Fibromyalgia is a condition that causes chronic fatigue and cognitive issues. The reason why our team of chiropractors work with people suffering from fibromyalgia is because the symptoms that follow with it are arthritic-like or that of inflammation (especially in joints).
It is common to be hypersensitive to both hot and cold temperatures and have an increased sense of smell. Unfortunately there is no definitive cause of how fibromyalgia starts although it is more common in those with auto-immune conditions or substance abuse.
Can You Cure Fibromyalgia?
Fibromyalgia is a condition that you will never be able to get rid of unless there is a new miracle drug that helps. At this very point in time fibromyalgia can only be managed by using a few particular methods!
Of course! Our main goal as chiropractors is to reduce the pressure throughout the musculoskeletal system. This enables us to reduce inflammation and allow the body to settle itself down. Fibromyalgia is a condition that over exerts the bodies receptors hence why the nervous system needs to be settled!
The importance of good, straight posture can’t be down played. However, by simply sitting up straight you will not correct incorrect postures.
5 Reasons Why Posture Is Important:
1) Good posture helps you perform better 2) Your body position looks and feels better 3) An optimal posture helps your body function at a higher level 4) Good posture limits abnormal wear and tear on joints throughout the body 5) Your internal organs are able to function better/no unneeded compression through the ribs affecting lung capacity
Given that these benefits are associated with good posture habits, who wouldn’t want to have good posture! Here at The Melbourne Chiropractor, we meet patients who need help correcting postural problems, including sway back. military posture and text neck. As chiropractors our goal is to help manage and correct these postural issues.
Some Common Posture Problems We See Include –
Sway back posture
Lumbar lordosis
Thoracic kyphosis
Forward head posture.
Bad postures tend to put extra pressure and stress on your spine, shoulders, hips, and knees.
Can you relate to any of the postures in the image below?
Sway Back Posture also known as hyper lordosis exaggerated the curve in the lower back increasing pressure. When standing the stomach looks to pull forward and the hips tilt forward to compensate.
Chiropractic adjustments and mobilisations help to increase mobility and functional capacity through the affected joint segments
Soft tissue therapy allows us to decrease the muscle tension throughout the areas of concern and in turn improve postural areas.
An exercise and rehabilitation program that is specific to the area which will include a series of stretches and low force exercise to begin with before getting into strengthening the area of complaint.
A balanced diet is key to living a healthy lifestyle. Fish oil also know as “Omega 3” is a well known supplement for improving function and is well known for its benefits in supporting heart health.
Unlike most minerals Fish oil is stored in cell membranes and they are used almost immediately to help with growth and stability.
Getting Sunlight throughout the day is always a great way to absorb vitamin D but there is always a risk of sun damage and putting yourself in front of those harmful UV rays. That is why supplementation of Vitamin D is a great way of reducing the pain in the sun! The key is always to ensure you have an essential diet that caters for the intake of vitamin D.
Vitamin D is an awesome micronutrient as unlike most, it strengthens the immune system. It is most noticeable that during winter there is allot less sun and therefor people are susceptible to sickness during this time. Vitamin D has also been found to help decrease the chances of type 2 diabetes and help with weight loss. Unlike most minerals Vitamin D is stored in the bodies fat cells for a total of 2 months.
A balanced diet is key to living a healthy lifestyle. A well known supplement that is commonly talked about is Calcium but how does this micronutrient benefit us?
Calcium is a great micronutrient at maintaining homeostasis within the body including the reduction of muscle tension. Calcium also plays a role in transporting nutrients throughout the body and increasing bone mineral density. Unlike most minerals more than 90% of Calcium is stored in bones and is the building block of the skeletal system.
Our westmeadows and broadmeadows clinics offer chiropractic services which also include modalities such as dry needling, cupping, sports taping, trigger point therapy, Stretching and exercise prescription.
Our Westmeadows chiropractic practice also accepts referrals from GP’s for chiropractic services. If you are given a CDM or EPC plan you are eligible for up to 5 chiropractic visits per year!
What Can You Expect On Your First Visit To Our Clinic?
First Visit or First Treatment at either of our westmeadows or broadmeadows health clinics includes a case history, posture scan, movement analysis, pain assessment, orthopaedic testing and a full body treatment. Referral for X-ray imaging (if required) is bulk-billed through Medicare.
Our Westmeadows Clinic
Our Westmeadows Clinic is spacious and easily accessible by car, bus and train. Onsite Parking is available with wheelchair accessibility and is within 10km of Melbourne CBD
What Can Our Team Do To Help?
Depending on the severity of the injury or area of concern our practitioners in our Broadmeadows, Westmeadows and Fawkner Clinics will treat accordingly to your complaint. Treatments that may be provided but are not limited to include:
Spinal manipulation, Activator Methods, Drop Piece, SOT and other adjustive techniques can help alleviate joints that have restriction such as spinal segments and joints (LeFebvre, Peterson & Haas, 2012)
PNF/PIR/prescribed stretching – Stretching has shown to reduce pain, improve functionality of the wrist and hand also maintains strength and improves patients in both long and short-term outcomes.
Remedial Massage, Trigger point therapy or use of handheld massager – Have shown to decrease pain/tenderness, enhance both range of motion and quality of life and influence flexibility (Shah et al., 2015) (Imtiyaz, Veqar & Shareef, 2014)
Advice on daily living activities/diet – This enables advice on how to change to make healthy actions into habits and may offer a valuable alternative with potential for long-term impact. (Gardner, Lally & Wardle, 2012)
Prescribed exercises – produce more beneficial outcomes in terms of increased strength, improved function and reduced pain scores. (Fernandes, Pedrinelli & Hernandez, 2015)
Dry Needling or Cupping to the surrounding musculature to help decrease tension and inflammation around the area of the hand and forearm.
The TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint) can become one those areas that makes an annoying clicking sounds to one that brings on excruciating headaches and face pain. It is the main joint that connect your jaw to your skull and has many ligaments, muscles and nerves associated with the region. Most common causes of Jaw pain are due to stress, trauma, arthritis, grinding your teeth, clenching or joint dysfunction.
Our Chiropractors may use adjustments on your jaw if we see there is a need to. Most of the times only 5 to 10% of cases need to be adjusted as muscles in the area are usually the main problem.
Exercises or Stretches
We recommend certain exercises or stretches to help alleviate tension within the region. Usually due to the extreme tightness within the jaw gentle stretches and exercises can help out allot, especially with preventing flareups of the region.
Chiropractors may use soft tissue release techniques especially trigger points in the area as muscle bundles tend to form. Surrounding musculature may also be involved and will be treated accordingly based on the examination findings.
Our Chiropractors will also look at your posture and check for any related issues to the problem. Sleeping habits and lifestyle changes such as standing desks or better sitting ergonomics can go a long way especially with upper body tension and tightness.
Tips To Help Reduce TMJ pain
Using Heat or Ice packs help to relax the facial muscles surrounding the TMJ area.
Gentle Stretches to the area can help improve joint mobility (Open, close and side to side movements)
Note* If you are currently suffering from any problematic concerns such as jaw pain, neck or back pain, are wondering what we do on your first chiropractic session or would like to make a booking, you can always contact us to find out more! Online bookings available 7 days a week Saturdays and Sundays @ https://themelbournechiropractor.com.au/book-now
How long you have had poor posture is not a reason to think it cannot be changed, the biggest issue, is how it was caused and what other underlying factors such as trauma or medical problems the patient is dealing with. Most times we find that posture can be improved within the first 8-12 weeks if it is a functional cause, although depending on the severity it may take up to 6 months to see changes in areas that are severely degenerated and affected by poor posture. Lifestyle factors and habits will also come in to play as forward posture at the desk from long hours can limit the amount of change from therapy.
Note* If you are currently suffering from postural issues the early you start the better off you will be. If you are wondering what we do on your first chiropractic session or would like to make a booking, you can always contact us to find out more! Online bookings also available 7 days a week @ https://themelbournechiropractor.com.au/book-now
Back pain is known as the most common cause of bodily pain in Australia. It affects up to 90% of the population at least once throughout their life. There are many different forms of back pain ranging from acute to chronic with various symptoms associated with it. They may include radiating pain down the legs or pins and needles in lower body regions.
Our Chiropractor will assess the areas that are restricted within the spine in both the upper and lower sections to ensure they correct the dysfunctions identified. This will help improve function in the area by reducing tension and alleviating the pain causing the issue. Surrounding areas will also be assessed to ensure that they are not pulling or twisting the area in an unnatural position causing what we think to be the “main” cause of back pain.
Low Back Stretches and Exercises
Low Back exercises and Low Back Stretches may be implemented to help assist with building strength and maintaining flexibility throughout the area of concern. The exercises will be tailored towards what areas of the body need exercise and stretches although general exercises will be given aswell to ensure that the patient has a variety to choose from to suit their needs.
If needed our chiropractors may refer you to our remedial massage therapists or even implement other modalities such as Dry Needling or Cupping to help decrease muscle tightness, especially for people suffering with low back pain.
Our Chiropractors at The Melbourne Chiropractor understand that different modalities should be used to help alleviate pain and discomfort. there is not one recipe that works for every patient hence why our clinic has various practitioners performing different types of chiropractic care. Posture for low back pain can be a big problem and this is why our chiropractors will check for instability within the hips, changes to toe in and toe out of the foot and changes to upper back and lower back curvature. It is common to find underlying postural related issues that can have an impact long term on recovering from back pain hence why our team take a holistic approach to chiropractic care to ensure everything gets done the right way from the beginning.
Our Broadmeadows Chiropractor especially has worked with patients of surgeons who have had spinal fusions or surgeries related to previous low back pain. What we find is patients who have had surgery before have a limitation in low back movement hence why we try to alleviate the tension associated with the area that has been fused. At times we also may refer patients out to surgeons to get a second set of eyes to look at the situation although most of the time we will refer to a doctor to get the right information to proceed. Most times our team of chiropractors will refer for an X-ray and create a report before sending a patient of to a GP for further testing.
Remedial Massage is the oldest form of physical therapy, this specific form is more than just a relaxation technique. What Remedial Massage aims to do is find the “knots” also known as trigger points and apply pressure to them. What this does is release the knots where the pressure is applied allowing the muscles to free up. Our select team of practitioners are qualified to practice remedial therapy meaning that you are in good hands when choosing our services at The Melbourne Chiropractor. Our Practitioners also offer Dry Needling and Cupping additionally to these services also if needed!
Benefits Of Remedial Massage Therapy:
Decreases pain
Able to get into the muscle more than a massage gun
Remedial Massage, Myotherapy, Cupping and Dry Needling can be used for a variety of musculoskeletal problems neuromuscular dysfunction, muscle imbalances and pain syndromes. Therapy is specifically aimed to help with headaches, muscular pain, joint pain, posture issues, myofascial pain syndrome, hypertonic muscles, muscular tension, overuse injury, painful tendons, tender ligaments and more.
