At The Healthpraxis – Faversham Chiropractic, our commitment extends to who we serve, why we serve, and how we deliver our care. By focusing on improving spinal and nervous system function, we often enhance overall body performance — demonstrating that our approach is about more than just pain relief.
Many before you have seen their symptoms change and their quality of life improve as their health and vitality increase. Although our care is not intended to directly treat these specific conditions, the following list represents some of the diverse symptoms people commonly experience.
- Headaches
- Jaw dysfunction
- Neck pain
- Low back pain
- Disc problems and Sciatica
- Joint pain
- Pregnancy
Headaches
Many people will experience headaches at some point during their lives. Headaches can feel dull and throbbing and more, all the way up to sharp and intense. For most people, headaches can significantly affect your ability to concentrate, and the end of the day can’t come quick enough. Migraines are one of the most compromising types of headaches, and are sometimes preceded by auras and visual disturbances, and may also cause nausea and vomiting.
While many different triggers lead to headaches. Your Chiropractor is trained to analyse if your headaches might be related to tension in your spine and nerve system, “cervicogenic headaches”. Commonly, old injuries/trauma like whiplash, hours of computer work, text neck/anterior head carriage and poor posture can also build up and cause damage. Because some nerves travel around the base of the skull, and from the neck wrap up around the head, face, and jaw, pain can refer into the skull.
Other causes of headaches include fatigue, bright lights, weather changes, sensitivity to chemicals in foods, caffeine, skipping meals, and hormonal cycles.
It’s important to know which factors are contributing to your headaches. For example, by gently relax neck bones as well as correcting the alignment of the head as it sits above the spine. Stress and tension may likely be reduced from the nerves that are causing pain. And from what we’ve seen, people then often become less reactive to their own unique headache triggers once their spine is at ease.
Jaw Dysfunction
Jaw dysfunction is far more common than many people realise, yet countless people continue to live with jaw pain, clicking, restricted movement, headaches and facial tension without seeking practical care solutions. The temporomandibular joints (TMJ) are among the most frequently used joints in the body, involved in speaking, chewing, swallowing and even breathing patterns. When these joints and the surrounding muscles are not functioning well, the effects can extend far beyond the jaw itself.
The National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial research states that temporomandibular joint and muscle disorders (TMJDs) are the second most common musculoskeletal condition associated with pain and disability, second only to chronic low back pain. It is estimated that between 5–12% of people are affected. Despite this, many individuals are either unaware that help is available or assume the problem will simply resolve with time.
From a Chiropractic perspective, jaw dysfunction is rarely an isolated issue. Poor posture, neck tension, stress-related clenching, previous dental work, trauma and altered movement patterns throughout the spine can all influence how the jaw functions. Dysfunction within the neck and upper cervical spine often has a close mechanical relationship with the muscles controlling the jaw.
Chiropractors assess not only the jaw itself, but also the surrounding joints, muscles and movement patterns that may be contributing to ongoing irritation and dysfunction. The goal is to improve function, reduce unnecessary strain and help you return to more comfortable everyday movement
Neck Pain
Neck pain or low back pain is often a reason why people seek Chiropractic care. When the build-up of tension is slow yet constant, symptoms can come on slow and then be incredibly distracting once bedded in. Which you may know makes it difficult to focus and enjoy what’s right in front of you.
You might find yourself always moving or stretching your neck to find ways to make the pain go away, and that can also be extremely frustrating. Frequent having your head in front of your shoulders like when leaning over the phone will cause neck tension to build up. And, neck pain will frequently limit the range of motion. For example, many people describe how difficult turning their head is as they back their car out of the driveway.
Neck pain may also cause fatigue, difficulty concentrating, headaches and shoulder or upper back pain. And when the tightness increases, it becomes easier to feel mentally overwhelmed, and harder to find your centre and relax.
Many factors do contribute to your neck pain. If it’s only a muscle problem, this will usually resolve on its own within a few days. When your neck pain continues or frequently happens, a Chiropractor can determine if there’s underlying spine and nerve system changes that is causing pain to stay there.
If it is safe to help with Chiropractic care, we can gently realign the small, movable bones of the neck. Using only specific force for the adjustments to happen, your spine can start moving with ease again, and the nerves (and muscles) can better relax.
Low Back Pain
Spine mobility is something we count on each day and sometimes take for granted. If it comes, low back pain can drastically limit movement, sometimes even causing pain with every step you take. This can affect your day, whether it’s gardening or work around the house on the weekends or exercise. Commonly low back pain arises from old injuries, sedentary lifestyle, poor posture, spinal degeneration/ disc issues, and sitting for long hours at work or in the car.
Some people come to our office concerned that their low back pain is a sign of something severe going on. A Chiropractor can determine which factors might be contributing to your pain. Perhaps its tension fixated in the lumbar spine, sacroiliac joints, or maybe compensation from another part of your spine, or extremities.
Chiropractic offers a low force, drug-free, conservative approach to help your low back pain naturally subside. When needed, we may recommend other health-care practitioners (physical therapists, massage, etc.) and lifestyle changes will compliment your recovery. If your spine is aligned correctly and the supporting postural muscles are retrained and supple. You will likely start to feel ease, mobility and stability in all the right places.
Disc / Sciatic Pain
For many people, Intervertebral Disc (IVD) issues show up just like “the straw that broke the camel’s back”. Often a person bends over to pick something up as you’ve done a million times before, and suddenly you seem to hear a ‘pop’ and your body tenses up.
It’s crucial to remember that except in cases of massive trauma, your disc will only bulge, protrude or herniate after years of accumulated strain and fatigue and dehydration. When the tough outer fibres supporting the softer, centre part of the disc start to give way, the middle part can bulge out and press on ligaments, mucsle-tendons and nerves, which may cause sensations to radiate through to the arms or legs.
And disc issues, either in the low back or neck, can be scary. Pain is often acute and severe and can interfere with any and all types of movement or even sitting and lying down. Additionally, if the issue is not corrected, your medical doctor may even recommend surgery.
Spinal discs are soft, compressible cushions that are primarily water and that serve to separate the interlocking bones (vertebrae) of the spine. The IVD act as shock absorbers in the spine, allowing you to flex, bend, and twist. Degenerative disc disease (the discs start to lose water, height and composition) can take place anywhere in the spine. Still, it most often occurs in the discs in the lower back (lumbar region) and the neck (cervical region). This often but not always results in neck and back pain which leads to Osteoarthritis. This type of condition may put pressure on the spinal cord and nerves, leading to increasing pain and symptoms that commonly disc herniation produces. If the spinal cord is affected, it may cause systemic problems within the body.
During chiropractic examinations, it can be identified if you need a referral to a medical doctor. If you’re a candidate for Chiropractic care, spinal adjustments can help restore normal motion and positioning in your spine.
Chiropractic care, along with time, good general movement and a supportive lifestyle has helped many people avoid surgery and get off pain medications.
Joint Pain
Bones are linked together by ligaments, creating a joint known as a syndesmosis. If you count every instance where a ligament spans between two bones, and count every ligament as a separate joining, you would have an enormous number of joints. Mostly, when we think of joints, we are thinking about the moveable joints known as synovial joints. There are a lot of these, and not all synovial joints are mobile and not all mobile joints are synovial. And just like an old door hinge can get stiff your joints can get creaky with age and lack of use, and sometimes this even causes pain.
In our office, people commonly come to us with knee and shoulder injuries from athletics, slips/falls. Scar tissue and uneven wear from years of walking and running with misaligned joints. Similarly, it’s like the wear and tear of driving a car with the wheels out of alignment. The tires then work unevenly, and so can your joints; many people come in with one or two different body areas affected more than others.
With our Chiropractic googles, we’ll look to discover if your injured joint is moving through its full range of motion. Or if it’s become stuck for another reason, leading you to pain and reduced mobility. Also, can examine the alignment of your spinal bones to see if any contributing factors need to be addressed.
Many people find that correcting their whole-body posture takes pressure off their strained joints. Which, in turn, helps their body heal, easing up their pain, and in some cases helping push back or even avoiding joint surgery. For those worried about the effects of cortisone shots and other medications, our powerful drug-free approach to helping the bodywork better can be much appreciated!
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Chiropractic can be a fantastic, drug-free resource for pregnant mums. During pregnancy, many changes are happening for mum as her baby and baby develop. Your low back, spinal curve can increase as the baby grows, overall pelvic alignment shifts, and your posture adapts to a new centre of gravity. All of which can result in additional load on the spine, and may cause a general elevation of stress, tension and sometimes cause pain.
Chiropractor’s like us are trained to gently examine the spine and determine if spinal misalignments and nerve stress may be negatively affecting your posture. When the spinal bones are moving well, mums often report having less pain and more ease with the changes they’re experiencing.
Chiropractic may also release intrauterine constraint. This allows more space for your baby to get into the best possible position for delivery. This can support a mum’s pathway to a more comfortable, non-invasive delivery. And when stress is released from the mum’s body and nerve system with low force adjustments, the baby will likely benefit from fewer stress signals too.
Potential benefits with Chiropractic care during your pregnancy can include: maintained strength, balanced mobility, more energy, better sleep, reduced nausea, easing of spine and pelvis pain. And maintaining a healthier spine and nerve system during your pregnancy may help with your labour and following needs of breastfeeding and movement during your 4th trimester.