Chiropractic
Dr. Ken Alexander, Chiropractor in Victoria
Do you have back pain and are looking for relief? Our chiropractic approach may be just what you need to get back to feeling good. Did you know that our chiropractor, Dr. Ken Alexander, does a lot more than "cracking backs"? His approach is to take the time to thoroughly assess your biomechanics and find whatever is driving your pain. We don't believe in quick fixes or band-aide solutions. This is why he also uses other techniques like myofascial release, soft tissue mobilization, shockwave therapy and more.
Dr. Alexander strongly encourages his patients to participate in the therapeutic process by incorporating and teaching you therapeutic exercises, strengthening and stretching exercises, mindfulness techniques and lifestyle modifications. The end goal, is that you don't need to be adjusted regularly in order to feel great. You will have some tools to use at home to help you maintain your gains and prevent other problems down the road.
Did you know that chiropractic isn't just for back pain? Dr. Alexander is highly qualified to help you with any kind of pain such as neck pain, headaches, shoulder injuries, wrist and hand pain, hip pain and sciatica.
Not sure if we can help? A complimentary consultation can be scheduled online or over the phone. Dr. Alexander also works closely with our registered massage therapists, acupuncturists and clinical counselors so he can point you in the right direction for the best place to start.
Dr. Alexander strongly encourages his patients to participate in the therapeutic process by incorporating and teaching you therapeutic exercises, strengthening and stretching exercises, mindfulness techniques and lifestyle modifications. The end goal, is that you don't need to be adjusted regularly in order to feel great. You will have some tools to use at home to help you maintain your gains and prevent other problems down the road.
Did you know that chiropractic isn't just for back pain? Dr. Alexander is highly qualified to help you with any kind of pain such as neck pain, headaches, shoulder injuries, wrist and hand pain, hip pain and sciatica.
Not sure if we can help? A complimentary consultation can be scheduled online or over the phone. Dr. Alexander also works closely with our registered massage therapists, acupuncturists and clinical counselors so he can point you in the right direction for the best place to start.
Motor Vehicle Accidents and Chiropractic
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If you've been in a car accident, you may be experiencing some back pain, neck pain and headaches, among other common injuries. Early intervention with treatment has been shown to significantly improve the chances of walking away with no lasting pain or disability.
Whiplash is one of the most common injuries in which the head and neck are forcefully accelerated and then recoil in the opposite direction. This results in hyperextension/hyperflexion syndrome, commonly called whiplash, and it typically occurs when you get rear ended. Most injuries from MVA's involve over-stretching/straining of the muscles which stabilize the area (spine, shoulder, hip, knee, etc.) and if the impact was high velocity there could also be strain of the joint capsule which surrounds each joint, the ligaments between the joints and the vertebrae, and/or the vertebral disks. |
This means the area has lost its structural integrity and is now unstable. In cases of untreated whiplash, the neck loses it's natural curve due to the laxity of the ligaments. This can lead to deposits of extra bone, which over time can develop into osteoarthritis. Some of the symptoms you experience may include neck pain, headaches, TMJ dysfunction, brain fog, nerve pain into the arm (s), pain that radiates into the back or arms, stiffness and/or reduced range of motion.
Chiropractic treatment is an excellent place to start whether you've recently been in a car accident, or are still dealing with the symptoms years later. We also have RMT's, Acupuncturists and Clinical Counsellors in house so we can provide a well rounded approach to care. Fortunately, ICBC covers chiropractic treatment (and more) within the first 12 weeks from the date of your accident. Your extended health plan will also typically cover 80-100% of chiropractic treatments (call your provider to confirm your coverage). We direct bill both ICBC and most extended health plans such as Pacific Blue Cross, Great West Life, Sunlife, Veterans Affairs, RCMP, Chamber of Commerce, etc. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us. We're here to help.
Chiropractic treatment is an excellent place to start whether you've recently been in a car accident, or are still dealing with the symptoms years later. We also have RMT's, Acupuncturists and Clinical Counsellors in house so we can provide a well rounded approach to care. Fortunately, ICBC covers chiropractic treatment (and more) within the first 12 weeks from the date of your accident. Your extended health plan will also typically cover 80-100% of chiropractic treatments (call your provider to confirm your coverage). We direct bill both ICBC and most extended health plans such as Pacific Blue Cross, Great West Life, Sunlife, Veterans Affairs, RCMP, Chamber of Commerce, etc. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us. We're here to help.
Chiropractic For Lower Back Pain
Lower back pain is probably the most common reason that people seek chiropractic care. This is probably because lower back pain is the leading cause of disability and time off from work. Clinical studies have shown that spinal manipulative therapy resulted in improved outcomes compared to patients who were prescribed bed rest, medication, traction or ultrasound. Our goal is to determine the underlying cause of the back pain, so it can be effectively treated, and avoid a recurring problem. How do we do this? We start by reviewing your health history and looking for any red flags or things that stand out. We discuss your symptoms, lifestyle and talk about when it started and was there an obvious injury/incident/activity that preceded the pain. We then move on to some orthopedic testing and postural assessment, which helps us to determine what the cause may be. Mechanical lower back pain, facet syndrome, disc lesion, cancer and sprain/strain all have a similar presentation/symptoms, so the assessment part is actually very important. This is why Dr. Alexander spends up to an hour with you in your first visit.
In many cases the underlying dysfunction and cause of pain is improper mobility of the lumbar vertebrae. This can be a result of injury, postural habits or lifestyle (prolonged sitting and/or inactivity). Dr. Alexanders job is to figure out what the major factors are so he can restore mobility to the area, and also teach you to maintain that mobility on your own. Depending upon how long someone has been dealing with the problem, there can also be compensatory areas of excessive (hypermobile) or inadequate (hypomobile) motion above and/or below the area of complaint which must be dealt with as well. It is not uncommon for the painful area to be a location of compensation rather than where the actual problem is. So even simple joint dysfunction is not always to simple and the actual cause of the complaint must be found with a professional examination and history-taking. The issue then becomes how to relieve back pain and chiropractors accomplish this by spine adjustment (or some like to call manipulation) to effect a change in the vertebrae’s mobility. The vertebral joints and surrounding muscles share the same nerves, so by improving mobility to the vertebrae, the muscle spasm will also diminish and make you more comfortable.
Dr. Alexander will also teach you some exercises and ways to avoid a relapse of the back pain.
In many cases the underlying dysfunction and cause of pain is improper mobility of the lumbar vertebrae. This can be a result of injury, postural habits or lifestyle (prolonged sitting and/or inactivity). Dr. Alexanders job is to figure out what the major factors are so he can restore mobility to the area, and also teach you to maintain that mobility on your own. Depending upon how long someone has been dealing with the problem, there can also be compensatory areas of excessive (hypermobile) or inadequate (hypomobile) motion above and/or below the area of complaint which must be dealt with as well. It is not uncommon for the painful area to be a location of compensation rather than where the actual problem is. So even simple joint dysfunction is not always to simple and the actual cause of the complaint must be found with a professional examination and history-taking. The issue then becomes how to relieve back pain and chiropractors accomplish this by spine adjustment (or some like to call manipulation) to effect a change in the vertebrae’s mobility. The vertebral joints and surrounding muscles share the same nerves, so by improving mobility to the vertebrae, the muscle spasm will also diminish and make you more comfortable.
Dr. Alexander will also teach you some exercises and ways to avoid a relapse of the back pain.
Chiropractic For Sciatica
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Chiropractic care can be very effective for treating and relieving sciatica. Sciatica is impingement of the sciatic nerve, which can cause lower back pain, buttock or hip pain and leg pain. It can fell like dull localized aching pain or can be excruciating nerve pain that shoots down one or both legs. Kind of like a lightning bolt down the back of the leg, ouch! Sciatica can be constant or intermittent and may also result in numbness and tingling in the foot and/or leg.
There are several underlying causes. Sciatica can be due to a disk herniation or prolapse in the lumbar spine. SI Joint (sacro-iliac joint) misalignment or also called pelvic misalignment can cause sciatica. Piriformis Syndrome, a fancy way of saying your piriformis muscle is tight, can also cause the symptoms of sciatica. It could also be a combination of these things. FYI disk herniations are very common and relatively normal. You can have a disk herniation and have absolutely no pain or symptoms. Cool eh? We could go down a pain science rabbit hole here but we’ll spare you that extra information for now. |
You’re probably wondering why this happened to you. You were fine and then suddenly you weren’t fine or perhaps it came on gradually. Sciatica very commonly happens after bending, lifting and twisting, especially if it was heavy.
Lets explain a bit about your nervous system and pain. Pain is only experienced when the stimulus triggers a threshold event. You can have soft tissue overuse, strain or damage that you don’t feel because you haven’t triggered that threshold yet. Perhaps some of the fibres in your L5 disk were already under strain but you didn’t feel it. Then you lifted that box, it may have not even been that heavy, which increased the load on your spine and pop went your disk. This protrusion of disk tissue puts pressure on the sciatic nerve and now you feel it. You really feel it. You’ve crossed the pain threshold. Sciatica! This is just one very simplified example, but we hope you get the idea.
Now our job at Remedy Wellness Centre is to use our training and experience to determine what is putting pressure on that sciatic nerve. Fortunately we have lots of tools in our toolkit to figure it out, provide you with the right treatment and send you home with some tools of your own. You could choose to see an RMT (Registered Massage Therapist) or a Chiropractor for Sciatica. If you have neurological symptoms (numbness, tingling, pins and needles), there’s a higher likelihood that it is disk related. In that case, we would recommend starting with Chiropractic for Sciatica vs. Massage Therapy for Sciatica.
We are big on patient education, so expect to learn a bit about your body and what you can do to eliminate your pain and prevent it from happening again. We may find that there’s also a muscle imbalance that was contributing to the strain on your L5 disk or your SI joint and there are simple exercises you can do to balance things out.
Our end goal, is for you to not need us. Let us help you get there.
Lets explain a bit about your nervous system and pain. Pain is only experienced when the stimulus triggers a threshold event. You can have soft tissue overuse, strain or damage that you don’t feel because you haven’t triggered that threshold yet. Perhaps some of the fibres in your L5 disk were already under strain but you didn’t feel it. Then you lifted that box, it may have not even been that heavy, which increased the load on your spine and pop went your disk. This protrusion of disk tissue puts pressure on the sciatic nerve and now you feel it. You really feel it. You’ve crossed the pain threshold. Sciatica! This is just one very simplified example, but we hope you get the idea.
Now our job at Remedy Wellness Centre is to use our training and experience to determine what is putting pressure on that sciatic nerve. Fortunately we have lots of tools in our toolkit to figure it out, provide you with the right treatment and send you home with some tools of your own. You could choose to see an RMT (Registered Massage Therapist) or a Chiropractor for Sciatica. If you have neurological symptoms (numbness, tingling, pins and needles), there’s a higher likelihood that it is disk related. In that case, we would recommend starting with Chiropractic for Sciatica vs. Massage Therapy for Sciatica.
We are big on patient education, so expect to learn a bit about your body and what you can do to eliminate your pain and prevent it from happening again. We may find that there’s also a muscle imbalance that was contributing to the strain on your L5 disk or your SI joint and there are simple exercises you can do to balance things out.
Our end goal, is for you to not need us. Let us help you get there.
Chiropractic For Headaches
There are four main types of headaches:
1. Tension headaches (also known as muscle contraction headaches): Tension type headaches are by far the most common type of headache. They are believed to be caused by referral pain from trigger points in the muscles of the neck, shoulders and jaw. They can be brought on by stress, poor posture, misalignment of the neck or over exertion with exercise. Tension type headaches often start gradually and are characterized by mild, steady or dull aching with a pressing/ squeezing, non-pulsating quality. The pressure can be located on both sides of the head, or can feel like a band around the head or the back of the neck. It can also be point specific or feel like you have "brain fog." The area you experience the headache is an indicator of where you may have trigger points and muscle tension. Please see the diagram below for examples.
2. Migraine headaches: Migraines are not yet fully understood, but seem to be caused by changes in the chemicals of the brain control the narrowing and dilatation of blood vessels of the brain. Low levels of serotonin (a brain chemical) may also play a role in widening and tightening blood vessels. Migraine headaches are characterized by severe throbbing, increased sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, vertigo and vomiting and may also be accompanied by ringing in the ears, motor coordination disturbance, double vision or partial blindness, weakness, numbness or tingly sensations. Migraines usually affect one half of the head more than the other. The cause of migraine headaches is not fully understood but some triggers include perfumes/colognes, food sensitivities, loud noises and stress.
3. Cluster headaches (also known as suicide headaches): Cluster headaches are intermittent in nature, but are extremely intense and painful. They typically start around one eye or one temple then quickly spread to surrounding areas on that side of the head. Their cause is unknown. The pain is mostly located around the facial area and is described as being like stabbing, electric shocks, burning, pressing, crushing, exploding or shooting pain that becomes intractable.
4. Dehydration headaches: Dehydration is one of the most common causes of headaches, therefore rehydration is the appropriate treatment method. Dehydration headaches can also be caused by consuming too much caffeine, which is a natural diuretic.
Headache Triggers:
How can Chiropractic Help with Headaches?
Headaches can be caused by issues originating from the spine. Chiropractors are highly trained to assess, diagnose and treat all kinds of headaches as well as give recommendations for self care and prevention. At Remedy Wellness Centre our chiropractor, Dr. Ken Alexander, uses a number of different techniques including soft tissue mobilization (massage), joint mobilizations, traction and therapeutic exercise.
Headaches are a complex problem with multiple contributing factors. We believe that a holistic approach is effective for both short and long term effects. If you are wondering where to start, you can't really make a wrong choice by starting with chiropractic and/or massage therapy for headaches.
What exactly do we mean when we say that we “get to the root of the problem” and “do more than provide band-aide solutions?”
We mean that we don’t treat surface level symptoms without getting to the bottom of the issue as well. In the case of headaches, for example, we seek to understand the underlying causes, in addition to providing immediate pain relief. Not only do we help headaches to go away, but we also help them to stay away. A headache is a symptom, not a syndrome in and of itself. So, treating the underlying condition can usually relieve headaches for the long-term. A symptom, such as a headache, is a way your body asks you to change something, be it your lifestyle, posture, diet or external environment. If you ignore your body’s plea for change your headaches will probably continue to return. A true health solution is needed before a presenting symptom can disappear for good. That’s why we offer safe, effective and natural approaches to help headache sufferers regain and maintain health and well-being.
This is only a brief summary of general information about possible causes and triggers for these conditions. This information is not specific medical advice and does not replace information you receive from your health care provider.
1. Tension headaches (also known as muscle contraction headaches): Tension type headaches are by far the most common type of headache. They are believed to be caused by referral pain from trigger points in the muscles of the neck, shoulders and jaw. They can be brought on by stress, poor posture, misalignment of the neck or over exertion with exercise. Tension type headaches often start gradually and are characterized by mild, steady or dull aching with a pressing/ squeezing, non-pulsating quality. The pressure can be located on both sides of the head, or can feel like a band around the head or the back of the neck. It can also be point specific or feel like you have "brain fog." The area you experience the headache is an indicator of where you may have trigger points and muscle tension. Please see the diagram below for examples.
2. Migraine headaches: Migraines are not yet fully understood, but seem to be caused by changes in the chemicals of the brain control the narrowing and dilatation of blood vessels of the brain. Low levels of serotonin (a brain chemical) may also play a role in widening and tightening blood vessels. Migraine headaches are characterized by severe throbbing, increased sensitivity to light and sound, nausea, vertigo and vomiting and may also be accompanied by ringing in the ears, motor coordination disturbance, double vision or partial blindness, weakness, numbness or tingly sensations. Migraines usually affect one half of the head more than the other. The cause of migraine headaches is not fully understood but some triggers include perfumes/colognes, food sensitivities, loud noises and stress.
3. Cluster headaches (also known as suicide headaches): Cluster headaches are intermittent in nature, but are extremely intense and painful. They typically start around one eye or one temple then quickly spread to surrounding areas on that side of the head. Their cause is unknown. The pain is mostly located around the facial area and is described as being like stabbing, electric shocks, burning, pressing, crushing, exploding or shooting pain that becomes intractable.
4. Dehydration headaches: Dehydration is one of the most common causes of headaches, therefore rehydration is the appropriate treatment method. Dehydration headaches can also be caused by consuming too much caffeine, which is a natural diuretic.
Headache Triggers:
- Food allergies
- Blood sugar imbalances
- Dehydration
- Lack of sleep
- Many medications have headaches listed as a side effect
- Hormone imbalances or changes
- Exposure to toxins and chemicals (cigarette smoke, strong perfumes, carbon monoxide, lead, arsenic, cyanide, nitrates, insecticide)
- Alcohol
- High caffeine intake or caffeine withdrawal
- Exposure to strong light (direct sunlight without sunglasses, fluorescent lights) or flickering lights of TV and computer screens
- Poor posture and ergonomics
- Stress
- Muscle Tension and Trigger Points
How can Chiropractic Help with Headaches?
Headaches can be caused by issues originating from the spine. Chiropractors are highly trained to assess, diagnose and treat all kinds of headaches as well as give recommendations for self care and prevention. At Remedy Wellness Centre our chiropractor, Dr. Ken Alexander, uses a number of different techniques including soft tissue mobilization (massage), joint mobilizations, traction and therapeutic exercise.
Headaches are a complex problem with multiple contributing factors. We believe that a holistic approach is effective for both short and long term effects. If you are wondering where to start, you can't really make a wrong choice by starting with chiropractic and/or massage therapy for headaches.
What exactly do we mean when we say that we “get to the root of the problem” and “do more than provide band-aide solutions?”
We mean that we don’t treat surface level symptoms without getting to the bottom of the issue as well. In the case of headaches, for example, we seek to understand the underlying causes, in addition to providing immediate pain relief. Not only do we help headaches to go away, but we also help them to stay away. A headache is a symptom, not a syndrome in and of itself. So, treating the underlying condition can usually relieve headaches for the long-term. A symptom, such as a headache, is a way your body asks you to change something, be it your lifestyle, posture, diet or external environment. If you ignore your body’s plea for change your headaches will probably continue to return. A true health solution is needed before a presenting symptom can disappear for good. That’s why we offer safe, effective and natural approaches to help headache sufferers regain and maintain health and well-being.
This is only a brief summary of general information about possible causes and triggers for these conditions. This information is not specific medical advice and does not replace information you receive from your health care provider.
