TIPS TO LIVE PAIN FREE
For more health tips, view a library of videos created by the team on Align 4 Life’s YouTube channel.
Common Conditions Managed at Our Practice
At Align 4 Life, we see patients with a wide variety of pain and injury. Our goal is to seek the underlying causes of these conditions so that we can provide effective relief and help prevent re-occurrence in the future.
Headaches
Headaches affect just about everyone at some point and they can present themselves in many different ways. Some people only experience pain in one part of their head or behind their eyes, some people experience a pounding sensation inside their whole head, and some people even experience nausea, while others do not. More than 10 million people in the UK get headaches.
Even though most headaches aren’t serious and can be treated with pharmacy remedies and lifestyle changes, such as getting more rest and drinking enough fluids, however some of them should be taken seriously. The real causes of headaches are countless; it could be caused by tightness in neck muscles, drug reaction, low or high blood sugar, stress or even just fatigue. There are different types of headaches with different symptoms.
Tension headaches and Sinus headaches are the most common ones as people experience a constant dull, achy feeling either on one side or both sides of the head. Cluster headaches usually doesn’t last long and usually felt on one side of the head behind the eyes. The last type is Migraine Headaches which are the most serious ones of the 3 types as they are intense and throbbing headaches that are often accompanied with pounding headache, nausea, vomiting and light sensitivity.
Even though most people usually rush to drugs once they have a headache, however Chiropractic adjustments are very effective for treating tension headaches, especially headaches that originate in the neck and could help a lot with headaches in a much safer way than drugs.
Neck and Shoulder Pain
Neck and Shoulder pain is a common problem with a number of different causes. It may originate in the joint/s itself, or from any of the many surrounding muscles and tissues.
Shoulder pain can occur in the shoulder from diseases or conditions that involve the shoulder joint, the soft tissues and bones surrounding the shoulder, or the nerves originating from the neck that supply sensation to the shoulder area.
Some signs that neck or shoulder pain needs immediate attention may include a decreased ability to hold objects, decreased functioning of the arm, numbness, tingling, pins and needles into the arm or hand or shoulder pain that persists even while at rest. After examining the patient and locating the source of pain, a mixture of chiropractic care and physiotherapy can help relieve the pain and restore functionality.
Low Back Pain
80% of people suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. Back pain is considered as the second most common reason for visits to the doctor’s office. Unlike the thoracic spine, the lower back is very unstable in order to allow us to have a great deal of mobility to touch our toes, tie our shoes, or pick something up from the ground, but at the cost of increased risk of injury.
Low back pain could happen due to many different reasons, it could be stress, strained muscles, ruptured disks, triggered points, or inflamed joints. When any of these previously mentioned reasons happen your muscles become sore, weak, and loaded with trigger points causing that unbearable pain.
Research has shown that Chiropractic treatment is the most effective treatment when it comes to lower back pain, especially on the long-term outcomes than any other treatments. Chiropractic treatment simply adjusts the lower lumbar vertebrae and pelvis in order to re-establish normal motion and position of your bones and joints.
Tennis Elbow
Tennis elbow is a painful condition that occurs when tendons in your elbow are overworked, usually by repetitive motions of the wrist and arm. Despite its name, most cases of tennis elbow occur in people who don’t play tennis. In fact, only 5% of people who play tennis get Tennis elbow.
Tennis elbow is usually caused by the repetitive use of the forearm extensor muscles, especially if they weren’t used much previously. The pain of tennis elbow occurs primarily where the tendons of your forearm muscles attach to a bony bump on the outside of your elbow and might spread into your forearm and wrist. It can also cause weakness when twisting or grabbing objects.
Misalignment in the spine, hips or shoulders might be the main cause of tennis elbow and with the right Chiropractic and Physiotherapy tennis elbow treatment, you will be back to normal in no time.
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis affects millions of people around the world and considered as the most common type of arthritis in the UK. It is caused by aging joints, injury, and obesity. Symptoms include joint pain and stiffness. It can damage any joint in your body, the disorder most commonly affects joints in hands, neck, lower back, knees and hips.
Symptoms vary according to the affected joints, however the common symptoms include mild inflammation of the tissues in and around the joints, damage to cartilage and bony growths that develop around the edge of the joints.
Osteoarthritis pain increases over time and there is no current cure for it. However,r chiropractic treatment could help a lot reducing the pain and slowing the progression of the disease. Chiropractors use very gentle spinal adjustments to place the spinal column in proper alignment, which has a positive effect on the affected joints.
Sciatica
Sciatica is a common type of pain affecting the sciatic nerve, which is a large nerve that branches from the lower back through the hips and buttocks down the back of each leg. Sciatica is actually a sign that you have an underlying problem putting pressure on a nerve in your lower back.
Sciatica most commonly occurs when the sciatic nerve becomes pinched, usually by a herniated disk in the spine or by an overgrowth of bone (bone spur) compressing part of the nerve. Less common causes include spinal stenosis, injury, infection or a growth in the spine. This causes inflammation, pain and often some numbness in the affected leg.
Sciatic pain often starts gradually and intensifies over time. It’s likely to be worse when you sit, cough or sneeze. The pain can vary widely, from a mild ache to a sharp, burning sensation or excruciating discomfort. For some people, the pain from sciatica can be severe and debilitating. For others, the sciatica pain might be infrequent and irritating, but has the potential to get worse.
Chiropractic treatment helps restoring spinal movement, thereby improving function while decreasing pain and inflammation. A chiropractic treatment plan may cover several different treatment methods, including but not limited to spinal adjustments, ice/heat therapy, ultrasound, TENS, and rehabilitative exercises which will eventually lead to relief the pain caused by the compressed nerve.
Knee Pain
Knee pain can be a result of injury or a misalignment of your joints causing pain when you walk. The knee is a complex joint which relies heavily on ligaments and surrounding muscles for its stability and strength. As with load bearing joints it is essential to ensure that the way you walk and functions of the foot, ankle and hip joints are not the reason for the pain in the hip. As with other joints pain can also be referred from other parts of your body, and this needs to be ruled out before suitable treatment can be suggested.
Every patient and every case is different, so once an accurate diagnosis is made your personalised treatment plan can be created. Reducing inflammation and swelling is usually the first stage, with manipulation, mobilisation and massage followed by rehabilitation techniques will ensure you can get the best outcome for your condition.
CLINICS
CHIROPRACTOR IN DOUGLAS
ISLE OF MAN
Based on the picturesque Isle of Man, our dedicated team We specialise in providing care for those with pain, stress, mobility issues and sports injuries.
Our team of qualified professionals includes Chiropractors, Rehabilitation Technicians, Trainers, and Chiropractor Assistants.
CHIROPRACTOR IN SEVENOAKS
KENT
Welcome to our newly opened Chiropractic Clinic in Sevenoaks, Kent! Specializing in expert care for those dealing with pain, stress, mobility issues, and sports injuries.
Our team of registered professionals includes Chiropractors, Rehabilitation Technicians, Trainers, and Chiropractor Assistants.