Dr. Smith has been treating the chiropractic needs of the Klamath Basin since 2007. And in that time, there’s been several conditions that he sees more often than others.

What are the chiropractic conditions he treats the most?

Mechanical low back pain

This is the most common type of back pain Dr. Smith’s chiropractic patients see him for treatment.

If you suffer from this type of back pain, the symptoms are all too familiar to you – aching and dull pain in the lower back, limited range of motion, and stiffness. You likely find that certain movements and activities such as lifting, bending, and even twisting can cause even more pain.

Mechanical low back pain results from straining or spraining the muscles and tendons in the lower back or from damage to the intervertebral discs (discogenic).  The cause for mechanical low back pain varies, and can range from something as innocuous as poor posture or repetitive motion to something more obviously damaging such as a herniated disc or osteoarthritis.

These injuries may have the additional component of lower extremity (hip, leg, foot) pain, weakness, numbness, individually or together.

Mechanical neck pain

Mechanical neck pain often follows the same pattern as mechanical low back pain but with upper extremity complaints instead.

And, similar to mechanical low back pain, mechanical neck pain occurs when muscles and joints in the neck are strained. 

Sufferers of mechanical neck pain will notice a dull ache, and sometimes that ache hurts worse when moving. You will likely notice a reduced range of neck motion, and perhaps pain spreading to the upper back, shoulders, and down into arms and legs. Symptoms may occur immediately or gradually.

Mechanical neck pain can be attributed to a variety of causes including poor posture, neck strain, anxiety, and even depression. 

Headaches

If you saw our post “Can chiropractic care help migraines?”, this likely isn’t a surprise.

But what is surprising is that headaches can result from mechanical neck issues even if there are no neck pain complaints at all.

For headache sufferers, this means the causes are often the same as they are for mechanical neck pain – poor posture, neck strain, anxiety, and sometimes depression.

Shoulders, ankles, arm and hand/arm numbness and/or pain

With mechanical low back pain and mechanical neck pain often causing complaints in other parts of the body, this also isn’t a surprise.

Complaints of these areas can result from spinal injuries but do not always present with a spinal complaint. In other words, you may not have any back pain, but the pain you feel in the other parts of your body stem from what’s happening in your spine.

Fortunately, Dr. Smith is able to diagnose the source of these types of pain and offer chiropractic treatment for them as well as a regimen to help reduce the severity of your discomfort.

Other complaints

While the above are the most common chiropractic conditions Dr. Smith treats, the following are other complaints he often helps patients manage:

• Injuries specific to the rotator cuff, knee, ankle, etc 
• AC separations (aka blow to the top of the shoulder)
• Soft tissue injuries such as sprains and strains 

Whether you suffer from the above common conditions Dr. Smith treats or if you have other complaints, he can help. The first step to getting your pain under control is to reach out to our office and set up an appointment.