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When performing activities that require a lot of lower body motion, like football, soccer, and basketball, it's not uncommon to sustain some type of injury to your lower extremities. Between pulled hamstrings, sprained ankles, knee injuries, and more, many people have found themselves sidelined. Dr. Mark Holland has seen all of these problems in our North County St. Louis, MO patients. Fortunately, chiropractic can help prevent some of these injuries from occurring and research proves it.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps With Sports Injuries & Recovery

Dr. Mark Holland keeps current with all of the recent scientific research, and in a paper published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, researchers from Macquarie University in Australia studied 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers. Roughly half were placed in a control group and the others were put in a therapy group that received sports chiropractic care at regular intervals. During the first six weeks, this meant getting care once per week. The following three months consisted of an adjustment every two weeks before reducing those to one visit monthly for the final three months of the study.

Researchers noted that there was a "significant" decrease in the number of lower limb strains the players received in the treatment group when compared to the control. In addition, they noticed that the subjects who received chiropractic also had fewer weeks of missed practice and games as a result of non-contact knee injuries. This led them to determine that sports chiropractic intervention should be added to "the current best practice management."

Every major sports team in the US and the US Olympic Team has chiropractors on staff for their players, because they know that chiropractic really works. If you live near our practice in North County St. Louis, MO and would like to see if Dr. Mark Holland can help you boost your performance or reduce sports injuries, give our office a call today at (314) 867-8888 for an appointment.

Dr. Mark Holland Can Help People Find Relief From Sports Injuries and Recover Faster

If you're suffering from severe pain, Dr. Mark Holland and our staff are here to help you heal. Give our North County St. Louis, MO office a call today at (314) 867-8888 for an appointment today.

Bibliographic Reference

Hoskins W, Pollard H. 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 2010;11(64).

In our North County St. Louis, MO practice, it isn't unusual for us to see people suffering with sciatica, and Dr. Mark Holland has helped many of them heal with chiropractic. What makes chiropractic care so useful to those who suffer with this condition? For starters, it shortens their recovery time and a Norwegian research study confirms it.

In the article, which took place in a Norwegian hospital's orthopedic department, the authors looked at 44 patients who presented with abrupt low back pain that was identified as acute sciatica. The participants were all treated by a chiropractor, with the mean follow-up being two years after treatment.

The researchers found that all but two patients returned to their jobs after receiving chiropractic care, which is a 95% success rate. Furthermore, the average period of time that the patients spent off work "was reduced by two thirds as compared with that associated with conventional medical treatment."

Given the fact that the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that over 170,000 workdays were missed in 2013 due to employees dealing with back or spine-related issues, that is nearly 112,500 work days that could potentially be recovered each and every year solely by receiving chiropractic care. Not only would that increase work productivity, but it would also decrease costs to businesses and employees from lost work.

If you live in North County St. Louis, MO and you suffer from sciatica, Dr. Mark Holland is here to help. Give us a call at (314) 867-8888 and we'll work with you to find the source of your sciatic pain and get you back on the road to recovery.

Orlin JR, Didriksen A. Results of chiropractic treatment of lumbopelvic fixation in 44 patients admitted to an orthopedic department. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2007;30(2):135-139.

Neck and headache pain are common problems that affect millions of people around the world. If you are suffering from this type of problem, you're not alone. The good news is that chiropractic care is a great way to not only treat these common issues, but also help prevent future episodes.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps With Neck Pain and Headaches

For many years, patients with neck and headache pain in North County St. Louis, MO have been helped by the chiropractic care of Dr. Mark Holland. Our success is backed up by a recent review done in Canada that found that non-surgical, non-drug treatments are the best choice for neck and headache pain.

The review looked at 15 studies from 1990 to 2015 and found that conservative treatment comprised of chiropractic adjustments, exercises, and stretches was recommended before resorting to drugs or more invasive procedures.

Earlier scientific studies have shown that chiropractic is effective and safe for neck pain and many other health conditions.

We Can Help Patients Find Relief From Neck Pain and Headaches

If you're troubled with neck pain or headaches, Dr. Mark Holland and our staff are here to help you recover. Give our North County St. Louis, MO office a call today at (314) 867-8888 for an appointment today.

Reference

Varatharajan S, Ferguson B, Chrobak K, et al. Are non-invasive interventions effective for the management of headaches associated with neck pain? An update of the Bone and Joint Decade Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders by the Ontario Protocol for Traffic Injury Management (OPTIMa) Collaboration. European Spine Journal 2016; February 6:1-29.

There are many different kinds of headache, but one of the most common types is known as "cervicogenic headache," or those that originate in your neck.

Dr. Mark Holland sees a lot of patients in our North County St. Louis, MO office who are struggling with frequent headaches. Luckily, chiropractic adjustments can often help, potentially reducing these types of headaches by 50 percent, and research confirms it.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps With Cervicogenic Headaches

A study was conducted involving 80 participants who reported experiencing at least five cervicogenic headaches during the prior three months. The objective was to discover how effective chiropractic was for this type of head pain, as well as to ascertain the number of treatment sessions necessary to achieve a positive effect.

The patients were split into four separate groups, so that each group was similar in age, gender, number of cervicogenic headaches, and their intensity. Of the four groups, two engaged in chiropractic treatments and two received light massage. Furthermore, one group assigned to each treatment received eight sessions and the other group received double that amount.

Each person was assessed based on head pain, neck pain, and disability prior to the study and 12 and 24 weeks after treatment was complete. The authors found that those who received chiropractic as opposed to massage reported fewer headaches at the conclusion of the study. Furthermore, improvements were maintained when checked six months after treatment ended.

Furthermore, individuals who were taking medications for their headaches were able to lower their intake after completing the study. Those who received chiropractic had lower medication usage 24 weeks post-study.

We Can Help People Find Comfort From Head Pain

Dr. Mark Holland has helped many people who were suffering from headaches in our North County St. Louis, MO office. Call us today at (314) 867-8888 for more information or for an appointment.

Reference

Haas M, Spegman A, Peterson D, Aickin M, Vavrek D. Dose response and efficacy of spinal manipulation for chronic cervicogenic headache: a pilot randomized controlled trial. The Spine Journal 2010; 10: 117-128.

Dr. Mark Holland sees many people weekly in our busy North County St. Louis, MO chiropractic office who are searching for relief from the pain and distress they feel due to herniated discs. Our experience isn't unique; the medical literature confirms that chiropractic care is an effective way to treat herniated disc pain.

Don't Suffer! Dr. Mark Holland and Chiropractic Care Helps With Disc Herniation

One particular research project involved 27 people, 8 male and 19 female, who had magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirming a disc herniation in either their neck or lower back. The individuals documented that they were experiencing pain, limited range of motion, and sensory issues bad enough to keep them off work.

During the course of the research period, the individuals were treated using one of two common chiropractic techniques: traction for herniated discs in the cervical area or flexion distraction for the people who had herniation issues in the low back.

Each man or woman was treated four or five times per week for the first two weeks, then three times weekly, and then as needed for the remainder of the study. Depending on the seriousness of the disc herniation, therapy ranged anywhere from six weeks to six months, with MRIs being carried out at a variety of stages to identify what effect, if any, the chiropractic care was having in regard to the disc herniation.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Back Pain and Herniated Disc

The investigators reported that 80 percent of the patients obtained a "good clinical outcome," meaning reduced pain and a reduction in other issues, such as numbness. Furthermore, 77 percent of these subjects also showed MRI evidence that their disc herniation was either reduced or resolved completely. This resulted in 78 percent of the study participants being able to return to their place of work and led the authors to conclude that chiropractic is both "safe and helpful" for disc herniations.

If you have a herniated disc and suffer from chronic back pain and are near Dr. Mark Holland in North County St. Louis, MO, contact our office today to see what chiropractic can do for you!

Reference
BenEliyahu, DJ. Magnetic resonance imaging and clinical follow-up: study of 27 patients receiving chiropractic care for cervical and lumbar disc herniations. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 1996;19(9):597-606.

In our North County St. Louis, MO practice, we see many people who are suffering from back pain, and a few of these people have been informed they might need surgery to recover. Thankfully, Dr. Mark Holland has helped many people get pain relief without the need for any type of surgical treatment. The science agrees with the success we see in our practice. One research study published in the academic journal Spine found that consulting with a chiropractor as your first step in dealing with your back problems may actually keep you out of the operating room.

In this report, medical professionals from Dartmouth reviewed statistics from about 1,900 workers from Washington state who first saw either a surgeon or a chiropractor for their low back issues. They then examined three years' worth of follow-up medical information to ascertain whether the subjects ended up having back surgery in an attempt to treat the problem.

What the authors discovered was that about 43% of the patients who first consulted with a surgeon for their back pain ended up having a surgical procedure in that 3-year time span, whereas only 1.5% 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 impressive outcomes. Seeing a chiropractor drastically decreases your odds of getting back surgery, plus the chiropractic patients in this report "had lower odds of chronic work disability" and they also had fewer expensive MRI tests.

Let's also consider this important detail: this study was carried out by orthopedic surgeons from Dartmouth College, and published in the world's most influential medical journal on spinal injuries.

The Risks of Surgery

Any surgery has risks, but a serious downside linked to spine surgery is that there's 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 authors of 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 believes that surgery should be the absolute last resort for treating back pain. Chiropractic care works to restore your spine to its normal function--without the need of risky surgery or drugs--and many research studies have confirmed the effectiveness of chiropractic for back pain.

If you live in North County St. Louis, MO and you need relief for your back pain, give our office 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 manage 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. Why is shoulder pain such a common condition after a car crash? How can chiropractic care help you recover?

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

Direct trauma can be caused by hitting your shoulder on a hard surface 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 usually 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 starts a few days or weeks after the injury. This type of shoulder pain actually starts in the cervical spine. Injured ligaments or muscles in your neck can pinch nerves in your neck, causing tingling, numbness, or soreness in your shoulder, elbow, or wrist.

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

Dr. Mark Holland has been helping patients in North County St. Louis, MO since 2000, so we know what you're living with. We're here to help you, too. First, we'll do a careful evaluation to figure out the root cause of your pain, and then decide how to restore your body's 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 manage a range of health challenges. In spite of this, the primary concern that seems to stop some women and men from getting treatment is whether or not chiropractic care is safe. Well, according to three different studies (out of many on the topic), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first study(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 men and women. Each person reported affected by spinal pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic care whereas the other half were given two sham chiropractic adjustments. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to identify if any unpleasant negative effects were caused by the actual chiropractic adjustments.

The doctors found that none of the patients documented any serious negative side effects whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some people did state that they had a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37%) after treatment, but the effects were not serious.

Nationwide Survey Finds that Chiropractic Care is Safe

The next article(2), also released in the influential publication, Spine, was conducted in an attempt to establish the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 individuals. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.

Once again, the investigators discovered no serious adverse side effects. The experts calculated the risk of total side effects to be about 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the previous study, some participants did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) or a headache (4%), and this prompted the authors to determine that "the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low."

Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe for Your Children

This third study(3) is unique from the first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this case, the researchers investigated data 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 documented only three cases where there were adverse reactions. When parents were questioned, 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 studies like these, chiropractic has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To discover what chiropractic care can do for you, call our North County St. Louis, MO clinic 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 huge 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 advantages of chiropractic care for work injuries are well-established. A 2013 research paper involving over 600 adults who were suffering with either back or neck pain found that the individuals 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 participants in this study, two of the primary factors were that they thought they needed a medical 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.

Resources

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

We see a good deal of sports injuries in our North County St. Louis, MO clinic, and Dr. Mark Holland is generally able to assist these athletes. Stanford Children’s Hospital reports that more than 3.5 million children of the ages 14 and below are injured each year while playing sports. Add that to the nearly 2 million adults hurt every year while engaged in sports-related activities, according to statistics collected by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can begin to see the importance of minimizing these types of common injuries. One approach to possible achieve that goal, as stated in a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to engage in regular chiropractic treatments.

In Australian Rules football, hamstring and other leg injuries are common, frequently sidelining the players and affecting their team's odds of winning. One specific study was administered using 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers to see whether chiropractic could reduce these injuries and help keep them playing.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study in particular, every one of the participants was given medical treatment. In addition, half of them also received chiropractic sessions at the rate of 1 treatment each week for the first 6 weeks, biweekly sessions for the next three months, and one treatment each month for the final 3 months of the study. The remaining half were given no chiropractic intervention at all and acted as the control group to determine the benefits of chiropractic care.

Following twenty-four matches, specialists noticed a reduced number of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had been given chiropractic care. Furthermore, that very group also missed fewer matches related to non-contact knee injuries. This lead the researchers to conclude that chiropractic should be added to sports training programs to dramatically reduce the amount of leg injuries.

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

If you or your child are active in sports and you want to ensure greater time is dedicated on the field versus on the sidelines, 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.