Cleary Family Chiropractic: Blog

People who sit all day have high rates of back pain. This isn’t surprising, since not only is it hard to get enough exercise while working in an office, but many people also don’t understand how to properly support their backs. At Cleary Family Chiropractic in Woodstock, we relieve people’s back pain, but we want everyone to increase their overall wellness by taking better care of themselves. We thought we'd offer a few pointers regarding office ergonomics. While sitting at a computer, you want to avoid slouching forward or backward into your chair. Position your desk and chair height so that when your feet are flat on the floor and your back is straight, your monitor is directly at eye level. Your elbows should be at ninety degree angles when your hands are resting on the desktop. You should be able to sit all the way back in the chair, so your lower back is supported by the chair’s back cushion. Don’t have anything in your back pockets while you’re sitting, and place your armres...

Do you suffer from soreness in your upper back? You’re not alone; although the condition is not as common as lower back pain, it is still widespread. Upper back pain is usually a condition that builds up over time. We can treat it safely and quickly at Cleary Family Chiropractic in Woodstock, but we want our patients to understand why preventive care and lifestyle changes are so important for avoiding relapses. The twelve vertebrae of the thoracic region have less mobility than those in the neck or lumbar region. Their connection to the ribs makes them more stable, and the powerful muscles of the shoulder wrap around the upper thoracic vertebrae. Still, they may develop arthritis or degenerative disc disease, and irritation in the shoulder muscles may be felt in the upper back. People also commonly wear out the connective tissues in their upper backs by slouching in cars or office chairs and neglect to keep the muscles there strong. If a nerve root in the thoracic spine is compressed,...

Back pain can get worse when it’s left untreated. Many of the problems in people’s spinal columns are due to degenerative conditions causing chronic inflammation. Although inflammation is triggered by the immune system, it causes problems of its own when it persists, including the development of bone spurs in the spine. Fortunately, we at Cleary Family Chiropractic in Woodstock provide holistic, low-risk treatment, preventing bone spurs from growing and minimizing the problems caused by ones already present. Bone spurs are protrusions from bone that build up in places with prolonged inflammation. They are common in people with osteoarthritis, whose joint-cushioning cartilage is wearing away. The facet joints of the spine connect the vertebrae to each other, and as their cartilage erodes, they rub against each other, causing irritation and new bone growth. Spinal spurs also commonly develop around herniated discs, which put pressure on the nearby soft tissues and are unable to function...

Ankylosing Spondylitis is the name of a kind of arthritis that can affect the spine. One of its defining symptoms is inflammation of the ligaments and tendons that attach to the vertebrae. Although it is a chronic condition, it is manageable through regular maintenance, and we at Clearly Family Chiropractic in Woodstock are committed to providing our patients with treatments that are safe and as non-intrusive as possible. The exact cause of ankylosing spondylitis is unknown, but it has a major genetic component. It most often occurs in young men and causes early morning stiffness in the lower back and pelvic region. It is often intermittent and can sometimes be felt in the hips and shoulders. In severe cases, the vertebrae may fuse together as the bone regrows during periods when the inflammation subsides. Treatment for ankylosing spondylitis revolves around keeping the spinal joints mobile and reducing inflammation. Spinal adjustments can prevent stiffness, and Active Release Techniq...

It’s no secret that if you suffer from back pain, you won’t sleep as well. But what may be less clear to patients is how certain lifestyle changes can help them get better sleep if they suffer from osteoarthritis. We’re dedicated to helping our patients at Cleary Family Chiropractic in Woodstock to free themselves of pain through holistic, minimally invasive means, so we want to explore the ways patients can escape the vicious circle of pain and insomnia. Osteoarthritis differs from other forms of arthritis in that it is characterized by mechanical wear to cartilage. As the bones rub together, their cushioning erodes and they form bony spurs at their tips, triggering inflammation in the surrounding tissues. The dread of pain often causes people more sleep deprivation than the pain itself, and when a person is short on sleep, their soft tissues become less elastic and supportive. If they suffer pain long enough, it may become centralized, meaning that their body is continually sending ...

Exercise is crucial to a healthy lifestyle and is often a core component in our patients’ recovery from back aches. Cycling is especially popular, since it won’t jostle the spine or other joints with impacts. However, lower back pain is a common complaint among cyclists, and we at Cleary Family Chiropractic in Woodstock want our patients to know to take steps that will prevent it. As with any sport, it’s important for cyclists to have properly-fitted equipment. Often, when people get used bicycles, they never get them properly refitted, but this will become a problem if they have to reach too far forward to reach the handlebars. Ideally, a person should be free to shift posture on the bicycle during the course of their ride so they won’t hold one position or stretch their lumbar spine for too long. However, professional cyclists also commonly experience lower back pain, and this probably isn’t due to old equipment. As a person cycles, the muscles supporting the lumbar region of their ...

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...

Have you ever accidentally contorted your body in a strange way that resulted in a sharp pain stopping mobility in a part of your body? You might have experienced a pinched nerve. Pinched nerves can occur anywhere along the spine, including in your neck and upper, mid, and lower back. They can even happen in any joint of your body. We at Cleary Family Chiropractic know all about the dreaded pinched nerve and how painful it makes doing the simplest tasks. Sometimes the nerve can move back into place naturally. However, if the pinched nerve is severe enough, you will need spinal adjustments to correct it.   Symptoms that you might have a pinched nerve include:   - Lower back pain - Numbness, tingling, or burning sensation in your arms, legs, fingers, or toes - Pain radiating along your spine - Severe headaches or migraines - Pain that shoots down your arm or leg - Neck pain   A pinched nerve can be caused by subluxation, disc degeneration, osteoarthritis, or disc herniation. These are s...

Back pain. Maybe you’re lucky enough to not have experienced it. It’s no secret that as we age, we become more susceptible to certain ailments. But did you know that back pain can affect even the fittest person? Sometimes all it takes to injure your back is an honest mistake, other times it’s out of our control and comes down to genetics. We at Cleary Family Chiropractic recognize that back pain is common, but it doesn’t mean you have to suffer through it. Dr. Matthew Cleary specializes in chiropractic care and pain management and can help get you back on the road to a pain-free life.    Some common causes of back pain include:   - Lack of exercise - Arthritis - Improper lifting - Excess weight - Skeletal irregularities - Muscle or ligament strain - Osteoporosis - Bulging or ruptured discs - Age   There are other risk factors associated with back pain, such as certain diseases, psychological conditions, and smoking. In some cases, back pain can be severe enough that only a chiropract...

At Cleary Family Chiropractic, we find that the majority of our patients with back pain lack core stability. A weak core can increase the risk of disc bulges and nerve damage. There are numerous exercises that can be done, even in the comfort of your own home with little to no equipment needed, to steadily build your core, relieve back pain and ultimately prevent future back pain. Some of our favorite core-building exercises include: Plank Clamshell Bird Dog Glute Bridge Single-Leg Progression Pelvic Tilt/Glute Bridge Side Plank Tabletop Leg Press Superman Dead Bug Cat Stretches Reverse/Forward Lunge These exercises can also help with balance, function, stability and limit the chances of getting seriously injured. The chiropractors at Cleary Family Chiropractic want their patients leaving the practice with new knowledge about their back pain and how they can treat it with an at-home regimen on days when they do not see a chiropractor. However, it is important to remember that if any o...

Cleary Family Chiropractic uses CBP, also known as “Chiropractic BioPhysics,” a technique designed to improve spine and postural alignment. This non-invasive technique combines joint and body part adjustments, extension traction of the head and neck, “mirror image” stretching exercises, and manipulation of the spine. While doctors treat patients symptomatically, chiropractors see the body as something that needs to be entirely maintained, like a well-oiled machine.    The CBP technique also helps improve:   Muscle reflexes Nerve reflexes Balance Head/neck alignment Long-term pain relief   The CBP technique focuses on correcting the curvature of the spine to a normal, healthy state. If you’ve recently suffered a personal or work injury, or experience constant headaches, dizziness, back pain or neck pain, your body is telling you to see a chiropractor! In most cases, poor posture is to blame for these problems. Cleary Family Chiropractic is committed to helping patients live a pain-free...

Degenerative disc disease is an age-related condition that happens when the discs between the vertebrae in your back breaks down and causes pain. As you age, changes in your spine can lead to the loss of cushioning, fragmentation, and herniation in your back Not everybody experiences symptoms of degenerative disc disease, it differs for each patient. If you are experiencing pain in your buttocks, arms, or legs, you may have degenerative disc disease. Other signs include numbness and tingling in the arms and legs. At Cleary Family Chiropractic, treatment for Degenerative Disc Treatment may include hot or cold packs, physical therapy, stretching techniques, and surgery in more severe cases. While Degenerative disc disease can happen naturally, there are things you can do to prevent it. Alcohol and nicotine have proven to be damaging to your bones. Living a healthy lifestyle goes a long way to preventing back and other problems. If you are experiencing any signs of Degenerative disc disea...

Back pain and neck pain may arise from conditions that build up over time, but are triggered by a particular event. Often, the event that finally strains a muscle or ruptures a disc is an accident while the patient is carrying something heavy. We employ a wide variety of treatments at Cleary Family Chiropractic in Woodstock, but we also highly value prevention. When lifting heavy loads, there are some key safety tips we want our patients to keep in mind. Before you attempt to lift an object make sure the entire path between it and your destination is clear and that all the doors are propped open. Know which way you’ll need the object to face when you set it down, and wear slip-resistant shoes. Before lifting the object, feel it out to determine its center of gravity. To lift it, squat down and then propel yourself upward slowly with your legs. You should carry the thing resting against your chest and at your body’s vertical midline. While walking, keep your head up. When you have to go...

Do you suffer from back pain or neck pain? Do you often feel fatigued or weak? You may benefit from Electric Muscle Stimulation. Also known as EMS or e-stim, this is one of several complementary treatments we offer at Cleary Family Chiropractic in Woodstock for soft tissue ailments. It can be used to loosen tight muscles, reduce inflammation, and speed workout recovery time. E-stim devices generate an electric pulse through mechanical vibration. The pulse is transmitted through wires ending in pads that are placed on the patient’s body. Muscles convulse rapidly when electric current enters them. This flushes out old blood, letting in new blood that is rich in nutrients. The nutrients allow the muscles to heal more quickly. Stimulation also releases endorphins, the pain relief hormone produced naturally by the body. A stronger current can be generated to reach deeper muscles. The process only takes ten to fifteen minutes, although injured patients may undergo it several times. Most peop...

Spinal misalignments can occur for several reasons. Some do not always cause pain, but still have alarming implications for the body. We offer comprehensive treatments at Cleary Family Chiropractic, with each scientifically vetted as non-addictive and minimally invasive. Among the disorders we’ll check each patient for is spondylolisthesis, the slippage of one vertebra over another. The vertebrae are connected by facet joints. Slippage in a vertebra could be due to a small fracture in one of the joints, which is the most frequent cause of back pain in teenagers. Usually, it is one of the upper lumbar vertebrae that slips. Spondylolisthesis can also occur due to degenerative disc disease. As the discs separating the vertebral bodies dry out or become rigid, their shrinkage makes them less effective at keeping the adjoining bones in place. Older women are more at risk for the degenerative form of spondylolisthesis. Although spondylolisthesis can occur without the patient being aware of i...

If you’ve ever had a bruised tailbone, you know it’s no fun. The body can usually heal damage in this area on its own, but Cleary Family Chiropractic is happy to provide patients with safe pain management. We can also provide diagnostics to better understand what is causing a patient’s discomfort. The tailbone is scientifically called the coccyx, and it’s made up of small, fused vertebrae that dangle from the end of the spine. It is anchored by the powerful muscles and ligaments of the pelvic region, which usually serve to shield it from blunt trauma. It is rare for the coccyx to crack, but the tissues surrounding it can bruise. Pain related to it is scientifically called “coccydynia.” People are particularly vulnerable to tailbone injuries during activities such as cycling and horseback riding, or while giving birth. Patients will have to rest while they recover, but we can provide them with chiropractic wedges to sit on without causing further pain. Manual adjustments, ultrasound, an...

The alignment of the entire body depends on the integrity of our feet. When there is a problem with the feet, people may compensate by tilting their knees or hips, causing the spine to be out of alignment. Cleary Family Chiropractic provides spinal adjustments, but to prevent future problems, patients may need to get new pairs of shoes. Good posture depends on proper arch support. This means that a shoe must provide support both underneath and on the side of a foot’s arch. Supportive flip-flops, dress shoes, and sandals are becoming more widely available, but most of them should still be avoided. Sneakers generally provide good support, but they need to be replaced when they get worn down, which could happen to running shoes after just a few months. The best sneakers are ones with high, cushioned cuffs and tongues to support the ankle, but which are lightweight and have traction. When people buy shoes, they should wear the kind of socks they’ll normally wear with that type of shoe for ...

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...