Recent Posts

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

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps With Shoulder Pain

Generally, this condition is more prevalent for people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, and it tends to affect women more frequently than men. While ice, heat, and gentle stretches can sometimes help relieve the discomfort, so too can chiropractic adjustments.

For example, a study released in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine looked at 50 people with frozen shoulder who received chiropractic care. The length of care varied from 11 days to 51 days, with 28 days being the average.

The authors found that almost all of the study participants fared extremely well with chiropractic care. The authors 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 patient reported an improvement of 50 percent or less, so reports like this show just how effective chiropractic can be when it comes to decreasing shoulder pain and improving quality of life.

We Can Help Patients Find Comfort 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 countless 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 alleviate their pain. The latest research reveals that a large number of people don't require surgery for this prevalent issue, and that chiropractic is more beneficial at solving sciatic nerve pain.

A common surgery for sciatica is microdiscectomy, and in a 2010 study, physicians examined 80 women and men with sciatica who were referred for this operation.

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

Both groups got better; however, no apparent difference in outcome was reported one year post-treatment between either group. Furthermore, roughly 60% 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."

Simply put, chiropractic offered the same positive advantages as surgery without needing to undergo the increased amounts of surgery-based pain or suffer through lengthy recovery times often affiliated with that specific treatment choice. Additionally, you also don't run the risks associated with surgical microdiscectomy, including nerve root damage, bowel or bladder incontinence, bleeding, or infection.

Surgery ought to be the last option 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 identify 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 Americans 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 problems and headache.

Not surprisingly, many people come to our North County St. Louis, MO office seeking neck pain treatment, and Dr. Mark Holland has helped many of them find relief. This is a smart choice, as some research indicates that over 90 percent of neck pain patients get relief with 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. Around half were placed in an experimental group and the other half were assigned to a comparison group. Both received chiropractic adjustments of the neck as well as a home exercise program, whereas the experimental group also received thoracic spine adjustments.

Information was collected before treatment began and one week post-treatment. 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, illustrating that thinking about the entire spinal column is an important part of restoring the body's normal function.

One more study posted in Physical Therapy involved 60 adults who reported suffering with neck pain. Each man or woman was randomly allocated to one of two groups--thoracic spine thrust manipulation or non-thrust manipulation--with examinations occurring two and four days after the adjustments.

The investigators found 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 patients who received the non-thrust adjustments. Their pain was lower as well, which shows that this type of technique offers many benefits.

Chiropractic Even Offers Benefits After Failed Neck Surgery

Another study found the same kind of positive results after thoracic adjustments in a patient who had a failed neck surgery. This specific 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 lower headache intensity, immediately after the first chiropractic adjustments. After six weeks of care, which involved chiropractic, exercise, and patient education, the patient still placed 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 scientific studies like these that substantiate the effectiveness of chiropractic care, even if you've already attempted medical procedures that didn't provide relief. So, if you are suffering with neck problems and would like to find a remedy that has a high success rate, try chiropractic. It may just be the help you're looking for.

Our office is 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 migraine headaches affect 38 million adults and children in the United States (more than asthma and diabetes put together), it's not surprising that Dr. Mark Holland sees a lot of headache sufferers in our North County St. Louis, MO office. While some people try to relieve migraine pain with medications, chiropractic care is a fantastic, all-natural approach that often produces positive results.

Research Shows Chiropractic Care Helps With Migraines

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

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

Another article found that a combination of chiropractic and neck massage reduced migraine headaches 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 problem for patients in our North County St. Louis, MO chiropractic practice, and Dr. Mark Holland has successfully provided many of these people relief. This is largely because chiropractic care has been found to help with many forms of knee pain.

For instance, some individuals encounter pain in and around the knee tissues due to osteoarthritis. Research has shown that this condition responds very well to chiropractic--and rather quickly, too. In fact, one study published in The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association found that people with osteoarthritis in their knees felt significant pain relief and improved function after just two weeks of chiropractic care.

If your knee pain is as a result of a medial meniscus tear, chiropractic could likely help with that as well. One article 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 repair the problem, and if that's the case, chiropractic can also help improve the outcome. How?

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Knee Pain

Research has shown that patients with low back pain frequently have less positive results after knee surgery. Therefore, dealing with your back pain through chiropractic prior to 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 office today and find out what we can do for you!

Sources

• 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

We see a considerable number of individuals with headaches in our North County St. Louis, MO office, and Dr. Mark Holland has been able to aid many of them. Of course, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that one half of all adults struggle with some manner of headache problem, so this really isn’t surprising. One of the most typical kinds of headaches which our patients experience is cervicogenic headache which, fortunately, chiropractic can generally help.

Cervicogenic Headaches Defined

A cervicogenic headache is one that starts from an issue in the cervical spine. It could be a result of an issue with either the spine itself (primarily, the vertebrae, joints, or discs), or it can be caused by a problem in the muscles and tendons of your neck. This problem in your spine creates squeezing or aggravation of the spinal nerves, which can give you headache pain.

How can you know if the headache you are feeling is a cervicogenic headache? Besides being given a diagnosis from a healthcare specialist, a typical symptom of cervicogenic headaches is tenderness or pain in your neck. This is occasionally followed by pain in the back of your head or between your shoulder blades.

Headache Relief with Chiropractic

Since cervicogenic headaches will not go away until whatever problem is causing them is corrected, it is vital to receive treatment instead of just trying to "wait it out." Chiropractic care is an effective approach, and one that provides a great deal of relief.

In one study circulated in Chiropractic & Osteopathy, experts evaluated 80 people who had recurrent cervicogenic headaches. Half of them received chiropractic care and the other 50% underwent light massage therapy. Each participant was examined 12 and 24 weeks after the treatment and it was found that chiropractic offered the most beneficial results.

Specifically, this study found that chiropractic adjustments offered patients better pain relief and lessened the number of headaches that occurred. Moreover, it also reduced the disability that resulted from these painful headaches.

To find out what Dr. Mark Holland can do for you and your headaches, call us today. We'll do our best to get you the pain relief you deserve!

References

• Haas M, Schneider M, Vavrek D. Illustrating risk difference and number needed to treat from a randomized controlled trial of spinal manipulation for cervicogenic headache. Chiropractic & Osteopathy 2010 18(9).
• World Health Organization. (2012, October). Headache disorders. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs277/en/

We see quite a few patients in our North County St. Louis, MO office with ankle sprains but Dr. Mark Holland has had a lot of success helping them recover more quickly. Why are ankle sprains so common and how can chiropractic help?

According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), an estimated 25,000 people in the US sprain their ankles every day. In fact, these injuries make up almost half of all sports injuries, causing people to spend time away from the activities they enjoy most.

Like any injury, there are many causes of ankle sprains. The most common is inversion, or when the ankle rolls inward. This injury can occur due to one forceful movement, or it can develop over a period of time, and activities that increase the risk for this type of ankle sprain include running and jumping. You're also at risk if you have previous ankle injuries, poor posture or balance, weak muscles, and reduced range of motion.

How Can Chiropractic Treatments and Dr. Mark Holland Help?

A paper published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to identify chiropractic's role when it comes to ankle sprain recovery. Researchers enrolled 33 men and women between the ages of 18 and 45 who had a history of ankle inversion sprains, who were experiencing tenderness and/or pain, and had not re-injured the area in the previous six weeks.

18 of the subjects were assigned to receive rehabilitation and the remaining 15 patients received chiropractic in addition to rehabilitation. Each individual had five full weeks of treatments, with the rehabilitation group receiving treatment seven days a week and the rehabilitation plus chiropractic group receiving therapy six out of the seven days.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps With Ankle Sprains

The study found that the individuals who participated in both rehabilitation and chiropractic fared the best at the 4-week mark when it came to pain and joint restriction. Furthermore, no undesirable effects were reported, showing that chiropractic is safe.

If you're near our location in North County St. Louis, MO and you're suffering from an ankle injury, give us a call. We'll do what we can to keep you up and moving... literally!

Studies

• American College of Sports Medicine. (n.d.). Ankle sprains and the athlete. Retrieved from https://www.acsm.org/docs/current-comments/anklesprainstemp.pdf
• Lubbe, D et al. (2015, January). Manipulative therapy and rehabilitation for recurrent ankle sprain with functional instability: a short-term, assessor-blind, parallel-group randomized trial. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 38(1), 22-34, doi:10.1016/j.jmpt.2014.10.001

Regrettably, many of our Hazelwood & Florissant, MO patients know the pain caused by a herniated disc all too well. Fortunately, Dr. Mark Holland has helped many people with disc pain, and a number of medical studies have verified that chiropractic care can help people recover from this kind of condition.

Research on Herniated Discs and Chiropractic

In one report, doctors from Switzerland selected 148 patients who were suffering with pain in their lower back and legs due to a herniated disc (which was confirmed through magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI). Each person then received chiropractic adjustments that focused on the location of his or her disc herniation.

Data was obtained after the initial treatment session at set intervals--namely, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year--to ascertain what kind of short-term and long-term effects, if any, chiropractic care offers when it comes to resolving this particular problem. Among the information collected was the individual's self-reported changes in both lumbar and leg pain.

Investigators found that, overall, the patients reported "significant improvement" for both types of pain every time the results were collected. In fact, over 90% of the individuals stated that their pain "improved" within the first three months, with 88% still citing improvement one year after their first treatment session.

Even those test subjects who were defined as "chronic" still reported an improvement in pain at a rate of 89 percent one year beyond when treatment first began. This is the same positive result that was found in the following case study.

Disc Herniation and Chiropractic: A Case Study

In this paper, a 26-year-old male had presented with disc herniation symptoms such as pain in the lower back, left leg, and left groin area, along with left foot drop and muscle weakness. He had endured these problems for more than two years after sustaining a sports injury, and his herniated disc was confirmed via MRI.

After receiving chiropractic, "The patient responded favorably and his multi-symptom complex resolved within 90 days of treatment." Furthermore, the patient was still enjoying relief one year after the chiropractic intervention.

Studies like these show how beneficial chiropractic can be when it comes to alleviating herniated disc pain and treating the symptoms they produce. So, if you are suffering from back pain caused by a herniated disc and wish to find some relief, chiropractic may be an effective solution.

Don't suffer from chronic herniated disc pain. Give our Hazelwood & Florissant, MO office a call today at (314) 867-8888 for a consultation or appointment.

References

• Leemann S, Peterson CK, Schmid C, Anklin B, Humphreys BK. Outcomes of acute and chronic patients with magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed symptomatic lumbar disc herniations receiving high-velocity, low-amplitude, spinal manipulative therapy: a prospective observational cohort study with one-year follow-up. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2014;37(3):155-163.
• Polkinghorn BS, Colloca CJ. Treatment of symptomatic lumbar disc herniation using activator methods chiropractic technique. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 1998;21(3):187-196.
  

Dr. Mark Holland sees a lot of patients troubled with carpal tunnel syndrome in our busy Hazelwood & Florissant, MO chiropractic practice. While some people think that the origin of this wrist-related pain is muscular, it's really a condition that arises from the nerves--and not just the nerves in your hands.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Recent research published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy assessed 71 women between the ages of 35 and 59 who were diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Upon investigating the subjects' neck range of motion, the doctors found that the women had less cervical mobility when compared to a healthy control group.

In addition, they also discovered that the level of the women's reported carpal tunnel pain was linked to the lateral flexion of the cervical spine. In short, the less mobility in the neck, the greater the level of pain.

This research is very important, as you cannot effectively address a problem until you fully understand its cause. By realizing that the root of carpal tunnel pain is in the neck, this means that natural approaches such as chiropractic can often restore normal function, reducing the need for risky operations.

If you suffer with carpal tunnel pain, call our Hazelwood & Florissant, MO location and ask how Dr. Mark Holland can help you get relief!

Sources

De-la-Llave-Rincon A et al. (2011, May). Women with carpal tunnel syndrome show restricted cervical range of motion. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy;41(5):305-10.
Simon H. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. University of Maryland Medical Center. Updated May 6, 2012. Retrieved from https://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/carpal-tunnel-syndrome on November 2, 2015.

We see quite a few patients with back pain in our Hazelwood & Florissant, MO office, and Dr. Mark Holland has been able to help many of them find relief with chiropractic. However, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical care, as many people utilize both types of care with great outcomes.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well with One Another

In a report published by the journal Spine experts¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who were suffering from both acute discomfort and limited function due to back-related issues. Some of the patients engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the rest were given chiropractic adjustments as well as standard medical care, as the authors wanted to determine which group fared better.

The authors found that the patients who got standard medical care along with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the patients who received medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17 percent of the medical care only group who indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at the two- and four-week marks.

Accordingly, integrating these two forms of care can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medicine can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical therapy.

Where Chiropractic Care Pulls Ahead

Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one major advantage that chiropractic care has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a study from UCLA² that was published in the American Journal of Public Health found that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than people undergoing medical care.

According to the experts, the main factors that patients liked over medical care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't surprising, as chiropractors typically spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can better their health on their own, as well as outlining more carefully what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Is a Natural Approach to Wellness

Certainly, the techniques associated with chiropractic are very different than those provided with medical treatment, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and wellness. Instead of focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care means searching for the primary cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

In addition, while medication is sometimes helpful for treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach like chiropractic. This means fewer negative side effects from medications and longer-lasting recovery.

You don't have to suffer from back pain or other health issues. Give our Hazelwood & Florissant, MO office a call today at (314) 867-8888. We'll do everything we can to help you get and continue to be free from back pain.

References

1. Goertz CM, Long CR, Hondras MA, Petri R, Delgado R, Lawrence DJ, Owens EF, Meeker WC. Adding chiropractic manipulative therapy to standard medical care for patients with acute low back pain: results of a pragmatic randomized comparative effectiveness study. Spine 2013;38(8):627-634.
2. Hertzman-Miller RP1, Morgenstern H, Hurwitz EL, Yu F, Adams AH, Harber P, Kominski GF. Comparing the satisfaction of low back pain patients randomized to receive medical or chiropractic care: results from the UCLA low-back pain study. American Journal of Public Health 2002;92(10):1628-1633.