Chiropractic Care in Saint George, UT
Taking the Most Natural Approach to Chiropractic Care in St. George
At Dixie Chiropractic, located in Saint George, Utah get instant relief from pain with their advanced therapy treatments! Dixie Chiro prides themselves in the common treatments of chiropractic care with laser therapy, spinal decompression, ozone injections, and Calmare therapy.
Chiropractors specialize in treating musculoskeletal dysfunction and the effects these disorders have on general health. Their focus is on relieving symptoms and underlying causes by using a hands-on, drug-free approach. Some of these symptoms include back pain, neck pain, joint stiffness or pain, headache, and muscle tension or pain.
Frequently the underlying cause of musculoskeletal pain and symptoms is poor posture. Such postural problems eventually lead to muscular imbalances which cause uneven wear and tear on joints and tissues. The result is pain and inflammation in the body. Chiropractors are trained to identify postural issues and eliminate symptoms by getting to the root of the problem.
Common Treatments
In order to realign the body and joints there is spinal manipulation, also known as a chiropractic ‘adjustment’. During spinal manipulation, the segments of the spine which are hypomobile (not moving well) have a controlled force applied manually to restore normal mobility. Once normal movement is regained and the joints and muscles are properly aligned, the tissues are able to heal and the undesired symptoms resolve.
Myofascial therapy and soft tissue mobilization are also used in chiropractic care to normalize muscle mobility by alleviating trigger points and tender areas in the muscles. Simple but effective exercises may also be prescribed to help reduce pain and restore function.
As with most health issues, identifying musculoskeletal problems early on is key to maintaining health, function, and quality of life. A chiropractor can teach you how to maintain a healthy posture to protect your back while you sleep, exercise and work.
Though chiropractic care rarely causes discomfort, sometimes patients may feel a mild soreness in the area of treatment similar to a soreness you might feel after exercise. This soreness typically resolves within a day or two. Compared to other treatments, chiropractic’s conservative approach offers a safe and effective option in treating musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction.
Even children benefit from chiropractic care. Many kids have a history of traumatic births, falls, and other accidents, but because they have such an adaptive capacity these problems are often ignored. However, these problems can create complications as they grow if they are not identified and addressed early on. Chiropractic care is gentle enough for young children and even babies, as the treatment is always tailored to the specific needs of the individual.
Laser Therapy
Laser Therapy is a non-invasive procedure that creates a photochemical response in damaged or dysfunctional tissues. It has been found to reduce inflammation, accelerate healing, and eliminate pain in acute and chronic clinical conditions. It works by converting light into biochemical energy which then speeds up the healing process to get rid of pain and inflammation. This is useful for new injuries or conditions that have been problematic for years.
Where pain medications often mask the pain, laser therapy stimulates the cells to heal themselves so the body is able to restore normal function. This type of therapy is about cultivating healthy tissue to eliminate the source of pain, and is a long-lasting—if not permanent—relief of symptoms.
Some of the physiological effects of laser therapy includes: reduction of inflammation, increased tissue proliferation and regeneration, accelerated soft tissue tensile strength, enhanced nerve regeneration and function, increased cell metabolism, increased enzymatic responses, increased cell membrane potentials, increased microcirculation and vasodilation, increased lymphatic flow, increased collagen production, and enhanced angiogenesis (forming of new blood vessels).
The type of laser used in our clinic is a Class IV laser, the most powerful laser made, which increases the depth of penetration and speed of healing. These powerful lasers can penetrate deep enough to speed up the healing of spinal discs, enabling them to heal faster by stimulating adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production and enhancing cell membrane permeability. Though its effects are far-reaching, the laser is safe to apply over metal implants, broken skin, and on acute injuries.
“Laser Therapy can be used to treat neck and back pain, disc herniations, soft tissue injuries, tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, myofascial trigger points, epicondylitis (tennis elbow), sprains, strains, repetitive stress injuries, chondromalacia patella, Runner’s knee, patellofemoral syndrome, iliotibial band syndrome, plantar fasciitis, degenerative joint conditions, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, neurogenic pain, sports injuries, shin splints and more!
*Many patients notice improvement in their condition in just one or two sessions, which may be scheduled three to five times per week until the condition is under control.
Spinal Decompression
Spinal Decompression is a treatment used to reduce the amount of pressure on the intervertebral discs. A machine is used to gently unload the pressure on the discs through a gradual pulling force which is applied to the spine in a controlled manner. Decompression therapy has been shown to reduce disc pressure and enhance the healing response.
Research indicates the disc is responsible for a significant number of incidents of back pain, leg pain, neck and arm pain syndromes. Since the disc doesn’t have it’s own blood supply, it doesn’t receive fresh blood and oxygen. Discs require diffusion, created by motion and decompression in order to restore nutrients and enhance healing.
Candidates are carefully screened by a skilled clinician to determine whether decompression will be appropriate. This treatment creates a relatively quick initial response. Patients tend to feel a sense of relief with centralization of symptoms and reduction of pain within 1-3 sessions. Full relief, if attainable through this passive treatment, will usually be within 10-20 sessions. Not all conditions are amenable to decompression, which is why patients are carefully evaluated prior to treatment.
Often times decompression therapy is combined with laser therapy. The lasers penetrate deep enough to affect the healing of discs, enabling them to heal in roughly half the time than with decompression alone. Lasers are also able to heal more severe disc herniations than decompression alone, due to their depth of penetration.
This therapeutic combination provides physiological benefits that no other modality can deliver, and is safe when performed by a properly trained technician. Laser and decompression have helped many patients avoid spinal surgery, and are an effective treatment for herniated discs, degenerative discs, facet syndrome, sciatica, post-surgical patients, spinal stenosis, neck pain, and low back pain.
Decompression therapy is very affordable, and highly recommended by neurological research. It was found that out of 778 cases of patients receiving spinal decompression 92% reported improvement. (Neurological Research; Volume 20, Number 3, April 1998).
Ozone Injections
Ozone is a colorless gas made up of three oxygen atoms. Ozone oxygen is found naturally in the body as part of the immune response. It regulates the immune system by calming it down when overactive (in such cases as auto-immune disease) and ramping it up when under-active (in cases such as cancer and AIDS). Ozone also stimulates enzymes to increase the uptake of oxygen in the body. It improves circulation and increases antioxidant protection, as well as stimulates mitochondrial energy production. It has been shown to be effective in treating inflammation in such cases as tendinitis, arthritis, and chronic pain disorders.
Because tendons and ligaments have a low vascular supply, their dysfunctions can be very difficult to treat and commonly become chronic cases. Studies have shown that intra-articular injections of Ozone significantly decrease pain intensity in patients with mild to moderate arthritis and improve their function. In a study done on Achilles tendon healing, it was revealed that patients who received Ozone Therapy had significantly higher breaking load and tensile strength in their tendons than those who did not. After just 24 hours there was a difference in the body’s ability to produce healthy tissue in those who received Ozone. As a result, the findings indicated that the Ozone Therapy had beneficial effects on healing.
In another study, 100% of patients treated with Ozone Therapy responded positively to the treatments. [Treatment of Enthesopathies with Peritendinous Injection of Oxygen/Ozone and Ultrasound-Guided Collagen therapy. Roberto Brembilla. Case Report Sep 20, 2016].
Calmare Therapy
Calmare Therapy is a pain management approach that uses a biophysical rather than a biochemical approach, avoiding the adverse side effects and addictive properties linked to narcotic pain killers. The Calmare machine rewrites the neural signature of pain messages going to the brain through a process called ‘plasticity’.
A message of ‘no pain’ is transmitted to the nerve via disposable surface electrodes applied to the skin in the region of pain. The perception of pain is cancelled when the ‘no-pain’ message replaces that of ‘pain’ using the same nerve pathway in a non-invasive way. These messages are received and processed in the brain as ‘normal’ thus overriding the previous ‘pain’ signals.
When the Calmare machine is turned on, patients report a buzzing sensation at the location of the electrodes. As the intensity is increased, patients report that the buzzing sensation replaces the pain sensation. Electrodes are not placed within the electrical proximity of pacemakers, defibrillators, or other electrical implants.
Calmare Therapy is safe and effective at treating pain, and has received FDA clearance in the United States for pain relief. This therapy has been effective in treating many conditions and diagnoses such as cancer, post-chemo pain, diabetes, neuropathy, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, back and neck pain, failed back surgery syndrome, phantom limb pain, pudendal nerve pain, and many other chronic pain conditions.
There have not been many documented side effects with this therapy. Sometimes people report the buzzing sensation to be uncomfortable, but if pain happens during the procedure the signal intensity is scaled back to a level of comfort. Sometimes the skin becomes slightly irritated where the electrodes were placed. Overall, reports in the literature have been largely free of any side effects at all.
Once the desired intensity and delivery is achieved, the machine stays on for about 50 minutes—which is the amount of time clinically shown to be most effective in relieving pain. After one treatment, the benefit is often short-lived, lasting minutes to hours. With repetitive days of treatment (usually 15 sessions over 3 weeks), the period of relief increases to last for weeks to months and in many cases, permanent relief.
There have been numerous articles published on Calmare Therapy including clinical practice summaries, prospective non-randomized clinics trials, and randomized controlled trials. There is substantial data that support the efficacy of Calmare in treating pain for long term relief.
Our Holistic Approach to Chiropractic Care
The holistic approach used by Dixie Chiro focuses on each aspect of a person – physical, emotional, spiritual, social and environmental. We believe that someone’s overall wellness can be influenced by each of these contributing factors.
Although chiropractic services are a form of physical adjustment, it can influence all other factors due to the results it achieves.
Physical: Gentle spinal adjustments are the basic chiropractic method used by our chiropractors here at Dixie Chiropractic. By releasing pressure in specific areas of the spine, it starts a process that opens the natural communication pathways in the body, allowing one to achieve optimal health from within.
Emotional: By freeing the internal intelligence in the body to communicate, we are also promoting emotional wellness. Our emotions are felt and expressed physically, along nerve pathways, in the chemistry of our body and they are a part of our mindset. Thus, emotional balance, which is an integral part of our well-being, is affected by chiropractic care.
Spiritual: In freeing the body of anything that is obstructing its ability to communicate, our chiropractors help our members begin to be open to other types of knowledge and experiences, including spiritual awareness. Due to the nature of chiropractic adjustments and how they affect the body, they naturally contribute to spiritual growth.
Social and/or Environmental: In working with one of our chiropractic specialists, members can be better poised to deal with social and environmental stresses and strains. As the body communicates on a whole new level, it becomes more resilient and stronger on all levels.
Book Your Visit Today
Now that you know a little bit more about how we utilize the wonders of chiropractic, contact us today to schedule an appointment so we can go over your needs.
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