Month: <span>April 2024</span>

New Hope Family ChiropracticNews2024April
By Roger Lincoln April 24, 2024 Chiropractic Care, News

My Tailbone Hurts

Are you having pain below the belt line and it hurts when you are sitting or lying down?  Do you sometimes have an aching buttock pain that radiates into the hips or the groin area?  You most likely are experiencing sacral pain, coccyx pain, or S.I. joint pain.  Most people experience lower back pain that is found above or at the belt line but others experience pain below the belt line and lower.  Most doctors are not adept at dealing with that area because it is not associated with the more frequent lumbar disc-related conditions.  There are many causes of sacral pelvic pain, they include slips, falls, pregnancy, delivery, short leg, flat feet, and sitting on uneven surfaces.  Let’s look at the anatomy of the pelvis and how it functions and how the chiropractic profession has successfully treated these conditions with great success over the years.

The pelvis is made up of 4 bones, the two-ilium bones found on either side of the sacrum that we commonly refer to as the hips. The large bone between the ilium called the sacrum and attached to the tailbone is the coccyx that is commonly referred to as the tailbone.  The ilium articulates with the sacrum and the sacrum articulates with the 5th lumbar vertebrae and the 1st coccyx bone.  A bad slip or fall onto your buttock can cause a misalignment of these articulating joints causing chronic pain and inflammation and mimic sciatic pain.  Many times, surgery will be performed on the Lumbar region without any relief of buttock or sciatic symptoms.   

The X-ray below reveals a misaligned right ilium from a traumatic injury.  Also note how the spine is tilting to the right causing a subluxation at L4.  If these misalignments are not corrected the body will fixate and heal into this abnormal position resulting in wear and tear of the misaligned joints and inflammation of the surrounding nerves.  Organs that are supplied by those nerves will suffer and not function at their optimal levels.

No surgery stretching or strengthening of the soft tissue involved in this condition is going to correct the cause of the problem.  I have successfully treated these conditions for years.  If you or someone you know has been suffering from this problem, you can click on this link or call my office to schedule an appointment.   

By Roger Lincoln April 10, 2024 Chiropractic Care, Exercises, News, Therapy

Should I see a Chiropractor or go to Physical Therapy???

A patient case scenario “My back has been hurting for the past 6 months and getting worse so I decided to see my medical doctor for help.  After telling my doctor about my lower back and how it has been hurting, he gave me a prescription for anti-inflammatory medication, muscle relaxers, and a prescription for physical therapy.   I asked about going to a chiropractor, and he told me he didn’t know anything about chiropractic and I could try it if I wanted to but to be careful”.

This is a very common scenario because most people and medical doctors don’t know what a chiropractor treats.  Most people think that chiropractors treat back and neck pain which is just a symptom of what it is they treat.  A chiropractor treats a condition called a Subluxation.  A subluxation is a misalignment of a vertebra or combination of vertebrae in the spine that leads to nerve irritation which can cause a whole host of unwanted symptoms like back and neck pain.   Any joint in the body can subluxate and can be treated by a proficient chiropractor.  The sacrum/tailbone or ilium/hipbone are common nonspinal bones that can be subluxated and cause lower back and sciatic pain.  Many back surgeries that have an unsuccessful outcome are because the problem lies in the sacrum or sacral iliac joint and not in the spine.

Physical therapist treats back and neck problems and a host of other physical conditions.  Their goal is to rehabilitate the soft tissue (muscles, ligaments, tendons) of the body that are responsible for moving the joint and supporting the joint.  Physical therapy plays in important part in helping patients recover from soft tissue injuries and surgeries.  All chiropractors are also Doctors of Physiotherapy which provide the same function as physical therapy type work.  Most state insurance regulations do not allow chiropractors to bill for Physiotherapy so they do not practice physiotherapy which is an unfair practice.  If the spine is out of alignment (subluxated) it must be put back into alignment to correct the cause of the condition.  If the subluxation is not corrected the condition will persist.  No stretching, strengthening, medication, or surgery is going to correct a subluxation.

If you are having back pain don’t expect your medical doctor to refer you to a chiropractor.  You don’t need a referral to see a chiropractor.  Start with a chiropractor first and get your spine checked.  If it is not a misalignment problem your chiropractor will refer you to a Physical Therapist.   If you are having persistent back or neck problem click on the link or call my office to get your spine checked.