Archives: Conditions

Types, Symptoms and Treatments for Spondylosis Have you heard of the term ‘spondylosis’ before? If you’ve been in the doctor’s office for an X-ray because of back pain, this may or may not be a word that was used to describe what’s happening in your spine on a structural level. If you’ve never heard of it before but are wondering if this is something that you may have, or if you’ve been told you have spondylosis but aren’t sure what it actually is, read on to find out. What Is Spondylosis? The word ‘Spondylosis’ is interchangeable with the terms ‘lumbar/cervical osteoarthritis’, ‘disc degeneration’, or ‘degenerative disk disease’. The long definition: Spondylosis is the mechanical response of adjacent vertebral bone to disc degeneration, giving radiological signs of  joint space narrowing, osteophytosis, subchondral sclerosis, and cyst formation. In short? Spondylosis is basically the degeneration of the spine – the spinal equivalent of osteoarthritis. When an X-ray or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is taken, some visible changes will be seen: The joint spaces are narrowed, bone spurs are present, thickening of bone edges, and harmless fluid-filled holes may develop inside of bones. Is spondylosis also ‘spondylitis’? Not exactly. Spondylitis means inflammation in your spinal bones (vertebra). This inflammation often results in pain with difficulty moving. Spondylosis, or degeneration, is frequently asymptomatic. So while a person may have spondylosis, it may only be until spondylitis occurs when the bone spurs and joint narrowing start to impinge on the surrounding nerves that it is diagnosed. What Are The Common Types of Spondylosis? Cervical Spondylosis Cervical spondylosis means the degeneration of the cervical spine, which are the first 7 spinal bones of the neck. This condition can lead to chronic neck pain, stiffness, and even weakness in the neck muscles. Cervical spondylosis most often affects...

Whiplash Injury – Symptoms, Treatments, Recovery A broken bone shows up on a simple X-Ray, a nerve pain can show up on an MRI scan. But whiplash injury? It can often not be as direct of a finding as a broken bone or pinched nerve. Whiplash injuries often involve an unpredictable combination of injuries and sensitivity to the nerves, muscles, joints, and surrounding connective tissues (like your joint capsules and ligaments). This makes it not as simple to diagnose, and not so simple to treat. This article will help you to understand the nature of whiplash injuries and how they should be treated.   What Is Whiplash? Let’s start with defining what exactly whiplash is. Years ago, scientists thought that whiplash injuries happened from, well, whipping your head back and forth too much! They thought that if the head was moved beyond its normal ranges, say extremely forward or extremely backwards, this was what caused a whiplash injury to the muscles, joints, and nerves around the neck and head. Now, the current definition of whiplash is, “bony or soft tissue injuries” resulting from “rear-end or side impact, predominantly in motor vehicle accidents, and from other mishaps” as a result of “an acceleration-deceleration mechanism of energy transfer to the neck”.  This means that if the head moves back and forth quickly enough (usually from a rear-end accident or impact), even if the range is not huge, it can cause a whiplash injury because the speed is what transfers energy and injury to the head and neck – not the range.    Common Accidents That Cause Whiplash Injury The common situations where a whiplash injury can occur are: Car Accidents When you get rear-ended, your body goes through an extremely rapid and intense acceleration and deceleration and takes your head and...

What is Vertigo? You may have heard of people (or it could even be you!) complaining that they suddenly feel dizzy or that the room is spinning especially when they get up, or even when they move their head or body. Well, this could be attributed to vertigo.  Vertigo is a type of dizziness that is commonly described as feeling that a person is spinning or that the room is spinning around them, when they are in fact not moving. This feeling of dizziness is also aggravated by head and/or body movements, and a change in positions. Some have also described vertigo as feeling similarly to motion sickness. However, vertigo is merely a symptom with a wide range of disorders, and not a condition. It is often caused by a dysfunction in the vestibular system, which is the body’s centre of command controlling balance, that is located within the inner ear.    Who Can Get Vertigo? Anyone across all ages can get vertigo. However, it happens more commonly in females compared to males, about 2-3 times more in fact! It has also been associated with a wide range of comorbidities such as heart diseases and depression, to name a few. Until now, the exact cause of vertigo is still unknown. What is for certain though, is that vertigo has commonly been associated with problems arising from the inner ear that is responsible for our balance, or it could also be caused by problems involving certain regions of the brain.  Other causes of vertigo:  Migraines Labyrinthitis  Whiplash  Cervical spondylosis  Vestibular neuritis  Stroke  Diabetes  Head injuries  Shingles in or near the ear  Ear injuries  What are the Symptoms of Vertigo   Dizziness  Lightheadedness Blurred vision  Nausea  Vomiting  Tinnitus  Headaches  Pallor  Sweating  Nystagmus  Floating sensation  These symptoms can occur when a person is...

Firstly, What is Spinal Stenosis? In the normal uninjured spine, there is adequate space for the disc and the nerves to co-exist together so our body’s nervous system works painlessly. However, spinal stenosis is when there is a disturbance to that space – if a disc is prolapsed (e.g. lumbar slipped disc) due to many reasons, it can compromise the space in the spine. The bulging disc begins to pinch on the surrounding nerves or spinal cord and cause pain in the lower back or down the legs (lumbar spinal stenosis causing sciatica). Other than the back, it can also occur in the neck (cervical spinal stenosis).   Who gets Spinal Stenosis? There are several factors that increase a person’s chances of developing spinal stenosis. The more boxes you tick off, the higher the incidence of spinal stenosis happening in that population!  Ages 50 and above Spinal stenosis usually develops slowly over time, even before symptoms like back pain start to occur. The natural ageing of the spine causes the spaces in between the spinal bones to become smaller, and the compression onto the discs can create pinching along the surrounding nerve or joint structures. History of previous injury to the spine, or previous low back pain episodes Events like trauma to the spine through falls or accidents may cause increased sensitivity of the nerves & spine even months or years after the injury has healed. Those with previous low back pain are also at higher risk of recurrence! Experiencing more than 2 previous episodes of low back pain triples the odds of a recurrence within 1 year . Having other spine conditions like scoliosis Scoliosis (the sideways curvature of the spine) can also contribute to spinal space narrowing and increase risk of nerve root entrapment.   Types of...

Back pain has been found to be one of the most debilitating disabilities worldwide, and most of us may get it at some point in our life. Pain during sitting and sleeping, difficulty walking for a long time, or difficulty bending forwards to play with your kids are common complaints. This pain is definitely limiting and disruptive to your daily routine, taking away your concentration and productivity, making it hard to focus on your work ahead.  Common causes: LUMBAR DISC INJURY (Common recovery time: 4-12 weeks) In between our spine, we have discs that are filled with jelly-like fluid. Think of it like a water balloon, when these discs are pressured due to prolonged sitting or lifting, it may press onto the nerves nearby and cause pain at the low back, or even symptoms down towards your legs. In some cases, there could be tears in our discs that can cause intense pain and limitation. MECHANICAL LOW BACK PAIN (Common recovery time: 2-6 weeks) Other than spinal discs, we also have other structures like muscle and ligament to support and stabilise our spine. It is common to have muscle or ligament injury as a result of our daily activities such as lifting and carrying. SACROILIAC JOINT DYSFUNCTION (Common recovery time: 2-8 weeks) Sacroiliac joint (SIJ) is an important weight bearing joint and plays an important role in distributing weight evenly around our body.When you sit for prolonged hours, this may cause the structures around SIJ to be stiff and lead to the discomfort that you may be having.   What kind of treatments can help solve back pain? Chiropractic adjustments: Targeted spinal adjustments can be done to reduce stiffness, as well as reduce the pressure on your spine or hip bones, and reduce your pain! Physiotherapy rehabilitation: Specific rehabilitative exercises...

A tendon is a thick fibrous cord that attaches the muscle to bone. Tendonitis is the inflammation of a tendon. The common names for various tendonitis problems are tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, swimmer’s shoulder and jumper’s knee. Some of the Sign & Symptoms include: Pain and tenderness at the injured area Swelling and limited movement Treatments we offer: 1. Ice therapy 2. Sports rigid taping and kinesio taping 3. Shockwave therapy 4. Soft tissue massage and release 5. Stretching and strengthening exercises

A muscle strain, or pulled muscle, occurs when your muscle is overstretched or torn. This commonly happens when your muscle is tired, is overused or there is improper use of a muscle. Strains can happen in any muscle but the common ones are your low back, neck, quadriceps and hamstrings, which is the muscle behind your thigh. Some of the Signs & Symptoms are: Pain and soreness at the muscle area Limited movement Swelling or bruises Muscle weakness Treatments we offer: 1. Ice therapy 2. Sports rigid taping and kinesio taping 3. Shockwave therapy 4. Soft tissue massage and release 5. Stretching exercises and strengthening exercises

What is it?   ‘Sprains’ is a term for any ligaments in your body that have been injured. Very common examples are ankle sprains (e.g. when you trip and twist your ankle too hard), or wrist sprains (e.g. when you fall on your outstretched hand). Sprains can happen in almost any joint in your body, and for different degrees of sprains, the treatments and recovery times may vary.    Some of the Signs and Symptoms are: Pain at the joint after an injury Swelling over the joint Bruising (Blue-blacks, or redness) Difficulty moving the joint    What can be done? Active rehabilitation to the affected joint is important to prevent stiffness of the joint that will affect movements in the future. Strengthening of the muscles around the joint is also important as an injured ligament causes reduced stability to the joint. Soft tissue therapy to surrounding swollen/tight muscles and ESWT may be used to accelerate healing. If movements are very painful, taping to rest stressed muscles or reduce swelling may be done.    Can this be prevented? It is hard to prevent the OCCURRENCE  of injuries, especially if you are a very active person. But what we can guarantee is helping you through the recovery of those injuries so you can get back to your activities and understand the strengthening that needs to be done to prevent the SEVERITY of it when accidents happen.   

  Stand Strong: Say Goodbye to Nagging Knee Pain Are you tired of waking up in the morning and having your first few steps with stiff and achy knees? Is your knee pain keeping you from the activities you want to do with friends and family?  When the pain feels like it’s coming from the knee, all the surrounding body parts need to be examined.  Low back and pelvis can have imbalances that impact the knee lower down Hip weakness may create less support for the knee Ankle and foot position also influences the knee position, putting painful loads on the knee If so, it’s best to assess your knee pain so we can create a tailored plan to address your specific knee pain. You will soon be able to be pain-free when: Walking up and down the stairs Squatting Sitting down and getting up Walking Performing hobbies (hiking, gardening, sports)   Remove Painkillers from the Equation Many people believe that cortisone injections or medical drugs are the only long-lasting way to treat knee pain. Chiropractic and physiotherapy care can help keep you off painkillers or invasive injections!  Conservative care means avoiding medication and injections and using your body’s ability to heal itself and recover. It is a low-risk treatment plan that offers results without any side effects (other than some muscle soreness from exercises!).    What to Expect When You Visit Our Knee Pain Treatment KL As chiropractors or physiotherapists, we will ask about your medical history, what you believe caused the pain and more. We will also consider your spine, neck, and hips, in addition to examining your knees, so that we can make an accurate diagnosis and create a treatment plan. Each of you coming through our doors will receive a personalized care plan.  However, in...

What is Scoliosis? Scoliosis is a spinal disorder that often occurs in childhood and adolescence where the spine curves to one side or the other resembling the letter ‘S’ or ‘C’, observable when looking from the back or front. There are many causes for scoliosis but most of the time, it is unknown for an individual. It could be genetic, neuro-muscular disorder or having poor posture. Scoliosis commonly occurs in young females (most commonly detected between ages of 10 to 18 years) but can also be evident in some males. Scoliosis may result in pain or restricted movement due to imbalances in the muscles and restrictions in certain parts of the joints. Most of the time, it is painless, but has to be carefully monitored to identify if it worsens over time.    What are the Types and Symptoms of Scoliosis? Healthy A healthy spine is aligned well, meaning that the curves are in the proper places and when viewed from the back, there is no imbalance seen. Imbalances can look like one side of the shoulder or hip is higher than the other. Thoracic Scoliosis THORACIC scoliosis affects the mid-back more than any other parts of the spine. ‘Thoracic’ refers to the 12 spine segments that start from the base of the neck to the mid-back, and scoliosis there means that it curves to either the right or left. When this happens, you will see one shoulder look higher than the other side, and the shoulder blade will look like it ‘pops’ out away from the rib cage. Lumbar Scoliosis Lumbar Scoliosis involves the ‘Lumbar’, which refers to the 5 spine segments in the lower back, and is the part of the spine right above the hips. It is evident when you see one side of the hip...