Recent Posts

In our Springfield, MA practice, we see many people who are dealing with back pain, and some of these people have been informed they might need surgery to recover. Fortunately, Dr. Delson has helped many people get pain relief without the need for any type of surgical procedure. The scientific literature agrees with the success we see in our practice. One study published in the medical journal Spine found that consulting with a chiropractor as your first move in overcoming with your back issues may literally keep you out of the operating room.

In this report, medical experts from Dartmouth analyzed statistics from 1,885 workers from Washington state who first saw either a surgeon or a chiropractic doctor for their back-related issues. They then examined three years' worth of follow-up medical records to ascertain whether the individuals wound up having back surgery in an effort to treat the problem.

What the authors discovered was that about 43% of the men and women who first saw a surgeon for their back problems ended up in surgery in that 3-year time span, whereas only 1.5% of those who first consulted with a chiropractor had the same fate. The authors wrote:

"Even after controlling for injury severity and other measures, workers with an initial visit for the injury to a surgeon had almost nine times the odds of receiving lumbar spine surgery compared to those seeing primary care providers, whereas workers whose first visit was to a chiropractor had significantly lower odds of surgery."

These are remarkable results. Consulting with a chiropractor dramatically decreases your odds of having back surgery, plus the chiropractic patients in this study "had lower odds of chronic work disability" and they also had fewer expensive MRI tests.

Let's also take into account this important point: this study was carried out by orthopedic surgeons from Dartmouth College, and printed in the world's most influential medical journal on spinal injury.

Why You Should Avoid Surgery

Any surgery has risks, but a major downside associated with spinal surgery is that there is a very high failure rate. In an important review in the European Spine Journal, researchers wrote:

"Failed back surgery is a problem that has become sufficiently widespread to even warrant its own special conferences, with recent reviews reporting failure rates ranging from 5 to 50%."

The experts in this same study concluded:

"It is extremely difficult to identify unequivocal predictor factors that can be used to accurately predict the outcome of surgery."

As a chiropractor, Dr. Delson believes that surgery should be the absolute last choice for treating back pain. Chiropractic care works to restore your spine to its normal function--without high-risk surgery or drugs--and many scientific studies have confirmed the effectiveness of chiropractic for back pain.

If you live in Springfield, MA and you need relief for your back pain, give our office a call today at (413) 788-4464 for a consultation or an appointment. We'll help get you back on the road to a pain-free life!

Studies

• Keeney BJ, Fulton-Kehoe D, Turner JA, Wickizer TM, Chan KC, Franklin GM. 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.
• Mannion AF, Elfering A. Predictors of surgical outcome and their assessment. European Spine Journal 2006;15(Suppl 1):S93-S108.
  

If you are dealing with shoulder pain after a car crash, you're not alone. Dr. Delson sees this type of problem often in our Springfield, MA office. The key to recovering from shoulder pain caused by a crash is to understand the root cause of the problem and how chiropractic care can help.

There are at least two different ways that you can get shoulder problems after a car crash: by direct trauma to the shoulder or by radiating pain from the neck.

Direct damage can be caused by hitting your shoulder on a hard object in the car during the impact, or can occur if you have a tight grip on the steering wheel during a rear end impact. With this type of trauma, you'll often be aware of the pain soon after the crash.

More frequently, Dr. Delson finds that shoulder or arm pain doesn't immediately appear after a crash, but starts a few days or weeks after the trauma. This type of shoulder discomfort actually starts in the cervical spine. Injured ligaments or muscles in your spine can pinch nerves in your neck, causing numbness, tingling, or soreness in your shoulder, elbow, or wrist.

We've treated both kinds of shoulder pain in our Springfield, MA office. This process involves chiropractic adjustments to restore your spine's natural flexibility and home exercises that strengthen your neck and shoulder.

Let us help you recover from shoulder pain. Dr. Delson has helped many patients with the same condition, and we can probably help you, too. Dr. Delson will first determine what's causing your pain and then work to restore your body to its natural functioning. Give our office a call today at (413) 788-4464 to make an appointment.

We tend to a large number of patients in our Springfield, MA office, and Dr. Delson has helped countless people overcome a wide array of health challenges. In spite of this, a frequent issue that seems to prevent many folks from getting treatment is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Well, according to three separate studies (out of quite a few on the subject), the answer to this question is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first study(1) was published in Spine and included 183 adults. Each individual reported affected by spinal pain, and half of the people received real chiropractic care while the remaining patients received two sham chiropractic treatments. Information was collected after each real or fake adjustment to determine whether or not any undesirable negative effects occurred as a result of the real chiropractic adjustments.

The authors reported that no one reported any serious negative adverse reactions whatsoever after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic. Some participants did state that they got a headache (9 percent) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) post-treatment, but the effects were not of a serious nature.

Nationwide Survey Reports that Chiropractic is Safe

The next article(2), also published in the influential publication, Spine, was performed in an attempt to establish the safety of chiropractic. The test group was much larger -- 20,000 people. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the cervical spine, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Once again, the experts discovered no serious adverse side effects. The experts computed the risk of total adverse reactions to be about six out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. And, just as with the previous study, some individuals did report non-serious, milder, unwanted effects such as dizziness (16 out of every 1,000 treatment consultations and 15 out of every 1,000 treatment sessions) or a headache (4%), and this prompted the authors to determine that "the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low."

Chiropractic Adjustments are Safe for Children

The third research paper(3) is unique from the previous two pieces of research, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, the researchers analyzed data reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic treatment sessions.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic visits made for the children, chiropractors responding to the survey documented only three cases where there were adverse side effects. When parents were surveyed, they indicated only two adverse side effects out of 1,735 visits. Additionally, both chiropractors and parents reported "a high rate of improvement with respect to the children's presenting complaints."

Based on studies like these, chiropractic care has been judged safe and effective for everyone. To learn what chiropractic can do for you, call our Springfield, MA clinic and make an appointment today at (413) 788-4464.

References

1. Walker BF, Hebert JJ, Stomski NJ, Clarke BR, Bowden RS, Losco B, French SD. Outcomes of usual chiropractic. The OUCH randomized controlled trial of adverse events. Spine 2013;38(20):1723-9.
2. Thiel HW1, Bolton JE, Docherty S, Portlock JC. Safety of chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine: a prospective national survey. Spine 2007;32(21):2375-8.
3. Alcantara J, Ohm J, Kunz D. The safety and effectiveness of pediatric chiropractic: a survey of chiropractors and parents in a practice-based research network. Explore NY 2009;5(5): 290-5.

When you're trying to support your family, take care of your household, and pay all of your bills on time, every day at your work counts. Work injuries can be a serious problem for many people, and we see many of these types of injuries in our Springfield, MA office. Dr. Delson understands your situation and is here to help.

The advantages of chiropractic care for work injuries are well-documented. A 2013 research paper involving 651 adults who were troubled with either back or neck pain found that the men and women who didn't see a chiropractor missed work at twice the rate of those who were seeing a chiropractor.

So, why don't more people use Chiropractic?

According to the respondents in this study, two of the major factors were that they thought they needed a referral for chiropractic care (which is typically no longer true) and they overestimated the costs associated with chiropractic treatment sessions by almost 70 percent.

The truth is, chiropractic patients actually spend less on care than medical patients, plus they are less likely to use drugs for their symptoms.

Dr. Delson Can Help Clients Find Comfort From Chronic Pain

If you live in Springfield, MA and you've been injured at work, we can help. Give our office a call today at (413) 788-4464 for an appointment.

References

"Thousands of Minnesotans with Back and Neck Pain Don't Seek Treatment." (2013, June 12). ChiroCare.

As trauma to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is frequently rather painful, we do our best to help our Springfield, MA patients find relief as quickly and effectively as possible. In fact, Dr. Delson will tell you that the research shows just how much chiropractic can help ease discomfort in the TMJ.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps With TMJ Pain and Discomfort

For example, a study published in Physiotherapy Theory and Practice involved 15 people with TMJ pain who were managed with neck adjustments, middle-back adjustments, and trigger point therapy via dry needling. Individuals were assessed prior to these treatments and at two weeks and two months post-treatment. The authors reported positive outcomes such as reduced pain, greater jaw movement, and lower disability at both follow-ups.

Another clinical study carried out a review of almost 800 papers involving manual and manipulative therapy for disorders such as TMJ and discovered similar findings. They concluded that there is a "fair...level of evidence" that chiropractic care can help ease discomfort associated with jaw pain and other upper extremity disorders.

This is great news since the causes of TMJ are largely unknown. While trauma to the jaw area can cause pain symptoms, there are other sources to consider as well, such as grinding teeth, arthritis, and clenching of the jaw due to tension.

Dr. Delson Can Help Patients Find Relief From TMJ Pain

No matter what is making your jaw ache, call Dr. Delson now and schedule an appointment to come into our Springfield, MA location. We'll do our best to help you smile pain-free!

Studies

• Gonzalez-Iglesias J et al. (2013, November). Mobilization with movement, thoracic spine manipulation, and dry needling for the management of temporomandibular disorder: a prospective case series. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice;29(8):586-95
• Brantingham J et al. (2013, March-April). Manipulative and multimodal therapy for upper extremity and temporomandibular disorders: a systematic review. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics;36(3):143-201
• Oral Care. WebMD. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/temporomandibular-disorders-tmd on November 2, 2015

We see a good deal of sports injuries in our Springfield, MA clinic, and Dr. Delson is generally able to help these athletes. Stanford Children’s Hospital reports that over 3.5 million children aged 14 and below are hurt each year while playing sports. Add that to the close to 2 million adults injured each year while taking part in sports-related activities, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can begin to see the necessity of minimizing these types of common injuries. One approach to potentially realize that goal, as stated in a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to engage in regular chiropractic care.

In Australian Rules football, hamstring and other leg traumas are commonplace, often sidelining the players and affecting their team's odds of securing a win. One specific study was administered using 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers to see whether chiropractic could reduce these injuries and help keep them playing.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study particularly, every one of the participants was given medical treatment. Furthermore, half of them also were given chiropractic treatments at the rate of 1 session per week for the first 6 weeks, biweekly sessions for the following three months, and one treatment a month for the final three months of the study. The other participants were given no chiropractic intervention whatsoever and were used as the control group to assess the benefits of chiropractic adjustments.

Following 24 matches, researchers noted a reduced amount of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had been given chiropractic care. Moreover, that same group also missed fewer matches correlated to non-contact knee injuries. This lead the researchers to conclude that chiropractic should be made an addition to sports training programs to dramatically decrease the quantity of leg injuries.

Dr. Delson Can Help Patients Find Comfort From Sports Injuries & Help You Recover Faster

If you or your child plays sports and you want to ensure more time is spent on the field as opposed to on the sidelines, call our Springfield, MA office at (413) 788-4464 and make an appointment today. We will do our best to keep you in the game!

References

• Hoskins, W, & Pollard, H. (2010, April 8). The effect of a sports chiropractic manual therapy intervention on the prevention of back pain, hamstring and lower limb injuries in semi-elite Australian Rules footballers: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 11(64), doi:10.1186/1471-2474-11-64
• Misra, A. (2014, March 17). Common sports injuries: Incidence and average charges. Department of Health & Human Services.
• Stanford Children’s Hospital. (n.d.). Sports injury statistics.

We work with many back pain patients in our Springfield, MA chiropractic office, and Dr. Delson and our staff uses an assortment of techniques to help get you out of pain and restore your spine's normal, healthy function. We find spinal decompression to be a highly effective approach.

Understanding Spinal Decompression Therapy

To help you better understand spinal decompression therapy, think of the discs in your spine like small balloons filled with gelatin. When you squeeze them (which occurs due to normal living, sustaining an injury, or other medical conditions), they can protrude, placing pressure on the nerves in your spinal column. This affects your brain's ability to communicate with tissues in the rest of your body.

If the force on the discs becomes too high, the discs can herniate or bulge. This reduces the padding between your vertebrae and can cause pain. The purpose of spinal decompression therapy is to relieve this pressure to help improve your body's function and also reduce your level of pain.

Can Spinal Decompression Therapy Help Me?

Spinal decompression therapy relieves disc pressure through the use of a specially designed table that gently elongates your spinal column through slow and controlled movements. This reduces the pressure placed on your discs. Some studies report an increase in disc height by as much as 1.3 millimeters after just six weeks of this treatment.

If you're wondering if spinal decompression therapy could help you feel and perform better, simply call our Springfield, MA office and schedule an appointment with Dr. Delson today. Your optimal health is our number one goal!

Resources

Apfel CC, Cakmakkaya OS, Richmond C, et al. Restoration of disk height through non-surgical spinal decompression is associated with decreased discogenic low back pain: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2010;11(155). doi:10.1186/1471-2474-11-155

Dr. Delson sees many back pain patients in our busy Springfield, MA chiropractic office. Many of these people have some form of spinal issue that is causing them pain and discomfort. Fortunately, Dr. Delson has found that spinal decompression treatment is a highly effective way to help these people.

What is Spinal Decompression and How Can it Help Me?

Non-surgical spinal decompression is a treatment method that takes all of the positive benefits that one normally gets from chiropractic adjustments, traction, physiotherapy, exercise therapy, and myofascial therapy and combines them all into one.

The objective of this technique is to keep you away from the surgeon's knife, and that is exactly what it's done for a number of folks, as it has a documented 85% success rate.

Some of the issues spinal decompression helps with include generalized back pain, sciatic nerve pain, herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, compression fractures, and joint pain.

Spinal decompression works by reversing the influences of wear, tear, and gravity that compresses the intervertebral discs in your spinal column. The video below shows how it works to decrease stress on your back and helps eliminate pain and disability.

Dr. Delson Can Help Patients Find Comfort From Chronic Back Pain

If you live in Springfield, MA and you're struggling with back pain, spinal decompression therapy might be the solution. Call Dr. Delson today at (413) 788-4464 for a consultation or appointment.

Knee pain is a common problem for patients in our Springfield, MA chiropractic practice, and Dr. Michael Delson has successfully provided many of these men and women relief. This is largely because chiropractic care has been found to help with many kinds of knee pain.

For instance, some individuals feel pain in and around the knee tissues due to degenerative arthritis. Research has demonstrated that this condition responds very well to chiropractic--and rather quickly, too. In fact, one study published in The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association found that individuals with osteoarthritis in their knees felt considerable pain relief and improved function after just two weeks of chiropractic care.

If your knee pain is as a result of a medial meniscus sprain, chiropractic could likely help with that as well. One article found that integrating chiropractic with soft tissue therapy, rest, ice, and compression on the affected knee helped lower the intensity of the pain.

Clearly, sometimes a knee replacement surgery is necessary in order to correct the issue, and if that's the case, chiropractic can also help improve the outcome. How?

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps With Knee Pain

Medical research has shown that people with low back pain frequently have less positive outcomes after knee surgery. Therefore, dealing with your back pain through chiropractic prior to having a total knee arthroplasty can help with your post-surgery healing.

No matter what your knee issue, Dr. Michael Delson can likely help. Call our Springfield, MA location today and find out what we can do for you!

References

• Pollard H et al. (2008, December). The effect of a manual therapy knee protocol on osteoarthritic knee pain: a randomised controlled trial. The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association;52(4):229-42
  Boyle J et al. (2014, March). Influence of low back pain on total knee arthroplasty outcome. Knee;21(2):410-4
• Jarosz B & Ames R. (2010, December). Chiropractic management of a medial meniscus tear in a patient with tibiofemoral degeneration: a case report. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine;9(4):200-8

We see a lot of folks with headaches in our Springfield, MA office, and Dr. Michael Delson has been able to help many of them. Of course, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 50% of all adults have difficulties with some kind of headache problem, so this actually isn’t shocking. One of the most frequent sorts of headaches that our patients are afflicted by is cervicogenic headache which, luckily, chiropractic can usually help.

Cervicogenic Headaches Defined

A cervicogenic headache is one that starts from problems in the cervical spine. It can easily be generated by a problem with either the spine itself (in particular, the vertebrae, joints, or discs), or it might be due to a problem in the muscles and tendons of your neck. This problem in your spine results in squeezing or aggravation of the spinal nerves, which can bring on headache pain.

How can you determine if the headache you are struggling with is a cervicogenic headache? Apart from receiving a diagnosis from a healthcare specialist, a frequent symptom of cervicogenic headaches is tenderness or discomfort in your neck. This is sometimes followed by pain in the back of your head or between your shoulder blades.

Chiropractic to the Rescue

Considering cervicogenic headaches will not subside until whatever problem is triggering them is remedied, it is essential to receive treatment rather than just trying to "wait it out." Chiropractic care is an excellent approach, and one that offers a considerable amount of pain relief.

In one study published in Chiropractic & Osteopathy, specialists evaluated 80 people who had recurrent cervicogenic headaches. Fifty percent received chiropractic care and the other 50% engaged in light massage therapy. Each participant was evaluated 12 and 24 weeks after the treatment and it was discovered that chiropractic provided the most beneficial effects.

In particular, this study revealed that chiropractic adjustments offered patients more pain relief and diminished the number of headaches that occurred. Moreover, it also diminished the disability that resulted from these painful headaches.

To find out what Dr. Michael Delson can do for you and your headaches, call us today. We'll do our best to get you the pain relief you deserve!

References

• Haas M, Schneider M, Vavrek D. Illustrating risk difference and number needed to treat from a randomized controlled trial of spinal manipulation for cervicogenic headache. Chiropractic & Osteopathy 2010 18(9).
• World Health Organization. (2012, October). Headache disorders. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs277/en/