Posts by Dr. Mark Holland

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

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, reduced range of motion, and sensory problems bad enough to keep them off work.

Over the course of the research study, the participants were managed using one of two common chiropractic techniques: traction for herniated discs in the cervical area or flexion distraction for the men and women 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 rest of the study. Depending on the severity of the disc herniation, treatment varied anywhere from six weeks to six months, with MRIs being performed at various stages to determine what effect, if any, the chiropractic care was having in regard to the disc herniation.

The authors discovered that 80 percent of the participants experienced 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 care is both "safe and helpful" for disc herniations.

If you have a herniated disc and you're near Dr. Holland in North 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.

We manage many auto injury cases in our North St. Louis, MO office, and a common symptom our patients report is neck pain. Let's look at the root cause of neck pain after an auto collision and see how your chiropractor can help.

Even in a car wreck, your head is rapidly thrown back and forth, so it's not surprising that neck pain is the most common symptom from this type of injury. During even a low velocity car crash, your head is subjected to extremely rapid acceleration. In such accidents, a head that normally weighs about 10 pounds can instantly weigh 80 or more pounds. This force exerts a serious strain on the tissues of the neck. The bones of your neck are held together with strong bands of tissue called ligaments, and these ligaments provide stability for your neck. These ligaments can be sprained during a collision, just as the ligaments in your ankle can be sprained. A sprain means that the ligament is stretched or torn.

When you experience a sprained ligament, the injured tissues become swollen and tender, and that's what occurs after a car crash. Chiropractic helps by increasing flexibility in the injured area, which helps the tissues heal and helps decrease scar tissue.

Dr. Holland is here in North St. Louis, MO to help you recover from neck 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.

Knee pain is a common problem for patients in our North St. Louis, MO chiropractic practice, and Dr. 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 example, some patients encounter pain in and around the knee area due to osteoarthritis. Research has demonstrated 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 individuals with osteoarthritis in their knees felt considerable pain relief and improved function after just two weeks of chiropractic care.

If your knee pain is due to a medial meniscus sprain, chiropractic could likely help with that as well. One case found that integrating chiropractic with soft tissue treatment, rest, ice, and compression on the affected knee helped lower the intensity of the pain.

Clearly, sometimes a knee replacement surgery is required in order to correct the issue, and if that's the case, chiropractic can also help improve the outcome. How?

Research has found that patients with low back pain frequently have less positive outcomes after knee surgery. Thus, dealing with your back pain through chiropractic before having a total knee arthroplasty can help with your post-surgery healing.

No matter what your knee issue, Dr. Holland can likely help. Call our North St. Louis, MO location 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

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

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

In this article, 747 patients were treated for low back pain. Each patient was assessed based on the first person they sought treatment with, whether it was a primary care physician, a chiropractor, a physiatrist (also known as a rehabilitation physician), or a physical therapist.

What the researchers discovered is that the men and women who first saw a chiropractor had fewer advanced imaging tests and fewer surgical procedures.

Other studies 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. Holland and our team help your body heal with gentle chiropractic adjustments that don't use drugs or risky surgical procedures.

If you live near our North St. Louis, MO office and would like to get out of pain, give our office a call today at (314) 588-9100 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.

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

According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), approximately 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 most any injury, there are many causes of ankle sprains. The most frequent 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 exercises that increase the risk for this type of ankle sprain include running and jumping. You're also at risk if you have pre-existing ankle injuries, poor posture or balance, weak muscles, and reduced range of motion. How can Dr. Holland help?

A study printed in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to discover chiropractic's role when it comes to ankle sprain recovery. Researchers recruited 33 individuals between the ages of 18 and 45 who had a history of ankle inversion sprains, who were reporting tenderness and/or pain, and had not re-injured the area in the previous six weeks.

Eighteen of the subjects were assigned to receive rehabilitation and the remaining 15 people received chiropractic adjustments in addition to rehabilitation. Each person had five full weeks of therapy, with the rehab group receiving therapy seven days a week and the rehabilitation plus chiropractic group receiving therapy six out of the seven days.

The study found that the individuals who had both rehabilitation and chiropractic fared the best at the 4-week mark when it came to pain and joint restriction. Additionally, no adverse effects were reported, showing that this treatment option is safe.

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

Citations

• 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

Every year, there are millions of auto accidents in the world, and a substantial number of men and women end up getting injured in a wreck. Although most accidents are "minor," chronic back and neck pain are still frequent health problems. The good news is that chiropractic care is a fantastic way to address these kinds of injuries.

We have helped many auto injury patients in our North St. Louis, MO office, and Dr. Holland has been treating 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 handle. These forces place stress and strain on your neck, shoulder, and back, and can result in damage to the ligaments that hold your neck and back together. A crash can result in a wide variety of pain issues.

A ligament tear in the neck can trigger pain, swelling, and radicular symptoms 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. Holland, your North St. Louis, MO chiropractor, can assist by decreasing inflammation in the injured area and can help minimize the creation of scar tissue that can cause chronic pain and disability.

You don't have to suffer from auto injury pain. Learn more about how we can help you recover here or call Dr. Holland today at (314) 588-9100.

We work with many back pain patients in our North St. Louis, MO chiropractic office, and Dr. 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.

To help you better understand spinal decompression therapy, think of the discs in your spine like small balloons filled with gelatin. 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 force on the discs becomes too high, the discs can herniate or protrude. This reduces the cushioning 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.

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 decreases 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 treatment.

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

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

Therapeutic massage has been used for millennia as a natural pain relief solution. We use massage therapy in our North St. Louis, MO office, as it works great in conjunction with the chiropractic care that Dr. Holland provides. Massage therapy does much more than just feel good. It also offers many benefits as well. Some are physical and others are psychological, and here are just a few of each:

• Pain relief (back, neck, shoulder, legs, arm, and headache pain)
• Improved range of motion and flexibility
• Better circulation
• Greater immune system function
• Enhanced sports performance
• Reduced depression and anxiety
• Increased levels of energy
• Lower levels of fatigue
• Improved sleep
• Easier labor and delivery for expecting mothers
• Reduced stretch marks
• Less scar tissue

Advantages like these have been found to be particularly helpful for individuals who suffer with chronic conditions such as arthritis and asthma. Therapeutic massage has also proven advantageous for burn injury patients, people with higher than healthy blood pressure, and women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome. Even preterm infants have shown benefits with massage therapy as they have improved levels of weight gain.

To learn more about the massage therapy services we offer in North St. Louis, MO, give our office a call at (314) 588-9100.

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

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

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

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

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

References

• 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.

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

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

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 subjects were divided 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 twice that amount.

Each patient was assessed based on head pain, neck pain, and disability prior to the study and 12 and 24 weeks after treatment was complete. The researchers 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.

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

Dr. Holland has helped many patients who were suffering from headaches in our North St. Louis, MO office. Call us today at (314) 588-9100 for more information or for an appointment.

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.