Home stretching is an important part of all treatment plans. Dr. Russell Brokstein shows basic stretching in this part 1 of 2 for reducing neck, shoulder and upper back pain, stress and tension. Doing home stretching can also be used in prevention of future injuries from occurring.
Whiplash Leads to Referred Pain Explains Chiropractor in Freehold NJ
Many people experience whiplash injuries after an auto accident or other trauma where the head and neck experiences a sudden abnormal motion or force that causes it to go beyond it’s normal range of motion. The muscles, tendon and ligaments become damaged. Car accidents are a common cause of whiplash but it can be a result of playing sports and accidental falls. Other terms used to describe whiplash are acceleration flexion-extension neck injury and soft tissue cervical hyperextension injury. Many doctors simply explain it to a patient as cervical sprain or cervical strain.
Neck pain and headaches are just 2 of the common symptoms people experience when they have a whiplash injury. Whiplash can also result in arm pain, numbness and tingling, shoulder pain, neck 
pain, dizziness, nauseousness and even TMJ.
One of the difficult aspects of whiplash is that the symptoms don’t present immediately after the trauma. A lot of times it comes on days, weeks, months to even years down the road. This is one reason why it’s very important to get evaluated after any trauma.
In 2008 a study was done that showed these symptoms are related to the injury to the neck thru referred pain. Referred pain originates in one area but is felt in another area. The pain signals from the injured tissues activate other nerves in the spinal cord and brain. These nerves cause the brain to perceive pain in other areas that these nerves control.
In a Swedish study, researchers induced referred pain in whiplash patients and pain free people to see if they had a different referred pain response. 12 of the subjects were experiencing whiplash while the other 12 had no pain and were the control group. The test subjects controlled the electrical stimulation levels that were used on the shoulder and upper arm to elicit referred pain. There was a dramatic difference between the whiplash patients and the control group:
a) The pain free control group needed 3 times the amount of stimulation to reach the pain levels the whiplash patients experienced. The whiplash group was more sensitive.
b) The whiplash patients experienced a significantly wider area of referred pain than the pain free group which reported limited amounts of referred pain.
c) The type of referred pain was different in both groups. The control group experienced referred pain that was always distal to the point of stimulation while the whiplash group experienced referred pain that was more proximal to the stimulation closer to the center of the body.
This study helps us further understand the whiplash injury as other studies have also shown that the central nervous system becomes sensitive and over stimulated because of the injury to the spine. More recent research is showing patients who are experiencing central sensitivity are more likely to experience chronic long term pain and symptoms.
As a chiropractor in Freehold, NJ, I have been treating whiplash patients for 14 years. These studies are proof that early treatment after an auto accident or other trauma is extremely important to prevent chronic, long term problems. In our office, Hometown Family Wellness Center, we use state of the art computerized technology to help examine the spine, nerves and surrounding muscles to show how severe the underlying condition is and whether it is acute or chronic. The earlier you are treated for the injury, we can correct the problem so you can continue to enjoy a normal, healthy active lifestyle and prevent further problems down the road. Chiropractic finds the cause and treats it so you can be pain free once again without drugs and surgery.
For more information go to www.ChiropractorFreehold.com or call our office at 732-780-0044.
1. Kosek E, Januszewska A. Mechanisms of pain referral in patients with whiplash associated disorder.
European Journal of Pain 2008;12:650-660.
2. Walton DM, Macdermid JC, Nielson W, Teasell RW, Reese H, Levesque L. Pressure pain threshold
testing demonstrates predictive ability in people with acute whiplash. Journal of Orthopedic & Sports
Physical Therapy 2011;41(9):658-65.
Freehold NJ Chiropractor Reviews The Full Benefits of Chiropractic Care
Freehold NJ Chiropractor, Dr. Russell Brokstein of Hometown Family Wellness Center, reviews the full benefits of chiropractic care.
While reading posts on facebook, I saw a great picture that summed up how chiropractic can help you and anybody else who is searching to be healthy without drugs or surgery.
Most people seek chiropractic care when they are in pain, whether it be neck pain, lower back pain, shoulder pain, sciatica, numbness and tingling, headaches and migraines, post accident injuries, fibromyalgia and other conditions. This is just is just a small percentage of people that could be helped.
Chiropractors remove pressure from the nervous system. It is this system that controls all functions of the body. Through daily stresses, the vertebra in the spine can misalign and put pressure on the nerves. When this happens we get dysfunction, disease and symptoms. By adjusting the vertebra 
to remove the pressure, chiropractors correct the underlying cause of symptoms therefore improving health and function.
View the picture to the right and see different conditions that chiropractic can help you reduce and other areas that chiropractic improves. By being under chiropractic care, you improve your overall health and wellness all without the use of drugs and surgery. Think how this can improve your relationships with your family and friends as well as improve your activities of daily living. You can live once again!
Dr. Russell Brokstein has been providing patients chiropractic care for over 14 years. He opened Hometown Family Wellness Center in Freehold, NJ in May of 2005 to provide natural health and wellness to the community he grew up in. For more information on Dr. Russell and his practice go to his website: www.chiropractorfreehold.com and call his office at 732-780-0044 to experience the full benefits of chiropractic care!
Drugs are Not Effective for Sciatica Explains Chiropractor in Freehold NJ
Many people suffer with pain that goes from the lower back down the leg, sometimes all the way to the feet and toes. This pain is called sciatica and is from the irritation of a group of nerves from the lumbar spine. Many times, doctors prescribe pain medication for patients with sciatica, but new research from the prestigious British Medical 
Journal reveals that there may be little evidence these drugs help.
23 studies were reviewed by researchers comparing placebo pills to various drugs typically prescribed for sciatica. In every study, there was no proof that the prescription drugs gave any more pain relief than the placebos. Also, the radiating pain many times associated with sciatica was not significantly reduced. Two of the drugs may have reduced overall pain but the long term effects were unclear. The important fact one must note is that any pain medication that might provide temporary relief is just masking the symptoms of the pain and is not correcting what is actually causing the pain. On top of that, every medication has serious side effects that a patient should look into before taking them. Wouldn’t it make more sense to do something that corrects the cause of the pain naturally?
In this research, it was concluded there is no proof showing pain medications commonly prescribed for sciatica were affective.
There is a much more affective approach to helping a patient suffering with sciatica: CHIROPRACTIC!!! Another study done in 2010 shows that chiropractic is just as effective as surgery, but is much less risky than surgery and extremely more cost effective.
Dr. Russell Brokstein, the chiropractor at Hometown Family Wellness Center in Freehold, NJ has been treating sciatica patients effectively with chiropractic for over 13 years. If you or somebody you know has been suffering with sciatica, wouldn’t you like to finally get the cause of the pain corrected, rather than taking pain medications with numerous side effects and proven not affective in the treatment of sciatica? Call our office at 732-780-0044 and find out more information on our website at www.chiropractorfreehold.com
McMorland G, Suter E, Casha S, du Plessis SJ, Hurlbert RJ. Manipulation or microdiskectomy for sciatica? A prospective randomized clinical study. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. 2010; 33(8): 576-584.
Pinto,Rafael Zambelli. Chris G Maher, Manuela L Ferreira, Paulo H Ferreira, Mark Hancock, Vinicius C Oliveira, Andrew J McLachlan, Bart Koes.Drugs for relief of pain in patients with sciatica: systematic review and meta-analysis. British Medical Journal. 2012, February; 344:e497 doi: 10.1136/bmj.e497.
Chiropractor in Freehold NJ helps Low Back Pain and Sciatica Patients without Drugs or Surgery
As a chiropractor in Freehold, NJ I have seen many patients from the Monmouth County area who suffer needlessly with low back pain and sciatica. Around 80% of the population complains of low back pain but ignore the pain, think they have to learn to live with it, or go to their medical doctors that just prescribe them one pain medication or anti-inflammatory one after another. At best, these medications just provide a temporary relief of symptoms, but many times the pain persists and the side effects are numerous. Also, even if the pain is covered up, the patient falsely feels they are better and start doing their normal activities once again which can further damage the underlying condition.
You have to realize daily stresses accumulate in the spine and the joints get misaligned, making it more difficult to move, therefor straining the muscles, putting pressure on nerves and the discs. Some research even shows that arthritis or spinal degeneration starts forming after just 2 weeks of the joints being misaligned.
Most chiropractors will analyze the spine for subluxations and perform adjustments to correct them. But this is just part of the cause. I have seen many patients over the years who have gone to chiropractors who only adjust and report to me the low back pain and sciatica were reduced in intensity, but they still experienced it. The problem being missed is that many of these imbalances occur due to muscle tightness and spasms in the spinal regions but also the muscles of the legs, as well as the joints of the ankle, feet, knees and hips.
Imagine driving your car and noticing the tires are wearing unevenly. You bring in the car to be checked and the mechanic tells you that you need new tires. If you just put new tires on and the mechanic doesn’t balance out the wheels, you will notice the car still pulls more to one side and the tires will wear out more quickly. Same holds for if you just realign the wheels, but not put on new tires too. You would want the mechanic to take care of the cause by realigning the wheels first, then put on the new tires.
I bring this up as I recently had a new patient, who was a professional athlete, that found my practice online and when he came in he reported low back pain, sciatica and disc herniations which he had micro-discectomy surgery performed 5 years ago while in his mid 20’s. He told me he’s been to many chiropractors but adjusting didn’t help, physical therapy provided no relief and he also visited one of the biggest sports orthopedic practices in all of NJ with no change.
I explained our course of action is probably different than any other chiropractor he has been to and after performing a full chiropractic, orthopedic and sport evaluation, we address all the contributing factors to the pain: we not only adjust the spine, but therapeutically stretch the muscles that support the spine, including the hamstrings, quadriceps and piriformis, and adjust the joints of the ankle, foot, knee and hips. By addressing these instabilities, we can further balance the foundation that keeps causing the spine to misalign. Upon his first evaluation and treatment, he got up off the table and shockingly said it was the first time he was able to sit up with out low back pain.
Going one step further, we will analyze the arches of the feet. If the arches are dropping, it will cause the joints of the ankles, feet, knees and hips to keep misaligning, which will make the spine unstable again.
Another thing to consider is most chiropractors and medical doctors attribute sciatica as pressure on the nerves from the lower back into the leg by misalignments or bulging discs. A condition called piriformis syndrome is missed many times. This is where the piriformis muscle is actually what is causing the numbness and tingling associated with sciatica. When properly assessed, the right treatment can also correct this.
Chiropractors are the only health professionals that specialize in the spine and nervous system. Finding the cause of the pain and dysfunction is the start of correcting the problem once and for all so you can start living a pain free, health lifestyle once again. No more complaining of pain while bending over, picking up your children, going out and enjoying the evening with a significant other, etc. It is important to find a chiropractor that not only adjusts the spine, but helps balance the supporting muscles, joints in the legs and feet, and make sure your arches are properly supported.
We have helped many patients that suffer with low back pain and sciatica in Freehold, Marlboro, Manalapan, Howell, Jackson, Morganville and Colts Neck, NJ as well as many neighboring towns. Many have driven up to an hour away, passing by 1000 other chiropractors as they want to experience a full body treatment that addresses all the causes with the multiple pronged approach no other doctor in our area takes. If you are ready to gain your pain free, active lifestyle once again, contact our office, Hometown Family Wellness Center at 9 Broadway in Freehold, NJ at 732-780-0044