Suwanee Chiropractor

People seek chiropractic care for many different reasons, including back pain, neck pain, other joint issues, headaches, and different kinds of chronic pain. These difficulties can be brought on by an injury, such as after a car accident, or they can occur because of the stresses of everyday life – sitting too much, repetitive motions, moving the wrong way, wear and tear on the spine or joints, etc. No matter the cause, our chiropractors specialize in diagnosing and treating your pain so you can get back to your life.

How Does a Visit with a Suwanee Chiropractor Work?

First, we’ll ask about the symptoms that brought you in and take a thorough medical history. Next, we’ll run diagnostic tests as needed, including X-rays, CT scans, or nerve conduction testing. When these are complete, we’ll also do a physical examination. After evaluating all the information we’ve gathered, we’ll make a diagnosis and recommend a comprehensive treatment plan.

Some people think that all we do is adjust backs. Spinal manipulation is helpful for many of our patients, but this is only one of many cutting-edge treatments we offer based on the patient’s needs. Here is an overview of our most popular treatments:

Chiropractic Adjustment

This is what people most commonly associate with seeing a chiropractor. The spine contains 33 flexible vertebrae designed to support the many movements we make daily – standing up, sitting down, walking around, jumping, lifting objects, bending to pick things up, cleaning or doing household chores, playing sports, etc. Because the spine is flexible and needed for many things, it’s easy for the vertebrae to slip out of alignment, causing pain and discomfort. Sometimes this pain is localized near the misaligned vertebrae, but it can also be referred to other areas of the body, making diagnosis more difficult.

A chiropractic adjustment, sometimes called spinal manipulation, uses a sudden, controlled force to push the vertebrae back into their correct alignment. Some people who haven’t had chiropractic care before think that it might be painful or jarring, but most patients barely feel anything at all. You may hear a popping noise, but this is simply the sound of gas escaping the joints as the vertebrae are pushed back into place.

Depending on the cause of your alignment issues, you may need follow-up care to keep the spine aligned. For example, many misalignments are caused by repetitive motions or doing tasks in specific ways. As a result, the same vertebrae tend to drift out of alignment again after being corrected. We may recommend physical therapy to help prevent this, as well as regular appointments to check your spine and make adjustments if needed.

Massage Therapy

Massage therapy is an excellent addition to many treatment plans. It’s very effective for patients with muscle pain or injuries and myofascial pain syndrome and is also useful for stress and anxiety. Additionally, massage can help patients with recovery in between other treatments like physical therapy or chiropractic care.

This is the kind of massage therapy we might recommend depending on your particular case:

• Myofascial release, or trigger point therapy, focuses on finding knots in the myofascial tissue, which covers the organs, muscles, joints, and tissues in the body. These knots can limit movement and cause pain and stiffness, often in different body areas. Your massage therapist will gently massage these areas until they relax and the tissue becomes flexible again.

Physical Rehabilitation

Physical therapy is frequently used to help people recover from injuries, but it may also benefit those with chronic pain or joint problems. A physical therapist will review your diagnosis and devise a series of exercises to help you regain strength, dexterity, and function. In many cases, physical therapy also helps to reduce pain and promote healing.

Acute injuries aside, many people have pain for occupational reasons – sitting in a chair at work, leaning a certain way most of the time, repetitive motions, posture, etc. All these things can contribute to spinal or joint misalignment, muscle tension, and even nerve compression, which can cause pain and discomfort. Often our physical therapists work with patients to help them learn healthier ways of going through everyday motions that will put less stress on their spine or other parts of the body.

In addition to exercises and stretching, physical therapy may also involve heat or cold therapy or nerve stimulation if needed.

Neurology Services

We’ve talked a lot about spinal misalignment, which is a major cause of pain for many patients. Muscle injury or strain, such as whiplash after a car accident, is another. An often overlooked third cause of pain is nerve injury or dysfunction. This can occur after an acute injury, over time (such as when the carpal tunnel nerve in the wrist is compressed for occupational reasons), or in conjunction with another cause of pain, like a spinal misalignment. For example, if some of your vertebrae are misaligned, they may put pressure on a nerve, causing pain and other symptoms, which may include:

• A burning sensation
• Tingling and/or numbness, which may be intermittent or constant
• A “buzzing” sensation that may feel like being shocked with electricity
• Muscle weakness, usually in the arms or legs
• Loss of fine motor control, such as frequently dropping items that you pick up or struggling with handling small items

If we suspect nerve damage or issues, we can do a nerve conduction study, in which we pass a mild electrical current between two electrodes that are placed in the area of concern on your body. This will show us if the nerves are not sending signals correctly, and we will work to correct the problem. We might try a variety of neurologic therapies, including:

• Relieving pressure on the nerve, often through adjustment of the spine or other joints
• Physical or occupational therapy to help keep pressure off the nerve, such as changing your posture or finding a more ergonomic sitting arrangement, as well as exercises to strengthen muscles and tendons in the area
• Regenerative therapies to help heal damage in the area around the nerve
• Electrical stimulation, which can be used to hijack nerve signals that tell the brain to feel pain even if your nerve damage is permanent
• Pain management injections, which provide temporary pain relief so you can do physical therapy or other treatments to address the root causes of your pain

Regenerative Medicine

Some patients with persistent muscle or tendon injuries that have resisted other treatments may want to try all available options before going through surgery. Others need a way to deal with chronic pain that doesn’t involve opioids or other prescription medications with difficult side effects. We will explore all the options for treating your pain, and sometimes this may include regenerative therapies like platelet-rich plasma injections or PRP therapy.

PRP uses your own body’s plasma, which we collect after simply drawing your blood, to speed up the healing process. After separating the platelet-rich plasma, we inject it into the area of concern, often an injured muscle or tendon. This form of plasma is rich in proteins and growth hormones that are believed to spur healing, especially when injected in a concentrated form. The procedure is done in one appointment, and most people have few to no side effects other than mild soreness at the injection site. Many patients feel significant symptom relief within a few weeks and occasionally sooner.

Schedule a Visit with a Suwanee Chiropractor Today

If you’re wondering whether a chiropractor can help with your pain or injuries, please call today to set up a consultation. We’ll take the time to diagnose the root cause or causes of your difficulties, then make a plan to treat them. Our friendly office staff is happy to help schedule a visit or answer any questions you have about insurance coverage. In general, many of our treatments are covered by insurance.