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We see a great number of individuals with headaches in our St. Louis, MO office, and Dr. Holland has been able to assist many of them. Actually, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that half of all adults have difficulties with some type of headache disorder, so this really isn’t surprising. One of the most frequent types of headaches that our patients are afflicted with is cervicogenic headache which, thankfully, chiropractic can usually help.

Cervicogenic Headaches Defined

A cervicogenic headache is one that stems from problems in the cervical spine. It can be caused by a condition with either the spine itself (particularly, the vertebrae, joints, or discs), or it can be brought on by a problem in the muscles and tendons of your neck. This problem in your spine contributes to compression or aggravation of the spinal nerves, which can bring about headache pain.

How can you find out if the headache you are experiencing is a cervicogenic headache? Aside from receiving a diagnosis from a healthcare expert, a frequent symptom of cervicogenic headaches is tenderness or discomfort in your neck. This is sometimes associated with pain in the back of your head or between your shoulder blades.

How Chiropractic Helps with Cervicogenic Headaches

Since cervicogenic headaches will not subside until whatever problem is triggering them is remedied, it is essential to get treatment rather than just trying to "wait it out." Chiropractic care is an effective approach, and one that offers a great deal of relief.

In one study released in Chiropractic & Osteopathy, specialists followed 80 people who had regular cervicogenic headaches. Fifty percent were given chiropractic care and the other fifty percent engaged in light massage therapy. Each participant was assessed 12 and 24 weeks after the procedures and it was found that chiropractic delivered the optimum results.

Specifically, this study noted that chiropractic adjustments gave patients greater pain relief and diminished the frequency of headaches that occurred. In addition, it also reduced the disability that resulted from these painful headaches.

To find out what Dr. Holland can do for you and your headache pain, call our office 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/

If you suffer from back pain after a car accident, you're not alone. Dr. Holland sees this type of condition frequently in our St. Louis, MO office. Chiropractic is a great way to treat back pain. Let's look at how back pain is caused by a crash and how Dr. Holland can help you.

During a rear-end auto collision, your car and car seat are quickly accelerated forward against your torso. Since car seats don't perfectly align with the curve of your spine, the seat can put uneven force on your lower back. This can cause some of your spinal vertebrae to move in one direction while an adjacent vertebrae might move in another direction. This differential movement can sprain or strain the ligaments that hold your spine together. This type of injury can cause chronic back pain if not treated promptly. Thankfully, chiropractic is one of the most effective ways to treat back pain.

Dr. Holland is here in St. Louis, MO to help you recover from back pain. We've been helping patients since 2000 and we can probably help you, too. Dr. Holland will first determine what's causing your pain and then work to restore your body to its natural functioning. Call us today at (314) 588-9100 if you have questions or would like to make an appointment.

Chiropractic is centered on the approach of allowing your body to heal naturally through spinal adjustments and lifestyle changes that encourage wellness. For Dr. Holland, this means working to restore your body's healthy functioning to prevent the need for drugs or surgical treatments. We see that most of our St. Louis, MO patients are happy to find a natural approach for their health issues.

One advantage of chiropractic care is that it helps people decrease or even eliminate the use of narcotics. Prescriptions are frequently issued to individuals who have back pain. This is such a serious crisis that the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) issued a report stating that opioid (painkiller) dangers overshadow the benefits when prescribed for back pain.

Some of the most popular narcotics, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, include hydrocodone (Vicodin), oxycodone (OxyContin and Percocet), morphine, and codeine. Numbers provided by the AAN mention the fact that roughly half of the people taking these types of substances for a period of three months are still taking them five years down the road. This can further complicate the difficulty of back pain and recovery, particularly if an opiate dependency occurs.

Contrast that to chiropractic care which incorporates natural healing and the advantages are evident. While a pill might be useful at temporarily reducing the discomfort of a health issue, it's not a solution to the problem. A drug won't mend your injured spine; it will only mask the pain.

Dr. Holland will first examine you to get to the origin of your back problems and then work with you to address the problem -- without risky drugs.

If you're ready for relief of your pain, naturally, give our St. Louis, MO office a call at (314) 588-9100 to make an appointment with Dr. Holland.

References

• Risk of opioids outweigh benefits for headache, low back pain, other conditions. American Academy of Neurology;September 29, 2014.
• What are opioids? National Institute on Drug Abuse. Retrieved from http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/prescription-drugs/opioids/what-are-opioids

We see many auto injury patients in our St Louis office, and a common problem is shoulder injury. Shoulder soreness is a condition experienced by many car wreck patients, and there are two basic explanations.

The first is direct damage to the shoulder during the crash. If your shoulder hits something directly, it can injure the joint capsule. In addition, if you are gripping the steering wheel firmly during a rear-end impact, your body can lag behind the car, applying tension on your wrists and shoulders.

The second cause of shoulder pain is not so direct and can be harder to identify. Injury to the neck or spine can produce pressure on the nerves that travel from the spine to your shoulder, arm, and hands. This can be baffling, as the discomfort or numbness is felt in one part of your body, while the problem is actually in your spine.

Chiropractic is a tried and tested, reliable way to help men and women with shoulder pain, and we've been helping these types of injuries in St. Louis, MO since .

If you've been in a motor vehicle accident and have signs of shoulder injury, Dr. Holland is here to help. We can help pinpoint the root source of your pain and formulate a plan of action to help you restore your health. We have helped many patients in St. Louis, MO heal from these sorts of injuries.

Call our office today at (314) 588-9100 for an appointment or for more information.

More than 1 million men and women are hurt in rear-end collisions every year in the US, and a significant fraction of auto injury cases contribute to pain for years or even decades. The good news is that chiropractic has been found to be a highly effective way to treat whiplash injuries and avoid chronic pain. Dr. Holland has helped many St. Louis, MO, residents who have suffered from an auto injury and we might be able to help you, too!

A 1996 British research study sums up the challenge:

"The 'whiplash' syndrome is a collection of symptoms produced as a result of soft-tissue injury of the cervical spine. The accumulated literature suggests that 43 percent of patients will suffer long-term symptoms following 'whiplash' injury. If patients are still symptomatic after three months then there is almost a 90 per cent chance that they will remain so. No conventional treatment has proven to be effective in these established chronic cases."

The authors of this paper studied the effectiveness of chiropractic in twenty-eight patients with long-term whiplash pain. The patients were referred to the chiropractic physician an average of 15.5 (range, 3-44) months after the crash, and were questioned before care by both an third-party chiropractor and an orthopedic physician. The patients were assigned to one of four classification groups: A - No symptoms; B - Symptoms are a nuisance; C - Symptoms are intrusive; and, D - Symptoms are disabling. The initial evaluation placed 27 of the 28 patients in groups C or D.

"Following treatment, 26 (93 per cent) of the patients had improved: 16 by one symptom group and 10 by two symptom groups. This improvement was independent of whether it was assessed by an orthopaedic surgeon or a chiropractor. In the group that had improved, 17 had stopped their treatment at the time of assessment; symptoms had recurred to a minor degree in four (24 per cent) of these patients and they were considering further treatment."

This confirms what we find in our clinic here in St. Louis, MO. Chiropractic is a wonderful method to help you heal from auto injuries and reduce the risk of long-term pain and disability.

Don't endure old or recent auto injuries! We have been helping auto injury patients in St. Louis, MO since . Call our clinic today at (314) 588-9100 to see how we can help you.

Woodward MN, Cook JCH, Gargan MF, Bannister GC. Chiropractic treatment of chronic -whiplash- injuries. Injury: International Journal of the Care of the Injured 1996;27(9):643-645.

Thoracic outlet syndrome is experienced as numbness, tingling, soreness or decreased blood flow in the shoulders, arms or hands.

The thoracic outlet is a bottleneck where an important bundle of nerves and blood vessels pass between the head and arm. The space is tight and trauma to the neck can cause swelling of the muscles in the area, which can then constrict the nerves and result in symptoms.

Because the neck is a very complex area, it can be tricky to pinpoint the precise origin of your pain, and other disorders can imitate the symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome.

If you've been in a motor vehicle accident and have symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome, Dr. Holland is here to help. We can help identify the underlying cause of your pain and formulate a complete plan of action to help you reclaim your health. We've helped many patients in St. Louis, MO improve from these sorts of injuries since and we might be able to help you, as well!

Call our office today at (314) 588-9100 for a consultation or for more advice.

Neck soreness is the most widespread symptom disclosed after a car crash, and it's not tough to see why. Dr. Holland in St. Louis, MO has been treating patients with neck pain from car accidents since .

During a wreck, your torso moves with the car seat while your head lags behind due to inertia. It is this difference in motion that results in injury.

Your spinal column is prone to sprain and stress from shear forces that come from the head and body shifting in different directions. This shearing movement can stretch or tear the ligaments and discs of your spine, causing pain, irritation and scar tissue. Seeking early chiropractic care, is essential for preventing chronic pain, particularly because of the elevated risk of ongoing symptoms in individuals with whiplash.

Research has found that up to twenty percent of individuals can have neck pain symptoms even ten years after the collision.

If you've been hurt in a collision, chiropractic adjustments might be able to help. Research shows that chiropractic can help restore neck range of motion and prevent scar tissue from forming after an injury. And other studies show that early treatment can also help preclude the development of chronic pain.

If you've been in a crash and have signs of neck pain, Dr. Holland is here for you. We can identify the underlying source of your pain and formulate a plan of action to support you in restoring your health. We've helped many people in St. Louis, MO recover from these types of problems since .

Call our office today at (314) 588-9100 for an appointment or for more information.

In the aftermath of a car wreck, it's typical for people to wait to get treatment. The vast majority of people think, "I'll just wait to see how I feel next week." This mindset can be a mistake.

A number of scientific studies show that when a person gets quick treatment after a crash, they have a better end result than those people who wait to get care.

During a crash, the structures of your neck can be stretched or damaged. You might not feel soreness right away. But as the tissues become irritated and inflamed, patients often wake up the next day sore and with a stiff neck.

Pain and stiffness are indicators of damage to the ligaments and muscular tissues of your spine. The human body's reaction to injury is to limit movement and to heal the injury by sending white blood cells to the region. Your body will then start mending the injured area by laying down scar tissue.

The problem with scar tissue is that each segment in your neck has a fairly restricted range of motion. Scar tissue reduces that motion even more, and if you don't receive proper chiropractic care, that can result in permanently limited range of motion, persistent pain, and even spinal deterioration of the joints.

Getting early treatment will break up this pattern by enhancing movement in the damaged region and by protecting against the formation of scar tissue.

If you've been in a crash, it's important that you see a health care professional without delay to be examined and to begin the process of healing.

If you've been in a car crash, Dr. Holland is here in St. Louis, MO to help. We can work to establish the root source of your pain and formulate a plan of action to help you restore your health. We have helped many people in St. Louis, MO improve from these sorts of problems since and we may be able to help you, too!

Call our office today at (314) 588-9100 for an appointment or for more advice.

During a motor vehicle accident, your head can be very rapidly and violently whipped around. This movement can injure many assorted areas of your neck, including the arteries that supply your brain.

The vertebral blood vessels are especially vulnerable, because they literally travel through the cervical vertebrae.

When your neck is whipped, the arterial blood vessels can be twisted or stretched out, damaging the lining of the vessels. This can cause swelling or tearing, and in some circumstances, can obstruct the circulation of blood.

Signs or symptoms of vertebral artery damage can be felt as a soreness in the rear of the head that gets worse over time, and it can be on either side of the head or in the center. In some cases the pain is felt as aching, and occasionally it might feel like a build-up in pressure or a pulsating feeling.

If you have these warning signs, it's essential that you get professional attention promptly.

If you have been in a motor vehicle accident, Dr. Holland is here to help. We can help establish the root cause of your problem and develop a treatment plan to help you reclaim your health. We have helped many people in St. Louis, MO recover from these sorts of problems.

Call our office today at (314) 588-9100 for an appointment or for more advice.

Many people say they experience back problems after a motor vehicle accident. It's a common problem we see in our St Louis office.

A 2002 study conducted by scientists at the Albert Einstein School of Medicine examined the biomechanics of lumbar spine injuries from car wrecks and found that the car seat is most likely the root cause in these types of injuries.

Your spine has an innate curved structure that absorbs jolts and stress and also permits freedom of movement.

There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of different styles of car seats with different forms, coverings, stiffnesses and geometries. If your carseat doesn't accommodate your spinal column precisely, the violent acceleration of the carseat during a wreck can cause some segments of your spinal column to shift much more than other parts.

This shearing action can stretch or tear the ligaments of your spine, producing discomfort, inflammation, scar tissue, nerve injury, and even long-term damage.

Chiropractic care is a tried and tested, effective way to help people with back pain, and we've been working with back pain patients in St. Louis, MO since .

If you have been in an auto collision and have symptoms of back pain, Dr. Holland is here to help. We can help identify the root cause of your problem and formulate a treatment plan to help you reclaim your health. We've helped many patients in St. Louis, MO improve from these types of problems.

Call our office today at (314) 588-9100 for a consultation or for more advice.