De La Fe Chiropractic

Low back pain is one of the major reason patients seek physicians. In fact, 80% of Americans will experience a significant lower back injury during their lifetime, and 50% of working age adults will experience pain for a minimum of one year.

Low Back pain is a modern day epidemic, at this moment approximately six million Americans are in bed with back pain, at a cost of up to $50 billion in lost work, compensation payments and medical bills. Chiropractic is a safe and effective way to reduce your back pain and return you to your daily activities pain free.

Studies show that Chiropractic is the best treatment for low back pain above both general medicine and physical therapy.

A study of 171 patients who had been totally disabled by constant severe low back pain for an average of 7.5 years and were all candidates for low back surgery were referred for Chiropractic care. After approximately 3 weeks 87% of study group returned to full function with no restrictions for work or other activities ad avoided surgery completely.

Another research study showed that Chiropractic patients had lower total health care costs over medical patients and that they saved, on average, $1,000 per year compared to the general population.

The Sciatic nerve is the longest and largest nerve in the body. When it is aggravated or inflamed, the condition is called Sciatica. Not all leg pain is Sciatica, but Sciatica almost always involves leg pain.

People that suffer from Sciatica often have severe pain along the path of the sciatic nerve. This pain usually runs into the leg, thighs, back of the knee. However, Sciatic pain can also reach into the ankle, foot and toes when severe. Apart from pain, you may also experience numbness and tingling in the legs and feet.

Chiropractic has been a blessing for millions of sciatic patients. One research study shows that Chiropractic care is the treatment of choice for sciatic pain. In another study comparing Chiropractic, traction and two types of spinal injections, the patients receiving Chiropracitc care showed the greatest degree of recovery in the shortest amount of time.

Chiropractic can help sciatic pain by decreasing nerve pressure in the pelvis and lower back. This helps to decrease the inflammation along the nerve path which allows for proper nerve flow and significantly decrease in pain.

Neck pain and whiplash can be caused by slips, trips, falls, auto accidents, poor posture, poor work habits and even birth trauma.

Neck pain and Whiplash can cause shoulder pain, upper back pain, scapular pain, tension headaches, migraines, numbness and tingling in the face, chest, arms, and hands, as well as muscular disfunction in the surrounding regions

These conditions can also result in irritablity, anxiety, insomnia, ringing in the ears, dizziness, hearing loss,  blurred vision, nausea and vomiting.

Whiplash is caused by a traumatic event causing the head to be thrown forcibly forward or back. This force causes small tears in the ligaments, tendons and musculature of front and back of the neck, which can cause long term damage, early onset arthritis and degenration of the spine and Spinal discs, leading to chronic pain.

Chiropractic addresses these injuries by relieving the pressure on the ligaments, tendons and joints of the neck. This treatment helps to restore proper spinal function, improve proprioception and stabilize the soft tissues to their normal state. This is all done with light pain free mobilization and manipulation of the joints of the neck and upper back along with proper physical medicine.

Along with physical medicine these treatments help to reduce swelling, promote proper function, improve balance and restor biomechanics. Which allows the injured patient to return to their regular daily activities almost immediately.

Headaches are a common complaint that Chiropractors see on a daily basis.

Headaches can be caused by many different things: high blood pressure, sinus trouble, smells, light, fever, infection, alcohol, caffeine, post concussion syndrome and accidents.

The most common cause of headaches, however, is dehydration, followed closely by hypoglycemia and stress. Stress leads to muscle tension in the neck and upper back and makes up approximately 90% of all headaches that are not nutrition related.

Medications, such as Tylenol, Excedrine, Alieve and Ibuprofen only temporarily relieve this type of headache and can lead to serious side effects over time, including rebound affect, liver and kidney damage.

Chiropractic addresses headaches by locating the spinal misalignment and musculature imbalances in the head and neck. These Imbalances can cause nerve irritation, vascular compromise and tissue swelling. 

Following a thorough examination, ruling out all of the serious complications of headaches, chiropractic is a safe and effective option of care.

Chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine reduces tension by restoring the proper spinal mechanics to the head and neck. This in turn relieves the muscle tension, nerve pressure and stress, allowing the blood vessels and nerves to function properly, which reduces pressure and relieves head pain. Most patients see immediate relief from all typess of headaches including Migraines.

With treatment many patients that suffer from Migraines have decreased frequency and intensity of their headaches and may times they are healed completely.

Scoliosis is defined as an abnormal curvature of the spine, which can be both front to back or side to side. The majority of cases present with normal vertebra, discs, ligaments and tendons.

A common misperception of Scoliosis, is that it is caused by poor posture. The fact of the matter is, nobody really knows why the condition occurs, only that it does and that it can lead to serious health related complications. Severe cases of Scoliosis can lead to heart and lung problems, which can be life threatening.

Chiropractic addresses the body as a whole and works to balance the spinal musculature and joints to help improve the abnormal curvature and slow its progression. The adjustment process allows the body to find balance and reduces abnormal spinal stress which may be causing the curvature.

Chiropractors do not treat disease. However, they do correct spinal misalignments, subluxations and muscule imbalance, all of which can cause abnormal curvature and interfere with the nervous system.

Research suggests that Scoliosis may be caused by a neurological defect which reinforces the Chiropractic approach. A 3 year $143,000 study by the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research showed that children with mild scoliosis treated with chiropractic adjustments have shown a reduction in their spinal curvature, This study was conducted by Charles "Skip" Lantz, DC, PhD, director of research of Life Chiropractic College West, and his associates. The study looked at children between the ages of 9-15 years old with mild idiopathic scoliosis with less than 20 degrees of curvature, and no complicating factors. Of the 150 children in the study 40 completed one year of treatment. Results indicated a reduction of 0.9 to 2.6 degrees in the curvature without bracing.

Dr. De La Fe treats many children and patients with scoliosis and has had great success in slowing progression and decreasing spinal curvature, keeping the affected party healthy and actively living and competing as atheletes.

Carpal Tunnel is common in today's society due the overwhelming amount of repetitive tasks performed: computers, meat cutters, musicians, carpenters and others. The problem stems from the median nerve which passes through the carpal tunnel in the wrist. The median nerve is impinged upon due to bone misalignment and / or inflammation of the wrist which is caused by an imbalance of the wrist flexor muscle and the wrist extensor muscles.

The medical approach to this condition is wrist immobilization, ice, anti-inflammatory medications, steroid injections and / or surgery, which are all minimally successful.

Chiropractors takes a different approach. The relationship between the carpal tunnel and the spine is well documented by researchers who have found spinal nerve root irritation and compression in cervical spine can refer pain to the wrist. Patient's who suffer from Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or Ulnar Neuropathy usually have impingement in either the neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist or any combination of the four.

Your chiropractor is well trained to deal with these types of nerve impingements and may be able to help. The chiropractic approach is to manipulate the neck, shoulder, elbow and wrist to free the nerves in impinged areas and allow the nerve flow to be restored. Chiropractic has been very successful with the treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and could make the difference between a pain free wrist or surgery.

By law your employer is required to carry Worker's Compensation insurance. However, being injured on the job can be a horrible experience if you do not understand your rights.

Work injuries and accidents are unfortunate but do occur from time to time. They can occur by a single event such as a slip or fall or due to repetitive motions from doing the same thing over and over again. If you are injured and can't work because of a job related injury, Workers' Compensation will pay your medical bills and provide money to replace your lost income until you are able to return to work.

If you have been injured on the job, Chiropractic is a safe and effective way to reduce your pain levels and get you back to work in a timely manner. In the United States, over 40 years of Workers Compensation studies by nearly a dozen state investigations revealed that Chiropractic is the most cost effective treatment for work injuries and in most cases gets you back to work faster than medical care.

Tennis elbow is tendonits (inflammation)  of the common extensor tendon that attaches to the outside of the elbow known as the lateral epicondyle. The technical term is lateral epicondylitis.

Tennis elbow varies from dull, achy, burining to severe and debilitating pain. The symptoms include loss of grip strength, extension of the wrist and tenderness to the touch in affected area and if left untreated can created long term injury and possible tendon rutpture

Chiropractic treatment for tennis elbow should be supplemented with a home treatment program that includes ice, moist heat, friction massage and flexibility exercises. Like most conditions the pain will go away way before the condition is resolved. Therefore, it is important to continue treatment until the condition is completely corrected.

Chiropractic can help to reduce the terrible neck pain, arm pain, low back and leg pain assiciated with disc injuries and nerve impingement. Chiropracitc and Decompression combined can reduce disc pain quickly and with the correct treatment plan even prevent surgical intervention.

Dr. De La Fe suffered a disc injury in 1982 after being clipped playing football and has been treating his own disc and nerve injury ever since. Because he suffers from a disc injury he understands the severe pain you are in and is able to work with you and your lifestyle to help find the right treatment program to decrease your pain and allow you to get back to doing the things you love.

Most patients that present with disc injuries or nerve impingement have a significant decrease in pain on their first treatment. Then, with the home treatment regimine that is specifically designed for his patients, many are able to get back to competing, hiking, golfing or and the other activities they love in a very short period of time.

If you suffer from a disc injury or nerve impingement give us a chance to help you today.

Chiropractic treatment is very safe, effective and beneficial for children because they respond better to adjustments than adults. This is because they do not have the long term issues and abuse that adluts suffer from.

Chiropractic is about prevention and balance, and what better time to get started than in your childhood. Parents strive to teach their children about making good decisions, being safe and planning for the future. Chiropractic care is all about the future and preventing small childhood aches and pains from becoming big ones as adults.

Start  your child on a the right path today and they can take the healthy lifestyle into their adulthood.