Cleary Family Chiropractic: Blog

Does your neck often hurt or feel tired? Maybe you are able to trace the pain’s origin to a traumatic injury, or perhaps the pain developed over time as you looked down at a screen too much. Regardless, Cleary Family Chiropractic in Woodstock offers several treatment options, but patients should expect therapeutic exercise to be part of their recovery process. When a patient complains of neck pain, we will run tests including x-rays to learn more about the cause. We advise patients not to improvise their own therapeutic exercise without our advice. But usually, patients will be assigned stretches that will increase the strength of their muscles, taking some of the weight of their skull off their other tissues. These exercises are also meant to increase flexibility. They usually include rolling the head in a circle, bending the neck slowly in different directions, and holding the ear to the shoulder. Patients will gradually increase the number of stretches they do and how long they hold...

Arthritis is a common cause of back pain. Millions of Americans suffer from it, and many find it debilitating. But what, exactly, is it? Cleary Family Chiropractic in Woodstock is here to provide patients with safe, noninvasive relief, but patients should first understand some more about arthritis’s causes. When we speak of arthritis, or “joint inflammation,” we are describing something that can arise from several disorders. Some of those disorders, such as rheumatism, are due to a compromised immune system, but the most common is osteoarthritis. In our joints, the bones are cushioned by a slippery substance called cartilage. Our cartilage is mostly made up of a protein called collagen, and when collagen production decreases, cartilage can become deformed and wear away. As cartilage degenerates, the bones grow spurs, chip off, or grind against each other, triggering inflammation. The inflamed joint is stiff, often painful, and may put pressure on other parts of the body. A degenerative...