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Massage therapy has been used for many thousands of years as a natural pain relief approach. We use massage therapy in our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA office, as it works great in conjunction with the chiropractic care that Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin provides. Massage treatment does much more than just feel good. It also offers many positive effects as well. Some are physical and others are psychological, and here are some of the proven benefits:

• Pain reduction (back, neck, shoulder, legs, arm, and headache pain)
• Improved range of motion and mobility
• Improved blood flow
• Greater immune system function
• Enhanced sports performance
• Reduced depression and anxiety
• Increased levels of energy
• Lower levels of fatigue
• Improved sleep
• Easier labor and delivery for expecting mothers
• Reduced stretch marks
• Less scar tissue

We Can Help Patients Find Relief From Neck Pain and Headaches with Massage Therapy

Benefits such as these have been found to be extremely helpful for individuals who suffer with chronic conditions such as arthritis and asthma. Massage has also proven advantageous for burn injury patients, people with high blood pressure, and women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome. Even preterm infants have shown benefits with massage therapy as they have increased levels of weight gain.

To learn more about the massage therapy services we offer in Woburn & Chelmsford, MA, give our office a call today at (781) 460-0939.

Knee pain is a common problem for patients in our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA chiropractic office, and Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin has happily provided many of these folks relief. This is largely because chiropractic care has been found to help with many forms of knee pain.

For instance, some people encounter pain in and around the knee tissues due to degenerative arthritis. Research has proven that this condition responds very well to chiropractic--and rather quickly, too. In fact, one article published in The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association found that people with osteoarthritis in their knees felt considerable pain relief and improved function after just two weeks of chiropractic care.

If your knee pain is caused by a medial meniscus tear, chiropractic could likely help with that as well. One study found that combining chiropractic with soft tissue therapy, rest, ice, and compression on the affected knee helped lower the intensity of the pain.

Clearly, sometimes a knee replacement surgery is required in order to correct the issue, and if that's the case, chiropractic can also help improve the outcome. How?

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Knee Injuries

Medical research has shown that patients with low back pain frequently have less positive results after knee surgery. Thus, dealing with your back pain through chiropractic before having a total knee arthroplasty can help with your post-surgery recovery.

No matter what your knee issue, Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin can likely help. Call our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA office today and find out what we can do for you!

References

• Pollard H et al. (2008, December). The effect of a manual therapy knee protocol on osteoarthritic knee pain: a randomised controlled trial. The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association;52(4):229-42
  Boyle J et al. (2014, March). Influence of low back pain on total knee arthroplasty outcome. Knee;21(2):410-4
• Jarosz B & Ames R. (2010, December). Chiropractic management of a medial meniscus tear in a patient with tibiofemoral degeneration: a case report. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine;9(4):200-8

We see a considerable number of folks with headaches in our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA office, and Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin has been able to aid many of them. Furthermore, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that one half of all adults have a problem with some kind of headache problems, so this certainly isn’t surprising. One of the most frequent varieties of headaches that our patients suffer from is cervicogenic headache which, thankfully, chiropractic can usually help.

Cervicogenic Headaches Explained

A cervicogenic headache is one that stems from problems in the cervical spine. It can be caused by an issue with either the spine itself (particularly, the vertebrae, joints, or discs), or it can be because of a problem in the muscles and tendons of your neck. This problem in your spine can cause compression or aggravation of the spinal nerves, which can contribute to headache pain.

How do you know if the headache you are being affected by is a cervicogenic headache? Aside from being given a diagnosis from a healthcare professional, a frequent symptom of cervicogenic headaches is tenderness or discomfort in your neck. This is sometimes associated with pain in the back of your head or between your shoulder blades.

How Chiropractic Helps

Because cervicogenic headaches will not subside until whatever issue is triggering them is corrected, it is essential to receive treatment as opposed to just trying to "wait it out." Chiropractic care is an effective solution, and one that provides a considerable amount of headache pain relief.

In one study reported in Chiropractic & Osteopathy, specialists evaluated 80 people who had repeated cervicogenic headaches. Half of them got chiropractic care and the other half engaged in light massage therapy. Each participant was assessed 12 and 24 weeks after the procedures and it was discovered that chiropractic offered the best effects.

Specifically, this study uncovered that chiropractic adjustments gave patients more pain relief and lessened the number of headaches that occurred. Furthermore, it also reduced the disability that resulted from these painful headaches.

To find out what Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin can do for you and your headache pain, call our office today. We'll do our best to get you the pain relief you need!

References

• Haas M, Schneider M, Vavrek D. Illustrating risk difference and number needed to treat from a randomized controlled trial of spinal manipulation for cervicogenic headache. Chiropractic & Osteopathy 2010 18(9).
• World Health Organization. (2012, October). Headache disorders. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs277/en/

We see a number of patients in our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA office with ankle sprains but Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin has had a lot of success helping them recover more quickly. Why are ankle sprains so common and how can chiropractic care help?

According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), an estimated 25,000 men and women in the US sprain their ankles daily. In fact, these injuries make up almost half of all sports injuries, causing people to spend time away from the activities they enjoy most.

Like any injury, there are many causes of ankle sprains. The most common is inversion, or when the ankle rolls inward. This injury can occur due to one forceful movement, or it can develop over time, and exercises that increase the risk for this type of ankle sprain include running and jumping. You're also at risk if you have pre-existing ankle injuries, poor posture or balance, weak muscles, and reduced range of motion.

How Can Chiropractic Treatments and Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin Help?

A paper printed in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to discover chiropractic's role when it comes to ankle sprain recovery. The authors enrolled 33 individuals between the ages of 18 and 45 who had a history of ankle inversion sprains, who were reporting tenderness and/or pain, and had not re-injured the area in the previous six weeks.

18 of the participants were assigned to receive rehabilitation and the remaining 15 patients received chiropractic adjustments in addition to rehabilitation. Each person had five full weeks of treatment, with the rehab group receiving therapies seven days a week and the rehab plus chiropractic group receiving therapy six out of the seven days.

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Ankle Sprains

The study found that the people who participated in both rehabilitation and chiropractic fared the best at the 4-week mark when it came to pain and joint restriction. Also, no bad effects were reported, showing that chiropractic is safe.

If you're near our office in Woburn & Chelmsford, MA and you're recovering from an ankle injury, give us a call. We'll do what we can to keep you up and running... literally!

Studies

• American College of Sports Medicine. (n.d.). Ankle sprains and the athlete. Retrieved from https://www.acsm.org/docs/current-comments/anklesprainstemp.pdf
• Lubbe, D et al. (2015, January). Manipulative therapy and rehabilitation for recurrent ankle sprain with functional instability: a short-term, assessor-blind, parallel-group randomized trial. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 38(1), 22-34, doi:10.1016/j.jmpt.2014.10.001

If you suffer with fibromyalgia, you are not alone, as Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin sees many people with this particular syndrome in our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA chiropractic office. As a matter of fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that roughly two percent of all adults in the US have fibromyalgia. Fortunately, chiropractic is one treatment option that can provide positive results.

Research Shows Chiropractic Eases Fibromyalgia

In a paper released in mid-2015, 215 adults with fibromyalgia were assessed based on factors ranging from pain to quality of sleep to the levels of depression and anxiety they felt. Then they were split into two groups with one group receiving a multi-modal therapy program for three months and the second group receiving the same approach with the addition of chiropractic adjustments (specifically, to the upper neck area) for the same length of time.

The individuals who received chiropractic care in addition to the multi-disciplinary treatment approach reported greater results in all areas (pain, sleep, depression, and anxiety) at three months post-treatment when compared to the study patients who received multi-modal therapy without chiropractic. In addition, those positive results were lasting as the subjects reported continued improvement one full year later.

Fibromyalgia can significantly decrease your quality of life, both mentally and physically. If you're suffering from fibromyalgia, we might be able to help.

You don't have to suffer! To see what Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin can do for your fibromyalgia pain, call our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA chiropractic office today.

Research

• Fibromyalgia. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/basics/fibromyalgia.htm on November 2, 2015.
• Moustafa I & Diab A. (2015, July). The addition of upper cervical manipulative therapy in the treatment of patients with fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial. Rheumatology International;35(7):1163-74.

Regrettably, quite a few of our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA patients are familiar with the pain caused by a herniated disc all too well. Fortunately, Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin has helped many people with disc pain, and a number of scientific studies have verified that chiropractic can help people recover from this kind of condition.

Research on Chiropractic and Disc Herniations

In one study, doctors from Switzerland selected 148 patients who were coping with pain in their lower back and legs due to a herniated disc (which was confirmed through magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI). Each person then received chiropractic adjustments that focused on the location of his or her disc problem.

Results were gathered after the initial treatment session at set intervals--namely, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year--to establish what kind of short-term and long-term effects, if any, chiropractic care offers when it comes to treating this particular condition. Among the information obtained was the individual's self-reported changes in both lumbar and leg pain.

The authors found that, overall, the patients reported "significant improvement" for both types of pain every time the results were collected. In fact, over 90% of the individuals stated that their pain "improved" within the first three months, with 88% still citing improvement one year after their first treatment session.

Even those test subjects who were defined as "chronic" still claimed an improvement in pain at a rate of 89 percent one year beyond when treatment first began. This is the same positive result that was found in the following case study.

Disc Herniation and Chiropractic: A Case Study

In this study, a 26-year-old man had presented with disc herniation symptoms such as pain in the low back, left leg, and left groin area, along with left foot drop and muscle weakness. He had suffered with these issues for more than two years after sustaining a sports injury, and his herniated disc was confirmed via MRI.

After receiving chiropractic, "The patient responded favorably and his multi-symptom complex resolved within 90 days of treatment." In addition, the patient was still experiencing relief one year after the chiropractic intervention.

Studies like these show how useful chiropractic can be when it comes to alleviating herniated disc pain and treating the symptoms they cause. So, if you are suffering from back pain caused by a herniated disc and want to find some relief, chiropractic may be an effective solution.

Don't suffer from chronic herniated disc pain. Give our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA office a call today at (781) 460-0939 for a consultation or appointment.

References

• Leemann S, Peterson CK, Schmid C, Anklin B, Humphreys BK. Outcomes of acute and chronic patients with magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed symptomatic lumbar disc herniations receiving high-velocity, low-amplitude, spinal manipulative therapy: a prospective observational cohort study with one-year follow-up. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2014;37(3):155-163.
• Polkinghorn BS, Colloca CJ. Treatment of symptomatic lumbar disc herniation using activator methods chiropractic technique. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 1998;21(3):187-196.
  

Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin sees a lot of people struggling with carpal tunnel syndrome in our busy Woburn & Chelmsford, MA chiropractic practice. While some people think that the origin of this wrist-related pain is muscular, it's really a syndrome that stems from the nerves--and not just the nerves in your hands.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps With Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

A recent study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy assessed 71 women between the ages of 35 and 59 who were diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Upon investigating the subjects' neck range of motion, the doctors discovered that the women had reduced cervical mobility when compared to a healthy control group.

In addition, it was also discovered that the level of the women's reported carpal tunnel discomfort was connected to the lateral flexion of the cervical spine. In short, the less mobility in the neck, the greater the level of pain.

This research is extremely important, as you cannot successfully resolve a problem until you fully understand its cause. By realizing that the root of carpal tunnel issues is in the neck, this means that natural approaches such as chiropractic can often restore normal function, eliminating the need for risky surgical procedures.

If you have carpal tunnel pain, call our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA office and ask how Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin can help you get relief!

Research Studies

De-la-Llave-Rincon A et al. (2011, May). Women with carpal tunnel syndrome show restricted cervical range of motion. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy;41(5):305-10.
Simon H. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. University of Maryland Medical Center. Updated May 6, 2012. Retrieved from https://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/carpal-tunnel-syndrome on November 2, 2015.

We see a number of people with back pain in our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA office, and Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin has been able to help a lot of them get relief with chiropractic care. At the same time, dealing with back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to make a choice between chiropractic care and medical treatment, as many people utilize both types of care with great success.

Study Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Care Work Well Together

In a report published by the journal Spine researchers¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who reported both acute pain and limited function due to back pain. Some of the test subjects received treatment via standard medical care, while the rest were given chiropractic adjustments in addition to regular medical care, as researchers wanted to determine which group fared better.

Researchers observed that the patients who received standard medical care in combination with chiropractic scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73 percent reported positive benefits compared to just 17 percent of the medical care only group who indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at two and four weeks.

Accordingly, incorporating these two forms of care can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medicine can work together, chiropractic offers some unique strengths over medical therapy.

Where Chiropractic Care Wins

Although it may seem as if each method plays a 50/50 role, there is one major advantage that chiropractic care has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a piece of research from UCLA² that was published in the American Journal of Public Health found that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than people undergoing medical care.

According to the experts, the main aspects that patients liked over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't surprising, as chiropractors frequently spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as explaining more carefully what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Care Offers a Non-Invasive Approach

Certainly, the strategies associated with chiropractic are very different than those available with medical therapy, but a large amount of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. In contrast to focusing on simply relieving the symptoms, chiropractic means tracking down the primary cause of your pain, which often results in greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

Additionally, while medication is sometimes helpful for treating certain conditions, many health issues respond well to natural forms of treatment such as chiropractic care. This means fewer negative responses to drugs and more permanent recovery.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health issues. Give our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA office a call today at (781) 460-0939. We'll do our best to help you get and remain free from back pain.

References

1. Goertz CM, Long CR, Hondras MA, Petri R, Delgado R, Lawrence DJ, Owens EF, Meeker WC. Adding chiropractic manipulative therapy to standard medical care for patients with acute low back pain: results of a pragmatic randomized comparative effectiveness study. Spine 2013;38(8):627-634.
2. Hertzman-Miller RP1, Morgenstern H, Hurwitz EL, Yu F, Adams AH, Harber P, Kominski GF. Comparing the satisfaction of low back pain patients randomized to receive medical or chiropractic care: results from the UCLA low-back pain study. American Journal of Public Health 2002;92(10):1628-1633.

We care for a large number of patients in our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA clinic, and Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin has helped countless people manage a variety of health challenges. However, a frequent concern that seems to prevent many men and women from seeking care is whether or not chiropractic adjustments are safe. Luckily, according to three separate studies (out of countless on the issue), the answer to this concern is a resounding: "Yes! Chiropractic is safe!"

Chiropractic is Safe, According to Australian Study

The first study(1) was published in Spine and involved 183 women and men. Each test subject reported affected by spinal pain, and half of the individuals received real chiropractic adjustments whereas the remaining patients were given two fake chiropractic treatments. Information was gathered after each real or fake adjustment to determine whether or not any unpleasant side effects occurred as a result of the genuine chiropractic adjustments.

The doctors reported that no participants reported any serious adverse adverse reactions at all after getting one or two sessions of chiropractic care. Some people did report that they experienced a headache (just 9% of people) or muscle stiffness (about 1 out of 3) post-treatment, but the effects were not of a serious nature.

National Survey Reports that Chiropractic Care is Safe

The next research study(2), also published in the influential journal, Spine, was performed in an attempt to establish the safety of chiropractic care. The test group was much larger as it involved just under 20,000 individuals. Each participant received chiropractic adjustments of the neck, with over 50,000 total adjustments for all patients.

Again, the researchers discovered no serious negative side effects. The authors calculated the risk of total adverse reactions to be about 6 out of every 10,000 consultations or every 100,000 treatment sessions. Plus, just as with the previous study, some volunteers did report non-serious, milder, side effects such as dizziness (about 1.6%) or a headache (4%), and this caused the authors to determine that "the risk of a serious adverse event, immediately or up to 7 days after treatment, was low to very low."

Chiropractic Care Is Safe for Your Children

This third study(3) is unique from the previous two pieces of research, as it concentrates on the safety of chiropractic care for kids. In this case, the authors investigated results reported by both chiropractors and parents involving 816 children who participated in 7,173 chiropractic treatment sessions.

Out of 5,438 chiropractic appointments made for the children, chiropractors responding to the survey reported only three cases where there were adverse effects. When parents were surveyed, they indicated only two adverse side effects out of 1,735 visits. Furthermore, both chiropractors and parents reported "a high rate of improvement with respect to the children's presenting complaints."

Based on these three studies (and many more!), chiropractic care has been deemed safe and effective for everyone. To find out what chiropractic care can do for you, call our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA office and make an appointment today at (781) 460-0939.

References

1. Walker BF, Hebert JJ, Stomski NJ, Clarke BR, Bowden RS, Losco B, French SD. Outcomes of usual chiropractic. The OUCH randomized controlled trial of adverse events. Spine 2013;38(20):1723-9.
2. Thiel HW1, Bolton JE, Docherty S, Portlock JC. Safety of chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine: a prospective national survey. Spine 2007;32(21):2375-8.
3. Alcantara J, Ohm J, Kunz D. The safety and effectiveness of pediatric chiropractic: a survey of chiropractors and parents in a practice-based research network. Explore NY 2009;5(5): 290-5.

When you're trying to sustain your family, take care of your household, and pay all of your bills on time, every day at work counts. Work injuries can be a serious problem for many folks, and we see many of these types of injuries in our Woburn & Chelmsford, MA office. Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin understands your situation and is here to help.

The advantages of chiropractic for work injuries are well-established. A 2013 research paper involving 651 adults who were troubled with either back or neck pain found that the people who didn't see a chiropractor missed work at twice the rate of those who were seeing a chiropractor.

So, why don't more people use Chiropractic?

According to the participants in this study, two of the major reasons were that they thought they needed a medical referral for chiropractic care (which is typically no longer true) and they overestimated the costs associated with chiropractic treatment sessions by almost 70 percent.

The truth is, chiropractic patients actually spend less on care than medical patients, plus they are less likely to use drugs for their symptoms.

Dr. James Ellis & Dr. Lyndsay Martin Can Help Clients Find Comfort From Chronic Pain

If you live in Woburn & Chelmsford, MA and you've been injured at work, we can help. Give our office a call today at (781) 460-0939 for an appointment.

References

"Thousands of Minnesotans with Back and Neck Pain Don't Seek Treatment." (2013, June 12). ChiroCare.