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Unfortunately, a large number of our Harleysville, PA patients are familiar with the pain caused by a herniated disc all too well. On a positive note, Dr. Szilagyi has helped many people with disc pain, and a number of medical studies have verified that chiropractic can help people recover from this kind of condition.

Research on Chiropractic and Disc Herniations

In one study, specialists from Switzerland recruited 148 patients who were coping with pain in their lower back and legs due to a herniated disc (which was confirmed through magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI). Each individual then received chiropractic adjustments that focused on the area of his or her disc herniation.

Data was obtained after the preliminary treatment session at set intervals--namely, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year--to ascertain what kind of short-term and long-term effects, if any, chiropractic care offers when it comes to resolving this particular condition. Among the information obtained was the individual's self-reported changes in both back and leg pain.

Investigators found that, as a whole, the patients reported "significant improvement" for both types of pain every time the results were collected. In fact, over 90% of the patients reported that their pain "improved" within the first three months, with 88% still citing improvement one year after their first treatment session.

Even those people who were defined as "chronic" still reported an improvement in pain at a rate of 89 percent one year beyond when treatment first began. This is the same positive result that was found in the following case study.

Disc Herniation and Chiropractic: A Case Study

In this paper, a 26-year-old man had presented with disc herniation symptoms such as pain in the lower back, left leg, and left groin area, along with left foot drop and muscle weakness. He had suffered with these problems for more than two years after sustaining an athletic injury, and his disc herniation was confirmed via MRI.

After receiving chiropractic, "The patient responded favorably and his multi-symptom complex resolved within 90 days of treatment." In addition, the patient was still enjoying relief one year after the chiropractic intervention.

Studies like these show how beneficial chiropractic can be when it comes to alleviating herniated disc pain and relieving the symptoms they bring about. So, if you are suffering from back ache caused by a herniated disc and wish to find some relief, chiropractic might be an effective solution.

Don't suffer from chronic herniated disc pain. Give our Harleysville, PA office a call today at (215) 256-4345 for a consultation or appointment.

References

• Leemann S, Peterson CK, Schmid C, Anklin B, Humphreys BK. Outcomes of acute and chronic patients with magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed symptomatic lumbar disc herniations receiving high-velocity, low-amplitude, spinal manipulative therapy: a prospective observational cohort study with one-year follow-up. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2014;37(3):155-163.
• Polkinghorn BS, Colloca CJ. Treatment of symptomatic lumbar disc herniation using activator methods chiropractic technique. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 1998;21(3):187-196.
  

Dr. Szilagyi sees a lot of people troubled with carpal tunnel syndrome in our busy Harleysville, PA chiropractic office. While some people think that the source of this wrist-related pain is muscular, it's actually a syndrome that stems from the nerves--and not just the nerves in your hands.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Recent research printed in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy evaluated 71 women between the ages of 35 and 59 who were diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Upon investigating the subjects' neck range of motion, the doctors found that the women had reduced cervical mobility when compared to a healthy control group.

In addition, it was also observed that the degree of the women's reported carpal tunnel pain was connected to the lateral flexion of the cervical spine. In short, the less range of motion in the neck area, the greater the level of pain.

This study is extremely important, as you can't effectively treat a problem until you fully understand its source. By understanding that the root of carpal tunnel issues is in the neck, this means that natural approaches such as chiropractic can often restore normal function, eliminating the need for risky surgery.

We Can Help Clients Find Relief From Carpal Tunnel

If you have carpal tunnel pain, call our Harleysville, PA location and ask how Dr. Szilagyi can help you get relief!

Resources

De-la-Llave-Rincon A et al. (2011, May). Women with carpal tunnel syndrome show restricted cervical range of motion. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy;41(5):305-10.
Simon H. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. University of Maryland Medical Center. Updated May 6, 2012. Retrieved from https://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/carpal-tunnel-syndrome on November 2, 2015.

In our Harleysville, PA office, we see plenty of people who are troubled with back pain, and a few of these patients have been informed they might need surgery to recover. Thankfully, Dr. Szilagyi has helped many people get pain relief without the need for any type of operation. The scientific research confirms the results we see in our office. One research study published in the medical journal Spine found that consulting with a chiropractor as your first move in dealing with your back problems may literally keep you out of the operating room.

In this research study, medical researchers from Dartmouth reviewed data from about 1,900 workers from Washington state who first saw either a surgeon or a chiropractic doctor for their back-related issues. They then looked at three years' worth of follow-up medical data to find out whether the patients ended up having back surgery in an effort to correct the issue.

What the authors determined was that about 43% of the people who first consulted with a surgeon for their back issues ended up having a surgical procedure in that 3-year time span, whereas only 1.5% of those who first saw 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 results. Seeing a chiropractor significantly reduces your odds of having back surgery, plus the chiropractic patients in this scientific study "had lower odds of chronic work disability" and they also had fewer expensive MRI tests.

Let's also take into account this important point: this study was carried out by orthopedic surgeons from Dartmouth College, and printed in the world's most prestigious medical journal on spinal injuries.

Surgery: The Last Resort

Any surgical procedure has risks, but a serious downside linked to spinal surgery is that there is a very high rate of failure. In an important analysis 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 experts in 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. Szilagyi believes that surgery should be the absolute last resort for treating back pain. Chiropractic works to restore your spine to its normal function--without the need of high-risk surgery or drugs--and many scientific studies have documented the effectiveness of chiropractic for back pain.

If you live in Harleysville, PA and you need relief for your back pain, give our office a call today at (215) 256-4345 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.
  

We work with many auto injury cases in in our Harleysville, PA office, and a common symptom we see in our patients is shoulder pain. Chiropractic can be very helpful for shoulder pain symptoms after a crash. Let's see what causes shoulder pain and why chiropractic works.

There are at least two ways that you can develop shoulder problems after a car crash: by direct trauma to the shoulder joint or by radiating pain from the neck.

Direct injury can be caused by striking your shoulder on a hard object in the car during the impact, or can occur if you have a tight grip on the steering wheel during a rear end impact. With this type of injury, you'll usually be aware of the pain shortly after the crash.

More frequently, Dr. Szilagyi finds that shoulder or arm pain doesn't immediately appear after a crash, but starts a few days or weeks after the trauma. This type of shoulder pain actually starts in the neck. Injured muscles or ligaments in your spine can squeeze nerves in your neck, causing tingling, numbness, or soreness in your shoulder, elbow, or wrist.

We've treated both types of shoulder problems in our Harleysville, PA office. This treatment involves chiropractic adjustments to restore your spine's natural flexibility and home exercises that strengthen your neck and shoulder.

Dr. Szilagyi has been helping patients in Harleysville, PA since 2005, so we know what you're experiencing. We're here to help you, too. First, we'll do a careful evaluation to establish the root cause of your problem, and then decide how to restore your body's natural functioning. Ready to make an appointment? Give us a call at (215) 256-4345 and we'll get you back on the road to health.

We tend to a large number of patients in our Harleysville, PA office, and Dr. Szilagyi has helped many people overcome a variety of health issues. However, one worry that seems to stop a lot of women and men from pursuing treatment is whether or not chiropractic is safe. Fortunately, according to three separate studies (out of many on the issue), the answer to this question is a clear: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Australian Study: Chiropractic is Safe

The first research paper(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 men and women between the ages of 20 and 85. Each test subject reported affected by spine-related pain, and half of the people received actual chiropractic care visits whereas the other half received two sham chiropractic adjustments. Data was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to identify whether or not any unfavorable reactions were caused by the genuine chiropractic adjustments.

Researchers found that no one reported any significant unfavorable side effects in any way after receiving one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some people did report that they got a headache (9% of patients) or muscle stiffness (37 percent) after treatment, but the effects were not of a serious nature.

National Survey Reports that Chiropractic is Safe

A second article(2), also published in the distinguished medical journal, Spine, was done in an attempt to establish the safety of chiropractic. The study group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 individuals. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all study participants.

Once again, the experts discovered no serious adverse side effects. The experts determined the risk of total side effects to be about 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the first study, some people did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4%), and this prompted the researchers to conclude that "the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low."

Chiropractic Care Is Safe for Children

This third study(3) is different from the first two reports, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for children. In this case, the researchers investigated data reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic treatment sessions.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic appointments made for the children, chiropractors responding to the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse reactions. When parents were surveyed, they indicated only two adverse side effects out of 1,735 visits. Furthermore, both chiropractors and parents reported "a high rate of improvement with respect to the children's presenting complaints."

Based on studies like these, chiropractic care has been found to be safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Harleysville, PA office and make an appointment today at (215) 256-4345.

References

1. Walker BF, Hebert JJ, Stomski NJ, Clarke BR, Bowden RS, Losco B, French SD. Outcomes of usual chiropractic. The OUCH randomized controlled trial of adverse events. Spine 2013;38(20):1723-9.
2. Thiel HW1, Bolton JE, Docherty S, Portlock JC. Safety of chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine: a prospective national survey. Spine 2007;32(21):2375-8.
3. Alcantara J, Ohm J, Kunz D. The safety and effectiveness of pediatric chiropractic: a survey of chiropractors and parents in a practice-based research network. Explore NY 2009;5(5): 290-5.

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 big problem for many people, and we see many of these types of injuries in our Harleysville, PA office. Dr. Szilagyi appreciates your situation and is here to help.

The benefits of chiropractic for work injuries are well-documented. A 2013 research paper involving 651 adults who were suffering with either back or neck pain found that the individuals 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 respondents in this study, two of the major factors were that they thought they needed a medical 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.

Dr. Szilagyi Can Help People Find Comfort From Chronic Pain

If you live in Harleysville, PA and you've been injured at work, we can help. Give our office a call today at (215) 256-4345 for an appointment.

Resources

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

Because trauma to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is often quite painful, we do our best to help our Harleysville, PA patients find relief as quickly and effectively as possible. In fact, Dr. Szilagyi will tell you that the medical literature shows just how much chiropractic care can help ease pain in the jaw.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With TMJ Pain and Discomfort

For instance, one study published in Physiotherapy Theory and Practice involved 15 patients with temporomandibular disorders who were treated with neck adjustments, middle-back manipulation, and trigger point therapy via dry needling. Individuals were examined prior to these treatments and at two weeks and two months post-treatment. The clinicians reported positive outcomes such as reduced discomfort, greater jaw movement, and lower disability at both follow-ups.

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

This is great news since the triggers of TMJ are largely unknown. While injury to the jaw area can cause pain symptoms, there are other factors to consider as well, such as bruxism, osteoarthritis, and clenching of the jaw due to stress.

Dr. Szilagyi Can Help Clients Find Relief From TMJ Pain

No matter what is making your jaw hurt, call Dr. Szilagyi today and schedule an appointment to come into our Harleysville, PA 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 encounter a lot of sports injuries in our Harleysville, PA office, and Dr. Szilagyi is generally able to help these athletes. Stanford Children’s Hospital states that more than 3.5 million children aged 14 and younger are hurt each year when playing sports. Add that to the almost 2 million adults hurt annually while engaged in sports-related activities, according to statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can begin to see the importance of preventing these types of widespread injuries. One approach to possible achieve that goal, as stated in a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to engage in regular chiropractic treatments.

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

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study particularly, all of the participants received medical treatment. Additionally, half of them also received chiropractic sessions at the rate of 1 session per week for the first six weeks, biweekly sessions for the following three months, and one treatment per month for the remaining 3 months of the study. The other half had no chiropractic intervention at all and acted as the control group to assess the benefits of chiropractic care.

Following 24 matches, specialists noticed a reduced number of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had received chiropractic care. Additionally, that very group also missed fewer matches correlated to non-contact knee injuries. This lead the researchers to conclude that chiropractic ought to be made an addition to sports training programs to dramatically lessen the quantity of leg injuries.

Dr. Szilagyi Can Help Patients Find Comfort From Sports Injuries & Help You Recover Quicker

If you or your child plays sports and you would like to make sure more time is dedicated on the field versus on the sidelines, call our Harleysville, PA office at (215) 256-4345 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.

We work with many back pain patients in our Harleysville, PA chiropractic office, and Dr. Szilagyi and our staff uses an assortment of techniques to help get you out of pain and restore your spine's normal, healthy function. We find spinal decompression to be an effective approach.

Understanding Spinal Decompression Therapy

To help you better understand spinal decompression therapy, think of the discs in your spine like water balloons filled with jello. When you compress them (which occurs due to normal living, sustaining an injury, or other medical conditions), they can protrude, placing pressure on the nerves in your spinal column. This affects your brain's ability to communicate with tissues in the rest of your body.

If the force on the discs becomes too high, they can herniate or bulge. This removes the cushion between your vertebrae and can cause pain. The goal of spinal decompression therapy is to lessen this pressure to help increase your body's function and also reduce your level of pain.

Can Spinal Decompression Therapy Help Me?

Spinal decompression therapy relieves disc pressure through the use of a specially designed table that gently elongates your spinal column through slow and controlled movements. This decreases the pressure placed on your discs. Some studies report an increase in disc height by as much as 1.3 millimeters after just six weeks of spinal decompression therapy.

If you're wondering if spinal decompression therapy could help you feel and function better, simply call our Harleysville, PA office and schedule an appointment with Dr. Szilagyi today. Your optimal health is our number one priority!

Resources

Apfel CC, Cakmakkaya OS, Richmond C, et al. Restoration of disk height through non-surgical spinal decompression is associated with decreased discogenic low back pain: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2010;11(155). doi:10.1186/1471-2474-11-155

Since injury to the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is frequently rather painful, we do our best to help our Harleysville, PA patients find relief as quickly and effectively as possible. In fact, Dr. Szilagyi will tell you that the research shows just how much your chiropractor can help ease discomfort in the jaw.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps With TMJ Pain and Discomfort

For instance, a study published in Physiotherapy Theory and Practice included 15 patients with TMJ pain who were managed with neck adjustments, middle-back manipulation, and trigger point therapy via dry needling. Individuals were assessed prior to these treatments and at two weeks and two months post-treatment. The authors reported positive outcomes such as reduced discomfort, greater jaw movement, and lower disability at both follow-ups.

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

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

Dr. Szilagyi Can Help Patients Find Comfort From TMJ Pain

No matter what is making your jaw ache, call Dr. Szilagyi now and make an appointment to come into our Harleysville, PA practice. We'll do our best to help you smile pain-free!

References

• 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