CHIROCARELA.COM: Blog

Have you been eager to get back to golf as society re-opens? At ChiroCareLA.com in Glendale, we’re certainly glad to see our patients exercising and getting bone-strengthening Vitamin D from sunlight while maintaining a safe physical distance. But we also advise everyone to increase their activity at a slow, steady pace. Golf is a sport that takes a heavier toll on the lower back than most, so we wanted to say a bit about the risks and how we can treat overuse injuries.   A golf swing forces the spine to rotate quickly at a tilted angle, which puts it under a great deal of strain. The vertebrae of the lumbar region don’t have as much anchoring as other parts of the spine to prevent rotation, so the connective tissues they do have are more vulnerable. Besides being at risk for pulling a muscle, older athletes may have dehydrated spinal discs, which could become herniated if subjected to enough force. Younger golfers are at greater risk for spondylolisthesis, in which a vertebra slides ...

If you’ve ever had pain in your leg, you may have tried adjusting your posture in a way that also put strain on your lower back. But the connections between our legs and the lumbar region go deeper than that. ChiroCareLA.com in Glendale offers a variety of complementary therapies for reducing pain in a holistic, safe manner, so to help our patients understand why we use them, we wanted to take some time to discuss some of the ways in which the back and legs are connected.   The nerves that lead to our legs emerge from the spinal cord in the lower back. They exit the lumbar vertebrae through small holes called foramina and weave through the muscles and bones of the pelvis. Compression in these nerves could cause a shooting pain, tingling, or numbness down the leg, which are the symptoms of sciatica, but the pressure causing the pinch could have several origins. Swelling from a dislocated facet joint or herniated disc, or a back muscle stretching over a spinal spur, could compress nerves...

Do you feel a shooting pain in your limbs or thorax? What about soreness in your back? Either kind of problem could be caused by a spinal spur. These bony growths form in response to inflammation and can compress nearby tissues, causing soreness and dysfunction. We offer a variety of complementary treatments for spinal spurs at ChiroCareLA.com in Glendale, but many of them require patient cooperation and lifestyle changes, so we want them to understand what they’re up against.   Inflammation is an immune system response that restricts the flow of toxin-filled blood and makes tissues more porous to antibodies. Unfortunately, prolonged inflammation can cause problems of its own, including the growth of bone spurs. When a person suffers from osteoarthritis, the cartilage that cushions and lubricates the joints between their vertebrae wears away. As the vertebrae rub against each other, their joint lining becomes inflamed, and spurs form. Likewise, when the spinal discs are herniated, the...

When you combine poor posture, stress, and constant errand-running (which definitely causes stress), a tension headache can happen out of the blue. This is a signal that your body is taking on a lot at once! There are many other things that can bring on a tension headache, such as constantly looking down at your phone, staring at a screen all day, or driving for several hours without rest. Dr. Alajajian and staff feel that it’s important to recognize what your body is telling you and then take care of your body accordingly.   There are two types of tension headaches: chronic and episodic. Chronic tension headaches happen frequently, with pain developing on both sides of the head, the forehead, and at the base of the skull. Our chiropractic treatments can help decrease the severity and frequency since these headaches are more associated with tightness and misalignment in the neck vertebrae. Episodic tension headaches occur from stressful events and can often be treated with over-the-c...

If you’ve got bruising around your tailbone, you may be in agony every time you sit down. But don’t be quick to ask for drugs or surgical treatment. At ChiroCareLA.com, Dr. Jack Alajajian and his staff regularly treat spinal injuries using safe, non-addictive instruments and therapeutic techniques. Without putting undue strain on yourself, you can receive treatments that reduce inflammation and prevent recurrences.   There are two structures made up of fused vertebrae at the base of the spine: the sacrum, which connects to the pelvis, and the coccyx, which hangs beneath it and tapers to a point. The coccyx is better known as the tailbone, and when the muscles and ligaments surrounding it are sensitive, doctors describe that as coccydynia. The coccyx helps to stabilize the deep muscles of the pelvis and is unlikely to crack. However, a person may still feel pain there if they suffer repeated blows during an activity such as horseback riding or cycling over rough terrain, or if they hav...