Yes, I recommend to all of my patients who have desk jobs to get up every hour and walk to the water fountain or stretch. A regular daily routine of range of motion and stretching exercises is very beneficial. As we age we tend to lose flexibility. These exercises help to maintain flexibility. Regular Chiropractic care as well as strengthening exercises is the best preventive tool for back and neck pain.

Any person who sits for long periods of time working at a computer has to take the time during the day to change positions to relieve pressure being placed on the disc and spinal joints as well as the adjacent muscles. I also recommend exercises to strengthen neck and low back muscles, allowing body to handle the daily stresses. Chiropractic adjustments help to minimize the cumulative stress placed on the spine and help improve spinal joint movement. Finally, evaluating the workstation making sure it fits your will help to minimize daily work stress.

Jordan, that is a excellent question and one that we hear quite often in our office. The best thing for office workers to do is to move around and stretch at least once an hour. Secondly, we find that many people who work on the computer daily have many subluxations in their upper backs which can cause severe tension in the neck and in some cases even cause headaches. Many people think these headaches and tension are a normal part of life but the truth is that a headache is a warning sign that something is not right. Taking Tylenol or Advil for these headaches can help aleive the pain (no pun intended :) ) but they do not get to the root cause of the problem. A chiropractor is able to assess the body and figure out if the headaches and tension are because of stress on the nervous system and can remove that stress. In addition, there are a number of tips to help set up your work station so that you can reduce the stress on your body. For example, make sure your monitor is not off to the side so that you spend a good portion of your day twisted to one side. If you spend a good amount of time on the phone, avoid holding the phone with your ear and shoulder as this will cause muscle imbalances. Our office offers free consultations if you ever have any further questions please feel free to call us at (636) 825-6555. Have a great day!!

Chiropractic is considered the leader in alternative health and wellness care and it feels awesome. The biggest myth about Chiropractic is that once you go you must continue to go forever. In the latest Gallop poll that asked the public how much they trust various health care providers, Chiropractors ranked 9 out of 10 with a low trust rating. I believe this is because many Chiropractors keep their patients coming back forever even when they are better and have no pain. My policy in my office is to find out what the patient needs and to provide it to the patient in the shortest period of time and with the lowest cost to each patient and to educate my patients about proper spinal health and prevention. When you get a patient out of pain in 4 or 5 visits and they don't have to come back forever then they will come back when they need it and they will refer other patients. When you drag care on forever not only will that patient not come back but they will never refer other patients either. I tell every patient it is your feet that carry you in the door so it is your decision whether or not you come back. If a patient understands Chiropractic and prevention they will want to come back so that they don't experience that pain in the future.

It is always easier to maintain good health than to achieve it after injury or illness. Throughout our lives beginning when we are infants and continuing until old age we constantly place demands on our bodies that may cause immediate injury or may cause gradual wear and tear as we age. Keeping our bodies in the best shape possible is the key to a happy and productive life. This includes eating well, exercise and adequate sleep to help our bodies have the nutrients, strength and rest we need. We also benefit when we have healthy muscles, joints and nerves which function are optimally as possible. As a chiropractic physician I believe that a healthy and functioning nervous system is the key to life long good health. Regular chiropractic adjustments helps to reduce the stresses we experience.

Boot, thanks for your question. This is a valid concern for many who are seeking out chiropractic care. As our other colleges have stated maintaining a body is easier than trying to continually fix a body. In our office we perform a new patient exam that gets very detailed to fix your initial complaint. Once the exam is over we ill sit with you and give our recommendations to fix your complaint. We perform thorough reexaminations every 4-6 treatments to make sure that we are making progress. Once a person has reached maximum medical improvement to the initial complaint we discuss a plan of action to maintain that positive change. In most cases it requires the patient to do exercises and stretch on their own with periodic check ups with the chiropractor. It is our policy to get the patient better. If for any reason we feel you would be better served by seeing a different specialist we have no problems referring you to a good one. However, chiropractic care in general is for everyone who has a spine just like going to the dentist is for every person who has gums and teeth. You do at least a yearly check-up with your dentist, a chiropractor is no different.

Epiphyseal growth plates aren't fused until about the age of 18 or 19 that is why kids continue to grow until these ages. The plates in the skull still move well into adulthood and old age and in many cases never fuse. Children respond very well to Chiropractic care because they are less toxic than adults who have had poor diets for years and have abused their bodies physically. We have many infant and children patients in our office that we have helped with colic, inability to sleep, bedwetting, and many other conditions. One of the most traumatic things a person will ever go through is birth and if you have ever seen a child being born you will see that the head is turned more than 90 degrees to remove the child from the birth canal. This can create problems in the upper Cervical spine that can affect the brainstem which usually descends down to the first or second Cervical vertebrae. Breathing and speech centers, as well as many other control centers for various functions, are housed in the brainstem.

Kalen,
Each infant will be different as far as what chiropractic can help them with. For example, if an infant spits up too much, most of the time it can be from a disruption in the way the diaphragm is attached to the spine in the back. In this case, a chiropractic adjustment can help this. If the excessive spit up is from a condition called pyloric stenosis, where the valve between the stomach and small intestine is too tight, then surgery will help fix in this case. In general, chiropractic helps all individuals by correcting misalignments. The frequency also depends on the amount of time between the misalignment and the correction and the amount of misalignments. In general, we see infants a couple times a week for a couple weeks, then re-evaluate to see if care can be dropped to once a week.

thanks all! Are there special pediatric chiropractors or will most chiropractors be familiar with treating infants?

Kalen, that is a wonderful follow-up question:
"thanks all! Are there special pediatric chiropractors or will most chiropractors be familiar with treating infants?"

Not all chiropractors are the same when it comes to treating infants. While all chiropractors have the book knowledge in treating infants some chiropractors choose to expand their knowledge in clinic or in post graduation courses. In our office both chiropractors took a special interest in treating pediatric patients. And both see pediatric cases on a daily basis for various conditions. You can see our special kids room on our website at cwcchiropractic.com. The kids just love to ride Nemo when they come to our office!! :)

However, one of our doctors (Dr. Angela Woodson) has recently completed the required courses to become ICPA certified which is a special certification for chiropractors. You can find more information about this certification at www.icpa4kids.com
We would recommend that if you want to have your child examined that you make sure the chiropractor has experience with children. If you have more questions please feel free to call us at (636) 825-6555 and if available either doctor would be happy to speak with you. Best of luck!!

Kalen, all chiropractors are trained to treat infants but only certain chiropractors who have had special training will be certified for pediatric care. When you call your local chiropractor's office, they'll be able to tell you if they specialize in infant adjustment.

An area that a Chiropractor adjusts is called a subluxation. This literally means less than a dislocation. It is a misalignment of the spine that includes pain, muscle tightness, swelling, abnormal nerve function and many other signs and symptoms. A subluxation is a vertebra that is "stuck" and will not move and what happens as a result is the segments above and below become hypermobile to compensate. So when a patient grabs their own head and twists it they are typically not moving the right segment or moving it in the right direction. So the problem still remains. For someone who is not trained properly it can also be dangerous. A Chiropractor is highly trained in manipulation and will perform tests first of all to make sure manipulation is safe for the patient and then will perform it in the safest manner.

Jordan, again that's a great question. We agree with our colleges at Premier Health Care. In addition, usually the popping achieved by "popping" your own neck is actually a hyper mobile segment (a segment moving too much) So with continued popping of the neck that segments becomes more unstable. The stuck or subluxated segment is unlikely to move because the person popping their own neck is not able to get the correct line of drive to move the stuck segment. Also, it is very dangerous for a patient to pop their own neck. We have a few patients under our care that have injuries as a result of popping their own neck. Prior to coming to our clinic they were popping their own necks and caused a vertebral artery dissection in the neck and as a result could have died. Thanks for your follow up question.

Hi Kalen, our office is trained by the ICPA (International Chirorpactic Pediatric Association) and is certified to treat pregnant women and children. We see children in our office every day! Children respond very well to chiropractic care because of their high level of vitality. As a chiropractor specializing in this area it is my mission to reduce birth trauma by adjusting mom while carrying her unborn child to allow for optimal fetal positioning and the best possible birth. I also recommend getting your baby's spine checked and adjusted soon after birth to free their spine from any fixation/subluxations that may have occurred during the birth process. You can also go to www.icpa4kids.com to find a chiropractor specializing in this area near you.

In order to know what type of treatment is required and the potential results - I will first sit with a new patient take a detailed health history and perform an examination of the area(s) of the major complaint. Following the examination I can give you an idea of the problem and what needs to be done to help you. Depending upon the problem it is very possible that you will feel some relief following the first treatement but it is also possible that it may take more than a single visit for you to begin to feel better. Every situation is different and has a unique solution.

Kelly, thanks for the question. This depends on what you are coming to see the chiropractor for. We have had patients carried into our office by family members and walked out almost pain free. We have had people who woke up one morning and couldn't turn their neck all the way leave our office with full range of motion. Recently, I treated a girl who has had headaches every day of her life for the past two years and as soon as we adjusted her neck the headache went away.
In our office we will set down and do a complete physical examination. Once that portion is complete we can accurately put you on to a treatment plan to get you the results you want. There is a difference between relief care and corrective care. Relief care only gets you out of pain. The issue with this type of care is that pain is usually one of the last symptoms to arrive because your body is tired of compensating for the issues it has. As we start to remove subluxations the pain will go away but the root problem may (most likely) still exists. Corrective care is getting the patient all the way to maximum medical improvement and maintaining that change. Many patients feel the benefit on their first visit even before leaving the office. However, if you have not had a chiropractic adjustment before the adjusting itself may cause minor soreness as the muscles grow accustomed to the changes made to your body. Feel free to call us at (636)825-6555 or email with any further questions at cwcchiropractic@gmail.com.

Brian,
Pain is a tricky thing. There are many reasons why we experience pain. The most common reasons are misaligned joints and tight muscles. Arthritis, sprains, strains and even infections can cause pain. After an examination, the source of your pain can be determined and then recommendations can be made. If the source of your pain is an issue with your pillow, we can make good recommendations. The one we carry in our office is Tri-core. There sides that are raised and the center is depressed to contour the neck and keep the natural curve in a neutral position. We sell them for $35. I hope this helps and I hope you can get some relief!

Jenny:

A very good question!

Chiripractic is the treatment of choice for jaw pain, once dental problems have been addressed. Often, chiropractors and dentists work together on the persistent cases.
Jaw pains, once dental problems have been ruled out, most often involve the temporo mandibular joint. That is where the lower jaw hooks to the skull. "Temporo" refers to the temporal bone of the skull. Distortions of the temporal bone change the angle at which the mandible fits into the temporal bone and can cause excruciating pain.

As a chiropractor who uses SOT and Chiropractic Craniopathy, I have had good results with many cases over the past 40 years using a combination of cranial corrections, muscle therapy and spinal adjustments in those patients with jaw pain.

The Saint Louis Natural Treatment center will be opening soon at 924 N McKnight Rd and will offer cranial adjustments, as well as accupuncture, massage, nutritional counseling and whole body SOT adjustments to its many clients.

Dr. Rozeboom

Jenny,
Jaw pain, or TMJ pain, is a common complaint among chiropractic patients. You are right on track with the dental problems too. Dental problems can make a TMJ disorder worse, so having that addressed is key. Once that is managed or ruled out, an exam of the jaw and upper cervical spine can determine if and how chiropractic can help. Most of the time there is a misalignment of the jaw and/ or the upper cervical spine causing the pain. There is also a disc at the TMJ and when this is displaced, you can experience clicking, popping and pain. If the issue is a misalignment, chiropractic can help reduce the misalignment and manage the pain. Thanks for the question!

Susan,
First of all, congrats on the weight loss! With surgery, it is common to feel tight and stiff, especially with the body lift you underwent. It is important to remember that muscles and joints are attached and move together to give you your range of motion. We feel it is important to address both muscle and joint issues to give the best results of increased mobility. Chiropractic care would be a good place to continue your search for more mobility and should help you with your problem. Congrats again and hope this helps!

Heidi, that is a great question. Dr. Lorie Lofquist also has a 13 year old son experiencing similar knee complaints. We are managing his pain very effectively with chiropractic treatments but more importantly kinesiotaping methods. Dr. Lofquist has been certified in kinesiotape for over 4 years and commonly uses it to take away pain and inflammation in various parts of the body. This technique is especially effective in treating knee pain. Usually the benefits are felt after the first treatment though a series of treatments are usually needed much like the PT you are seeing. Thanks for the question.

Thanks for having us Jordan!

Dr. Arnone,
At the top of the page there is a button that says upload photo. If you are on your account you can also upload a photo there too so you will have a picture next to your name. Hope this helps.