Posts by Dr. Mark Holland

We tend to a large number of people in our Downtown St. Louis, MO clinic, and Dr. Holland has helped many people eliminate a range of health challenges. In spite of this, a common issue that seems to prevent a lot of women and men from seeking treatment is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Fortunately, according to three different studies (out of many on the subject), the answer to this question is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first article(1) was published in Spine and included 183 adults between the ages of 20 and 85. Each participant reported affected by spinal pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic care while the other half received two fake chiropractic treatment sessions. Information was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to discover if any undesirable negative effects were caused by the actual chiropractic treatments.

Researchers found that no one reported any significant negative side effects whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some people did report that they got a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) post-treatment, but the results were not of a serious nature.

National Survey Reports that Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe

The second research study(2), also released in the influential journal, Spine, was done in an effort to establish the safety of chiropractic care. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 individuals. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.

Again, the experts found no serious negative side effects. The experts computed the risk of total adverse reactions to be about six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the previous study, some people did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (less than 2%) or a headache (4 out of every 100), and this prompted the researchers to conclude that "the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low."

Chiropractic Is Safe for Kids

This third research paper(3) is different from the previous two pieces of research, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this article, the authors investigated data reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic treatment sessions.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic appointments made for the kids, chiropractors answering the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse reactions. When parents were surveyed, they indicated only two adverse side effects out of 1,735 visits. Furthermore, both chiropractors and parents reported "a high rate of improvement with respect to the children's presenting complaints."

Based on these three studies (and many more!), chiropractic care has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Downtown St. Louis, MO office and schedule an appointment today at (314) 588-9100.

References

1. Walker BF, Hebert JJ, Stomski NJ, Clarke BR, Bowden RS, Losco B, French SD. Outcomes of usual chiropractic. The OUCH randomized controlled trial of adverse events. Spine 2013;38(20):1723-9.
2. Thiel HW1, Bolton JE, Docherty S, Portlock JC. Safety of chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine: a prospective national survey. Spine 2007;32(21):2375-8.
3. Alcantara J, Ohm J, Kunz D. The safety and effectiveness of pediatric chiropractic: a survey of chiropractors and parents in a practice-based research network. Explore NY 2009;5(5): 290-5.

When you're trying to support your family, take care of your home, and pay all of your bills on time, every day at work counts. Work injuries can be a huge problem for many people, and we see many of these types of injuries in our Downtown St. Louis, MO office. Dr. Holland appreciates your situation and is here to help.

The advantages of chiropractic for work injuries are well-documented. A 2013 survey involving over 600 adults who were troubled with either back or neck pain found that the individuals who didn't see a chiropractor missed work at twice the rate of those who were seeing a chiropractor.

So, why don't more people use Chiropractic Care?

According to the respondents in this study, two of the primary factors were that they thought they needed a referral for chiropractic care (which is typically no longer true) and they overestimated the costs associated with chiropractic treatment sessions by almost 70 percent.

The reality is, chiropractic patients actually spend less on care than medical patients, plus they are less likely to use drugs for their symptoms.

Dr. Holland Can Help Patients Find Relief From Chronic Pain

If you live in Downtown St. Louis, MO and you've been injured at work, we can help. Give our office a call today at (314) 588-9100 for an appointment.

References

"Thousands of Minnesotans with Back and Neck Pain Don't Seek Treatment." (2013, June 12). ChiroCare.

We come across a large number of sports injuries in our Downtown St. Louis, MO clinic, and Dr. Holland is generally able to help these athletes. Stanford Children’s Hospital states that more than 3.5 million children aged 14 and below are injured each year when playing sports. Add that to the close to 2 million adults hurt each year while engaged in sports-related activities, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can start to see the importance of preventing these sorts of common injuries. One approach to possible realize that goal, as stated in a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to engage in routine chiropractic care.

In Australian Rules football, hamstring and other leg traumas are commonplace, frequently sidelining the players and impacting their team's chance at securing a win. One specific study was administered using 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers to see how well chiropractic could diminish these injuries and help keep them in the game.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study in particular, all of the players got medical treatment. Furthermore, half of them also engaged in chiropractic sessions at the rate of 1 session per week for the first 6 weeks, biweekly treatments for the following three months, and one session per month for the remaining 3 months of the study. The remaining half were given no chiropractic intervention at all and acted as the control group to assess the benefits of chiropractic.

Following twenty-four matches, scientists noticed a diminished amount of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had been given chiropractic care. Additionally, that very group also missed fewer matches connected to non-contact knee injuries. This lead the researchers to conclude that chiropractic ought to be added to sports training programs to effectively decrease the quantity of leg injuries.

Dr. Holland Can Help Clients Find Relief From Sports Injuries & Help You Recover Quicker

If you or your child are active in sports and you want to ensure greater time is spent on the field versus on the sidelines, call our Downtown St. Louis, MO office at (314) 588-9100 and schedule an appointment today. We will do our best to keep you in the game!

References

• Hoskins, W, & Pollard, H. (2010, April 8). The effect of a sports chiropractic manual therapy intervention on the prevention of back pain, hamstring and lower limb injuries in semi-elite Australian Rules footballers: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 11(64), doi:10.1186/1471-2474-11-64
• Misra, A. (2014, March 17). Common sports injuries: Incidence and average charges. Department of Health & Human Services.
• Stanford Children’s Hospital. (n.d.). Sports injury statistics.

According to research, approximately 2-5 percent of the population will suffer from painful disorders like frozen shoulder syndrome at some point in their lives. That makes shoulder pain a common occurrence and one that Dr. Holland sees in our Downtown St. Louis, MO office on a regular basis.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps With Shoulder Pain

Generally, this issue is more common for people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, and it tends to affect women more often than men. While ice, heat, and gentle stretching can sometimes help alleviate the discomfort, so too can chiropractic adjustments.

For instance, one study published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine looked at 50 people with frozen shoulder who were given chiropractic care. The length of care ranged from 11 days to 51 days, with 28 days being the average.

The authors found that almost all of the patients fared very well with chiropractic care. The study 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 of the original 50 reported an improvement of 50 percent or less, so studies like this demonstrate just how effective chiropractic care 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. Holland help you ease your pain by contacting our Downtown 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. Holland works with many sciatica patients here in our Downtown St. Louis, MO office, and many of these patients were concerned that they might need surgery to treat their pain. The most recent research shows that a large number of people don't need surgery for this common issue, and that chiropractic is more beneficial at clearing up sciatic nerve pain.

A popular surgery for sciatica is microdiscectomy, and in a 2010 study, researchers examined 80 individuals with sciatica who were referred for this procedure.

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

Both groups improved; however, no noticeable difference in results was recorded one year post-treatment between the surgery group and the chiropractic group. Furthermore, roughly 60 percent of the participating subjects who could not find relief from any other treatment approach "benefited from spinal manipulation to the same degree as if they underwent surgical intervention."

In other words, chiropractic offered the same positive benefits as surgery without needing to endure the higher amounts of surgery-based pain or suffer through drawn-out recovery times often associated with that type of treatment choice. Plus, you also don't run the risks affiliated with surgical microdiscectomy, including nerve root damage, bowel or bladder incontinence, bleeding, or infection.

Surgery should be the last option for sciatica pain. If you live in Downtown St. Louis, MO and you're being affected by back pain or sciatica, give Dr. Holland a call today at (314) 588-9100. We'll help identify the start 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. What's more, neck pain is the third most reported type of pain, beat out only by lower back pain and headache.

Of course, many patients come to our Downtown St. Louis, MO office seeking neck pain treatment, and Dr. Holland has helped many of them find relief. This is a smart decision, as some research shows that over 90% of neck pain patients benefit from chiropractic care.

Studies Confirm Chiropractic's Positive Effects

A report published in The Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy included 64 men and women who were suffering with neck problems. Approximately 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, while the experimental group also received adjustments of the thoracic spine.

Information was gathered before treatment began and one week post-treatment. The authors 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, showing that evaluating the entire spine is a critical part of restoring the body's normal function.

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

The investigators discovered that the study participants who received the thrust manipulations (the same manipulations that offered such positive results in the first study) "experienced greater reductions in disability" than the group that received the non-thrust adjustments. Their pain was lower as well, which shows that this type of approach offers many benefits.

Help After Failed Neck Surgery

Another study even 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 woman who had recently had neck surgery but still experienced neck pain, headaches, pain in her elbow, and muscle fatigue.

The woman reported decreased pain in her neck and lower headache intensity, right after the first chiropractic adjustments. After six weeks of care, which involved chiropractic, exercise, and patient education, the patient still rated her pain at a zero on a scale of 1 to 10. Her neck disability reduced as well, with a rating score that represented that it was a "great deal better."

It is scientific studies like these that prove the advantages of chiropractic adjustments, even if you've already attempted medical procedures that didn't provide relief. So, if you are dealing with neck discomfort and would like to find a solution that has a high success rate, try chiropractic. It may just be the help you're looking for.

Our office is in Downtown St. Louis, MO and Dr. Holland can help you recover from neck pain. Give us a call today at (314) 588-9100.

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 no surprise that Dr. Holland treats a lot of migraine patients in our St. Louis, MO office. While some folks try to relieve migraine pain with medications, chiropractic is a great, all-natural alternative that usually produces positive results.

Research Shows Chiropractic Care Helps With Migraines

For instance, one report published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics involved 127 people ranging in age from 10 to 70-years-old who struggled with frequent (at least monthly) headaches. Each subject received up to 16 chiropractic sessions. The patients 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 researchers 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 enabled them to take less medication for the pain, offering them an all-natural solution for a chronic condition.

Another article found that a combination of chiropractic and neck massage reduced migraine headaches almost 68%.

If you have migraine headache pain and are looking for help, call Dr. Holland today and request an appointment in our St. Louis, MO chiropractic office. We'll do what we can to help you become pain-free!

Information

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 people in our St. Louis, MO chiropractic practice, and Dr. Holland has successfully provided many of these men and women relief. This is largely because chiropractic care has been found to help with many kinds of knee pain.

For example, some patients encounter pain in and around the knee tissues due to degenerative arthritis. Research has confirmed 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 due to a medial meniscus tear, chiropractic could likely help with that as well. One case reported that combining 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 necessary in order to correct the issue, and if that's the case, chiropractic can also help improve the outcome. How?

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps With Knee Injuries

Medical research has found that patients with low back pain frequently have less positive results after knee surgery. Therefore, dealing with your back pain through chiropractic before having a total knee arthroplasty can assist with your post-surgery recovery.

No matter what your knee issue, Dr. Holland can likely help. Call our St. Louis, MO clinic today and find out what we can do for you!

Studies

• 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 large number of men and women with headaches in our St. Louis, MO office, and Dr. Holland has been able to aid many of them. Furthermore, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 50 percent of all adults have a problem with some type of headache disorder, so this really isn’t surprising. One of the most prevalent types of headaches which our patients deal with is cervicogenic headache which, luckily, chiropractic can commonly help.

What is a Cervicogenic Headache?

A cervicogenic headache is one that comes from issues in the cervical spine. It can easily be due to an issue with either the spine itself (in particular, the vertebrae, joints, or discs), or it can be because of a problem in the muscles and tendons of your neck. This problem in your spine leads to compaction or irritation of the spinal nerves, which can give you headache pain.

How do you find out if the headache you are suffering from is a cervicogenic headache? Besides being given a diagnosis from a healthcare professional, a common symptom of cervicogenic headaches is tenderness or discomfort in your neck. This is occasionally accompanied by pain in the back of your head or between your shoulder blades.

Chiropractic to the Rescue

Considering cervicogenic headaches will not subside until whatever problem is inducing them is remedied, it is vital to receive treatment as opposed to just trying to "wait it out." Chiropractic care is an excellent solution, and one that can provide a considerable amount of pain relief.

In one study published in Chiropractic & Osteopathy, specialists looked at 80 people who had repeated cervicogenic headaches. Half of them got chiropractic care and the other 50% underwent light massage therapy. Each participant was evaluated 12 and 24 weeks after the treatment and it was discovered that chiropractic delivered the best results.

Specifically, this study revealed that chiropractic adjustments provided patients more pain relief and lessened the frequency of headaches that occurred. What's more, it also minimized the disability that resulted from these painful headaches.

To find out what Dr. Holland can do for you and your headache pain, 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 many patients in our St. Louis, MO office with ankle sprains but Dr. Holland has had a lot of success helping them heal 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 daily. In fact, these injuries make up nearly 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 happen 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 previous ankle injuries, poor posture or balance, weak muscles, and reduced range of motion.

How Can Chiropractic Treatments and Dr. Holland Help?

A report published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to identify chiropractic's role when it comes to ankle sprain recovery. Researchers recruited 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 ankle in the previous six weeks.

18 of the participants were assigned to receive rehabilitation and the other 15 people 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 rehab plus chiropractic group receiving care six out of the seven days.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Ankle Sprains

Researchers found that the people who participated in both rehabilitation and chiropractic fared the best at the 4-week mark when it came to pain and joint restriction. Also, no undesirable effects were reported, showing that this treatment option is safe.

If you're near our office in 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!

Sources

• 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