Cleary Family Chiropractic: Blog

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...

Sciatica, also known as a pinched nerve, is a nerve that has pressure applied to it, causing pain and discomfort. When a pinched nerve occurs on the spine, this is usually caused by a herniated disc. At Cleary Family Chiropractic, located in Woodstock, GA., Dr. Matthew Cleary and Dr. Dave Sikanowicz can help alleviate your symptoms and correct the cause through non-surgical measures.     Symptoms of a pinched nerve are weakness, tenderness, prickly sensation, stabbing sensation, and a burning sensation. Most pinched nerves in the spine happen in the neck and lower back because these are the areas that are constantly moving. This causes radiated pain down the arms or legs. Sciatica is the name for this radiating leg or arm pain, named for the largest nerve in the body, the sciatic nerve, which is the cause of the problem.   Sciatica itself is characterized by the signature leg pain, accompanied by possible tingling, numbness, or weakness. These symptoms will travel down the low back thr...

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...