaches. The points are the same. The difference is just intensity. Since the muscles in patients with fibromyalgia are easily injured and take longer to heal, it is necessary to use less pressure on their trigger points.

In the long run, these pills create more suffering through their side effects. Also, because they do not correct the underlying cause of the headaches. Instead, they allow the condition to grow silently. Pills work by hurting and numbing your nervous system so that the pain doesn’t register.

Yes, pills provide a temporary relief but they do not fix the underlying cause of the headache. Pills can damage your health in the long run. Don’t take our word for it. Read the side effects on that package before you open the bottle.

Why can’t these pills “fix” your headache?
Studies show that up to 95% of all headaches, including tension headaches, cluster headaches and migraines headaches originate in the structures of your neck.

Chiropractic looks at the relationship between the spine and the function of the nervous system. Poor posture, endless hours in front of a computer, previous falls and motor vehicle accidents can all damage the spinal joints of the neck.

When the spinal joints in the neck are not functioning properly (referred to as a subluxation), many important structures in the area are compromised. Muscles become weak, blood flow to the head is often affected and most importantly, nerves become irritated.

Nerve interference in the area of the neck causes referred pain to the head, around the eyes, and to the temples. The result is a headache. Migraines tend to be more severe and are accompanied by visual aura and disturbance, nausea, vomiting, numbness and irritability.

So, if pills can’t help your migraine problem, what can?
Numerous studies have shown that the frequency of tension headaches and the need for medication were reduced through chiropractic care. Relief of nausea and dizziness, often experienced by headache sufferers, was also reported after chiropractic adjustments. In our office, we have had many patients find headache and migraine relief through chiropractic care.

Check out Nancy and Sandra’s testimonial for more information on headaches and chiropractic.

One study was conducted with 75 students undergoing routine chiropractic health care at the Palmer College of Chiropractic Clinic. The goal of the study was to find out if chiropractic adjustments caused any significant changes in blood pressure.

The subjects divided into two groups, the first were adjusted and the second simply had their spines examined.

Both groups had their blood pressure tested immediately before and immediately after their adjustment or exam. The doctors measuring blood pressure did not know if the subjects had been adjusted or merely examined.

Both systolic and diastolic were statistically lowered (10-20 points) in the subjects who were under chiropractic care.

How does chiropractic make a difference?
Chiropractic care helps restore your body’s normal, homeostatic balance by adjusting misalignments of the vertebra subluxations) that cause interferences to your nervous system, interferences that can stop your body from working the way it should.
Everyone with a spine is subject to subluxations and should be regularly checked by their chiropractor. In addition to receiving chiropractic care, those with high blood pressure should also alter their diet and lifestyle to incorporate exercise and healthy foods.

Why is scoliosis such a big deal?
Your vertebra protect your spinal cord. When the spinal cord is compressed, nerve impulses are diminished. When nerve impulses are diminished organ function is diminished.

It is extremely important to diagnosis and treat Scoliosis as early as possible. Periodic chiropractic check-ups can reduce chances of developing scoliosis.

Spinal Fusion surgery is very painful and expensive last resort that will alter the lifestyle of the patient forever. Wearing a Milwaukee Brace is uncomfortable, limits physical activity, offers no correction, and is mostly ineffective in stabilizing the spine. In mild to moderate cases of scoliosis, chiropractic should be tried first as it is the least invasive

What can we do?
Each case varies. Often we can stabilize the spine and preventing the curve from progressing.