Cleary Family Chiropractic: Blog

Pain in your back may be due to a problem further down your body. When people have knee pain, they’re likelier to adopt poor posture, keeping pressure off their aching joint by thrusting out a hip and bending their back to the other side to keep their balance. This is terrible for the lower back and pelvic muscles, and while we at Cleary Family Chiropractic in Woodstock can provide safe and minimally invasive treatment, we want people to better understand how knee pain develops. When a person is suffering from stiffness and soreness in the knee, we call that “patellofemoral syndrome.” The kneecap is a sesamoid bone, which means it does not connect to the rest of the skeleton in the way most bones do. Instead, it rests on cartilage in a trench at the bottom of the femur and is held in place by muscles and ligaments. When those tissues become inflamed and the kneecap is displaced, it may erode its supporting cartilage. Patellofemoral Syndrome tends to be worse when a person is walking u

A fall can permanently damage a senior’s joint health. Lower back pain is one of the most common ailments in the United States, and the fact that one fourth of Americans over the age of sixty-five suffer a fall each year is one of the major reasons why. As chiropractors who maintain long-term interest in our patients’ well-being, we at Cleary Family Chiropractic want the households we serve to understand how they can reduce environmental hazards and minimize risk. Good balance requires good posture and weight distribution on the feet. When a person has foot pain, they tend to compensate by leaning too far and putting strain on their back muscles. Seniors should wear supportive shoes as much as possible, including when they are inside the house. Their shoes should have soles with good grip and should stabilize their ankles. Walking areas should be kept clear of carpets that create uneven floor height and have upturned corners, and hallways should be well-lit.  A person will be at much

Imagine this: when you lean backward, a muscle spasm starts in your back. It travels down the back of your leg or into your shoulder and up to your skull. The pain is dull and throbbing, but it’s hard to predict how long it will last. If this sounds familiar, you may be suffering from Facet Joint Syndrome. We frequently treat this problem at Cleary Family Chiropractic in Woodstock, but it remains little known and many people don’t ask for help with it. In the back of our vertebrae is a hollow, bony protrusion that the spinal cord runs through. The protrusions attach to each other at something on either side called a facet joint. Unlike the spinal disc, the facet joints are made up of bones cushioned by cartilage and lubricated by synovium produced by a capsule. They are mobile enough to allow the spine some degree of torsion and to move back and forth, but they also prevent the vertebrae from sliding out of place. A person could feel symptoms of Facet Joint Syndrome if the tissues of

Raking is a great way to get exercise and sunlight this fall season. But if you do it improperly or have a history of back injuries, you will be at greater risk of developing back pain. We highly value preventive care at Cleary Family Chiropractic in Woodstock, so we thought it would be a good idea to provide our patients with a few basic safety tips. The first things to think about when raking are your clothing and equipment. Your clothes should be lightweight, breathable, and allow you to stretch. They should be form-fitting, and you’ll need to remove dangling jewelry. You should also wear shoes with slip-resistant soles and that provide arch support. The rake should be light and have a long enough handle for you to use without bending down. Try to plan your raking so you can do it when the leaves are dry and won’t weigh as much. Warm up by doing dynamic stretches for at least five minutes. The American Chiropractic Association recommends raking with one foot forward and one back, s