Category Archives: Chiropractic

School and Back Packs!!

Posted on by Valerie Lavigne

Hi everyone

It is back to school already!!

Are you signing ” this is the most wonderful time of year” or will you be sad on your kids first day of school let me know!

My kids start Thursday and we have been in full preparation mode! It means lots of shopping and writing names all over their school books! With one in 5th grade and the others in 2nd grade, I have many beginnings and I actually look forward to a routine again! So I would answer mixed feelings, happy and sad because they are one year older !

It is appropriate to talk about school bags and back packs.  Many children will experience back pain, neck pain and upper back pain from their back packs. Either the actual back pack is not appropriate or the way it is filled with the books.

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One more reason why I love being a chiropractor!

Posted on by Valerie Lavigne

Hi everybody!

So obviously there are many reasons why I love being a chiropractor! Love helping people, meeting patients, the freedom of being my own boss, could go on and on. Yesterday, I had one of these great moments in my practice and I wanted to share it with you.
In my practice, I treat a lot of children and babies as you must know but I also get some referrals from an MD for work related injuries. These cases are quite challenging, as they are complex most of the time. The patients usually have tried many therapies before they give chiropractic a try.

What is scoliosis?

Posted on by Valerie Lavigne

 

hi everyone

I wanted to talk today about scoliosis because I had a 15 year old patient come in with that exact problem. Scoliosis of the spine is when the spine decides to curve sideways. It can happen to about 12% of the population! It usually will happen to young girls between the ages of 10-12 and in young boys between the ages of 11-13. The ratio is usually 8 girls to 1 boy. There are usually no known causes of scoliosis which is why it is called “idiopathic”. It can be linked to many health issues as the vertebras turn sideways and can cause compression of the nerves and organs.
It is very important and I encourage all of my patients to bring me their little girls and boys at this age at least to do a simple screen of scoliosis. If it is detected early it can be monitored and helped by certain therapies.

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Gardening without hurting!!

Posted on by Valerie Lavigne

Hi everybody

Even though it seems like we will never see the end of this rain, the long week end is approaching and the gardening season. Here are a few tips that can help you make sure you do not overdue it.
-Stretch upper back and arms before starting
-Make sure to bend your knees, do no bend at the waist when planting.
-When you pick up something heavy bring the weight close to you and bend your knees to lift

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New study on maintenance care

Posted on by Valerie Lavigne

Hi everyone

I hope you enjoyed Easter! Spring is in the air. Many of my patients asked me in the last few weeks what is preventive care or maintenance care. So I thought I would quickly explain the 3 different stages of care that patients got through. What is also interesting is that a study was published in 2011 stating that “SMT ( spinal manipulative therapy) is effective for the treatment of chronic non-specific LBP. To obtain long-term benefit, this study suggests maintenance spinal manipulation after the initial intensive manipulative therapy” It was published in Spine in 2011. The authors were Senna and Machaly.
When patients usually come to see us they are in a lot of pain. My first goal is to help them get out of pain as quickly as possible.
So the first phase of care is usually called the intensive phase. The goal here is to actually control your inflammation naturally. The time spent here really depends how quickly your body will control the swelling or inflammation and the muscle spasms. It usually also varies on how long the injury has been present.

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