Chiropractic and physical therapy work in conjunction with one another. Chiropractic care takes pressure off the central nervous system, where pressure and tension can build up in the spinal column and can cause various symptoms to form. Chiropractors are trained to find these pressure areas and then remove the interferences through chiropractic adjustments. The Chiropractic Adjustments help to decrease pain, decrease muscle tension and increase ranges of motion which will help improve one’s overall health and well-being.

Physical therapy works on strengthening and stabilizing the joints in the body and in the spinal column. The Physical Therapists at Multi-Care Medical are trained to find weaknesses in the joints of the body as well as in the spine. Our physical therapy staff can actually find specific areas that need to be strengthened and repositioned. By looking at the body as a whole, our therapists, can identify how poor posture and poor joint alignment, can cause structural weaknesses and pain. Once identified, our staff will design a specific plan to treat our patients. We utilize passive therapy techniques, such as electrical muscle stimulation, ice/hot packs and ultrasound therapy to reduce pain and active therapy techniques, such as manual therapies and therapeutic exercises to strengthen the body. Our therapists will also instruct patients on how to do specific exercises at home to support the work performed in the office.

One of our patients was a 45 year old male, 6’ tall and 220 lbs and presented to our office with lower back pain. He had a sedentary lifestyle, meaning he sat for the most of day and occasionally would work out. The pain affected his sleep and daily living activities. He treated with us for a total of five weeks receiving chiropractic manipulation and physical therapy. We first addressed taking the pressure off of the spinal column and reducing the inflammation out of the lumbar spine. We then began to incorporate active exercises to stabilize his lower back muscles and build up his core muscle strength. The 5 week treatment protocol gave his body enough time to not only feel better, but actually be better and stronger where he is now able to sit while at work and go to the gym and exercise comfortably because his quality of living has improved.

We had another patient, a 32-year-old 5 foot 130 pound female, who came into our office with complaints of headaches and pain in her neck and upper back. From her first evaluation it was determined that the posture of her neck was too straight, causing her shoulders to be too forward. This forward posture put a strain on her shoulders, shoulder blades, upper back and neck. She was given a four week treatment plan that consisted of chiropractic adjustments to take pressure off her head and cervical spine and physical therapy to work on improving the posture of her neck, shoulders and upper back. By addressing her poor posture, she was able to get her head, neck, shoulders and back positioned properly, thus improving her pain and her overall health. She was given home exercises to support the work done in the office.

We had a 17 year old, high school baseball pitcher, who came into our office with right shoulder pain, from putting too much strain on his shoulder/arm. It was determined from our Physical Therapy Department, that his rotator cuff muscles, the group of muscles that support the shoulder, were not working properly to support the strain on his arm, causing a weakness in his shoulder. We recommended a break from throwing a baseball and in addition we treated him for 6 weeks, combining passive therapy to remove the inflammation in his shoulder and active strengthening of the rotator cuff muscles. The result was the shoulder responded favorably to treatment and the patient was able to return to playing baseball. 

We had a 15 year old gymnast, who injured her left knee from tumbling and coming down on her leg. The result with a strained medial meniscus. We treated this patient with passive therapy to remove the inflammation and discomfort in her knee and then actively strengthened the knee thru exercises to stabilize the joint. The result was that following 4 weeks of physical therapy, she was able to resume her gymnastics.