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In our North County, St. Louis, MO practice, we see plenty of people who are struggling with back pain, and some of these people have been told they might need surgery to recover. Thankfully, Dr. Mark Holland has helped many people get relief without the need for any type of surgical procedure. The scientific research agrees with the results we see in our practice. One medical study published in the academic journal Spine found that seeing a chiropractor as your first move in overcoming with your back pain may literally keep you out of the operating room.

In this research study, medical professionals from Dartmouth reviewed statistics from 1,885 workers from the state of Washington who first saw either a surgeon or a chiropractic doctor for their back-related issues. They then examined three years' worth of follow-up medical data to find out whether the patients wound up having back surgery in an effort to treat the problem.

What the researchers found was that about 43% of the people who first consulted with a surgeon for their back issues ended up in surgery in that 3-year time frame, whereas only 1.5 percent of those who first consulted with a chiropractor had the same fate. The authors wrote:

"Even after controlling for injury severity and other measures, workers with an initial visit for the injury to a surgeon had almost nine times the odds of receiving lumbar spine surgery compared to those seeing primary care providers, whereas workers whose first visit was to a chiropractor had significantly lower odds of surgery."

These are remarkable results. Visiting a chiropractor drastically decreases your odds of getting back surgery, plus the chiropractic patients in this scientific study "had lower odds of chronic work disability" and they also had fewer expensive MRI tests.

Let's also take note this important detail: this study was performed by orthopedic surgeons from Dartmouth College, and printed in the world's most influential medical publication on spinal injury.

The Risks of Surgery

Any surgical procedure has risks, but a major problem associated with spinal surgery is that there is a very high failure rate. In an important analysis in the European Spine Journal, researchers wrote:

"Failed back surgery is a problem that has become sufficiently widespread to even warrant its own special conferences, with recent reviews reporting failure rates ranging from 5 to 50%."

The experts in this same study concluded:

"It is extremely difficult to identify unequivocal predictor factors that can be used to accurately predict the outcome of surgery."

As a chiropractor, Dr. Mark Holland is convinced that surgery should be the absolute last choice for treating back pain. Chiropractic works to restore your spine to its normal function--without risky surgery or drugs--and many scientific studies have established the effectiveness of chiropractic for back pain.

If you live in North County, St. Louis, MO and you need care for your back pain, give our practice a call today at (314) 867-8888 for a consultation or an appointment. We'll help get you back on the road to a pain-free life!

Studies

• Keeney BJ, Fulton-Kehoe D, Turner JA, Wickizer TM, Chan KC, Franklin GM. Early predictors of lumbar spine surgery after occupational back injury: results from a prospective study of workers in Washington State. Spine 2013;38(11):953-964.
• Mannion AF, Elfering A. Predictors of surgical outcome and their assessment. European Spine Journal 2006;15(Suppl 1):S93-S108.
  

We work with many car accident cases in in our North County, St. Louis, MO office, and a widespread symptom we see in our patients is shoulder pain. Chiropractic can be very helpful for shoulder pain symptoms after a crash. Let's see what causes shoulder pain and why chiropractic works.

There are at least two ways that you can develop shoulder pain after an accident: by direct trauma to the shoulder joint or by radiating pain from the neck.

Direct trauma can be caused by hitting your shoulder on a hard object in the car during the crash, or can occur if you have a tight grip on the steering wheel during a rear end crash. With this type of injury, you'll often be aware of the pain soon after the wreck.

More frequently, Dr. Mark Holland finds that shoulder or arm pain doesn't immediately appear after a collision, but begins a few days or weeks after the accident. This type of shoulder pain actually starts in the cervical spine. Injured soft tissue in your spine can squeeze nerves in your neck, causing numbness, tingling, or soreness in your shoulder, elbow, or wrist.

We've worked with many types of shoulder pain in our North County, St. Louis, MO office. This treatment involves chiropractic adjustments to restore your spine's natural flexibility and home exercises that strengthen your neck and shoulder.

You don't have to suffer from shoulder pain. Dr. Mark Holland is conveniently located in North County, St. Louis, MO to help you recover, whether you've been in a car crash or not. Dr. Mark Holland will first determine what's causing your pain and then work to restore your body to its natural functioning. Ready to make an appointment? Give us a call at (314) 867-8888 and we'll get you back on the road to health.

We tend to a large number of patients in our North County, St. Louis, MO office, and Dr. Mark Holland has helped countless people overcome a range of health issues. Even so, a common worry that seems to prevent a lot of women and men from pursuing treatment is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Well, according to three different studies (out of countless on the issue), the answer to this concern is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first study(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 women and men between the ages of 20 and 85. Each person was affected by spine-related pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic adjustments whereas the other half were given two fake chiropractic treatments. Information was obtained after each real or fake adjustment to discover if any unfavorable negative effects were caused by the actual chiropractic adjustments.

Researchers found that nobody reported any serious unfavorable side effects in any way after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some individuals did state that they got a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) after treatment, but the effects were not serious.

Nationwide Survey Finds that Chiropractic is Safe

The next article(2), also published in the distinguished medical journal, Spine, was done in an effort to establish the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 people. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Again, the researchers discovered no serious adverse side effects. The experts determined the risk of total adverse reactions to be approximately 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the previous study, some individuals did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), and this prompted the researchers to determine that "the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low."

Chiropractic Is Safe for Your Children

The third research paper(3) is different from the previous two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, the researchers analyzed results reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic treatment sessions.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic appointments made for the young children, chiropractors answering the survey reported only three cases where there were negative side effects. When parents were surveyed, they indicated only two adverse side effects out of 1,735 visits. Furthermore, both chiropractors and parents reported "a high rate of improvement with respect to the children's presenting complaints."

Based on these three studies (and many more!), chiropractic care has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our North County, St. Louis, MO office and make an appointment today at (314) 867-8888.

References

1. Walker BF, Hebert JJ, Stomski NJ, Clarke BR, Bowden RS, Losco B, French SD. Outcomes of usual chiropractic. The OUCH randomized controlled trial of adverse events. Spine 2013;38(20):1723-9.
2. Thiel HW1, Bolton JE, Docherty S, Portlock JC. Safety of chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine: a prospective national survey. Spine 2007;32(21):2375-8.
3. Alcantara J, Ohm J, Kunz D. The safety and effectiveness of pediatric chiropractic: a survey of chiropractors and parents in a practice-based research network. Explore NY 2009;5(5): 290-5.

When you're trying to sustain your family, take care of your household, and pay all of your bills on time, every day at your job counts. Work injuries can be a serious problem for many people, and we see many of these types of injuries in our North County, St. Louis, MO office. Dr. Mark Holland appreciates your situation and is here to help.

The benefits of chiropractic for work injuries are well-documented. A 2013 research paper involving 651 adults who were suffering with either back or neck pain found that the men and women who didn't see a chiropractor missed work at twice the rate of those who were seeing a chiropractor.

So, why don't more people use Chiropractic?

According to the respondents in this paper, two of the major factors were that they thought they needed a referral for chiropractic care (which is typically no longer true) and they overestimated the costs associated with chiropractic treatment sessions by almost 70 percent.

The reality is, chiropractic patients actually spend less on care than medical patients, plus they are less likely to use drugs for their symptoms.

Dr. Mark Holland Can Help People Find Relief From Chronic Pain

If you live in North County, St. Louis, MO and you've been injured at work, we can help. Give our office a call today at (314) 867-8888 for an appointment.

Sources

"Thousands of Minnesotans with Back and Neck Pain Don't Seek Treatment." (2013, June 12). ChiroCare.

We come across a lot of sports injuries in our North County, St. Louis, MO office, and Dr. Mark Holland is often able to assist these athletes. Stanford Children’s Hospital states that over 3.5 million children aged 14 and younger are hurt each year while playing sports. Add that to the almost 2 million adults hurt each year while engaged in sports-related activities, as reported by statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can start to see the necessity of preventing these types of widespread injuries. One way to possible achieve that goal, as reported by a study released in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to receive routine chiropractic treatments.

In Australian Rules football, hamstring and other leg traumas are common, often sidelining the players and impacting their team's likelihood of winning. One specific study was conducted using 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers to see if chiropractic could cut down on these injuries and help keep them in the game.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study specifically, all of the volunteers got medical treatment. Furthermore, half of them also received chiropractic treatments at the rate of 1 treatment each week for the first six weeks, biweekly sessions for the next three months, and one session per month for the remaining 3 months of the study. The other group were given no chiropractic intervention at all and acted as the control group to assess the benefits of chiropractic care.

Following twenty-four matches, scientists noticed a lessened number of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had received chiropractic care. Additionally, that same group also missed fewer matches correlated to non-contact knee injuries. This lead the researchers to come to the conclusion that chiropractic should be made an addition to sports training programs to effectively reduce the amount of leg injuries.

Dr. Mark Holland Can Help Patients Find Comfort From Sports Injuries & Help You Recover Quicker

If you or your child plays sports and you want to ensure more time is dedicated on the field versus on the bench, call our North County, St. Louis, MO office at (314) 867-8888 and schedule an appointment today. We will do our best to keep you in the game!

References

• Hoskins, W, & Pollard, H. (2010, April 8). The effect of a sports chiropractic manual therapy intervention on the prevention of back pain, hamstring and lower limb injuries in semi-elite Australian Rules footballers: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 11(64), doi:10.1186/1471-2474-11-64
• Misra, A. (2014, March 17). Common sports injuries: Incidence and average charges. Department of Health & Human Services.
• Stanford Children’s Hospital. (n.d.). Sports injury statistics.

According to research, roughly 2-5 percent of the population will experience painful ailments like frozen shoulder syndrome at some time in their lives. That makes shoulder pain a common problem and one that Dr. Mark Holland sees in our North County, St. Louis, MO practice on a regular basis.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps With Shoulder Pain

Generally, this issue is more prevalent for people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, and it tends to affect women more often than men. While ice, heat, and gentle stretching can sometimes help alleviate the discomfort, so too can chiropractic care.

For instance, one study published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine looked at 50 people with frozen shoulder who were given chiropractic care. The duration of care varied from 11 days to 51 days, with 28 days being the average.

The researchers found that nearly all of the study participants fared very well with chiropractic care. The study found:

8 of the subjects reported 50-75 percent improvement
25 indicated improvement ranging from 75- 90 percent
1 participant had complete resolution of their frozen shoulder pain

Only one participant reported an improvement of 50 percent or less, so studies like this demonstrate just how effective chiropractic can be when it comes to decreasing shoulder pain and increasing quality of life.

We Can Help Clients Find Relief From Shoulder Pain

Let Dr. Mark Holland help you decrease your pain by contacting our North County, St. Louis, MO office and scheduling your appointment today.

Resources

Murphy F et al. (2012, December). Chiropractic management of frozen shoulder syndrome using a novel technique: a retrospective case series of 50 patients. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine;11(4):267-272

Dr. Mark Holland works with many sciatica patients here in our North County, St. Louis, MO office, and many of these men and women were concerned that they might need surgery to relieve their pain. The most recent research indicates that many people don't need surgery for this common issue, and that chiropractic is more beneficial at solving sciatic nerve pain.

A popular surgery for sciatica is microdiscectomy, and in a 2010 study, specialists examined 80 individuals with sciatica who were referred for this procedure.

Forty patients were then randomly placed in one of two groups. The first group received surgical microdiscectomy and the second group was given chiropractic care.

Both groups got better; however, no obvious difference in outcome was reported one year post-treatment between the surgery group and the chiropractic group. Additionally, about sixty percent of the participating patients who could not find relief from any other treatment method "benefited from spinal manipulation to the same degree as if they underwent surgical intervention."

Put another way, chiropractic provided the same positive advantages as surgery without needing to endure the greater amounts of surgery-based pain or suffer through lengthy recovery times often affiliated with that type of treatment option. Additionally, you also don't run the risks associated with surgical microdiscectomy, which includes nerve root damage, bowel or bladder incontinence, bleeding, or infection.

Surgery should be the last resort for sciatica pain. If you live in North County, St. Louis, MO and you're suffering from back pain or sciatica, give Dr. Mark Holland a call today at (314) 867-8888. We'll help pinpoint the origin of your pain and work hard to get you relief.

References

• McMorland, G et al. Manipulation or microdiskectomy for sciatica? A prospective randomized clinical study. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2010;33(8):576-584.
• Solberg TK, Nygaard OP, Sjaavik K, Hofoss D, Ingebrigtsen T. The risk of "getting worse" after lumbar microdiscectomy. European Spine Journal 2005;14(1):49-54.
  

According to The American Academy of Pain Medicine, more people in the US suffer with chronic pain than diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, and cancer combined. On top of that, neck pain is the third most documented type of pain, beat out only by back pain and headaches.

Not surprisingly, many people come to our North County, St. Louis, MO office seeking neck pain care, and Dr. Mark Holland has helped many of them find relief. This is a smart choice, as some studies have shown that over 90% of neck pain patients benefit from chiropractic care.

Studies Confirm Chiropractic Works

A report published in The Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy included 64 men and women who were suffering with neck pain. Approximately half were placed in an experimental group and the other half were designated to a comparison group. Both received chiropractic adjustments of the neck as well as a home exercise program, whereas the experimental group also received adjustments of the thoracic spine.

Data was gathered before treatment began and one week after the adjustments. Researchers found that 94 percent of the experimental group claimed "significantly greater improvements" in regard to pain and disability in their neck symptoms. Just 35% of the individuals who received neck adjustments showed the same level of improvement, showing that evaluating the entire spine is a critical part of restoring the body's normal function.

Yet another study posted in Physical Therapy involved 60 adults who were dealing with neck pain. Each person was randomly allocated to one of two groups--thoracic spine thrust manipulation or non-thrust manipulation--with follow-up exams occurring two and four days after the treatments.

The investigators discovered that the study patients who received the thrust manipulations (the same manipulations that provided such positive results in the first study) "experienced greater reductions in disability" than the group that received the non-thrust manipulations. Their pain was lower as well, which shows that this type of approach offers many benefits.

Chiropractic Even Offers Benefits After Failed Neck Surgery

One study also found the same sort of positive outcomes after thoracic adjustments in a woman who had a failed neck surgery. This particular case involved a 46-year-old patient who had recently had neck surgery but still reported neck pain, headaches, pain in her elbow, and muscle fatigue.

The woman reported reduced pain in her neck and reduced headache intensity, immediately after the first chiropractic treatment session. After six weeks of care, which involved chiropractic, exercise, and patient education, the patient still rated her pain at a zero on a scale of 1 to 10. Her neck disability improved as well, with a rating score that represented that it was a "great deal better."

It is studies like these that prove the advantages of chiropractic techniques, even if you've already attempted neck surgery that didn't provide relief. So, if you are dealing with neck problems and would like to find a solution that has a high success rate, try chiropractic. It may just be the help you're looking for.

We're located in North County, St. Louis, MO and Dr. Mark Holland can help you recover from neck pain. Give us a call today at (314) 867-8888.

References

• AAPM facts and figures on pain. The American Academy of Pain Medicine.
• Masaracchio M, Cleland JA, Hellman M, Hagins M. Short-term combined effects of thoracic spine thrust manipulation and cervical spine nonthrust manipulation in individuals with mechanical neck pain: a randomized clinical trial. Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy 2013;43(3):118-127.
• Cleland JA, Glynn P, Whitman JM, Eberhart SL, MacDonald C, Childs JD. Short-term effects of thrust versus nonthrust mobilization/manipulation directed at the thoracic spine in patients with neck pain: a randomized clinical trial. Physical Therapy 2007;87(4):431-440.
• Salvatori R, Rowe RH, Osborne R, Beneciuk JM. Use of thoracic spine thrust manipulation for neck pain and headache in a patient following multiple-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion: a case report. The Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy 2014;44(6):440-449.
  

With the Migraine Research Foundation reporting that migraines affect 38 million people in the U.S. (more than diabetes and asthma put together), it's no surprise that Dr. Mark Holland sees a lot of headache patients in our North County, St. Louis, MO office. Although some folks choose to relieve migraine pain with drugs, chiropractic is a fantastic, all-natural approach that usually produces positive results.

Research Proves Chiropractic Care Helps With Migraines

For example, one report published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics involved 127 participants ranging in age from 10 to 70-years-old who suffered with regular (at least monthly) headaches. Each subject received up to 16 chiropractic sessions. The subjects noted that their headache frequency, duration, and disability two months before the treatments began, during the duration of the sessions (which was two months), and two months post-treatment.

What the authors discovered is that chiropractic adjustments reduced the frequency, duration, and disability of the migraine pain when compared with the control group who didn't receive chiropractic. Even better, this enabled them to take less medication for the pain, providing them an all-natural solution for a chronic condition.

Another study found that a combination of chiropractic and neck massage reduced migraine pain almost 68%.

If you have migraine pain and are looking for help, call Dr. Mark Holland today and request an appointment in our North County, St. Louis, MO chiropractic office. We'll do what we can to help you become pain-free!

Resources

Migraine Fact Sheet. Migraine Research Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.migraineresearchfoundation.org/fact-sheet.html on November 2, 2015
Noudeh Y et al. (2012). Reduction of current migraine headache pain following neck massage and spinal manipulation. International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork;5(1):5-13
Tuchin P et al. (2000, February). A randomized controlled trial of chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy for migraine. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics;23(2):91-5

Knee pain is a common issue for people in our North County, St. Louis, MO chiropractic practice, and Dr. Mark Holland has successfully provided many of these folks relief. This is largely because chiropractic care has been found to help with many forms of knee pain.

For example, some patients experience pain in and around the knee tissues due to degenerative arthritis. Research has proven that this ailment responds very well to chiropractic--and rather quickly, too. In fact, one article published in The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association found that individuals with osteoarthritis in their knees felt considerable pain relief and improved function after just two weeks of chiropractic care.

If your knee pain is due to a medial meniscus tear, chiropractic could likely help with that as well. One case reported that combining chiropractic with soft tissue therapy, rest, ice, and compression on the affected knee helped lower the intensity of the pain.

Of course, sometimes a knee replacement surgery is required in order to rectify the problem, and if that's the case, chiropractic can also help improve the outcome. How?

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps With Knee Injuries

Research has shown that people with low back pain often have less positive results after knee surgery. Thus, dealing with your back pain through chiropractic before having a total knee arthroplasty can assist with your post-surgery recovery.

No matter what your knee issue, Dr. Mark Holland can likely help. Call our North County, St. Louis, MO practice today and find out what we can do for you!

Resources

• Pollard H et al. (2008, December). The effect of a manual therapy knee protocol on osteoarthritic knee pain: a randomised controlled trial. The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association;52(4):229-42
  Boyle J et al. (2014, March). Influence of low back pain on total knee arthroplasty outcome. Knee;21(2):410-4
• Jarosz B & Ames R. (2010, December). Chiropractic management of a medial meniscus tear in a patient with tibiofemoral degeneration: a case report. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine;9(4):200-8