Recent Posts

We see many patients with back pain in our North County St. Louis, MO office, and Dr. Mark Holland has been able to help many of them find relief with chiropractic. At the same time, dealing with back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many people utilize both types of care with great results.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with One Another

In a report published by the medical 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 pain and restricted function due to back-related issues. Some of the patients engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder were given chiropractic adjustments along with regular medical care, as the authors wanted to determine which group fared better.

The authors determined that the group that got standard medical care combined with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the patients who got medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17% of the medical treatment 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.

Therefore, combining these two forms of care can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering benefits when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medical approaches can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some unique advantages over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Care Pulls Ahead

Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one significant advantage that chiropractic has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research done at 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 patients undergoing medical care.

According to the researchers, the main factors that patients liked over medical care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors frequently 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 care.

Chiropractic Offers a Holistic Approach

Certainly, the strategies associated with chiropractic are very different than those provided with medical treatment, but a great deal of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. Rather than focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves finding 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 drugs and more permanent results.

You don't have to struggle with back pain or other health issues. Give our North County St. Louis, MO office a call today at (314) 867-8888. We'll do our best to help you get and stay 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.

If you live in North County St. Louis, MO and you've been in a car wreck, you need to know that you don't have to suffer from chronic symptoms.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Chronic Pain after an Auto Injury

We work with a lot of auto injury patients in our North County St. Louis, MO office, and several of these individuals are experiencing chronic pain caused by an old accident. As a matter of fact, research shows that a significant percentage of rear-end crashes trigger pain and disability even ten years after the original trauma.

Dr. Mark Holland is here to help you avoid developing chronic issues by helping to restore the healthy function of your spine soon after a motor vehicle accident.

The most common causes of chronic issues are reduced flexibility of your spine and the formation of scar tissue in your spine. The ligaments of your neck and back can easily be damaged during a collision, and chiropractic care works by reducing inflammation and restoring normal mobility.

We Can Help With Chronic Pain and Auto Injury Recovery

If you're near our North County St. Louis, MO office, and you've been injured in a crash, don't wait to get treatment. Dr. Mark Holland is here for you. Give us a call today at (314) 867-8888 for an appointment or for more information.

We work with many back pain patients in our North County St. Louis, MO chiropractic office, and Dr. Mark Holland and our staff uses an assortment of techniques to help get you out of pain and restore your spine's normal, healthy function. We find spinal decompression to be an effective approach.

Understanding Spinal Decompression Therapy

To help you better understand spinal decompression therapy, think of the discs in your spine like water balloons filled with jello. When you squeeze them (which occurs due to normal living, sustaining an injury, or other medical conditions), they can protrude, placing pressure on the nerves in your spine. This affects your brain's ability to communicate with tissues in the rest of your body.

If the pressure on the discs becomes too high, they can herniate or bulge. This removes the padding between your vertebrae and can cause pain. The purpose of spinal decompression therapy is to relieve this pressure to help restore your body's function and also reduce your level of discomfort.

Can Spinal Decompression Therapy Help Me?

Spinal decompression therapy relieves disc pressure through the use of a specially designed table that gently elongates your spinal column through slow and controlled movements. This lessens the pressure placed on your discs. Some studies report an increase in disc height by as much as 1.3 millimeters after just six weeks of this treatment.

If you're wondering if spinal decompression therapy could help you feel and perform better, simply call our North County St. Louis, MO office and schedule an appointment with Dr. Mark Holland today. Your optimal health is our number one priority!

Resources

Apfel CC, Cakmakkaya OS, Richmond C, et al. Restoration of disk height through non-surgical spinal decompression is associated with decreased discogenic low back pain: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2010;11(155). doi:10.1186/1471-2474-11-155

Each year, there are millions of auto accidents in the world, and a substantial number of men and women end up getting hurt in a car wreck. Although most accidents are "minor," chronic spine pain are still common health issues. The good news is that chiropractic is a fantastic way to help these kinds of injuries.

We've helped many auto injury patients in our North County St. Louis, MO office, and Dr. Mark Holland has been helping people with these types of injuries since 2000. During a collision, your body is exposed to violent forces that it simply wasn't built to deal with. These forces put strain and stress on your neck, shoulder, and back, and can cause damage to the ligaments that hold your spine together. A crash can result in a wide variety of pain issues.

A ligament sprain in the neck can result in pain, swelling, and radicular pain in the arm and hand. Chiropractic care works well for these types of problems, because chiropractic concentrates on restoring the healthy function and mobility of the injured areas.

Dr. Mark Holland Can Help Patients Recover From an Auto Accident

Dr. Mark Holland, your North County St. Louis, MO chiropractor, can assist by reducing irritation in the damaged area and can help decrease the formation of scar tissue that can cause chronic pain and disability.

You don't have to suffer from auto injury pain. Discover more about how we can help you get well or call Dr. Mark Holland today at (314) 867-8888.

Dr. Mark Holland sees many back pain patients in our busy North County St. Louis, MO chiropractic office. Many of these people have some type of spinal condition that is causing them pain and discomfort. Fortunately, Dr. Mark Holland has found that spinal decompression therapy is an effective way to help these folks.

What is Spinal Decompression and How Can it Help Me?

Non-surgical spinal decompression is a treatment method that takes all of the positive benefits that one normally gets from chiropractic adjustments, traction, physiotherapy, exercise therapy, and myofascial release and combines them all into one.

The goal of decompression is to keep you off the operating table, and that is precisely what it's done for a number of folks, as it has a reported 85% success rate.

A few of the problems spinal decompression helps with include generalized back pain, sciatica, herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, compression fractures, and joint pain.

Spinal decompression works by reversing the effects of wear, tear, and gravity that compresses the intervertebral discs in your neck and back. The video below shows how it works to decrease pressure on your back and helps eliminate pain and disability.

Dr. Mark Holland Can Help Patients Find Relief From Chronic Back Pain

If you live in North County St. Louis, MO and you're suffering with back pain, spinal decompression treatment might be the solution. Call Dr. Mark Holland today at (314) 867-8888 for a consultation or appointment.

If you are struggling with fibromyalgia, you are not alone, as Dr. Mark Holland sees many people with this particular syndrome in our North County St. Louis, MO chiropractic clinic. Actually, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that roughly two percent of all adults in the US have fibromyalgia. Thankfully, chiropractic is one treatment option that can provide positive results.

Research Supports Chiropractic Eases Fibromyalgia

In a medical study released in mid-2015, 215 women and men with fibromyalgia were assessed based on factors ranging from pain to quality of sleep to the levels of depression symptoms and anxiety they felt. Then they were split into two groups with one group receiving a multi-modal treatment plan for three months and the second group receiving the same approach with the addition of chiropractic adjustments (specifically, to the upper neck area) for the same length of time.

The individuals who received chiropractic care in addition to the multi-modal therapy program reported greater benefits in all areas (pain, sleep, depression, and anxiety) at three months post-treatment when compared to the study participants who received multi-modal treatment without chiropractic. In addition, those positive benefits were long-lasting as the subjects reported continued improvement one full year later.

Fibromyalgia can substantially reduce your quality of life, both mentally and physically. If you're dealing with fibromyalgia, we might be able to help.

You don't have to suffer! To see what Dr. Mark Holland can do for your fibromyalgia pain, call our North County St. Louis, MO chiropractic office today.

Research

• Fibromyalgia. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/basics/fibromyalgia.htm on November 2, 2015.
• Moustafa I & Diab A. (2015, July). The addition of upper cervical manipulative therapy in the treatment of patients with fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial. Rheumatology International;35(7):1163-74.

Most of us suffer from lower back pain at some point in our lives. Researchers estimate that nearly 1 out of 3 adults deal with some kind of regular spinal pain. Dr. Mark Holland and our talented staff see many back pain cases in our North County St. Louis, MO office, and we've found that chiropractic care is a highly effective way to not only help you recover from back pain, it's also a great way to prevent future problems.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps With Chronic Back Pain

A recent paper from the University of Utah confirms what our North County St. Louis, MO patients have experienced: your North County St. Louis, MO chiropractor is the best first option for an event of back pain.

In this paper, 747 patients were treated for low back pain. Each patient was evaluated based on the first person they sought treatment with, whether it was a primary care physician, a chiropractor, or a physiotherapist.

What the authors found is that the individuals who first saw a chiropractor had fewer advanced imaging tests and fewer surgeries.

Other papers have found the same results. A 2012 study reported that chiropractic patients had the best functional recovery and pain relief for chronic back pain.

Chiropractic works by restoring the natural, pain-free function of your spine. Dr. Mark Holland and our team help your body heal with gentle chiropractic adjustments that don't use drugs or risky surgical procedures.

Dr. Mark Holland Can Help Clients Find Comfort From Back Pain

If you live near our North County St. Louis, MO office and would like to get out of pain, give our office a call today at (314) 867-8888 for an appointment.

Reference

Fritz JM, Kim J, Dorius J. Importance of the type of provider seen to begin health care for a new episode of low back pain: associations with future utilization and costs. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. 2015(Sep 29).

Cecchi F, et al. Predictors of functional outcome in patients with chronic low back pain undergoing back school, individual physiotherapy or spinal manipulation. European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine 2012;48:371-8.

Jaw pain is a fairly common problem reported by many people after a car wreck, and it can be hard for some physicians to identify the root of the problem. Complicating the matter, very often you won't develop TMJ pain until many weeks or months after the incident.

Dr. Mark Holland has treated many men and women with jaw pain after an injury, and the scientific literature explains what triggers these types of symptoms. During a crash, the tissues in your spine are commonly stretched or torn, causing ligament, muscle, or nerve damage. This can obviously cause pain in the neck and back, but since your nervous system is one functioning unit, inflammation of the nerves can cause problems in other parts of your body.

For instance, with radicular pain, irritation of a nerve can cause tingling or numbness in the arm or hand. Similarly, it can affect parts of your body above the injured tissues, like your head and jaw. Headaches after a collision are very common because of neck injury, and the TMJ works the same way. Dr. Mark Holland sees this very commonly in our North County St. Louis, MO office.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps TMJ Pain After an Auto Accident

Research indicates that the source of many jaw or TMJ problems starts in the cervical spine and that treatment of the underlying neck injury can resolve the secondary headaches or jaw symptoms. The key to dealing with these symptoms is simple: Dr. Mark Holland will work to restore your spine back to health, alleviating the inflammation, treating the injured tissues, and eliminating the irritation to the nerves in your spine.

Dr. Mark Holland has found that jaw and headache symptoms often resolve once we restore your spine to its healthy condition.

If you live in North County St. Louis, MO and you've been hurt in a crash, Dr. Mark Holland can help. We've been treating auto injury patients since 2000, and we can most likely help you, too. Give our office a call today at (314) 867-8888 for an appointment or consultation.

Ciancaglini R, Testa M, Radaelli G. Association of neck pain with symptoms of temporomandibular dysfunction in the general adult population. Scandinavian Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine 1999;31:17-22.

Brantingham JW, Cassa TK, Bonnefin D, Pribicevic M, Robb A, et al. Manipulative and multimodal therapy for upper extremity and temporomandibular disorders: a system review. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2013;36(3):143-201.

We work with many back pain patients in our North County St. Louis, MO chiropractic office, and Dr. Mark Holland and our staff uses a variety of techniques to help get you out of pain and restore your spine's normal, healthy function. We find spinal decompression to be an effective approach.

Understanding Spinal Decompression Therapy

To help you better understand spinal decompression therapy, think of the discs in your spine like water balloons filled with gelatin. When you compress them (which occurs due to normal living, sustaining an injury, or other medical conditions), they can protrude, placing pressure on the nerves in your spine. This affects your brain's ability to communicate with tissues in the rest of your body.

If the pressure on the discs becomes too high, the discs can herniate or bulge. This reduces the cushioning between your vertebrae and can cause pain. The purpose of spinal decompression therapy is to relieve this pressure to help improve your body's function and also reduce your level of discomfort.

Can Spinal Decompression Therapy Help Me?

Spinal decompression therapy relieves disc pressure through the use of a specially designed table that gently elongates your spinal column through slow and controlled movements. This lessens the pressure placed on your discs. Some studies report an increase in disc height by as much as 1.3 millimeters after just six weeks of this treatment.

If you're wondering if spinal decompression therapy could help you feel and perform better, simply call our North County St. Louis, MO office and schedule an appointment with Dr. Mark Holland today. Your optimal health is our number one priority!

Resources

Apfel CC, Cakmakkaya OS, Richmond C, et al. Restoration of disk height through non-surgical spinal decompression is associated with decreased discogenic low back pain: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2010;11(155). doi:10.1186/1471-2474-11-155

Dr. Mark Holland sees many back pain patients in our busy North County St. Louis, MO chiropractic office. Many of our patients have some form of spinal dysfunction that is causing them pain and discomfort. Fortunately, Dr. Mark Holland finds that spinal decompression treatment is an effective way to help these people.

What is Spinal Decompression and How Can it Help Me?

Non-surgical spinal decompression is a treatment method that takes all of the positive benefits that one normally gets from chiropractic, traction, physiotherapy, exercise therapy, and myofascial release and merges them all into one.

The goal of decompression is to keep you off the operating table, and that is exactly what it's accomplished for a number of men and women, as it has a reported 85% success rate.

Some of the issues spinal decompression helps with include generalized back pain, sciatic nerve pain, herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, compression fractures, and joint pain.

Spinal decompression works by reversing the effects of wear, tear, and gravity that compresses the intervertebral discs in your neck and back. The movie below demonstrates how it works to alleviate pressure on your back and helps eliminate pain and disability.

Dr. Mark Holland Can Help Patients Find Relief From Chronic Back Pain

If you live in North County St. Louis, MO and you're struggling with back issues, spinal decompression treatment might be the fix. Call Dr. Mark Holland today at (314) 867-8888 for a consultation or appointment.