What was your condition? “I had constant shooting neck pain including stiffness in my neck muscles.”
What steps had you previously taken to get help? “Ice therapy and extreme whining, neither of which were effective.”
How were you referred to chiropractic? “I had previous experience with chiropractic treatment many years ago.”
In your words, what did the chiropractor do? “Dr. Schofield began a schedule of adjustments in conjunction with a home stretching program. I have followed up with periodic adjustments to ensure previous symptoms do not return.”
What are your hobbies and interests? “Travel softball, and very poor attemps at golf.”
How has chiropractic helped your hobbies and interests? “I am now able to complete a full range of motion, and I now can focus on my activites instead of the pain I used to experience.”
How has chiropractic helped other aspects of your life? “The biggest compliment I can give to Dr. Schofield is that I can live my life without having to be aware of neck pain or stiffness. Additionally, my improved posture and back strength have given me a more healthy and professional appearance.”
Words of encouragement to others? “Prior to visiting Dr. Schofield, I was constantly aware of the pain and stiffness in my neck. After my initial treatments and subsequent maintenance adjustments, I have not experienced any of the symptoms that used to be an everyday part of life. The many benefits of Chiropractic far outweigh the minimal time and effort needed for treatment.”
See more reviews about Dr James Schofield. Read success stories from our fantastic patients.
Law enforcement officers are a uniquely positioned profession in many ways. We all know that they are exposed to many risk factors. But few of us are aware that police officers tend to have an increased risk of lower back pain. This article will discuss the prevalence, cause and management of lower back pain of law first responders.
A recent study in the February 2017 edition of the Spine research journal looked at lower back pain in members of the profession of policing. Questionnaires completed by 3589 law enforcement officers revealed that almost 70% reported lower back pain symptoms in the last 12 months. Almost 97% of them felt the presence of their lower back pain was partially or totally linked to their work in the police force. Nearly 30% of the respondents lived with chronic lower back pain. These officers were more likely to report a reduction of work activities and lost workdays in the past year due to their pain.
Causes of lower back pain in the police community are from a variety of factors.
Many in law enforcement are required to spend long hours driving in vehicles. As these vehicles are used for longer periods by different drivers the driver’s seats start to break down. The upholstery may become unevenly compacted. If this is the case the driver will be sitting in an unbalanced awkward position for many hours. When this occurs it places physical stress on the lower back and the joints of the pelvis.
Another cause of lower back pain is due to the sheer physicality of the job. Police enforcement officials are required to physically chase suspects, climb over and around obstacles and restrain offenders. At times, a police officer is the first person to arrive at a medical emergency and may have to be in a posturally demanding position to administer CPR, resuscitation, stopping blood loss or moving a victim from a hazard. Inevitably, again, physical stress occurs to the lower back.
A sometimes overlooked cause of back pain is the officers duty belt. A duty belt is worn around the upper hips and not only holds a firearm but many other items such as handcuffs, a baton, a radio, a TASER and a pouch for latex gloves. Duty belts can be heavy, awkward to wear and apply mechanical stress to the lower back.
There are certainly other causes of stress to the lower back but one gets the overall idea with the examples mentioned.
Whatever the cause of the injury and complaint a physical solution and care from a chiropractor can generally be of help to a physical problem. Chiropractors focus on helping patients who have lower back pain. Many back conditions are caused by misalignments and improper movements of the bones of the spine and the pelvis. Chiropractors can assess the police officer during a physical examination and determine if realignment by the chiropractor performing a chiropractic adjustment will help in the correction of the cause of the lower back pain.
Chiropractors are experts at treating injuries of the lower back. Many law enforcement officers who have developed lower back ailments due to their line of work have been helped by chiropractors. In addition, many police officers see chiropractors on an ongoing basis for maintenance care to avoid experiencing an injury and to enjoy a long healthy career.
Discover how Dr James Schofield can help with lower back pain. Dr Schofield is located in the Pittsburgh North Hills area.
Our bodies can be in one of these conditions: 1) healthy, 2) unhealthy, or 3) sick. We all know that being healthy means we have no pain or symptoms and that our bodies are working 100% all of the time. But you might ask what is the difference between the latter two?
My definition of unhealthy is the state in which we feel no symptoms but our bodies are not functioning 100%. The definition of being sick is when we feel pain and/or notice our bodies are working improperly and functioning at less than 100%.
An illustration of this might be three types of visits to a dentist’s office. A type one visit would be a check-up where the patient feels no pain and the dentist tells the patient everything looks fine–that person’s teeth are healthy. In visit type two, the patient feels no pain but the dentist discovers some decay in the tooth and puts a filling in the cavity. That tooth was in an unhealthy state but wasn’t bad enough to create pain. Visit type three would be when a patient is in pain and calls the dentist to make an appointment and the dentist finds a cavity that had become bad enough to irritate the tooth’s nerve. The tooth is in a condition of sickness. But to get to the point of becoming sick, that tooth had to be unhealthy first.
Another example might be a heart attack. Many people have no clue that they have heart problems until the actual pain from a heart attack occurs. But obviously their hearts had to be in a state of unhealthiness first.
As a chiropractor, most people I see come to me initially in a state of sickness. They are in pain and seek treatment for their pain. However, in most cases, their bodies had to go through a period of unhealthiness to get to the point of being sick. In most cases, their spines became more and more misaligned. In the early stages of their condition, even though they had no pain, their nervous systems had some low-grade irritation.
The problem with being in an unhealthy state is that a person’s body isn’t functioning at 100% and isn’t operating as well as it should. This may lead to that person having a low energy level and being chronically tired. He or she may not sleep well and may be more susceptible to colds, infections, and illness.
Being unhealthy affects our lives. Job and school performance may suffer if a person is fatigued. Relationships may be strained because one person is “sick and tired” of the other person being “sick and tired.” Even our recreational and vacation periods may suffer if we don’t have the energy we should. Who wants to be tired while on vacation?
Subsequently, it is usually just a matter of time until an unhealthy body with no pain deteriorates to being a sick body with pain.
Chiropractic approaches health from the inside out by accessing our body’s inborn intelligence to maintain our health from within. Just as our inborn intelligence knows how to create the body, it also knows how to heal the body.
Chiropractic helps remove nerve interference caused by misalignments of the spine (called subluxations) which can reduce the flow of nerve energy to all parts of the body. Making this correction is the natural way to health and well-being according to chiropractic. And after a century of successful healing, we know that we must be doing something right.
Many people experience painful hip conditions. For some people it is an acute pain that develops suddenly from some type of physical exertion. For others the pain is chronic. It has developed over a long period of time, perhaps from repetitive activity. Regardless of the cause or amount of time the discomfort has been present there may be a secondary condition to be considered. This article will, comprehensively, discuss hip pain, it’s causes and its treatment.
The hip is one of the largest joints in the human body. It is made up of two bones; the thigh bone which is called the femur and a pelvic bone which is called the Ilium. The two bones make up a ball and socket-type joint. The top end of the femur is shaped like a ball. The outside portion of the Ilium is shaped like a socket. This ball and socket joint allows the hip to move in all directions. It is only one of three joints in the body, including the shoulder and the thumb, that moves in all ranges of motion.
The hip is also a weight-bearing joint which means it is subjected to stress any time we are up and about standing and walking.
As with other areas of the human body it is susceptible to stress and injury. When the hip is injured the pain is typically felt on the outside of the upper thigh area. It may also cause a deep pain in the inner thigh and groin area.
However, it may not be the only area of the body involved. There are two other areas that must be evaluated if hip pain and injury is present. Those two areas are the sacroiliac joints and the lower spine.
The sacroiliac joint is a joint on either side of the pelvis that is in the area where our hip pockets are located on a pair of blue jeans. They are considered pelvic joints and they glide back and forth when we walk. Sometimes the sacroiliac joints can become injured, misaligned, imbalanced or move improperly. If there is a disorder of the sacroiliac joints it can put added stress on the hip joint. It is imperative that when an examination of the hip joint is performed that the sacroiliac joint also be scrutinized.
The lower part of the spine consisting of the lowest vertebrae or bones of the spine and the large tailbone called the sacrum can also be related to hip pain. Like the sacroiliac joint the lower vertebrae of the spine and the sacrum may become misaligned, injured, imbalanced or move improperly. These areas of the body must also be evaluated when one is considering hip problems.
Fortunately doctors of chiropractic can effectively evaluate and treat lower back, sacroiliac joint and hip joint conditions. Chiropractors are educated as to the anatomy, structure and biomechanics of these areas. Chiropractic doctors are also experts at determining and diagnosing physical abnormalities that can occur in these body locations. There may be an imbalance, or possibly improper movement of the bones and joints Sometimes there are injuries to the surrounding soft tissues including bursas, tendons, ligaments muscles and fascia. All these areas must be checked during a proper examination to determine what is wrong and what the proper course of treatment may be.
Chiropractors are also trained to perform what is considered their specialty, called manipulation or adjustments. This is a procedure that the chiropractor utilizes to correct joint and skeletal structural problems. It is a very safe, conservative and effective method of treatment. It does not involve the use of medication or surgery.
Often a person will initially go to a healthcare practitioner or specialist for their hip pain and they are given oral medications or an injection of medication into the hip. If these measures help and the pain is permanently gone there is no need for further care. However, if the pain persists or reoccurs it is important that the patient visit a doctor of chiropractic to have a comprehensive evaluation of the other areas that may be involved and to obtain the proper care of the hip condition.
The hip pain may not get better unless… other areas are checked and treated!
To learn more about hip pain visit this site. Dr James Schofield treats many people with hip pain at his North Hills Pittsburgh office.
Many who are contemplating visiting a chiropractor are unsure of what it will cost. There is good news concerning the cost of chiropractic care. Charges in a chiropractic office are generally very affordable. This article will review the topic.
Your first visit and follow-up visits
On your first visit to a chiropractor, the doctor will want to talk with you about the specific condition you are concerned with and your health generally. He will check you physically by feeling (called palpation) over the sore area for muscle spasm and tenderness, observing if you have normal movements of the affected area, and perform other physical tests. He may require x-rays of the site of your complaint. While a visit to a hospital emergency room might entail many x-rays, a chiropractor may need to take only a couple to adequately assess the condition. The first visit to a chiropractor will be much less than going to the emergency room and will be more like a typical visit to a family practice doctor.
Once the chiropractor has determined what is causing the health problem, he will generally perform “manipulations” or “adjustments”. Physical therapy such as electrical muscle stimulation, and stretching and strengthening exercises may also be given to assist in faster healing and long-term improvement and stability. These follow-up visits are typically less expensive than the first visit and are usually found to be very affordable.
Insurance coverage of chiropractic treatment
Most mainstream, responsible health insurance policies have approved coverage of chiropractic treatment for many years. The plans vary in degree of coverage per insurance company. When you go to the chiropractor for your initial visit, be certain to take your insurance card with you and your chiropractor and his staff can check with your insurance plan to verify exactly what your coverage is.
Also those who are injured in an automobile accident have coverage for chiropractic care in their policies in most states, including Pennsylvania.
Research studies show chiropractic to be cost-effective, and high in patient satisfaction
A research study in Oregon showed chiropractic treatment helped people who are unable to work due to low back injury to get back to work in a third of the time of medical treatment (Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics).
A study in Utah showed medical treatment cost 10 times the amount of chiropractic care for lower back pain (Journal of Occupational Medicine).
Another study in 2005 showed that chiropractic care for low back and neck pain resulted in a reduction in the rates of surgery, advanced imaging, in-patient care and x-rays (Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics).
Another study showed patients utilizing a chiropractor as a healthcare provider required 50% fewer drugs and pharmaceuticals and had a 50% fewer days spent in the hospital (Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics).
Finally, chiropractic patients found more satisfaction with their treatment than patients who received medical care or physical therapy (American Journal of Public Health).
An ounce of prevention…
If you are experiencing neck pain, lower back pain, headaches, sciatica, carpal tunnel syndrome, hip pain or shoulder pain early intervention is the best way to recover quickly, and will always be more cost effective than waiting. Most problems worsen over time and necessitate more treatment. Remember, procrastination is the thief of good health.
UPMC Health Plan provides chiropractic insurance coverage for patients in the Pittsburgh area. To learn more about James Schofield DC visit his website.
The nursing profession can be very demanding. There are significant physical and emotional stresses that nurses can experience. This article will discuss the physical problems that can arise with the occupation of nursing and how care from a chiropractor can be of help.
Nurses who work in a hospital setting can experience physical exertions that can cause harmful effects to their health. A nurse is required to be on his or her feet for long hours. It is not unusual for a nurse to work 10 to 12 hour shifts several days in a row. The occupation also may require lifting, sliding, pushing and pulling heavy patients while they are in bed, in a wheelchair or on an operating table.
This can lead to stresses and strains to the lower back, neck and upper back, shoulders and hips. Injury can occur suddenly from one trauma or can accumulate over time from micro-traumas. Many nurses try to ignore their pain and work through it. Psychologically, nurses have a desire to help others while ignoring their own health.
Whatever the cause of the injury and complaint a physical solution and care from a chiropractor can generally be of help to a physical problem. Chiropractors focus on helping patients who have lower back pain, neck pain, shoulder and hip pain and headaches.
Usually these conditions are caused by misalignments and improper motion of the bones of the spine. A chiropractor will initially meet with the nurse to discuss information about the problem. A doctor of chiropractic can gain valuable details about the specific type of work performed. This can help determine exactly what caused the condition in the first place.
Next a chiropractor will perform a physical examination. He will gently feel or palpate the injured area to assess muscle spasm, swelling and spinal alignment. If there is a loss of range of motion of the spine or extremity joint that will be noted. Neurologically, the exam will show if there is a loss of strength or feeling in an area. Orthopedic tests can reveal if there is a spinal disc problem such as a protrusion or bulge.
Many times, imaging such as x-rays or MRIs are already available or can be performed to give further insight as to the exact nature of the condition.
Once the chiropractor has determined where the problem is and what is causing it he can develop a plan to help treat the problem. Chiropractors are experts at treating injuries to the spine and to the extremities.
Many nurses who have developed physical ailments due to their line of work have been helped by chiropractors. In addition, many nurses see chiropractors on an ongoing basis for maintenance care to avoid experiencing an injury and to enjoy a long healthy career.
Dr. James Schofield 