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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/

We see many patients in our Springfield, MA office with ankle sprains but Dr. Michael Delson has had a lot of success helping them heal more quickly. Why are ankle sprains so common and how can chiropractic help?

According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), approximately 25,000 men and women in the US sprain their ankles every day. As a matter of fact, these injuries make up nearly 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 take place due to one forceful movement, or it can develop over 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. Michael Delson Help?

A study printed in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to identify chiropractic's role when it comes to ankle sprain recovery. Researchers enrolled 33 individuals 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 area in the previous six weeks.

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

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps With Ankle Sprains

The authors found that the people who had both rehab and chiropractic fared the best at the 4-week mark when it came to pain and joint restriction. Also, no negative effects were reported, showing that chiropractic is safe.

If you're near our office in Springfield, MA and you're struggling with an ankle injury, give us a call. We'll do what we can to keep you up and moving... literally!

Studies

• 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 are struggling with fibromyalgia, you are not alone, as Dr. Michael Delson sees many people with this particular problem in our Springfield, MA chiropractic clinic. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that roughly two percent of all adults in the United States have fibromyalgia. Thankfully, chiropractic is one treatment option that can provide positive results.

Research Supports Chiropractic Eases Fibromyalgia

In a medical study released in mid-2015, 215 women and men with fibromyalgia were evaluated based on factors ranging from pain to quality of sleep to the levels of depression symptoms and anxiety they felt. Then they were divided into two groups with one group receiving a multi-modal treatment 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 adjustments in addition to the multi-disciplinary treatment approach reported greater results in all areas (pain, sleep, depression, and anxiety) at three months post-treatment when compared to the study participants who received multi-modal treatment without chiropractic care. Furthermore, those positive results were long-lasting as the subjects reported continued improvement one full year later.

Fibromyalgia can substantially reduce your quality of life, both mentally and physically. If you're suffering from fibromyalgia, we might be able to help.

You don't have to suffer! To see what Dr. Michael Delson can do for your fibromyalgia pain, call our Springfield, MA chiropractic office today.

Research

• 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, quite a few of our Springfield, MA patients know the pain caused by a herniated disc all too well. On a positive note, Dr. Michael Delson has helped many people with disc pain, and a number of scientific studies have verified that chiropractic care can help people recover from this kind of condition.

Research on Herniated Discs and Chiropractic

In one study, a group of doctors from Switzerland selected 148 patients who were dealing with pain in their low back and legs due to a disc herniation (which was confirmed through magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI). Each person then received chiropractic adjustments that focused on the location of his or her disc problem.

Results were gathered after the preliminary 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 offers when it comes to resolving this particular problem. Among the data collected was the individual's self-reported changes in both lumbar and leg pain.

Investigators found that, overall, the patients reported "significant improvement" for both types of pain every time the results were collected. In fact, over 90% of the individuals stated 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 reported an improvement in pain at a rate of 89% one year beyond when treatment first began. This is the same positive result that was found in the following case study.

Disc Herniation and Chiropractic: A Case Study

In this paper, a 26-year-old man 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 symptoms for more than two years after sustaining a sports injury, and his disc herniation was confirmed via MRI.

After receiving chiropractic, "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 beneficial chiropractic can be when it comes to alleviating herniated disc pain and treating the symptoms they produce. So, if you are suffering from back ache caused by a herniated disc and want to find some relief, chiropractic can be an effective solution.

Don't suffer from chronic herniated disc pain. Give our Springfield, MA office a call today at (413) 788-4464 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.
  

Dr. Michael Delson sees a lot of patients struggling with carpal tunnel syndrome in our busy Springfield, MA chiropractic office. While some people think that the origin of this wrist-related pain is muscular, it's really a syndrome that stems from the nerves--and not just the nerves in your hands.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Recent research printed in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy assessed 71 women between the ages of 35 and 59 who were diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Upon studying the subjects' neck range of motion, the researchers discovered that the patients had reduced cervical mobility when compared to a healthy control group.

In addition, they also observed that the degree of the women's reported carpal tunnel discomfort was related to the lateral flexion of the cervical spine. In other words, the less mobility in the neck area, the greater the level of pain.

This study is very important, as you cannot successfully address a problem until you fully understand its cause. By recognizing that the root of carpal tunnel symptoms is in the neck, this means that all-natural approaches such as chiropractic can often restore normal function, reducing the need for risky surgery.

If you have carpal tunnel pain, call our Springfield, MA location and ask how Dr. Michael Delson can help you get relief!

Sources

De-la-Llave-Rincon A et al. (2011, May). Women with carpal tunnel syndrome show restricted cervical range of motion. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy;41(5):305-10.
Simon H. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. University of Maryland Medical Center. Updated May 6, 2012. Retrieved from https://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/carpal-tunnel-syndrome on November 2, 2015.

We see quite a few patients with back pain in our Springfield, MA practice, and Dr. Michael Delson has been able to help a lot of them get relief with chiropractic. At the same time, dealing with back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical care, as many individuals utilize both types of care with great results.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with Each Other

In a report published by the journal Spine investigators¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who claimed both acute soreness and limited function due to back symptoms. Some of the patients engaged in treatment via standard medical care, while the rest received chiropractic adjustments together with standard medical care, as researchers wanted to see which group fared better.

The authors discovered that the patients who got standard medical care in combination with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the patients who received medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits in comparison to just 17% of the medical care only group who indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at two and four weeks.

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

Where Chiropractic Care Is Successful

Although it may seem as if each method plays a 50/50 role, there is one major advantage that chiropractic has over medical care and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, one bit of research from 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 care.

According to the experts, the main factors that patients liked over medical care were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors commonly spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as explaining more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Offers a Non-Invasive Approach

Certainly, the strategies associated with chiropractic are very different than those offered with medical care, but a large amount of the difference is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. In contrast to focusing on only relieving the symptoms, chiropractic means tracking down the root cause of your pain, which often translates to greater improvement as you are addressing the problem at its source.

In addition, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to a natural approach like chiropractic care. This means fewer negative responses to medications and lasting recovery.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health problems. Give our Springfield, MA office a call today at (413) 788-4464. We'll do our best to help you get and stay 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 Springfield, MA and you've been in a car accident, you have to know that you don't have to suffer from chronic symptoms.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Chronic Pain after an Auto Injury

We deal with a lot of auto injury sufferers in our Springfield, MA office, and many of these folks are suffering from chronic pain caused by an old crash. In fact, research shows that a significant proportion of rear-end accidents cause pain and disability even ten years after the original trauma.

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

The most common causes of chronic pain are reduced mobility of your spine 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 reducing inflammation and restoring normal motion.

We Can Help With Chronic Pain and Auto Injury Recovery

If you're nearby our Springfield, MA office, and you've been hurt in a crash, don't wait to get attention. Dr. Michael Delson is here for you. Give us a call today at (413) 788-4464 for an appointment or for more information.