Author: Dr David Palmer

My Experience With Sciatica Relief.

People often assume that, because I am a Chiropractor, I must be immune to back pain and spinal problems. The truth is that I lean over people all day, pulling, pressing and generally using my body in a physical way. This opens the door for injuries and aches and pains to develop. I recently experienced Sciatica first hand, and it was not fun. Today I will share with you how I dealt with it and how I managed to stop it from setting me back. But first let me give you a little history.

After qualifying as a Chiropractor in Durban, I moved to the UK to expand on my Chiropractic work experience. My first Chiropractic locum job opened me up to the fascinating world of Posture Correction. It grabbed my attention and I decided to explore it further. I ended up working at clinics that focused on Corrective Care and fixing bad posture. This is where I learnt most of the skills that I use today.

I went through a lengthy process of regularly seeing my Chiropractor for corrective adjustments, and I spent all my free time in between patients doing specific exercises and traction. I was recommending similar things to my patients and I wanted to experience it first-hand. Within the first year, I was able to improve my posture dramatically. This has played a major role in keeping my spine healthy to date. I still see a Chiropractor for maintenance/wellness care and regularly perform specific stretches/exercises/traction. Even a healthy spine is still vulnerable to injury and we must do what we can to take care of our spines.

So let’s skip forward to what happened to me a few weeks ago. After a really busy day, I noticed a strange intermittent, achy pain in the back of my right thigh. It felt like someone was squeezing and releasing the muscle really tightly. I didn’t pay much attention to it initially, until the next day. It was worse!

The pain had spread to my ankle and it had become difficult and uncomfortable to put weight on my leg. It was very difficult to get into a pain free position, and I felt like I had to keep moving to try find some relief. If I lay on my back and lifted my leg straight up, it felt weak, but also extremely tight and sore in the thigh, calf and ankle. I did a few other tests and realised that I had Sciatica.

What I Did For Sciatica Relief.

After stressing about it for a while and wondering how I am going to survive with Sciatica, I realised that I am a Chiropractor and I am really well suited to solve this problem. So I did what I usually tell my patients to do.

I started with some piriformis and lower back stretches. They helped take away that deep ache for a moment, but it was very short lived. I then used a hard ball to work out the tension in these muscles. This was really sore, but it did give me some temporary Sciatica relief.

Next, I gave my Chiropractor a call and managed to book an appointment for the following day. It is not a great idea to try adjust/manipulate or crack your own spine, even the professionals leave it to the professionals. The hardest part came later that night whilst trying to fall asleep. After trying all sorts of different positions, I eventually found that lying on my side, with a cushion between my knees worked best for me. After a very restless night’s sleep, I was really looking forward to my visit to the Chiropractor.

My Chiropractor did a few tests and confirmed what I thought. I had Sciatica! He then adjusted both my lower and upper back, and I immediately felt some improvement. I continued to do the exercises over the course of the weekend, and each day it felt easier and easier.

Lessons I Learnt about Sciatica.

• No matter how healthy our spines are, they are vulnerable to injury, and back problems can happen to anyone.
• Poor posture and structure has a big influence on the health of our spines. The better aligned we are, the better we move, the better we function and generally the quicker we heal and respond to care when we do hurt ourselves. If you have not yet had your posture and spinal alignment assessed, then I recommend you should.
• I am very glad that I worked on correcting my posture when I was younger.
• Sciatica is not fun. It can be extremely limiting and prevent normal day to day activities. So don’t wait and hope it goes away. Go see a professional and have it assessed as soon as you can.
• I was lucky to get Sciatica relief within a few days. For some people, it can take weeks to months to get relief. Especially if you have a bad posture and haven’t been taking care of your spine.
• Healing takes time.

After a week or so I was feeling back to normal, but I know that if I am not careful and do something silly I can easily cause another injury. So, I will continue to see my Chiropractor, and I will continue doing my exercises for as long as I need to.

If you are looking for Sciatica relief then give us a call at Align Corrective Chiropractic on 031 562 9180.

After ten years, practicing as a Chiropractor, helping both people who are looking for a quick fix and those looking for a longer-term correction, I have realised one thing. Many people stop their course of treatment too soon. They base their decisions on their pain. As soon as the pain is gone, so are they. This is a mistake.

Chiropractic Myth: All I Need Is A “Quick Fix”

Pain is the body’s way of telling you that there is a problem. Think of it like the engine light on your car dashboard. Once the light turns on, the problem is already there and demands immediate attention. You could ignore it, disconnect the light or cover it with tape, but this wouldn’t fix the problem. Likewise, people often cover up their common symptoms, such as back pain or headaches, with painkillers. Some people even use Chiropractic as a “quick fix”. This is often just a temporary fix.

Even though many of our patients experience relief within a few visits, that doesn’t mean that the problem is gone. I think a lot of people assume “because the pain is gone, the problem must be fixed”. In reality, pain is often the first symptom to disappear. It can still take months to achieve full healing, to strengthen, to restore and maintain full function, and even longer to achieve structural correction. If you don’t complete this corrective process you are inviting a relapse.

The Pain Cycle

I have seen so many people caught in an ongoing cycle.

Pain – treating pain – feeling better – relapse – pain.

Chasing pain is a tiring process.

Why We Are Different

At Align Corrective Chiropractic we do things differently. We want to help you break out of this cycle. To heal, to move better, to function better, to strengthen and to correct underlying structural misalignments so that these pains don’t keep coming back.

We base our treatment plan on objective measures such as posture photographs, x-ray analysis, and other measurable tests. Together we discuss your options and set achievable goals. We want to work with you to keep your spine as healthy as possible.

If you are looking for a Durban North Chiropractor to help you break out of a pain cycle, give us a call on  031 562 9180.

I have lost count of the number of times someone has asked me “Is Chiropractic safe?” Many patients have mentioned that they put off seeing a Chiropractor for years because they were afraid, or nervous about being adjusted. People have told me they were worried that their Chiropractor would break their bones or cause permanent injury. The good news is, Chiropractic is remarkably safe. In fact I often adjust my friends and family. I also get adjusted regularly myself. To be honest I would not be doing this if I didn’t think it was completely safe.

Over the last ten years in practice I have narrowed it down to a few common reasons why someone might ask “Is Chiropractic safe?”

Will Chiropractic Hurt?

Patients often first consult a Chiropractor when they are in considerable pain. The painful area may already be injured, tight and inflamed. There is a chance that any hands on treatment may temporarily aggravate this condition further. This may cause some discomfort, but this usually eases off quite quickly. After a few visits most people start to feel a lot better. I have had many patients comment that their adjustments were gentler than they were expecting.

Can Chiropractic Cause a Stroke?

There have been numerous research studies showing no significant association with a stroke and chiropractic. (Here is one such study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4470078/). This study shows that the beginning stages of a stroke often result in neck pain and headaches. It is likely that this person would then consult a Chiropractor for these neck pains and headaches. The patient would later on have a stroke and think the Chiropractor was to blame, but this is not the case. The chances are that the patient would have had a stroke whether they saw a Chiropractor or not.

We are trained to assess a patient before treatment to determine if there is any risk of stroke. If we pick up any risks, we will refer you immediately for further testing, which may just help prevent a stroke. The overall risk of stroke in an average healthy person is very low.

Are Chiropractors Properly Trained?

In South Africa, Chiropractors complete a six-year course. This includes five years of theory and practical training, two years treating patients in the clinic, as well as completing a Master’s level dissertation to earn their Doctor’s title in Chiropractic. By the time we qualify we are highly trained in both assessing and treating patients with a range of neuromusculoskeletal conditions.

Are Chiropractic Adjustments Permanent?

One of the goals of a Chiropractic adjustment is to get a tight joint moving better. This is healthy for the joints, as they function best when they are moving and aligned properly. The clicking/popping that you may hear during an adjustment is not the bones breaking. It would actually require much more force to break the bones of a healthy individual than is possible during a standard Chiropractic adjustment. A once off adjustment may have quite a big effect on your pain levels, but it is not going to have a permanent effect. Your body will want to go back to what it is used to, due to habits and muscle memory. Long term structural changes are possible but this takes consistency, time and effort.

Is Chiropractic Safe?

I believe the main reason people may have been scared of the Chiropractor is because of a lack of knowledge. Once you understand that Chiropractic adjustments are both gentle and safe, and that Chiropractors undergo rigorous training to be able to deliver the appropriate adjustment, it takes away the fear. There are risks involves with any medical intervention, however these are minimal and can be avoided through taking a comprehensive history and assessing the patient thoroughly. If you have ever asked yourself “Is Chiropractic safe?” and are now ready to see a Chiropractor, give us a call on 031 562 9180. We would also be happy to answer any further questions you may have.

At Align Corrective Chiropractic, we often have patients who come to see us with multiple symptoms such as lower back pain, neck pain, headaches and sciatica. Our goal is to look at the bigger picture and determine if their structure is causing these symptoms. If we can improve their structure then we should be able to reduce their symptoms. So, not only can we help them feel better, but we can actually work on fixing the underlying problem.

Case Study #1

This patient initially came to see us with quite a few complaints. The main issue was a pain down the outside of the thigh, down the front of the leg, shin and into the foot on the right side. This had been happening for a good 15 years and may have been caused by frequent running when they were younger. The pain would come and go, and would get quite severe at times. It was aggravated by running and driving for long periods, and unfortunately their job required long distance driving on most days.

The patient had also been experiencing lower back pain on the right side for 5 years, and had recently developed frequent headaches. These headaches would cause a mild pain around the eyes, towards the end of the afternoon.

After a thorough examination, including digital posture photographs and spinal x-rays, we decided to take a corrective approach and began a corrective chiropractic care plan. This was not only to help reduce the pain associated with the sciatica, lower back pain and headaches but also to improve posture and make positive structural changes.

Corrective Care Plan

The treatment plan included regular chiropractic adjustments, very specific Mirror Image drop table adjustments, as well as Mirror Image exercises and traction/spinal remodeling exercises to be done at home. It didn’t take long before the patient started to feel much better. The lower back pain and headaches soon disappeared, and the leg pain had reduced to such an extent that they now only get it mildly, after long periods of driving. The patient also noticed big changes in their posture and it’s easy to understand why, when you see the changes so visually apparent in the x-rays. The below changes took six months to achieve, and even though the spinal alignment is not yet perfect, it is much closer to the ideal.

With Corrective Chiropractic Care, we don’t focus on the area that is sore (as this is often not where the problem lies). We rather take a look at the whole spine to determine where the problem is. In this patient’s case, it was her neck that was the most misaligned part of her spine and this is where we saw the biggest improvements.

Looking For The Cause

We often have patients who come to us with lower back pain, but when we examine them it’s their upper back or their neck that is the actual problem. Unfortunately, as our posture or alignment changes we progressively place more strain on our spinal structures. It has been shown that a forward head posture or slouch can actually stretch the spinal cord and increase the amount of strain in the lower back, leading to lower back pains. This is why we believe it is so important to look at the whole spine and not just the area that is sore. Once we know where the problem is, we can help to fix it.

If you have pains or problems that just keep coming back, it may be because you are missing the bigger cause. If you are looking for a Durban Chiropractor with a specific focus on spinal structure and alignment, give us a call on 031 562 9180.

The Different Types of Chiropractic Care.

If you have been to see a few different chiropractors over the years, then you may have noticed that not all chiropractors are the same. Many chiropractors will focus on the areas that they enjoy, or the kind of patients or conditions that they get the best results in. For some, it’s treating sports injuries, for others its treating babies, but for me, I really like helping people improve their posture and make positive changes to their structure.

As students, we are taught a pain relief model for patient care. This basically means that our goal is to get our patients feeling good, as quick as we can. It often involves a short term “quick fix” approach.

Early on in practice, I noticed a trend – patients would come in for a few visits, feel great, but then they would be back weeks or months later with the same issues. This got me interested in why these aches and pains kept coming back.

Although there are a number of factors involved, I found that good posture or structure was a key component in keeping a healthy spine and was extremely important to the person’s overall health too.

My Experience With Corrective Chiropractic Care

After qualifying as a Chiropractor, I moved to the UK and spent over three years practicing at corrective care clinics. I was exposed to a completely different approach to patient care, from that which I was used to. I saw people make massive improvements to their posture, and their health followed. I saw the effects that better posture had on their movements and simple activities, which had been a struggle previously. I had patients tell me how they had started sleeping better, and how their headaches had disappeared. It was clear to me that helping them improve their structure and posture had a much bigger effect on them than the pain relief approach I was used to.

I believe that poor posture is linked to a lot of the common issues that many people will see a chiropractor for – lower back pain, neck pain and headaches are just a few everyday problems that respond really well when posture is properly assessed and corrected.

This is why we focus on corrective care at Align Corrective Chiropractic. We believe that it is far more beneficial to fix the cause of the problem than to merely treat the symptoms.

We take a very specific, research-based approach (often with the use of x-rays) to assess your structure and help you fix it. If you are looking for a Durban Chiropractor with a focus on corrective care then give us a call on 031 562 9180.