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Neck and headache pain are common problems that affect millions of men and women around the world. If you suffer from this type of issue, you're not alone. The good news is that chiropractic care is a great way to not only treat these common issues, but also help prevent future episodes.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps With Neck Pain and Headaches

For many years, people with neck and headache pain in Memphis have been helped by the chiropractic adjustments of Dr. Amodeo. Our experience is supported by a recent review done in Canada that found that non-surgical, non-drug treatments are the best choice for neck and headache pain.

The study looked at 15 studies from 1990 to 2015 and found that conservative treatment comprised of chiropractic adjustments, exercises, and stretches was suggested before resorting to drugs or more invasive treatments.

Previous studies have shown that chiropractic is effective and safe for neck pain and many other health conditions.

We Can Help Patients Find Comfort From Neck Pain and Headaches

If you're troubled with neck pain or headaches, Dr. Amodeo and our staff are here to help you recover. Give our Memphis office a call today at (901) 757-8311 for an appointment today.

Reference

Varatharajan S, Ferguson B, Chrobak K, et al. Are non-invasive interventions effective for the management of headaches associated with neck pain? An update of the Bone and Joint Decade Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders by the Ontario Protocol for Traffic Injury Management (OPTIMa) Collaboration. European Spine Journal 2016; February 6:1-29.

There are many different kinds of headache, but one of the most common types is known as "cervicogenic headache," or those that originate in your neck.

Dr. Amodeo sees a lot of patients in our Memphis office who are struggling with recurring headaches. Fortunately, chiropractic adjustments can often help, potentially reducing these types of headaches by 50%, and research confirms it.

A study was conducted involving 80 participants who reported experiencing at least five cervicogenic headaches during the prior three months. The goal was to discover how effective chiropractic care was for this type of head pain, as well as to ascertain the number of treatment sessions required to achieve a positive effect.

The individuals were split into four separate groups, so that each group was similar in age, gender, number of cervicogenic headaches, and their intensity. Of the four groups, two engaged in chiropractic treatments and two received light massage. Furthermore, one group assigned to each treatment received eight sessions and the other group received double that amount.

Each patient was assessed based on head pain, neck pain, and disability prior to the study and 12 and 24 weeks after treatment was complete. The authors found that those who received chiropractic as opposed to massage reported fewer headaches at the conclusion of the study. Furthermore, improvements were maintained when checked six months after treatment ended.

Furthermore, patients who were taking medications for their headaches were able to lower their intake after completing the study. Those who received chiropractic adjustments had lower medication usage 24 weeks post-study.

Dr. Amodeo has helped many people who were suffering from headaches in our Memphis office. Call us today at (901) 757-8311 for more information or for an appointment.

Haas M, Spegman A, Peterson D, Aickin M, Vavrek D. Dose response and efficacy of spinal manipulation for chronic cervicogenic headache: a pilot randomized controlled trial. The Spine Journal 2010; 10: 117-128.

Dr. Amodeo sees many people weekly in our busy Memphis chiropractic office who are looking for relief from the pain and agony they feel due to herniated discs. Our experience isn't unique; the scientific literature verifies that chiropractic care is a successful way to treat herniated disc pain.

Don't Suffer! Dr. Amodeo and Chiropractic Care Helps With Disc Herniation

One particular study involved 27 people, 8 male and 19 female, who had magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirming a disc herniation in either their neck or lower back. The people reported that they were experiencing pain, limited range of motion, and sensory issues bad enough to keep them off work.

During the course of the research period, the subjects were managed using one of two common chiropractic practices: traction for herniated discs in the cervical area or flexion distraction for the men and women who had herniation issues in the low back.

Each individual was treated four or five times per week for the first two weeks, then three times each week, and then as needed for the remainder of the study. Depending on the seriousness of the disc herniation, therapy varied anywhere from six weeks to six months, with MRIs being performed at various stages to determine what effect, if any, the chiropractic care was having in regard to the disc herniation.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps With Back Pain and Herniated Disc

The researchers discovered that 80 percent of the participants obtained a "good clinical outcome," meaning reduced pain and a reduction in other issues, such as numbness. Additionally, 77 percent of these individuals also showed MRI evidence that their disc herniation was either reduced or resolved completely. This resulted in 78 percent of the study participants being able to return to their place of work and led the researchers to conclude that chiropractic care is both "safe and helpful" for disc herniations.

If you have a herniated disc and suffer from chronic back pain and are near Dr. Amodeo in Memphis, contact our office today to see what chiropractic can do for you!

Reference
BenEliyahu, DJ. Magnetic resonance imaging and clinical follow-up: study of 27 patients receiving chiropractic care for cervical and lumbar disc herniations. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 1996;19(9):597-606.

In our Memphis office, we see many patients who are suffering from back pain, and some of these people have been told they might need surgery to recover. Fortunately, Dr. Amodeo has helped many people get relief without the need for any type of surgery. The scientific literature agrees with the results we see in our practice. One research study published in the medical journal Spine found that consulting with a chiropractor as your first step in overcoming with your back issues may literally keep you out of the operating room.

In this report, medical researchers from Dartmouth analyzed data from 1,885 workers from Washington state who first saw either an orthopedic surgeon or a chiropractor for their back pain issues. They then examined three years' worth of follow-up medical data to find out whether the patients ended up having back surgery in an attempt to correct the issue.

What the authors found was that about 43% of the people who first consulted with a surgeon for their back pain ended up with surgery in that 3-year time span, whereas only 1.5 percent of those who first consulted with a chiropractor had the same fate. The authors wrote:

"Even after controlling for injury severity and other measures, workers with an initial visit for the injury to a surgeon had almost nine times the odds of receiving lumbar spine surgery compared to those seeing primary care providers, whereas workers whose first visit was to a chiropractor had significantly lower odds of surgery."

These are remarkable outcomes. Consulting with a chiropractor dramatically reduces your odds of having back surgery, plus the chiropractic patients in this study "had lower odds of chronic work disability" and they also had fewer expensive MRI tests.

Let's also consider this important point: this study was performed by orthopedic surgeons from Dartmouth College, and published in the world's most influential medical journal on spinal injury.

Why You Should Avoid Surgery

Any surgery has risks, but a major downside linked to spinal surgery is that there's a very high rate of failure. In an important review in the European Spine Journal, researchers wrote:

"Failed back surgery is a problem that has become sufficiently widespread to even warrant its own special conferences, with recent reviews reporting failure rates ranging from 5 to 50%."

The authors of this same study concluded:

"It is extremely difficult to identify unequivocal predictor factors that can be used to accurately predict the outcome of surgery."

As a chiropractor, Dr. Amodeo believes that surgery should be the absolute last choice for treating back pain. Chiropractic works to restore your spine to its normal function--without risky surgery or drugs--and many research studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of chiropractic for back pain.

If you live in Memphis and you need care for your back pain, give our office a call today at (901) 757-8311 for a consultation or an appointment. We'll help get you back on the road to a pain-free life!

Studies

• Keeney BJ, Fulton-Kehoe D, Turner JA, Wickizer TM, Chan KC, Franklin GM. Early predictors of lumbar spine surgery after occupational back injury: results from a prospective study of workers in Washington State. Spine 2013;38(11):953-964.
• Mannion AF, Elfering A. Predictors of surgical outcome and their assessment. European Spine Journal 2006;15(Suppl 1):S93-S108.
  

If you suffer from back pain after a car accident, don't despair. Dr. Amodeo sees this type of problem very often in our Memphis office. Why is back pain such a common condition after an auto injury? How can your chiropractor help you recover?

During a rear-end car crash, your car and car seat are quickly accelerated forward against your torso. Since car seats don't perfectly align with the curvature of your back, the car seat can put inconsistent force on your lower back. This can cause some of your spinal vertebrae to move in one direction while an adjacent vertebrae might move in another direction. This differential movement can sprain or strain the tissues that hold your spine together. These types of injuries can cause chronic back pain if not treated right away. Fortunately, chiropractic is one of the most effective ways to treat back pain.

Dr. Amodeo has been helping patients in Memphis since 2011, so we know what you're experiencing. We're here to help you, too. Dr. Amodeo will first determine what's causing your pain and then work to restore your body to its natural functioning. Ready to make an appointment? Give us a call at (901) 757-8311 and we'll get you back on the road to health.

When you're trying to sustain your family, take care of your household, and pay all of your bills on time, every day at your job counts. Work injuries can be a serious problem for many people, and we see many of these types of injuries in our Memphis office. Dr. Amodeo understands your situation and is here to help.

The benefits of chiropractic for work injuries are well-established. A 2013 research paper involving over 600 adults who were troubled with either back or neck pain found that the people who didn't see a chiropractor missed work at twice the rate of those who were seeing a chiropractor.

So, why don't more people use chiropractic care?

According to the participants in this report, two of the major factors were that they thought they needed a referral for chiropractic care (which is typically no longer true) and they overestimated the costs associated with chiropractic treatment sessions by almost 70 percent.

The truth is, chiropractic patients actually spend less on care than medical patients, plus they are less likely to use drugs for their symptoms.

If you live in Memphis and you've been injured at work, we can help. Give our office a call today at (901) 757-8311 for an appointment.

References

"Thousands of Minnesotans with Back and Neck Pain Don't Seek Treatment." (2013, June 12). ChiroCare.

As trauma to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is often rather painful, we do our best to help our Memphis patients find relief as quickly and effectively as possible. In fact, Dr. Amodeo will tell you that the medical research shows just how much chiropractic can help ease discomfort in the jaw.

For example, one study published in Physiotherapy Theory and Practice included 15 participants with jaw pain who were managed with neck adjustments, middle-back manipulation, and trigger point therapy via dry needling. Subjects were assessed prior to these methods and at 15 days and two months post-treatment. They reported positive outcomes such as reduced pain, greater jaw movement, and lower impairment at both follow-ups.

Another clinical study conducted a review of almost 800 papers involving manual and manipulative therapy for disorders such as TMJ and discovered similar findings. The group concluded that there is a "fair...level of evidence" that chiropractic care can help ease pain associated with jaw pain and other upper extremity disorders.

This is great news since the causes of TMJ are largely unknown. While trauma to the jaw area can cause pain symptoms, there are other causes to consider as well, such as grinding teeth, arthritis, and clenching of the jaw due to stress.

No matter what is making your jaw hurt, call Dr. Amodeo today and make an appointment to come into our Memphis location. We'll do our best to help you smile pain-free!

Studies

• Gonzalez-Iglesias J et al. (2013, November). Mobilization with movement, thoracic spine manipulation, and dry needling for the management of temporomandibular disorder: a prospective case series. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice;29(8):586-95
• Brantingham J et al. (2013, March-April). Manipulative and multimodal therapy for upper extremity and temporomandibular disorders: a systematic review. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics;36(3):143-201
• Oral Care. WebMD. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/guide/temporomandibular-disorders-tmd on November 2, 2015

We see a lot of sports injuries in our Memphis office, and Dr. Amodeo is often able to help these athletes. Stanford Children’s Hospital reports that over 3.5 million children aged 14 and below are injured each year while playing sports. Add that to the almost 2 million adults hurt every year while participating in sports-related activities, according to statistics collected by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can begin to see the importance of preventing these sorts of common injuries. One approach to potentially realize that goal, as stated in a study released in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to receive routine chiropractic care.

In Australian Rules football, hamstring and other leg injuries are commonplace, often sidelining the players and affecting their team's likelihood of securing a win. One particular study was administered using 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers to see if chiropractic could diminish these injuries and help keep them in the game.

For this study in particular, all of the players received medical treatment. In addition, half of them also received chiropractic treatments at the rate of 1 session each week for the first 6 weeks, biweekly treatments for the next three months, and one treatment a month for the last three months of the study. The remaining group were given no chiropractic intervention whatsoever and were used as the control group to determine the benefits of chiropractic care.

After 24 matches, specialists noted a diminished number of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had received chiropractic care. Furthermore, that same group also missed fewer matches related to non-contact knee injuries. This lead the researchers to come to the conclusion that chiropractic should be made an addition to sports training programs to effectively reduce the number of leg injuries.

If you or your child plays sports and you would like to make sure more time is dedicated on the field as opposed to on the bench, call our Memphis office at (901) 757-8311 and make an appointment today. We will do our best to keep you in the game!

References

• Hoskins, W, & Pollard, H. (2010, April 8). The effect of a sports chiropractic manual therapy intervention on the prevention of back pain, hamstring and lower limb injuries in semi-elite Australian Rules footballers: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, 11(64), doi:10.1186/1471-2474-11-64
• Misra, A. (2014, March 17). Common sports injuries: Incidence and average charges. Department of Health & Human Services.
• Stanford Children’s Hospital. (n.d.). Sports injury statistics.

According to experts, approximately 5 percent of the population will experience painful disorders like frozen shoulder syndrome at some point in their lives. That makes shoulder pain a common occurrence and one that Dr. Amodeo sees in our Memphis office on a regular basis.

Usually, this condition is more common for people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, and it tends to affect women more frequently than men. While ice, heat, and gentle stretches can sometimes help relieve the pain, so too can chiropractic.

As an example, a study published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine looked at 50 patients with frozen shoulder who were given chiropractic care. The duration of care ranged from 11 days to 51 days, with 28 days being the average.

The authors found that nearly all of the patients fared extremely well with chiropractic care. The study found:

• 8 of the subjects reported 50-75 percent improvement
• 25 indicated improvement ranging from 75- 90 percent
• 1 participant had complete resolution of their frozen shoulder pain

Only one participant reported an improvement of 50 percent or less, so studies like this demonstrate just how effective chiropractic can be when it comes to decreasing shoulder pain and increasing quality of life.

Let Dr. Amodeo help you ease your suffering by contacting our Memphis office and scheduling your appointment today.

Resources

Murphy F et al. (2012, December). Chiropractic management of frozen shoulder syndrome using a novel technique: a retrospective case series of 50 patients. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine;11(4):267-272

Dr. Amodeo works with many sciatica patients here in our Memphis office, and quite a few of these men and women were nervous that they might require surgery to treat their pain. The most recent research indicates that a large number of people don't need surgery for this prevalent issue, and that chiropractic is more beneficial at resolving sciatic nerve pain.

A popular surgery for sciatica is microdiscectomy, and in a 2010 study, specialists examined 80 women and men with sciatica who were referred for this operation.

Forty patients were then randomly sorted into one of two groups. The first group received surgical microdiscectomy and the second group was given chiropractic care.

Both groups got better; however, no apparent difference in outcome was recorded one year post-treatment between either group. In addition, around sixty percent of the participating patients who could not find assistance from any other treatment approach "benefited from spinal manipulation to the same degree as if they underwent surgical intervention."

Simply put, chiropractic provided the same positive benefits as surgery without having to endure the greater levels of surgery-based pain or suffer through lengthy recovery times often affiliated with that type of treatment option. Additionally, you also don't run the risks associated with surgical microdiscectomy, such as nerve root damage, bowel or bladder incontinence, bleeding, or infection.

Surgery should be the last option for sciatica pain. If you live in Memphis and you're being affected by back pain or sciatica, give Dr. Amodeo a call today at (901) 757-8311. We'll help determine the origin of your pain and work hard to get you relief.

References

• McMorland, G et al. Manipulation or microdiskectomy for sciatica? A prospective randomized clinical study. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2010;33(8):576-584.
• Solberg TK, Nygaard OP, Sjaavik K, Hofoss D, Ingebrigtsen T. The risk of "getting worse" after lumbar microdiscectomy. European Spine Journal 2005;14(1):49-54.