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When doing sports that demand a lot of lower body movement, like football, soccer, and basketball, it's not at all uncommon to suffer some type of injury to your lower extremities. Between pulled hamstrings, sprained ankles, knee injuries, and more, many players have found themselves out of commission. Dr. Helton has seen all of these problems in our Portland patients. Fortunately, chiropractic can help prevent some of these injuries from happening and research proves it.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Sports Injuries & Recovery

Dr. Helton keeps up-to-date with all of the recent scientific research, and in a report published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, researchers from Macquarie University in Australia studied 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers. Roughly half were placed in a control group and the others were put in a treatment group that received sports chiropractic care at regular intervals. During the first six weeks, this meant engaging in care once every week. The following three months consisted of an adjustment every two weeks before reducing those to one visit monthly for the final three months of the study.

The authors noted that there was a "significant" decrease in the number of leg strains the players received in the treatment group when compared to the control. Furthermore, they observed that the subjects who engaged in chiropractic also had fewer weeks of missed practice and games as a result of non-contact knee injuries. This led them to conclude that sports chiropractic intervention should be added to "the current best practice management."

Every major sports organization in the US and the US Olympic Team has chiropractors on staff for their players, because they know that chiropractic works. If you live near our practice in Portland and would like to see if Dr. Helton can help you boost your performance or reduce sports injuries, give our office a call today at (503) 771-1974 for an appointment.

Dr. Helton Can Help People Find Comfort From Sports Injuries and Recover Faster

If you're struggling with severe pain, Dr. Helton and our staff are here to help you recover. Give our Portland office a call today at (503) 771-1974 for an appointment today.

Bibliographic Reference

Hoskins W, Pollard H. 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 2010;11(64).

In our Portland practice, it isn't unusual for us to see people struggling with sciatic nerve pain, and Dr. Helton has helped many of these people heal with chiropractic. What makes chiropractic so useful to those who suffer with sciatica? First, it reduces their recovery time and a Norwegian medical study confirms it.

In the report, which took place in a Norwegian hospital's orthopedic division, researchers looked at 44 patients who had sudden low back pain that was diagnosed as acute sciatica. The participants were all treated by a chiropractor, with the mean follow-up being two years after treatment.

The researchers found that all but two patients went back to work after receiving chiropractic adjustments, which is a 95% success rate. What's more, the average amount of time that the individuals spent off work "was reduced by two thirds as compared with that associated with conventional medical treatment."

Considering that the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that over 170,000 workdays were lost in 2013 due to employees dealing with back or spine-related issues, that is nearly 112,500 work days that could potentially be recovered each and every year solely by receiving chiropractic care. Not only could that increase productivity, but it could also decrease costs to businesses and employees from lost work.

If you live in Portland and you suffer with sciatica pain, Dr. Helton is here to assist. Give us a call at (503) 771-1974 and we'll work with you to find the root cause of your sciatica and get you back on the road to recovery.

Orlin JR, Didriksen A. Results of chiropractic treatment of lumbopelvic fixation in 44 patients admitted to an orthopedic department. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2007;30(2):135-139.

Headache and neck pain are common problems that affect millions of people around the world. If you are dealing with this type of issue, you're not alone. The good news is that chiropractic is a great way to not only treat these common problems, but also help avoid future episodes.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Neck Pain and Headaches

For many years, patients with neck and headache pain in Portland have been helped by the chiropractic care of Dr. Helton. Our experience is supported by a recent review done in Canada that found that non-surgical, non-drug solutions are the best choice for neck and headache pain.

The review looked at 15 studies from 1990 to 2015 and found that conservative treatment comprised of chiropractic adjustments, exercises, and stretches was advisable before turning to drugs or more invasive treatments.

Earlier studies have shown that chiropractic is effective and safe for neck pain and many other health conditions.

We Can Help Patients Find Comfort From Neck Pain and Headaches

If you're struggling with neck pain or headaches, Dr. Helton and our staff are here to help you feel better. Give our Portland office a call today at (503) 771-1974 for an appointment today.

Reference

Varatharajan S, Ferguson B, Chrobak K, et al. Are non-invasive interventions effective for the management of headaches associated with neck pain? An update of the Bone and Joint Decade Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders by the Ontario Protocol for Traffic Injury Management (OPTIMa) Collaboration. European Spine Journal 2016; February 6:1-29.

We see a large number of individuals with headaches in our Portland office, and Dr. Helton has been able to provide relief for many of them. Of course, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 50 percent of all adults have difficulty with some type of headache problem, so this really isn’t surprising. One of the most frequent sorts of headaches which our patients are afflicted by is cervicogenic headache which, thankfully, chiropractic can generally help.

Cervicogenic Headaches Explained

A cervicogenic headache is one that originates from issues in the cervical spine. It can be due to a condition with either the spine itself (specifically, the vertebrae, joints, or discs), or it may be because of a problem in the muscles and tendons of your neck. This dysfunction in your spine can cause compaction or aggravation of the spinal nerves, which can bring on headache pain.

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

How Chiropractic Helps with Cervicogenic Headaches

Seeing that cervicogenic headaches will not subside until whatever problem is initiating them is remedied, it is important to get treatment instead of just trying to "wait it out." Chiropractic care is an excellent approach, and one that offers a great deal of pain relief.

In one study released in Chiropractic & Osteopathy, specialists studied 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 evaluated 12 and 24 weeks after the procedures and it was found that chiropractic delivered the best effects.

In particular, this study uncovered that chiropractic adjustments offered patients greater pain relief and lowered the frequency of headaches that occurred. In addition, it also lessened the disability that resulted from these painful headaches.

To find out what Dr. Helton 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/

We see a number of patients in our Portland office with ankle sprains but Dr. Helton has had a lot of success helping them heal more quickly. Why are ankle sprains so common and how can chiropractic help?

According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), an estimated 25,000 men and women in the US sprain their ankles every day. As a matter of fact, these injuries make up almost 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 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 previous ankle injuries, poor posture or balance, weak muscles, and reduced range of motion.

How Can Chiropractic Treatments and Dr. Helton Help?

A paper published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to discover chiropractic's role when it comes to ankle sprain recovery. The authors enrolled 33 people 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 subjects were assigned to receive rehabilitation and the other 15 individuals received chiropractic adjustments in addition to rehabilitation. Each person had five full weeks of treatments, with the rehabilitation group receiving therapies 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

The study found that the individuals who had both rehab 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 location in Portland and you're struggling with an ankle injury, give us a call. We'll do what we can to keep you up and running... literally!

Studies

• 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

If you are struggling with fibromyalgia, you are not alone, as Dr. Helton sees many patients with this particular condition in our Portland chiropractic clinic. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that roughly two percent of all adults in the US have fibromyalgia. Fortunately, chiropractic is one treatment option that can provide positive results.

Research Proves Chiropractic Eases Fibromyalgia

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

The individuals who received chiropractic adjustments in conjunction with the multi-disciplinary therapy approach reported greater benefits in all areas (pain, sleep, depression, and anxiety) at 12 weeks post-treatment when compared to the study patients who received multi-modal therapy without chiropractic. Furthermore, those positive results were long-lasting as the subjects reported continued improvement one full year later.

Fibromyalgia can substantially 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. Helton can do for your fibromyalgia pain, call our Portland 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.

Regrettably, many of our Portland patients know the pain caused by a herniated disc all too well. On a positive note, Dr. Helton has helped many people with disc pain, and a number of medical studies have verified that chiropractic care can help people recover from this kind of problem.

Research on Herniated Discs and Chiropractic

In one study, a group of doctors from Switzerland selected 148 patients who were suffering with pain in their low back and legs due to a herniated disc (which was confirmed through magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI). Each individual then received chiropractic adjustments that focused on the area of his or her disc problem.

Data was obtained after the initial treatment session at set intervals--namely, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year--to find out what kind of short-term and long-term effects, if any, chiropractic offers when it comes to treating this particular condition. Among the information gathered was the individual's self-reported changes in both lumbar and leg pain.

The authors found that, overall, the patients reported "significant improvement" for both types of pain every time the results were collected. In fact, over 90% of the individuals claimed that their pain "improved" within the first three months, with 88% still citing improvement one year after their first treatment session.

Even those people who were defined as "chronic" still reported an improvement in pain at a rate of 89% one year beyond when treatment first began. This is the same positive effect that was found in the following case study.

Case Study Results

In this study, a 26-year-old man had presented with disc herniation symptoms such as pain in the lower back, left leg, and left groin area, along with left foot drop and muscle weakness. He had endured these problems for more than two years after sustaining an athletic injury, and his herniated disc was confirmed via MRI.

After receiving chiropractic, "The patient responded favorably and his multi-symptom complex resolved within 90 days of treatment." In addition, the patient was still experiencing relief one year after the chiropractic intervention.

Studies like these show how beneficial chiropractic can be when it comes to alleviating herniated disc pain and treating the symptoms they produce. So, if you are suffering from back ache caused by a herniated disc and wish to find some relief, chiropractic can be an effective solution.

Don't suffer from chronic herniated disc pain. Give our Portland office a call today at (503) 771-1974 for a consultation or appointment.

References

• Leemann S, Peterson CK, Schmid C, Anklin B, Humphreys BK. Outcomes of acute and chronic patients with magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed symptomatic lumbar disc herniations receiving high-velocity, low-amplitude, spinal manipulative therapy: a prospective observational cohort study with one-year follow-up. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2014;37(3):155-163.
• Polkinghorn BS, Colloca CJ. Treatment of symptomatic lumbar disc herniation using activator methods chiropractic technique. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 1998;21(3):187-196.
  

Dr. Helton sees a lot of patients troubled with carpal tunnel syndrome in our busy Portland chiropractic practice. While some people think that the source of this wrist-related pain is muscular, it's actually a syndrome that arises from the nerves--and not just the nerves in your hands.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

A recent study printed in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy evaluated 71 women between the ages of 35 and 59 who were diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Upon studying the subjects' neck range of motion, the researchers found that the patients had reduced cervical mobility when compared to a healthy control group.

In addition, they also discovered that the degree of the women's reported carpal tunnel discomfort was related to the lateral flexion of the cervical spine. In other words, the less mobility in the neck, the higher the level of pain.

This study is extremely important, as you can't successfully address a problem until you fully understand its source. By recognizing that the root of carpal tunnel issues is in the neck, this means that natural approaches like chiropractic can often restore normal function, reducing the need for risky surgery.

If you are suffering from carpal tunnel pain, call our Portland location and ask how Dr. Helton can help you get relief!

Resources

De-la-Llave-Rincon A et al. (2011, May). Women with carpal tunnel syndrome show restricted cervical range of motion. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy;41(5):305-10.
Simon H. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. University of Maryland Medical Center. Updated May 6, 2012. Retrieved from https://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/carpal-tunnel-syndrome on November 2, 2015.

We see a number of patients with back pain in our Portland office, and Dr. Helton has been able to help many of them find relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, dealing with back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical therapy, as many people use both types of care with great outcomes.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with Each Other

In a study published by the academic journal Spine experts¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who claimed both acute soreness and limited function due to back-related issues. Some of the patients engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the remainder received chiropractic adjustments along with regular medical care, as the authors wanted to see which patients fared better.

Researchers determined that the group that received standard medical care in combination with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that received medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17% of the medical treatment only group who indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at two and four weeks.

Accordingly, incorporating these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic care and medicine can work together, chiropractic offers some distinct strengths over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Care Pulls Ahead

Although it may seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one major benefit that chiropractic has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research conducted at UCLA² that was printed in the American Journal of Public Health found that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than people undergoing medical care.

According to the experts, the main factors that patients favored over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors typically spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as outlining more carefully what to expect from chiropractic care.

Chiropractic Offers a Holistic Approach

Certainly, the strategies associated with chiropractic are quite different than those provided with medical care, but a great deal of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. Instead of focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care means tracking down the root cause of your pain, which often translates to greater improvement as you are addressing the problem at its source.

In addition, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to natural forms of treatment like chiropractic. This means fewer negative side effects from drugs and lasting results.

You don't have to deal with back pain or other health issues. Give our Portland office a call today at (503) 771-1974. We'll do everything we can to help you get and stay free from back pain.

References

1. Goertz CM, Long CR, Hondras MA, Petri R, Delgado R, Lawrence DJ, Owens EF, Meeker WC. Adding chiropractic manipulative therapy to standard medical care for patients with acute low back pain: results of a pragmatic randomized comparative effectiveness study. Spine 2013;38(8):627-634.
2. Hertzman-Miller RP1, Morgenstern H, Hurwitz EL, Yu F, Adams AH, Harber P, Kominski GF. Comparing the satisfaction of low back pain patients randomized to receive medical or chiropractic care: results from the UCLA low-back pain study. American Journal of Public Health 2002;92(10):1628-1633.

If you suffer from thoracic outlet syndrome after an auto injury, don't worry. Dr. Helton sees this type of condition frequently in our Portland office. Chiropractic is a great way to treat thoracic outlet syndrome. Let's look at how thoracic outlet syndrome is caused by a crash and how Dr. Helton can help you.

The thoracic outlet is a bundle of blood vessels and nerves that travel through your neck and shoulder to your arm. These vessels don't have a lot of space, so they pass under and through the strong bands of muscles that support your head.

In a crash, these muscle groups can be stretched and strained. If damaged, the muscles become inflamed and tender, and they can develop scar tissue which restricts movement and puts stress on the tissues of the thoracic outlet. Pressure on the nerves can cause tingling or numbness in the shoulder, elbow and even the hand. Pressure on the blood vessels can also cause problems in the arm.

Portland Thoracic Outlet Treatment

Chiropractic adjustments can be an effective way to treat thoracic outlet syndrome, as Dr. Helton will help improve mobility in your spine and restore normal nerve function in your neck and shoulder.

Dr. Helton is here in Portland to help you recover from thoracic outlet syndrome. We've been helping patients since 2005 and we can probably help you, too. Dr. Helton will first determine what's causing your pain and then work to restore your body to its natural functioning. Ready to make an appointment? Give us a call at (503) 771-1974 and we'll get you back on the road to health.