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We see many patients in our Juneau, AK office with ankle sprains but Dr. Messerschmidt has had a lot of success helping them recover 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 daily. In 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. Messerschmidt Help?

A paper printed in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to discover chiropractic's role when it comes to ankle sprain recovery. The authors recruited 33 people between the ages of 18 and 45 who had a history of ankle inversion sprains, who were reporting tenderness and/or pain, and had not re-injured the ankle in the previous six weeks.

Eighteen of the participants were assigned to receive rehabilitation and the other 15 patients received chiropractic in addition to rehabilitation. Each person had five full weeks of treatment, with the rehab group receiving therapies seven days a week and the rehab plus chiropractic group receiving therapy six out of the seven days.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps With Ankle Sprains

Researchers found that the people who participated in both rehab and chiropractic fared the best at the 4-week mark when it came to pain and joint restriction. Additionally, no negative effects were reported, showing that this treatment option is safe.

If you're near our office in Juneau, AK and you're recovering from an ankle injury, give us a call. We'll do what we can to keep you up and running... literally!

References

• 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 suffer with fibromyalgia, you are not alone, as Dr. Messerschmidt sees many people with this particular condition in our Juneau, AK chiropractic office. Actually, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that roughly two percent of all adults in the US have fibromyalgia. Thankfully, chiropractic care is one treatment option that can provide positive results.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps Fibromyalgia

In a medical 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 symptoms and anxiety they felt. Then they were split into two groups with one group receiving a multi-modal therapy program 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 subjects who received chiropractic care in addition to the multi-disciplinary therapy program reported greater results 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 outcomes were lasting as the individuals reported continued improvement one full year later.

Fibromyalgia can greatly decrease your quality of life, both mentally and physically. If you're dealing with fibromyalgia, we might be able to help.

You don't have to suffer! To see what Dr. Messerschmidt can do for your fibromyalgia pain, call our Juneau, AK 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 Juneau, AK patients are familiar with the pain caused by a herniated disc all too well. On a positive note, Dr. Messerschmidt has helped many people with disc pain, and a number of medical studies have confirmed that chiropractic can help people recover from this kind of problem.

Research on Chiropractic and Disc Herniations

In one report, a group of doctors from Switzerland recruited 148 patients who were coping with pain in their low back and legs due to a disc herniation (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 herniation.

Results were gathered after the initial treatment session at set intervals--namely, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year--to ascertain what kind of short-term and long-term effects, if any, chiropractic care offers when it comes to treating this particular problem. Among the data collected was the individual's self-reported changes in both back and leg pain.

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

Even those test subjects who were defined as "chronic" still claimed an improvement in pain at a rate of 89 percent 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 report, a 26-year-old male 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 suffered with these issues for more than two years after sustaining an athletic injury, and his herniated disc was confirmed via MRI.

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

Studies like these show how helpful chiropractic can be when it comes to alleviating herniated disc pain and reducing the symptoms they bring about. So, if you are suffering from back ache caused by a herniated disc and want to find some relief, chiropractic might be an effective solution.

Don't suffer from chronic herniated disc pain. Give our Juneau, AK office a call today at (907) 789-1344 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.
  

We see quite a few people with back pain in our Juneau, AK office, and Dr. Messerschmidt has been able to help many of them find relief through various chiropractic techniques. At the same time, recovering from back pain doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical care, as many individuals use both types of care with great results.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with One Another

In a report published by the medical journal Spine researchers¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who were suffering from both acute discomfort and limited function due to back symptoms. Some of the study participants engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the rest were given chiropractic adjustments in addition to standard medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which group fared better.

Researchers observed that the group that received standard medical care along with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits compared 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 the two- and four-week marks.

Accordingly, combining these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering benefits when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medicine can work alongside each other, chiropractic offers some distinct advantages over medical therapy.

Where Chiropractic Care Pulls Ahead

Although it might seem as if each method plays a 50/50 role, there is one major benefit that chiropractic has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, one bit 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 treatment.

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

Chiropractic Offers a Non-Invasive Approach

Certainly, the methods associated with chiropractic are quite different than those offered with medical therapy, but a great deal of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a natural approach to health and well-being. In contrast to focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care means finding the primary cause of your pain, which often means greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

Additionally, while medication is sometimes helpful for treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach like chiropractic. This means fewer negative side effects from prescriptions and lasting recovery.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health problems. Give our Juneau, AK clinic a call today at (907) 789-1344. We'll do everything we can to help you get and continue to be 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 live in Juneau, AK and you've been in a motor vehicle accident, you have to know that you don't have to suffer from chronic injuries.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Chronic Pain after an Auto Injury

We work with several auto injury sufferers in our Juneau, AK office, and a lot of these men and women are experiencing chronic pain caused by an old crash. In fact, research shows that a significant percentage of rear-end collisions lead to pain and disability even ten years after the original injury.

Dr. Messerschmidt is here to help you avoid developing chronic symptoms by helping to restore the natural function of your spine soon after a crash.

The most frequent causes of chronic pain are reduced flexibility of your spinal column and the formation of scar tissue in your spine. The ligaments of your neck and back can easily be injured during a crash, and chiropractic works by decreasing inflammation and restoring normal movement.

We Can Help With Chronic Pain and Auto Injury Recovery

If you're near our Juneau, AK office, and you've been hurt in a crash, don't wait to get care. Dr. Messerschmidt is here for you. Give us a call today at (907) 789-1344 for an appointment or for more information.

Most of us suffer from back pain at some point in our lives. Experts estimate that nearly 1 out of 3 adults deal with some kind of regular spinal pain. Dr. Messerschmidt and our talented staff see many back pain cases in our Juneau, AK office, and we've found that chiropractic care is an effective way to not only help you heal from back pain, it's also a great way to prevent future episodes.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps With Chronic Back Pain

A recent study from the University of Utah confirms what our Juneau, AK patients have reported: your Juneau, AK chiropractor is the best first choice for an episode of back pain.

In this article, 747 patients were treated for low back pain. Each patient was evaluated based on the first person they sought treatment with, whether it was a primary care physician, a chiropractor, or a physiotherapist.

What the authors found is that the subjects who first saw a chiropractor had fewer advanced imaging tests and fewer surgical procedures.

Other studies have found the same results. A 2012 study reported that chiropractic patients had the best functional recovery and pain relief for chronic back pain.

Chiropractic works by restoring the natural, pain-free function of your spine. Dr. Messerschmidt and our team help your body heal with gentle chiropractic adjustments that don't use drugs or risky surgical procedures.

Dr. Messerschmidt Can Help Clients Find Comfort From Back Pain

If you live near our Juneau, AK office and would like to get out of pain, give our office a call today at (907) 789-1344 for an appointment.

Reference

Fritz JM, Kim J, Dorius J. Importance of the type of provider seen to begin health care for a new episode of low back pain: associations with future utilization and costs. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. 2015(Sep 29).

Cecchi F, et al. Predictors of functional outcome in patients with chronic low back pain undergoing back school, individual physiotherapy or spinal manipulation. European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine 2012;48:371-8.

Every year, there are millions of auto accidents in the world, and a substantial number of men and women end up getting hurt in a crash. While most accidents are "minor," chronic spine pain are still frequent health problems. The good news is that chiropractic care is a great way to correct these kinds of injuries.

We've treated many auto injury patients in our Juneau, AK office, and Dr. Messerschmidt has been treating people with these types of problems since 1983. During a collision, your body is exposed to large forces that it simply wasn't built to handle. These forces place stress and strain on your neck, shoulder, and back, and can cause damage to the ligaments that hold your neck and back together. A crash can cause a wide variety of pain issues.

A ligament tear in the neck can cause pain, swelling, and radicular problems in the arm and hand. Chiropractic works well for these types of problems, because chiropractic concentrates on restoring the healthy function and mobility of the injured structures.

Dr. Messerschmidt Can Help Patients Recover From an Auto Injury

Dr. Messerschmidt, your Juneau, AK chiropractor, can assist by decreasing inflammation in the damaged area and can help reduce the formation of scar tissue that can cause chronic pain and disability.

You don't have to suffer from auto injury pain. Discover more about how we can help you recover or call Dr. Messerschmidt today at (907) 789-1344.

The latest figures show that there are over 500,000 spinal surgeries each year in the US. Although sometimes it's necessary to have back surgery, the fact is that if you can avoid this type of invasive procedure, you're often better off.

Dr. Messerschmidt is here to make sure that patients in Juneau, AK have a healthy, non-surgical option for back pain. We've helped many patients heal from back pain without the need for surgery.

There are plenty of reasons to avoid unnecessary medical treatments: Surgeries often result in a longer recovery time and additional complications, neither of which is an acceptable scenario. Fortunately, as one study has found, chiropractic care may actually keep you off the surgeon's table completely.

Research Proves Chiropractic Treatment Helps Avoid Back Surgery

In this study, about 1,900 workers with back injuries were examined over a three year period. When the workers first sought care with a surgeon, over 42 percent wound up having surgery for their pain. For patients who saw only a chiropractor, only 1.5 percent had surgery!

These findings imply that chiropractic care can help you recover from back pain without surgical treatments.

If you live in the Juneau, AK area, Dr. Messerschmidt can probably help you with your back pain. Give our office a call today at (907) 789-1344 for more information or an appointment.

Keeney BJ, Fulton-Kehoe D, Turner JA, et al. Early predictors of lumbar spine surgery after occupational back injury: results from a prospective study of workers in Washington State. Spine 2013;38(11):953-964.

Jaw or TMJ pain is a fairly common problem reported by people after a car accident, and it can be hard for some health practitioners to find the cause of the problem. Complicating the matter, very often you won't experience TMJ symptoms until many weeks or months after the incident.

Dr. Messerschmidt has helped many men and women with jaw pain after an injury, and the medical research explains what causes these types of symptoms. During a crash, the tissues in your neck are oftentimes stretched or torn, causing ligament, muscle, or nerve damage. This can obviously cause pain in the neck and back, but since your central nervous system is one functioning unit, irritation of the nerves can cause problems in other parts of your body.

For instance, with radicular pain, irritation of a nerve can cause prickling or numbness in the arm or hand. Similarly, it can affect parts of your body above the injured area, like your head and jaw. Headaches after a collision are very common because of neck injury, and the jaw works the same way. Dr. Messerschmidt sees this very commonly in our Juneau, AK office.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps TMJ Pain After an Auto Accident

Research indicates that the source of many jaw or TMJ symptoms begins in the neck and that treatment of the underlying neck problem can resolve the secondary headaches or jaw symptoms. The secret to dealing with these symptoms is simple: Dr. Messerschmidt will work to restore your spine back to health, reducing the inflammation, treating the injured tissues, and eliminating the irritation to the nerves in your spine.

Dr. Messerschmidt finds that jaw and headache issues often resolve once we restore your spine to its healthy condition.

If you live in Juneau, AK and you've been hurt in a car crash, Dr. Messerschmidt can help. We've been working with auto injury patients since 1983, and we can most likely help you, too. Give our office a call today at (907) 789-1344 for an appointment or consultation.

Ciancaglini R, Testa M, Radaelli G. Association of neck pain with symptoms of temporomandibular dysfunction in the general adult population. Scandinavian Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine 1999;31:17-22.

Brantingham JW, Cassa TK, Bonnefin D, Pribicevic M, Robb A, et al. Manipulative and multimodal therapy for upper extremity and temporomandibular disorders: a system review. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2013;36(3):143-201.

We see a lot of patients with back pain in our Juneau, AK office, and Dr. Messerschmidt finds that many cases of back pain originate in the sacroiliac (SI) joint. Investigation shows that around 25% of all back pain originates in the SI joint, and now fresh research ratifies what we have noticed in our clinic: chiropractic is an effective approach to treating this problem.

Research Proves Chiropractic Treatment Helps Increase Movement in the SI Joint

In the study published in the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, thirty-two women with sacroiliac joint dysfunction were split into two groups and asked to engage in one of two treatment therapies. one group was given a chiropractic adjustment only at the sacroiliac joint, and the alternate group was given an adjustment to the sacroiliac joint as well as the lumbar spine.

Researchers found greater improvements in both pain and movement immediately following treatment, two days later, and 30 days after for the group who underwent high-velocity low-amplitude manipulation to both the sacroiliac joint and the lumbar spine. This asserts that chiropractic treatment administered in these two areas offers both short term and lasting results for sacroiliac joint pain sufferers—even after just a single treatment round.

Therefore, if you are having trouble with sacroiliac joint pain, or cope with back and leg pain and are ready to see if your sacroiliac joint is the root, a visit to our Juneau, AK office may be the first—and best—step towards feeling better. Give our office a call today at (907) 789-1344.

Kamali F, Shokri E. The effect of two manipulative therapy techniques and their outcome in patients with sacroiliac joint syndrome. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies 2012;16(1):29-35.