Prevention of Back Problems

What makes a healthy back?

Your back is your body’s main support. Along with your muscles and joints it allows you to move and carry weight. But your back is also a delicate, finely balanced structure that can easily be injured if not cared for properly. Knowing just the basics of back care can make the difference between a healthy back and an aching one.

Chronic Low Back Pain

You don’t have to put up with that nagging ache in your lower back. Here are seven lifestyle habits common in people with chronic low back pain. They’re all things you can change!

How many of them apply to you?

• Do you have poor muscle tone?
• Are you a smoker?
• Do you wear high heels?
• Are you under excessive stress?
• Do you have poor work habits, improper lifting techniques, poor sitting posture?
• Do you lack daily exercise?
• Are you more than 20 percent overweight?

If you answered yes to two or more questions, you may already be hurting, or chronic low back pain may be in store for you some time in the future. Pick two habits you’re ready to change. Remember, even a small or gradual change can make a difference.

Basic Back-Saving Tips

• Start a regular exercise program to keep your back and abdominal muscles flexible and strong.
• Push, don’t pull. You’ll have twice as much power and less chance of injury.
• Always face forward with your shoulders, feet and hips when you’re lifting or carrying.
• Keep walkways, stairs and halls clear. Be on the lookout for tripping or slipping hazards.
• When seated, support your lower back with a pillow or a rolled-up towel.
• Sleep on your side or your back.
• Rest one foot on a footstool when you’re standing.
• Lift with your legs, not your back. Remember, legs lift, backs break.

 

If you or someone you know is suffering from chronic back pain, we’d like to be the ones to get you back to full health.

Feel free to schedule here, call us at 1.800.811.1231 or drop by for a visit to see why we are considered by many patients to be the best chiropractors in South Florida.

When Should You Visit a Chiropractor?

You may have heard that chiropractic care has many amazing benefits. Some of them are pain relief, increased mobility and a tougher immune system.  When we say pain relief, we want you to know that it isn’t the same relief as over-the-counter medications. It’s better. Relief from chiropractic care is a combination of instant and long-lasting, all the while remaining natural and non-invasive.

So when should you visit a chiropractor?

After a car accident.  Many people involved in a car accident experience whiplash. The pain this causes may subside in a few days. For others, this injury can begin a path of chronic pain and complications.  Chiropractic care incorporates many therapies that will provide pain relief, such as massage and ultrasound.  Even if you aren’t diagnosed as having whiplash, there are still many benefits to seeking chiropractic care after an automobile accident.

If participating in sports.  Athletes of all ages can benefit from continued chiropractic care. In fact, a lot of great athletes swear by it. After a sports injury, massage and adjustments are important for pain relief and to prevent later complications.  Because of the large amount of force places on the joints, muscles and bones during sports, we recommend all athletes seek chiropractic care following a sports injury.

If pregnant.  Many pregnant women mistakenly believe that chiropractic care is dangerous.  It isn’t.  In fact, there are many benefits to incorporating it into prenatal care.  Lower back pain is common in the later stages of pregnancy and a chiropractor can eliminate these pains. Regular adjustments during pregnancy may even lessen birth pains as well.

If you just gave birth.  After labor, a woman’s body goes through many changes.  Severe labor pains and difficult labors can lead to joint or spinal pain.  These are a chiropractor’s specialty.  Not only should you seek chiropractic care after birth, but bring your newborn in too.  Chiropractic care is safe for individuals of all ages and birth is not only difficult on the mother, but the child too.

Headaches.  Most of us get them, and boy do they suck. Daily stress can cause headaches, but there can be a more serious underlying cause.  For example, muscle spasms can cause spinal pressure.  A neck adjustment or realignment can alleviate the pressure and pain, freeing you of headaches and trips to the store for Advil.

Arthritis.  Many arthritis patients mistakenly believe that they will suffer for the rest of their lives.  It does not have to be that way.  It is possible to seek relief from chiropractic care.  Over-the-counter pain relief pills and surgery aren’t your only option.  A chiropractor can adjust joints to promote free movement and therapeutic massages can treat ongoing chronic pain.

If your child has a medical condition that causes them pain and discomfort.  When considering this, also think outside of the box.  A chiropractor can help your child with lower back pains and frequent headaches, but that is not all.  Chiropractic care, spinal and joint manipulation can all reduce the discomfort associated with frequent earaches, allergies, sleep disorders, and scoliosis.

When stress consumes your life.  All Americans are stressed. There’s really no way around it in today’s world.  Those who suffer from stress severe enough to have a panic attack cannot only benefit from relaxing therapeutic massages, but adjustments too.  Occasionally, an aggravated nerve route sends confusing messages to the brain.

If you just want to improve your health.  Overtime, it is easy to develop spine and joint problems.  These problems may be mild and may not even result in pain, but that may change later in life.  Chiropractic care also prevents free and healthy movement.  It does so with no medications or invasive procedures.  If you want your body to stay healthy, active, and natural, chiropractic care is the way to go.

If you’re serious about your health and future, making an appointment has never been easier. Our dedicated and diverse TEAM extends across five locations in South Florida, and is ready to help you in any way possible, from transportation to insurance questions.

Don’t wait, book an appointment online, stop-in or call and speak to one of our Doctors today!

North Dade – North Miami Beach – Plantation – Lauderhill – Pembroke Pines

1.800.811.1231

http://www.CountyLineChiro.com

 

 

Get and Stay Healthy This New Year with Chiropractic Care

Happy New Year! There’s no better time to focus on your health than in the beginning of a new year.  Set the tone for 2016 by getting healthy and keeping healthy with these tips from our team at County Line Chiropractic Centers in South Florida.

A recent study by Red Bull, found that only 12 percent of people think they will actually stick to their New Year’s resolution.  Do you have any unmet goals that you made last year?  Do you wonder where you would be now if you stuck with your resolution to achieve that goal?  It’s never too late to get healthy.

Tips for keeping your 2016 New Year’s health resolution

• Get a friend or a family member to help keep you accountable.
• Define your “why.”  When the reason is important enough, you’re more likely to stick to it.
• Try keeping a diary of everything you eat and drink everyday. Also include any exercise activity.  Chances are you’ll think twice before eating that extra cookie.  You can also review why you are or aren’t’ reaching your goals.
• Write down your progress goals. Don’t give up if you don’t meet them.  To quote Dory in “Finding Nemo,” “Just keep swimming.”
• Be honest with yourself. If you’re not meeting your goal, is there any action or a thought that you can change?
• Subscribe to email newsletters that will help keep you motivated daily.
• Utilize technology. There are tons of apps to help you achieve just about any goal.
• Consult a professional who can help you.

How can chiropractic care help you have the healthiest year yet?

Chiropractic care is an amazing resource for helping your body feel and operate at its best naturally.  Chiropractors work with individuals by creating a personalized plan whether they need to resolve an ongoing issue such as back pain or their goal is general wellness.  Part of the chiropractor’s job is to align your body and remove pinched nerves or subluxations that can interfere with your body’s ability to heal or perform at its best.  Also when you’re active, chiropractic adjustments can help your body when it needs a tune up. Furthermore, regular chiropractic care has been proven to help you heal from injuries and illnesses sooner!

Our team is dedicated to helping you reach your health goals and maintain them for the long haul.  Schedule your next appointment at one of our five South Florida locations.

 

1.800.811.1231

http://www.CountyLineChiro.com

Chiropractic Care After an Accident

It’s a fact of life that accidents happen. Whether they result from automobile collisions, sports activity, ordinary mishaps, or “freak” accidents, injury is a high concern. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the average number of ambulatory care visits for injuries is 80 million, while the number of emergency department visits for injuries is 42.4 million. A chiropractic adjustment can make the difference between life and death; a life with pain, disability and sickness; and a life with full recovery, activity and health.

Injuries, no matter how severe, have the potential to upset and damage your body’s structural balance by causing subluxations. Even a small subluxation in your spine can offset a myriad of health issues. This is because your spine is responsible for communicating with your entire body. Different parts of your spine relate to different parts of your body. For example, a subluxation at the cervical or neck part of the spine can lead to headaches, dizziness, migraines, jaw pain or even shoulder pain.

Although accidents may be unavoidable, much of the pain and suffering resulting from traumatic injuries may, in many cases, be avoided with chiropractic care. Too often, severe health problems can begin as a little fall, bump, shake-up or whiplash that caused a subluxation.

Chiropractic care can help restore a traumatized body to health through locating and correcting subluxations. Chiropractors correct subluxations using safe, gentle, adjustment (spinal manipulation) techniques to the affected regions. In addition, County Line Chiropractic offers massage and physical therapy services giving our patients the greatest chance of healing through comprehensive care.
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/injury.htm

Try Chiropractic Before Resorting to Surgery

The AMA recommends Chiropractic Before Resorting to Surgery

 

                In 2013, the American Medical Association published an article educating the general public about back pain. The AMA has suggested that patients seek conservative back-pain treatment, such as chiropractic care, before resorting to expensive and invasive surgery.

                In our opinion, chiropractic should be the first line of defense against musculoskeletal issues, such as neck and back pain. Chiropractors are heavily trained in the bodies’ mechanics, and can often detect changes in joints that other doctors may miss.

           “In my experience when individuals try Chiropractic first they can either avoid surgery all together or delay it until the area is strong enough making surgery and recovery more successful.  Once a patient has undergone surgery it becomes more difficult to then try a more conservative approach because the anatomy has now changed.  As chiropractors we have more treatment or techniques that we can use if we see the patient before surgery and through a series of orthopedic and neurological test we can determine which techniques to apply.  In my opinion not all cases are surgical and not all cases can be treated with chiropractic but we are trained to identify when to treat and when to refer out.” Katie Kreis, D.C., East Plantation Office.

 

---

“Research confirms that the services provided by chiropractic physicians are not only clinically effective but also cost-effective, so taking a more conservative approach at the onset of low back pain can also potentially save both patients and the health care system money down the line” ACA President Keith Overland, DC.

If you are experiencing back pain, follow the advice of these medical experts, and our own doctors here at County Line Chiropractic Medical & Rehab Centers and seek out Chiropractic care before surgery.

For insurance coverage questions, appointment options, locations and general inquiries, please call our toll free hotline at 1-800-811-1231, or find us on social media at @CountyLineChiro, we’re available 24/7!

 

References:

Goodman D, Burke A, Livingston E. Low back pain. JAMA Patient Page April 24, 2013; 309(16): 1738. doi:10.1001/jama.2013.3046.

http://www.chironexus.net/2013/05/journal-of-the-american-medical-association-use-chiropractic-for-back-pain-before-resorting-to-surgery/

Electrical-Muscle Stimulation

Q:  What is Electrical-Muscle Stimulation?

A: It is a special form of electrical current that is administered at the site of soft tissue injury, especially muscles, for the blocking of pain.

Q: How does it work?

A: Small amounts of electrical current are induced into the tissue for the purpose of reducing swelling. This widely used technique safely strengthens muscles and helps painful symptoms.

Q: What does it feel like?

A: Patients generally feel a slight tingling sensation at first. Since your body may become accustomed to the initial setting, the intensity may be raised during the course of treatment for the maximum healing effect.

Patient Benefits: Reduces pain sensation, helps decrease swelling, promotes general muscle tone and speeds the healing process.

Share Your Story With us Dr. Solivan!

I was supposed to become a medical doctor, like my father. At least those were my plans in college. That’s when I first learned about chiropractic. I took a tour of my now Alma Mater, Logan College of Chiropractic. That’s when I learned that chiropractic is about evaluating the spinal joints and nerves as possible causes of pain and dysfunction. I also learned then that the nervous system will let us know with pain signals that something is wrong, and that chiropractic is about finding the root problem (usually misalignments in the spine) and addressing it without invasive treatment (drugs, surgery, etc.). I could not wait to start school! My first positive experience with chiropractic was when a patient’s headache resolved minutes after adjusting her neck. Another great miracle I witnessed was seeing a patient crawl into the office due to back pain, and being able to hold himself up after treatment. Granted, his condition took a few more treatments to completely resolve, but we knew what the problem was and it felt “AWESOME” to make a difference in the quality of life of this man. Like we say in chiropractic, “The power that made the body, heals the body”. The body has the innate ability to heal itself, sometimes it just needs external help, like when we help realign a joint that’s malpositioned and pinching a nerve!

Dr. Vivian Solivan is the Clinical Director at our Lauderhill office!

University Dr & Commercial Blvd
Phone: (954) 741-4656

drsolivan@countylinechiro.com

Chiropractic Saves Lives

A story shared by our Human Resources Manager, Melissa Angrisanio.

When I started here in June of 2000, I had two little girls; Samantha was 4 and Larissa was 2.  If there was any infection Samantha could get, she would get it.  I mean if you sneezed in Miami she would catch the cold in Tamarac.  She was hospitalized multiple times for IV antibiotics, had rashes, hand/foot/mouth, the list goes on and on.  Then she started chiropractic care and it stopped.  She is 18 and hasn’t had even an ear infection since she started treatment.  Amazing, right? Here is something more amazing.

In August of 2003, my husband and I were blessed with the birth of Nicolas.  While in labor, the nurse mentioned something about how his heart sounded.  The doctor dismissed her and he passed all of his newborn tests.  When he was brought to our room later, we were told that he had a heart murmur and to make sure we didn’t overstimulate him with too many visitors.  We didn’t think that was anything abnormal, so we went about our afternoon enjoying our new addition.  During my pregnancy, I was educated on the benefits of prenatal chiropractic care and the importance of adjustments for newborns and since I delivered at Plantation General, two of the chiropractors that worked in our EP office came over after the office closed to give Nicolas his first adjustment.  He turned bright red and then slowly over the next few hours became “dusky”.  By the evening, he was in NICU attached to every monitor and machine they had.  You see, Nicolas was born with Pulmonary Atresia.  His right ventricle was severely underdeveloped and he did not have a pulmonary valve.  He also had a hole between his atriums and some other more minor heart issues- if you can call any heart issue minor.  The point is THIS ALL WENT UNDETECTED BY EVERY MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL IN THE HOSPITAL.  It was not until he received a chiropractic adjustment that his body began to change color and show there was something going wrong.  If the defect went undetected, he would have died in the first 24 hours of life. CHIROPRACTIC SAVED HIS LIFE!  Additionally, CHIROPRACTIC IMPROVED HIS LIFE.  We were told that even after all of his surgeries, he wouldn’t have more than 75% oxygen saturation and wouldn’t be able to do simple things like playing catch with his dad. But with his weekly chiropractic adjustments, he has maintained 100% saturation and has even played several seasons of little league!

                 Nicolas and Dr. Rassoul

Colic and Chiropractic

A story shared by our Dr. Brian Haggerty D.C., B.S.

As a young doctor fresh out of school I was spending New Years Eve with some friends up in West Palm Beach.  Earlier in the evening, a woman was presented and introduced to me who had just given birth to a baby boy 11 months prior. The baby was suffering with Colic, had runny stools and cried all day, and all night, never sleeping more than a couple of hours at a time.

She had been to every specialist she could think of and got NO HELP or answers. She was an RN and didn’t “believe” in chiropractic, but the black circles under her eyes told me she was at her wits’ end. She was exhausted and didn’t know what else to do. She held out her crying baby to me and asked if I could help. I took the child and found multiple subluxations in his spine. With her permission I performed a Logan technique and vibratory finger-tip pressure to correct the subluxations.  He fell asleep on my shoulder during my treatment. I quietly handed him back to his mother.  Wanting to take advantage of him sleeping, she immediately took him home.  The New Year’s Eve celebration proceeded as customary from there. The next morning the phone was ringing off the hook at 8AM (extra ordinarily LOUDLY I might add!)  My friend answered, then handed me the phone saying “That baby’s mother from last night is on the phone and says she needs to speak with you immediately. She wants to know what the HELL you did to her kid!!!”  I’m thinking the worst to myself and dreading what this RN who didn’t “believe” in chiropractic is about to say to me. I answered and it turned out she was calling because she wanted to thank me.  The baby went home, filled his diaper with the largest stool he ever had to that point, quickly went back to sleep at 9PM and slept until 7AM. He woke up and had been happy, comfortable and NO crying!!

In addition, the mom and dad got the 1^st good night sleep in almost a year, and they were eternally grateful. ONE free adjustment at a party changed the lives of an entire family forever!

That’s just one example of the POWER of CHIROPRACTIC!

Common Misconceptions of Yoga

From our Yogapractor Dr. Katie Kreis, D.C., B.S.

I can’t do yoga I’m not flexible/fit enough.

The truth is that anyone can do yoga. From babies, to pregnant women, to elite athletes, all men, women and even children benefit from yoga. Yoga is a sequence of poses that are meant not only to stretch muscles but to strengthen muscles as well at any skill level. I have not come across any other exercise that can balance the human body like yoga does.

I can’t do yoga I don’t know the names of the poses.

My answer to this is YOU WILL LEARN. We cannot know everything all the time. If we went into life with this mentality we would never start anything new. Yoga is a practice and should be seen as such, even the most experienced yogis continue to grow and learn from one practice session to the next. The same pose can feel very different from one day to the next, you can think you have mastered one pose and then come back to it later and it feels foreign. For example a handstand believe it or not can feel very different from one practice to the next, be it in your hands or shoulders or lower back. I would just ask you to try, you may be pleasantly surprised and before you know it you’re standing on your hands.

I don’t know what kind of yoga to do.

Perfect! Try out as many different kinds as you can and see what feels good in your body. Everyone is different and as much as I like yoga not all types are for me either, but I would not have known which I like best without trying out others and stepping outside of my comfort zone to explore. There is hot yoga, there is REALLLLLY hot yoga, there is prenatal yoga, there is kid’s yoga, there is Hatha yoga, there is vinyasa yoga, there are combinations, and there is acro yoga to name a few. Do not get caught up in the name, grab a friend or go alone, and drop all expectations of what you think it should be like and be in the moment.

---

These are just a few of the questions and comments people commonly ask when it comes to yoga. Overall yoga is a passion of mine because it does so much more than exercise my body. Yoga helps me to get out of my head and puts me in my body. It’s amazing when something can stop the red bold lettered to do list that scrolls constantly through my mind. Yoga is amazing for reducing stress and anxiety, weight loss, neck pain, back pain, joint pain, injury rehab, improving balance, fall prevention in older people, and I’ll say it your libido can even benefit from yoga.

Yoga and chiropractic go hand in hand if you ask me. Chiropractic assists the body and joints in their natural movements and what better to pair that with than yoga a practice that helps to balance and align the body through a series of poses. Now the real question should be where and when can I get started!