PAIN CENTER OF GWINNETT

By: Dr. Ray Alexander, DC - Lawrenceville, Ga.

Is Your Pillow Right For You?

Soft pillow, hard pillow, one pillow, two pillows, feather pillows, down, pillows, foam pillows!!  Go into any bedding store and you know there are a seemingly endless variety of pillows.  Many people have very specific preferences for the type of pillow they choose.  This may be because of habit, what they used in childhood, because of allergies, etc.  But how many of you choose your pillow for your neck and your spine?   As we all know, the neck has a slight curve.  When you sleep on a standard type of pillow it usually supports your head but not your neck.  This can cause the vertebrae in your neck to straighten out in an unnatural way.  This in turn can aggravate whiplash, arthritis, tension headaches, and other shoulder problems.

By using a cervical pillow you provide proper support for your neck.  Your head rests in the the “dip” in the pillow and your neck is supported by the “curb”.  These pillows have one side that has a larger “curb” and one side with a smaller “curb”.  That allows you to choose which side is most comfortable.  It will support your neck whether you sleep on your back or on your side.  A cervical pillow is especially important for support when you are recovering from an acute injury but provides benefits for all necks.  It will also help cervical chiropractic adjustments hold better.

Could a Cervical Support Pillow Help You?    Take this easy test* to find out…

Do you feel pain or stiffness in your neck, back, arm, or shoulder when you wake up?    _____Yes      _____No

Do you get frequent tension headaches?   _____ Yes    _____No

Do you suffer from arthritis?   _____Yes    _____No

Have you been in a whiplash accident, or have you had any prior injuries to your neck, shoulder, or back?   _____Yes   _____No

Do you weigh more than is recommended for your height and build?  ___Yes     _____No

Do your hands or arms frequently “fall asleep”during the night?     _____Yes    _____No

Do you sleep on a mattress that is more than five years old?    _____Yes    _____No

Do you toss and turn throughout the night, trying to get comfortable?      _____Yes    _____No

Do you clench or grind your teeth while sleeping?   _____Yes    _____No

Do you snore loudly on a regular basis?   _____Yes    _____No

*Questionnaire provided by Foot Levelers

Is a cervical pillow right for your?  If you answered YES to any of these questions, a cervical support pillow may help relieve your symptoms.  Ask at your next chiropractic visit  if a cervical support pillow is right for you.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at 678-407-8230.  Dr. Ray Alexander and The Whole Life Health & Chiropractic Center would be happy to provide information on our cervical pillows.

This is part of a series of articles on CHIROPRACTIC MADE EASY.  Follow this link for other articles Chiropractic Made Easy by Dr. Raymond Alexander, DC. - Lawrenceville, Ga.

By: Dr. Ray Alexander, Chiropractor in Lawrenceville, Ga.

Leg Pain/Sciatica and Chiropractic

The pain is so bad I can’t sit or lay down!
What is it and what can I do about it?

 If you are experiencing intense pain, burning or tingling, numbness or weakness that runs through your buttocks and/or down the back of one leg and may or may not be accompanied by lower back pain, there’s a good chance you may be suffering from sciatica.  This debilitating condition makes it difficult to stand, sit, lay down, or walk.

The sciatic nerve runs from your low back down through the buttocks and along the back of each leg.  It is a large nerve about the size of a finger.  In most cases, sciatica occurs when a lumbar (low back) joint is out of alignment (position) or a disk herniates or bulges and there is pressure on the sciatic nerve.  Often this situation is caused by or further aggravated by improper lifting, sudden twisting or jarring of the back during a sports activity, sudden movements or just plain wear and tear.

When a disk herniates, the soft core of the disk protrudes or bulges into the spinal cord causing the nerves to send involuntary signals that cause a sensation of tingling, numbness, burning, or pain. As this pain can continue for serveral weeks to months, many people turn to dramatic procedures in the hopes of a “quick fix”.  These include localized injections and/or surgery.

There are several types of localized injections used, all of which simply mask the pain and do not treat the cause.  One type, called chemoneucliosis, can actually cause severe damage to healthy tissue if not administered properly.  Surgery should only be considered as a very last result or if you suffer sudden loss of bladder/bowel control or have severe numbness.  Most people who have back surgery find they have permanent limitations on their physical activity, many continue to suffer chronic pain and, in some, the condition returns or actually worsens.  Therefore surgery should  be considered only after all conservative options have been explored.

Chiropractic is almost universally recognized as an effective conservative treatment of sciatica.  Through a combination of techniques we commonly provide genuine, sustained relief from the pain of sciatica by relieving and eliminating the pressure that causes the pain in the first place.

Dr. Alexander works to relieve the pain by correcting the problem at its source.  By helping to ease the out of place or misaligned vertebra back into it proper position or by working to relieve the pressure from a bulging disk, Dr. Alexander  helps people suffering with leg pain and sciatic return to a normal, active life.

This is the second in a series of articles on CHIROPRACTIC MADE EASY.  Follow this link for other articles Chiropractic Made Easy by Dr. Raymond Alexander, DC. - Lawrenceville, Ga.