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The latest numbers show that there are over 500,000 spinal surgeries each year in the US. Although in some cases it's necessary to have surgery for back pain, the reality is that if you can avoid this type of invasive procedure, you're often better off.

Dr. Stern is here to make sure that people in Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA have a natural, non-surgical option for back problems. We've helped many patients heal from back pain without the need for surgery.

There are countless reasons to avoid unnecessary medical treatments: Surgeries often result in a longer recovery time and additional complications, neither of which is an acceptable scenario. Luckily, as one medical study has found, chiropractic care may actually keep you out of the operating room altogether.

Research Shows Chiropractic Care Helps Avoid Back Surgery

In this report, about 1,900 workers with back injuries were evaluated over a three year period. When the workers first sought care with a surgeon, over 42 percent wound up having surgery for their pain. For those who saw only a chiropractor, only 1.5 percent had surgery!

These findings indicate that chiropractic care can help you recover from back pain without surgical procedures.

If you live in the Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA area, Dr. Stern can probably help you with your back pain. Give our office a call today at (415) 308-7636 for more information or an appointment.

Keeney BJ, Fulton-Kehoe D, Turner JA, et al. 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.

Approximately 2.3 million people are hurt every year in auto accidents in the U.S. While some people are able to heal from their injuries relatively easily, many folks are left to deal with chronic pain and disability. We see many of these patients here in our Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA office. Fortunately, Dr. Stern is here to help you recover from your auto injury.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps Prevent Chronic Pain After an Auto Accident

The science confirms what we see in our office: A British study was conducted on 28 men and women diagnosed with chronic whiplash pain. Each participant received chiropractic care and 93 percent of them experienced improvements following their adjustments, even though 43 percent of whiplash sufferers overall usually never find relief. This confirms that chiropractic is a great way to avoid chronic pain after an auto injury.

It's important to note that studies have also found that putting off treatment after a car crash can negatively affect recovery time, so getting in to see Dr. Stern immediately is key to having a speedier recovery.

We Can Help People Find Relief From Pain After a Car Collision

Dr. Stern has worked with many auto injury patients, and we're here to help you, too. Call our Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA office today for more information or an appointment.

References

• Association for Safe International Road Travel. Retrieved from http://asirt.org/initiatives/informing-road-users/road-safety-facts/road-crash-statistics
• Dies S & Strapp J. (1992, September). Chiropractic treatment of patients in motor vehicle accidents: a statistical analysis. The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association, 36(3), 139-145.
• Woodward M et al. (1996, November). Chiropractic treatment of chronic 'whiplash' injuries. Injury, 27(9), 643-645.

When you're trying to sustain your family, take care of your home, and pay all of your bills on time, every day at work counts. Work injuries can be a big problem for many folks, and we see many of these types of injuries in our Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA office. Dr. Stern appreciates your situation and is here to help.

The benefits of chiropractic care for work injuries are well-established. A 2013 research paper involving over 600 adults who were troubled with either back or neck pain found that the men and women 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?

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. Stern Can Help Clients Find Relief From Chronic Pain

If you live in Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA and you've been injured at work, we can help. Give our office a call today at (415) 308-7636 for an appointment.

References

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

When performing sports that require a lot of lower body movement, like football, soccer, and basketball, it's not at all uncommon to suffer some type of injury to your lower extremities. Between pulled hamstrings, sprained ankles, knee injuries, and more, many people have found themselves sidelined. Dr. Stern has seen all of these problems in our Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA patients. Fortunately, chiropractic can help prevent some of these injuries from occurring and research proves it.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps With Sports Injuries & Recovery

Dr. Stern keeps current with all of the recent scientific research, and in a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, researchers from Macquarie University in Australia studied 59 semi-elite Australian Rules footballers. Roughly half were placed in a control group and the others were put in a treatment group that received sports chiropractic care at regular intervals. During the first six weeks, this meant receiving care once a week. The following three months consisted of an adjustment every two weeks before decreasing those to one visit monthly for the final three months of the study.

Researchers noted that there was a "significant" decrease in the number of lower limb strains the players received in the treatment group when compared to the control. Furthermore, they observed that the subjects who received chiropractic also had fewer weeks of missed practice and games as a result of non-contact knee injuries. This led them to determine that sports chiropractic intervention should be added to "the current best practice management."

Every major sports team in the US and the US Olympic Team has chiropractors on staff for their players, because they know that chiropractic works. If you live near our office in Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA and would like to see if Dr. Stern can help you boost your performance or reduce sports injuries, give our office a call today at (415) 308-7636 for an appointment.

Dr. Stern Can Help Clients Find Relief From Sports Injuries and Recover Faster

If you're suffering with severe pain, Dr. Stern and our staff are here to help you recover. Give our Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA office a call today at (415) 308-7636 for an appointment today.

Study Information

Hoskins W, Pollard H. 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 2010;11(64).

We work with many back pain patients in our Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA chiropractic office, and Dr. Stern 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 gelatin. When you squeeze them (which occurs due to normal living, sustaining an injury, or other medical conditions), they can protrude, placing pressure on the nerves in your spine. This affects your brain's ability to communicate with tissues in the rest of your body.

If the pressure on the discs becomes too high, the discs can herniate or protrude. This removes the cushioning between your vertebrae and can cause pain. The goal of spinal decompression therapy is to reduce this pressure to help improve 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 carefully 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 this treatment.

If you're wondering if spinal decompression therapy could help you feel and perform better, simply call our Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA office and schedule an appointment with Dr. Stern today. Your optimal health is our number one objective!

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

When you're trying to sustain your family, take care of your home, 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 Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA office. Dr. Stern appreciates your situation and is here to help.

The advantages of chiropractic care 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?

According to the participants in this study, two of the major reasons were that they thought they needed a 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. Stern Can Help Clients Find Comfort From Chronic Pain

If you live in Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA and you've been injured at work, we can help. Give our office a call today at (415) 308-7636 for an appointment.

Sources

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

We encounter a large number of sports injuries in our Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA office, and Dr. Stern is generally able to help these athletes. Stanford Children’s Hospital reports that over 3.5 million children aged 14 and younger are hurt each year when playing sports. Add that to the almost 2 million adults injured annually while participating in sports-related activities, according to statistics collected by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and you can begin to see the importance of minimizing these sorts of common injuries. One approach to potentially achieve that goal, according to a study published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, is to engage in routine chiropractic care.

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

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps in Treating Sports Injuries

For this study particularly, every one of the players received medical treatment. In addition, half of them also received chiropractic treatments at the rate of 1 session each week for the first six weeks, biweekly treatments for the following three months, and one session each month for the final three months of the study. The remaining group were given no chiropractic intervention at all and acted as the control group to determine the benefits of chiropractic adjustments.

After twenty-four matches, scientists noted a lessened number of lower limb muscle strains in the group that had received chiropractic care. Furthermore, that very group also missed fewer matches correlated to non-contact knee injuries. This lead the researchers to come to the conclusion that chiropractic should be made an addition to sports training programs to effectively decrease the quantity of leg injuries.

Dr. Stern Can Help Patients Find Relief From Sports Injuries & Help You Recover Quicker

If you or your child plays sports and you would like to ensure greater time is spent on the field as opposed to on the sidelines, call our Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA office at (415) 308-7636 and schedule 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.

Dr. Stern sees a lot of back pain patients in our busy Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA chiropractic office. Many of our patients have some kind of spinal issue that is causing them pain and distress. Fortunately, Dr. Stern has found that spinal decompression therapy is an effective way to help these people.

What is Spinal Decompression and How Can it Help Me?

Non-surgical spinal decompression is a treatment method that takes all of the positive benefits that one normally gets from chiropractic, traction, physiotherapy, exercise therapy, and myofascial therapy and combines them all into one.

The objective of decompression is to keep you away from the surgeon's knife, and that is precisely what it's accomplished for a number of folks, as it has a documented 85% success rate.

Some of the issues spinal decompression helps with include generalized back pain, sciatic nerve pain, herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, compression fractures, and joint pain.

Spinal decompression works by reversing the influences of wear, tear, and gravity that compresses the intervertebral discs in your spinal column. The movie below demonstrates how it works to alleviate stress on your back and helps decrease pain and disability.

Dr. Stern Can Help Patients Find Relief From Chronic Back Pain

If you live in Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA and you're struggling with back pain, spinal decompression therapy might be the solution. Call Dr. Stern today at (415) 308-7636 for a consultation or appointment.

According to research, approximately 2-5 percent of the population will suffer from painful conditions like frozen shoulder syndrome at some time in their lives. That makes shoulder-related pain a common occurrence and one that Dr. Stern sees in our Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA practice on a regular basis.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps With Shoulder Pain

Usually, this issue is more prevalent for people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, and it tends to affect women more frequently than men. While ice, heat, and gentle stretches can sometimes help relieve the pain, so too can chiropractic care.

For example, a study published in the Journal of Chiropractic Medicine looked at 50 people with frozen shoulder who were given chiropractic care. The length of care ranged from 11 days to 51 days, with 28 days being the average.

The authors found that nearly all of the study participants fared extremely well with chiropractic care. The authors found:

8 of the subjects reported 50-75 percent improvement
25 indicated improvement ranging from 75- 90 percent
1 participant had complete resolution of their frozen shoulder pain

Only one patient reported an improvement of 50 percent or less, so studies like this demonstrate just how beneficial chiropractic can be when it comes to decreasing shoulder pain and improving quality of life.

We Can Help People Find Relief From Shoulder Pain

Let Dr. Stern help you ease your suffering by contacting our Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA office and scheduling your appointment today.

Resources

Murphy F et al. (2012, December). Chiropractic management of frozen shoulder syndrome using a novel technique: a retrospective case series of 50 patients. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine;11(4):267-272

Knee pain is a common problem for people in our Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA chiropractic practice, and Dr. Stern has happily provided many of these folks relief. This is largely because chiropractic care has been found to help with many kinds of knee pain.

For instance, some people feel pain in and around the knee tissues due to degenerative arthritis. Research has proven that this condition responds very well to chiropractic--and rather quickly, too. In fact, one article published in The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association found that individuals with osteoarthritis in their knees felt significant pain relief and enhanced function after just two weeks of chiropractic care.

If your knee pain is due to a medial meniscus tear, chiropractic could likely help with that as well. One study found that integrating chiropractic with soft tissue therapy, rest, ice, and compression on the affected knee helped lower the intensity of the pain.

Clearly, sometimes a knee replacement surgery is necessary in order to rectify the issue, and if that's the case, chiropractic can also help improve the outcome. How?

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Knee Injuries

Research has shown that patients with low back pain frequently have less positive outcomes after knee surgery. Therefore, dealing with your back pain through chiropractic before having a total knee arthroplasty can assist with your post-surgery recovery.

No matter what your knee issue, Dr. Stern can likely help. Call our Sunnyvale & San Francisco, CA practice today and find out what we can do for you!

References

• Pollard H et al. (2008, December). The effect of a manual therapy knee protocol on osteoarthritic knee pain: a randomised controlled trial. The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association;52(4):229-42
  Boyle J et al. (2014, March). Influence of low back pain on total knee arthroplasty outcome. Knee;21(2):410-4
• Jarosz B & Ames R. (2010, December). Chiropractic management of a medial meniscus tear in a patient with tibiofemoral degeneration: a case report. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine;9(4):200-8