East Bay Chiropractic Wellness P.C.

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How Chiropractic Care Can Help Following a Car Accident

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Many of us spend some time in a car almost every day. Whether we’re commuting to work, running errands, or visiting loved ones, driving is an integral part of life here on Long Island.

And while using a car overall is a safe form of travel, it’s not without its risks. More than five million car accidents are reported, on average, every year. Thankfully, less than 1% of all accidents lead to fatalities. That said, many of those who wind up in a car accident run the risk of injury.

While some car accident injuries are minor and heal quickly, others can persist, leading to chronic pain and discomfort. One of the most common enduring injuries is whiplash.

Can a Chiropractor Fix Whiplash?

To understand how a chiropractor can be help in treating whiplash, it’s important to understand the cause and symptoms. Whiplash typically occurs when a car abruptly halts during an accident, causing the neck to jerk backward and forward rapidly. This abrupt motion can result in the tearing of tendons and ligaments in the neck. Common symptoms include:

  • Headaches
  • Neck pain or stiffness
  • Dizziness
  • Drowsiness
  • Blurred vision

Over time, it can also cause chronic pain in the head, neck, and shoulders.

Chiropractors focus on injuries and conditions affecting tendons, ligaments, muscles, bones, and the nervous system. Therefore, they can treat whiplash symptoms from car accident injuries by addressing the underlying issue—the tears in the tendons and ligaments.

Can A Slipped Disc Be Fixed by a Chiropractor?

If the resulting accident leads to another injury, in this case, a slipped disc, chiropractic care can be helpful for your recovery as well. Spinal manipulation and massage therapy can help alleviate stress and pain in the affected areas. Most slipped disc injuries heal within six weeks. Chiropractic care can provide pain management for both such injuries simultaneously if needed.

Does Graston Help with Whiplash?

The Graston Technique® is used for injuries just like those caused by whiplash. Its primary purpose is to break up hidden adhesions in the tissue over tendons and ligaments, a common occurrence in whiplash injuries. This technique helps relieve pain and improve range of motion. A licensed chiropractor can effectively utilize the Graston Technique® to treat whiplash and similar injuries.

Get Car Accident Chiropractic Care at East Bay Chiropractic

Unfortunately, whiplash is a common injury affecting millions of Americans each year. At East Bay Chiropractic, we specialize in the Graston Technique® as a pain management approach that targets soft tissue scars, reducing inflammation and helping you regain your life comfortably. This technique has also been proven effective in alleviating whiplash-induced pain. With nearly three decades of experience, you can trust that you’re in capable hands. Contact East Bay Chiropractic today to learn how we can help you manage your chronic pain.

Mattresses and Back Pain

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Waking up with back pain seems to be a rite of passage once you reach a certain age. However, the cause may not be age-related and might be your mattress.

As children and young adults, we often don’t pay attention to the type of mattress we sleep on. It’s either provided by our parents or dictated by our finances. But as the body ages and begins to see more spine misalignment, how and where we sleep becomes more important to avoiding lower back pain.

Why Do I Wake Up with Back Pain?

As adults, the reasons for waking up with back pain can be varied, with the cause changing from person to person and day to day. Many people find that their lower back pain is due to spine misalignment, which can be aggravated by the way you sleep.

Back sleepers, for instance, may need to place a pillow under their knees to maintain the proper curvature of their spine while they sleep. On the other hand, stomach sleepers may find placing a pillow under their lower abdomen while they sleep prevents morning back pain.

In addition, a mattress that is too old or too soft may contribute to morning back pain. One clue that your pain might be related to your mattress is if it gets better over the course of the day.

How Can I Tell If My Mattress Is Causing Back Pain?

The first indication that your mattress might be responsible for your back pain is when the ache occurs and when it goes away. If you have lower back pain in the morning that gradually dissipates over the course of the day, and it happens every day, your mattress might be to blame.

Another indication that you have mattress-related back pain is if the pain goes away when you sleep somewhere else. So, if you find that you’re sleeping better on vacation or on the couch, it may indicate that you need a new mattress.

What Type of Mattress Is Best for Back Pain?

Getting past all the hype from various mattress manufacturers to determine what is best for your back can be difficult. A 2003 study of mattresses published by the National Institutes of Health suggests that 90 days of sleeping on a firm mattress can relieve that pain for people with non-specific lower back pain.

The key information in that study is that the cause of the pain was non-specific. That is, the patients being studied did not have an underlying condition, such as fibromyalgia, that was causing the pain. In those cases, chiropractors are likely to suspect that spinal misalignment is a part of the problem and that a firm mattress with appropriate support will help.

However, a more recent compilation of all the studies regarding mattresses and back pain was much less conclusive. An analysis of studies between 2000 and 2019 shows that the specific firmness of the mattress may not be as clear of a cause as previously thought.

The study indicated that a medium-firm mattress provides better sleep quality and fewer days with reported back pain. However, another study of other mattress types had similar results and improvements in sleep quality. Spinal alignments were also seen in people who used adjustable beds or improved their sleeping temperature.

In short, the analysis of the studies suggested there are many variables in how and why sleeping can cause back pain. For instance, a person with a higher body mass index was more likely to wake up with back pain regardless of the mattress type.

East Bay Chiropractic Wellness Can Help Diagnose and Treat Back Pain

Here at East Bay Chiropractic Wellness, we can help you figure out the cause of your back pain. Our investigation into your spine’s alignment can help you start the day with more energy and more focus because the pain is gone. Before you spend hundreds on a new mattress that may not help, contact us online or call us directly at (516) 679-2225 to find out why your back hurts.

What To Know About Scoliosis

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Many of us first heard of scoliosis in grade school and haven’t thought too much about it since then. For those who may not be familiar, scoliosis is a curvature of the spine that could involve either the spinal column bending into a “C” or an “S” shape from your lower back to your neck, or even going from side to side. We get tested at a young age, and those with a severe enough case of scoliosis may require assistance to help straighten the spine over time as you grow.

Unfortunately, scoliosis is not limited to kids. Many adults can develop scoliosis over time, leading to discomfort, pain, and mobility issues. So, what do we need to know about scoliosis?

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Why Proper Lifting Is So Important

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As we get older, we find ourselves needing to be more and more careful with our backs. Sleeping in the wrong position or even turning too quickly in an awkward position could have you in pain for days. Lifting is one daily activity that can put our backs in jeopardy.

Lifting can be anything from moving around household items and taking in the groceries to heavy lifting as part of our job or regular workout routine. While lifting is an important activity that helps to build up and maintain our muscles, it could also result in serious injury if not done correctly. So how do we lift properly to avoid injury?

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What Is Degenerative Disc Disease?

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It’s no secret that we’re more likely to experience back pain as we get older. The days of being able to fall asleep on a couch consequence free are gone, and even if we catch ourselves slipping on ice, it could take days, if not weeks, for the resulting pain in our backs to go away. However, some of the pain we end up experiencing could signify something more long-term.

There are a number of chronic back problems that we can develop over time, one of which is known as degenerative disc disease. So how serious is it?

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Does Cold Weather Cause Back Pain?

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It’s common for people to blame the weather on their aching joints, but is it really the weather to blame? There have been many studies conducted to try and understand the connection between the outdoor climate and people’s bodies, but nothing definitive has yet come of it. There is a definite connection between weather and back pain, though it is as yet unclear as to the specifics of that relationship.

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