What do we treat?
At Elms Chiropractic, our team of registered chiropractors offer a range of treatments tailored to your specific needs and issues whether it be to decrease back or joint pain, improve posture or simply optimise mechanical function. We provide treatments that take your personal circumstances, lifestyle and medical history into account. This ensures the services we deliver are personalised and as effective as possible. Treatment generally includes a combination of hands on specific spinal manipulation or mobilisation techniques to optimise spinal motion, extremity mobilisation techniques, soft tissue relaxation methods and rehab exercise prescription. Our treatment methods reduce pain and optimise function, and by incorporating exercise rehabilitation and stretching techniques we make sure our patients feel as good as possible for as long as possible. We don’t just want you feeling great now, we also want to help you prevent future episodes too.
Back Pain – From generalised, acute or chronic back pain to lower or mid back pain, we treat patients with a range of spinal issues resulting from a variety of potential causes. Our experienced team will take your history (current complaint and medical), perform a thorough examination, formulate a diagnosis, and provide you with a plan for treatment to alleviate your pain and optimise spinal function.
Neck Pain – Neck pain is a common problem that can be incredibly painful and debilitating. It is often the result of poor posture, office-based jobs, accidents, sports injuries or even simply from our increasingly sedentary lifestyles. This often leads to muscular and joint pain and can sometimes refer into the arm or head.
Sciatica – Sciatica is a loose term used to describe the experience of pain in the leg/s. True sciatica is the result of compression of the sciatic nerve and causes sharp pains from the lower back into your leg/s. It can cause and be accompanied by a range of symptoms, from severe lower back and leg pain to tingling, numbness or weakness in your legs or feet.
Joint Pain – From shoulder or wrist pain to pain and weakness in your hip, knee or foot, there are various areas of the body that can become painful due to issues with your joints, joint alignment and function and it can affect your entire lifestyle if not treated properly.
Headaches – Headaches are one of the most common reason patients seek chiropractic treatment. There are many causes of headaches, so an accurate diagnosis is essential along with a specific treatment plan. Headaches can be associated with poor posture resulting in neck and shoulder dysfunction. They are also a common result of long hours sitting at a desk or computer screen, stress, tension and muscular pains. Most headaches aren’t a cause for concern and can be treated with the right techniques which your Chiropractor will be able to discuss with you.
Shoulder Pain – Issues with your shoulder can limit your range of movement, causing dysfunction and pain. Shoulder dysfunction may also predispose you to future injury if left untreated. Chiropractic techniques can effectively treat the root cause of the problem using specific mobilisation and manipulation techniques along with muscular relaxation techniques to relieve pain or discomfort and restore shoulder range of motion.
Rotator Cuff Injuries – Injuries or issues with the rotator cuff muscles in your shoulders can affect your stability and movements through a wide range of motions. Injuries or discomfort in this area of the body can be a frustrating problem that makes various activities and tasks difficult.
Postural Imbalances – Poor posture can impact your wellbeing in a number of ways, from back pain and muscular discomfort to digestive problems, headaches and even fatigue. Over time, untreated postural imbalances can also increase the risk of spinal issues and joint degeneration.
Osteo-Arthritis – or OA causes degeneration and thinning of the articular surfaces and damage to the cartilage that protects the joints. It can impact adults of all ages but is typically seen in older adults as it is associated with age related wearing.
The hips, knees, hands, neck and low back are some of the most common areas where this type of arthritis develops.
It is thought to stem from trauma to the joints at an earlier age, or due poor functioning of the joints over time. It can also be due to compensatory stresses on the joint due to nearby dysfunction in the kinematic chain i.e. knee arthritis can result from foot and/or hip issues.
Many people believe it is just due to ageing, however, if this was true, both knees or hips would wear out at the same time, and more often than not, people only have one knee or hip replacement surgery as the opposite side tends to be unaffected.
Regular maintenance treatment to keep the joints performing to their best, along with appropriate, tailored, gentle exercises can drastically improve the symptoms associated with OA.
Inflammatory Arthritis – This encompasses several types of arthritis (inflammation of joints), that can affect people of all ages. These are usually due to autoimmune disorders such as Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA), Psoriatic Arthritis (PA) to name a few. These can often be genetic, and go through cycles of inflammation and remittance, but can be hugely influenced by lifestyle and diet. Patients with these types of arthritis can achieve good relief with manual therapy and dietary advice.
Migraine Prevention – Migraines are characterised as severe headaches which often come with other side effects, such as dizziness and nausea, sensitivity to light right through to frightening symptoms such as hemiplegia and paralysis.
They can have many causes from tension in the neck, through to dietary triggers.
Your Chiropractor will take a comprehensive case history and perform a thorough examination in order to determine the root cause. Often, a combination of Chiropractic care and dietary advice, can be life changing for sufferers of this debilitating condition.
Minor Sports Injuries – Whether you’re an athlete or someone who just enjoys to keep fit and exercise, sports injuries are a risk, but they are also something that can affect your performance and your ability to play sports at all. Treating minor injuries early can prevent them from developing, helping you get back to peak performance as soon as possible. Theses injuries can often stem from dysfunctional movement patterns, and poorly functioning muscles and joints, rather than a particular exercise.
Keeping your body functioning to the best of its ability will help to reduce the risk of injury and hugely improve performance. It’s no wonder why the vast majority of professional athletes and sports team employ Chiropractors.
Plantar Fasciitis – Plantar fasciitis causes pain in the foot, and it’s a result of the band of tissue along the bottom of the foot becoming inflamed and swollen. This condition creates a stabbing sensation in the base of the foot, typically near the heel, and can affect everything from physical activity to simply walking around your home.
Oftentimes, treatment is geared towards the symptoms, rather than the cause. Patients are advised to wear expensive insoles, perform certain exercises, roll their feet on devices or golf balls which are all great, but they often overlook the root cause. More often than not, the cause is related to dysfunction in the foot and ankle complex but can also be related to hip and knee issues, and even poorly functioning pelvic issues.
Having the issue properly assessed and treated directly can prove to be far more beneficial in treating this debilitating condition.
Tension – Muscular tension or tightness is common, with localised pain often referred to as ‘tender points, but that can also refer pain elsewhere, usually in common pain patterns, called ‘trigger points’. These areas in the muscle build up over time due to stress, injury or repetitive strain activities or from prolonged inactivity such as having to sit all day in front of a computer. These tight areas are due to small clusters of muscle fibres contracting in the muscle belly and can be a symptom of overuse, poor posture and spinal/joint dysfunction.
Correcting the underlying dysfunction helps to relieve these symptoms, making people far more comfortable, flexible and allow the joints and muscles to perform better. This in-turn reduces the stress and loading on the associated muscles and joints.
Chiropractic treatment also includes soft tissue work to address this issue.
Performance Optimisation – Athletes of all kinds can use chiropractic techniques to improve their athletic performance and enhance their balance, coordination, strength and reactions. Chiropractic care can also help to keep the body flexible to prevent injuries from occurring and reduce recovery time. As mentioned above, Chiropractic has been widely used for decades in professional sport. It’s not uncommon to see a tennis player being treated at the side of the court during a match at Wimbledon for example. Chiropractic care forms a major part of most athletes’ body maintenance to optimise their function and performance. It is not however, reserved only for professionals. It also benefits Sally so she can play squash on a Thursday morning, or Derek to play golf on a Tuesday afternoon, and both be able to run around after the grandkids in the park at the weekend!
General Aches & Pains – Tight muscles, achy joints and general aches and pains can be bothersome. Whether you lead an active lifestyle or you’re someone who has a desk/driving job and has to sit for long periods of time, utilising chiropractic methods can ease discomfort and ensure your joints and muscles are working correctly. , but much more than this, it can help to reduce the likelihood of future pain episodes. Pain is what’s known as a ‘lagging indicator’, which means that it is often an ‘end-stage’ symptom. Much like those beautiful pictures most people have seen of icebergs at water-level, the tip of the iceberg sits proudly above the waterline, but underneath lurks a huge body of ice. This body of ice represents the dysfunction, stress, and tension that builds up. The body has an amazing ability to compensate and ‘carry on’ when things aren’t working to their fullest. It likes to maintain some sort of normal, known as homeostasis. It would’ve kept you alive and hunter-gathering, but it has its limits and eventually, something has to give. This is when tissues begin to get inflamed and cause pain.
Preventative Care – In addition to treating specific issues, chiropractic techniques can be used to prevent issues, ensuring you stay supple and pain-free, regardless of the type of lifestyle you lead.
The idea of treatment initially is to reduce the stress and load on your tissues, alleviating the symptoms, which for many, happens relatively quickly, and then the aim of treatment is to strengthen, improve and maintain optimum function by evoking the body to adapt and improve as it heals.
Chiropractic treatment is far more than just pain relief. It is about body maintenance.
This is why your Chiropractic treatment here at Elms Clinic will always be accompanied by home exercise programmes that will be monitored and altered to keep you functioning to your highest potential and to help prevent relapses, whilst limiting degenerative changes.