CHIROCARELA.COM: Blog

When you hear the phrase “rotator cuff tear,” you might feel frightened. And it’s true that fraying the connective tissues in the shoulder is never a good thing, and can result in permanent debilitation without intervention. But rotator cuff tears are not always sudden, and a person may spend a long time pushing through their discomfort, unaware that their situation is becoming more urgent. At ChiroCareLA in Glendale, we provide non-invasive, non-addictive treatments for shoulder pain and other musculoskeletal problems, but since gentle interventions are most effective when done early, we want our patients to understand why they should seek help for shoulder pain as soon as possible.   The shoulder is where the ball of the upper arm bone (the humerus), fits into a socket formed by the collarbone (clavicle) and shoulder blade (scapula). A group of tendons formed by four muscles strap the humerus in place, along with a seal of cartilage surrounding the socket joint. This joint is loose e

As teenagers test their new strength, they have an opportunity to develop a life-long habit of healthy exercise. But they also need to learn where their limits are and how to build up their strength sustainably. Dr. Alajajian and his staff in Glendale, CA, run a wellness-oriented clinic and are happy to help all patients avoid overuse injuries, as well as recover as quickly and completely as possible. For teenage athletes, there are a few specific concerns that need to be addressed.   Most back injuries in teen athletes are soft tissue strains. They tend to happen when the athlete didn’t warm up properly, which could happen if they weren’t planning on activity or only exercise intermittently. They’ll usually heal well if the athlete refrains from activity for a few days while icing them, and then gradually builds up the intensity of their work-outs. But if they want safe pain relief and to guard against scarring, we can provide electric muscle stimulation such as Acoustic Wave Therapy

Are you careful to keep good posture while you drive or sit at your desk? If you aren’t, you risk developing a type of deformity chiropractors refer to as Upper Crossed Syndrome. The good news is that Upper Crossed Syndrome is almost always reversible, but the bad news is that it’s often a source of pain in the jaw, neck, shoulders, and upper back. Dr Alajajian and his staff in Glendale, CA, utilize a variety of complementary treatments to help patients recover from the effects of bad posture. Let’s take a close look at Upper Crossed Syndrome and how non-invasive treatments can help.   In a person with Upper Crossed Syndrome, some of the muscles in their upper body have become overactive and tight, while others that are underused have become weak. If you were to imagine a person with Upper Crossed Syndrome as seen from their side, their overactive shoulder and chest muscles would form one diagonal line, and their underactive neck and upper back muscles would form an intersecting diago

Do you suffer from pain, weakness, or stiffness in one of your hips? If so, don’t think that’s just a natural consequence of aging or healthy activity. Dr. Alajajian and his staff in Glendale, CA, believe everyone is entitled to a life free from pain. We practice holistic, non-invasive therapies to help our patients maintain wellness. As experts in the musculoskeletal system, we’re particularly concerned with hip pain and the possibility that a patient may be suffering from a hip labral tear.   A labrum is a ring of cartilage around a ball-and-socket joint. The ones on the hips keep the femurs and pelvis aligned and allow the legs to rotate completely and smoothly. But when a labrum tears, the leg may catch or make clicking sounds when it moves, and a patient may feel a deep, constant ache that is especially bad when they attempt to stand up or walk on stairs. Hip labral tears can develop because of an acute injury, or they may be caused by repeated stress over a long period of time.

Herniated discs are extremely common and they don’t just cause soreness in the back; they can also compress nerves headed elsewhere in the body. Dr. Alajajian and his staff in Glendale, CA, provide patients with expert holistic treatment for symptoms and work to put the body in the best position to heal itself. But preventive care is also one of our priorities, so we want our patients to know more about disc degeneration.   The spinal discs are the shock absorbers in between the main bodies of articulated vertebrae. They are made up of a gel center, the nucleus pulposus, and a fibrous outer ring, the annulus fibrosus. Degenerative disc disease is different from a disc being injured by an acute injury, although it puts discs at greater risk of being damaged by a sudden blow. It is unclear why the discs lose water as people age, but as their shape changes, they tend to bulge outward and become less springy. When the annulus fibrosus ruptures, it releases inflammatory proteins, and the sw