No Pain Does Not Mean No Problem! Case Study of Hidden Scoliosis Found by Kyle Chiropractor Dr. Ryan Browning, D.C.

It’s easy to judge our health based on the presence or absence of pain or symptoms. This can be misleading when it comes to the spine, but it also applies to many parts of your body. Think of going to the dentist to get a check-up only to find out there is a cavity (aka rotten bone in your mouth), meanwhile you were oblivious to it because there was no pain. How many of you have had blood tested and been told by the M.D. that you now have Type 2 Diabetes? It was found by a blood test and there were probably no symptoms to give you a warning. There are so many other examples from arthritis and back problems to cancer and digestive issues where feeling a symptom was not part of the underlying condition.

Here’s some living proof for you that the spine is all connected and that one area affects the other areas of the spine. This week we had a patient come into our chiropractic office looking for help with her low back pain and hip pain. So there were symptoms in the low back, but there was no neck pain or mid back pain to speak of, but as always, we did a full evaluation and examined her entire spine. When we took her spinal x-rays there were minor findings in her low back, but we found scoliosis in her mid back! She was surprised at how significant the curve is and that her pain is in a different area. When posture starts to change or the spine begins to curve the entire spine is under more stress and pressure. This can cause back pain, pinched nerves resulting in feelings of sciatica, carpal tunnel, numbness and tingling and many unnoticed side effects. The spinal cord and nerves are the path of communication for the brain and when they begin to have interference along the pathways then the effects are felt wherever those nerves control. For example, let’s say the lumbar nerves are experiencing pressure as a result of spinal misalignment. The future effects could range from feeling sciatica down the leg and muscle weakness or even digestive issues or reproductive organ dysfunction. Many of the effects are not felt as low back pain or other noticeable symptoms, but rather as a decrease in function. These will not show up as symptoms but will affect the overall health and wellness of your body. Chiropractic care is designed to relieve this stress and pressure to the nerves thus allowing them to function at 100% so you can be healthy and that your body can function like it was designed to do. This is why we encourage you to not just come in for back pain or headaches (symptoms) but to make chiropractic care part of your health and wellness lifestyle to make sure you maintain good health and are able to stay active throughout your life. We are honored to help so many in and around the Kyle TX area with chiropractic care in their time of pain or car accident, sports injury and many other mishaps, but we want to help them to also get to live a true wellness lifestyle.
If you have questions about this post or are experiencing health challenges, feel free to reach me at  512-405-0400.
In Health,
Dr. Ryan Browning

4 Things To Do After a Car Accident – Advice from Dr. Ryan Browning, Whiplash Chiropractor in Kyle TX

4 Things To Do After a Car Accident – Advice from Dr. Ryan Browning, Whiplash Chiropractor in Kyle TX
Having a car crash is never planned and can be anything from a minor inconvenience to a major life-altering event. Most are somewhere in between.  The goal of this article is to give you information that hopefully you will never need. However, should you or a loved one get into a car accident it this information can reduce the severity of whiplash injuries or prevent them from becoming permanent. Scar tissue, ligament damage, joint movement and nerve function are just a few auto injuries that can be prevented with the proper treatment and by acting quickly after the accident.
1st- If there is a true medical emergency, go to the emergency room!  If you are in a lot of pain, suspect broken ribs or other broken bones, have head trauma or dizziness, you need to be checked in a trauma center. Many people hate the thought of going to the E.R. because you may spend hours there, being around lots of very sick people or due to the fear of the cost of treatment. However, if there is an emergency that needs to be treated, cost becomes insignificant and time becomes very valuable.
2nd- The next step to healing from whiplash and other car accident injuries is proper care at home. Ice is very important to reduce inflammation ASAP! Ice pushes swelling and inflammation away from the site of injury or trauma and helps the muscles, tendons and ligaments to heal. Heat is not the best at this time because it brings blood flow towards the area of inflammation, making it more difficult for the injured area to heal. After ice to the affected areas, other home care instructions are to get plenty of rest and sleep. For more information on proper sleep, click here. After a car wreck the body experiences a high level of stress and much needed healing to take place which will use up the body’s energy, so you will feel fatigue and maybe sluggish.  Also, proper hydration is needed to help rid the body of excess toxins. Water and electrolytes are essential to help the body to heal properly. For more information on how much water to drink or how to hydrate, click here.
3rd- Get a full chiropractic examination by a whiplash and personal injury certified Chiropractor. Many people already know that after an auto accident they will go to the chiropractor for treatment, but what they don’t know is that auto injury treatment is not a specific focus of training in chiropractic school. Any chiropractor can see the patient after the motor vehicle accident, but not all are specifically trained to do so. There is post-doctorate training available to become a personal injury and whiplash certified chiropractor. You need to be seen by a Doctor of Chiropractic with specific training in car accidents to more specifically evaluate the condition and determine the needed treatment. X-ray evaluation should be included. Often times MRI may be done to determine if disc herniation has occurred or other disc problems. Your chiropractor will need to be accustomed to working together with medical specialists including: neurologist, orthopedist, radiologist, pain management specialist, primary care and more.
4th- Following the treatment recommendations. This may sound too simple, but it can’t be overstated. Too often people don’t allow their body the full recovery post-accident and end up paying the price later on with chronic neck pain or other permanent damage like scar tissue and ligament laxity. For many, the treatment duration goes beyond pain and symptoms to allow enough time for the body to heal and recover fully.
Hopefully this information helps you should you have the misfortune of a car wreck. If so, review this information and always feel free to call me directly at the office 512-405-0400.
In Health,
Dr. Ryan Browning
To watch the video, click the link: 4 Things To Do After a Car Accident 

How to Avoid Chronic Neck Pain After Having Car Accident Whiplash of the Neck! ~by Dr. Ryan Browning, Chiropractor in Kyle TX

How to Avoid Chronic Neck Pain After Having Car Accident Whiplash of the Neck! ~by Dr. Ryan Browning, Chiropractor in Kyle TX
Often times we have new patients come into our chiropractic office with neck pain wondering why it started and how it happened. I listen in our consultation and hear how the pain started all of a sudden or they woke up one day and it was there and now won’t go away. This is a common way for people to find our chiropractic office as a solution to the recent pain in the neck. As I ask questions and talk with them there is an all too common conversation that happens… When I probe into past car accidents, whiplash, falls, sports injuries and such, all to often they tell me about a past accident that they didn’t pay attention to their body because there was no pain OR they had some stiffness or tension but it went away on its own and they assumed it was fine.
When an auto accident occurs it places stress on the bones, joints, discs, nerves, muscles, tendons and ligaments that it is not designed to absorb. Our spine may absorb it and not cause immediate or long-lasting symptoms, but there can still be underlying problems that will eventually cause problems like spinal misalignment and ligament laxity. Sometimes the pain and symptoms are immediate and other times they are underlying for months or even years. However, if left untreated they will eventually make themselves known and cause neck pain, back pain, headaches or other pains.
Spinal misalignment affects the overall smooth movement of the vertebrae and can affect the function of the nerve supplying various muscles or organs of the body. These pinched nerves eventually cause the pain and leave many people wondering how it happened when they feel the pain later on. Interference to the nerves can affect the function to the body part or system that nerve is powering. This can lead to stiffness and overall feeling less well and more stressed.
Ligament laxity is when the ligaments absorb a force and then do not retain their same strength in supporting the spine. This results in the neck curvature changing shape and altering the posture of the spine that will create more compression on the bones, discs and the nerves too. This will lead to future disc degeneration and arthritis.
This instance happens way too often because many people don’t know to get checked by a whiplash certified chiropractor after any motor vehicle accident. The sooner spinal misalignment, ligament laxity and pinched nerves are found and fixed the better the result will be and the less likely to have pain down the road because of the accident.
If you need help or have questions about your health we are happy to sit down and talk with you about any problem. We love getting people out of pain and into health!
In Health,
Dr. Ryan Browning, D.C.

Ever Wonder How Chiropractic Works And Why It’s Great For Wellness? ~Dr. Ryan Browning, Chiropractor In Kyle Texas

One of the questions we get inside our chiropractic office from patients new to chiropractic care is, “How do Chiropractic adjustments work?”  By now, most know that it helps them with their neck pain, back pain, sciatica, whiplash, concussion, numbness and tingling, scoliosis and many more musculoskeletal conditions!  However, many are unaware of the true power of the chiropractic adjustment… and how it boosts the function of the entire nervous system!  Think of it this way, your entire body is controlled by the brain, which sends signals down the spinal cord and then down one of the nerves coming off the spinal cord until it reaches its destination and produces its desired action. This is true for every muscle movement, organ function and controls EVERY other system in your body.  The central nervous system (brain, spinal cord, nerves) control every other system: immune system, respiratory system, digestive system, endocrine system (hormones), cardiac system, etc, etc. Chiropractic is about a lot more than PAIN!! It’s about health and optimal function of your entire body!

Over the years, chiropractic has been boxed into the pain relief corner by the insurance industry and YES, we’re great at helping pain, but the reason may be a little different than you thought.  When you come in for your chiropractic adjustment- we’re not treating your back pain- hang on a second with me… Think of it this way- if your car’s check engine light starts flashing it doesn’t automatically tell you what is wrong, it just tells you that something is wrong. Then you check the engine, fit the cause of the problem and the check engine light turns off.  Your body can work in a similar way- when you get a symptom, like back pain, there’s a reason for it. Now, you could just take a piece of duct tape and cover up that check engine light and you won’t see it anymore, but that wouldn’t fix the problem!  This would be like reaching for the Tylenol, getting prescription pain medication or sticking pain patches on your back. They are masking the symptom and trying to get them to go away.  This is not a true fix, is’t a cover up!  If the underlying problem remains, it’s just a matter of time until it returns and when it does it may be worse since the real problem is left untouched. When you lift up the hood of your car and find the cause of the engine problem and fix it, the light turns off.  Chiropractors are trained to search for the cause of the problem, the reason your symptoms showed up in the first place, remove that cause by fixing the problem and then the symptoms go away.  It involves a consultation, chiropractic exam, and x-rays. So, we are treating you, the whole person, not just back pain or headaches.

When you get a chiropractic adjustment it allows the spine to move back into proper alignment and relieves pressure and stress off the nerves and spinal cord so the messages sent out by the brain to the rest of the body can be sent out without any interference. Thus allowing the muscles, organs and every other system in the body to function at its peak!  This is what chiropractic is really about is health and wellness!

Can you have misalignment of the spine and pinched nerves and not have pain?  YES  Here’s how… Let’s say the spinal misalignment creating pressure on the nerve is one of the nerves related to the digestive system, is it going to cause back pain? NO  Will it affect the digestive system’s ability to function as it needs to? YES  And so you see we can use the same example for nerves all throughout the spine related to breathing, ability to focus and concentrate, immune system function, and so on.  If you want to stay healthy, we need to keep the nervous system healthy regularly. Just like you would work out regularly to keep muscles strong eat healthy consistently to maintain a good weight, you need regular chiropractic adjustments to not just feel better but to STAY WELL!  Even without pain, we want to keep the rest of your body functioning at 100% top to bottom. This is why a chiropractor with a wellness approach can help you stay feeling young for many years to come!  We treat many people in the office with varying conditions, but our #1 favorite is to help families to stay well and on a wellness lifestyle.  We want to help keep our entire community free from pain, sickness and disease by having regular chiropractic care to make your life the best it can be!

In Health,

Dr. Ryan Browning

Why It’s IMPORTANT to Get Chiropractic Evaluation & X-Rays After Car Accident! by Kyle TX Chiropractor

Ever wonder what your x-rays would look like after a car accident? I’m going to show you firsthand what they look like and why. The video below will show you two cases of average sized women in their mid 20’s with no prior history of back pain or spinal problems.

In case #1 on top you can see how this side-swipe auto accident has caused spinal alignment issues throughout the entire back. The caveat on this person is that this accident happened 5 years ago and was never evaluated and treated properly!! So we are now years later and this patient has sudden neck pain, low back pain, upper and mid back pain, headaches and an overall feeling of hurting all over the place- just all of a sudden, with no explanation or incident. As I was able to talk with her about underlying causes or past incidents, we spoke about her car wreck in the past and how she was in pain initially, but it seemed to go away on its own and she figured everything was fine. Now it’s not. This is a situation that I see all too often… accident happens, pain goes away by itself, cause has not been corrected properly, pain returns years later. This happens regularly!!!

Case #2 will show you x-rays of a patient that was in a motor vehicle accident two weeks prior to the x-ray being taken. She also came in feeling neck pain, shoulder pain, mid and lower back pain, headache and also some concussion symptoms. In her x-ray you can also see the alignment problem from top to bottom in a girl who previously had zero symptoms or history of back problems. These two cases are interesting to compare because of the similarities they share in the x-ray findings. It’s a good lesson that if the spine is not properly evaluated and treated after a car, motorcycle or 18 wheeler accident the underlying problem will remain even if the symptoms go away for a while. Research has shown that the sooner whiplash and trauma injuries are detected and fixed the better chance they have of not becoming problem that could turn into chronic pain.

For those in a recent motor vehicle accident, it’s always a good idea to use ice regularly at home to help decrease the inflammation and swelling. Heat is not advisable because it brings more blood flow to the area and makes it more difficult for the soft tissues to heal. Ice will push the blood flow away to help the repair process to begin in the connective tissues. For extreme pain after an accident, get checked in the emergency room to have any fractures or trauma detected. The next step in treatment is a trained chiropractor in whiplash and car accident injuries. Chiropractors certified in personal injury are trained to detect issues with spinal movement and alignment, proper curvature, ligament and muscular injuries, concussion symptoms, disc herniation, pinched nerves that can cause numbness, tingling and weakness.

Hope this is informative to you. If you have any specific questions, feel free to call me personally at our office- 512-405-0400.  Most of our patients come from the Kyle, Buda, and San Marcos TX area,, but if you have a loved one in another part of the country needing help, I can help you find a chiropractor that has the necessary training to do so.

In Health,

Dr. Ryan Browning

 

3 Keys to Avoid Chronic Neck or Back Pain After a Car Accident- Tips From Whiplash Expert Dr. Ryan Browning, D.C.

3 Keys to Avoid Chronic Neck or Back Pain After a Car Accident – Tips From Whiplash Expert Dr. Ryan Browning, D.C.

 

Having seen hundreds of patients after car crashes there are many mistakes that people make which cause longer lasting and sometimes permanent damage to the spine from a car accident or whiplash trauma. Many patients come in shortly after a motor vehicle accident and some come in a long time after once they are aware that their chronic neck or back pain is not going away. One of my jobs as their chiropractor is to educate them on how they can get better now and stay better in the future.  Here are 3 tips of things to do after any car wreck.

#1- Seek immediate treatment or an opinion. If you are in an accident and there is immediate pain, it needs to be tended to immediately. This initial pain very well may worsen in the next day or two, so the sooner it is diagnosed and treated the better. High levels of pain should be checked in the emergency room to rule out bone fractures or other trauma to the body’s vital organs or the intervertebral discs. Whether or not trauma care in the E.R. is necessary, the next step should be a specialist in whiplash. This would be specific chiropractors. All chiropractors can see a car accident patient, but you want one who is expert in this area. You want one that has post-doctorate training and certification in whiplash and auto accident trauma to be the one to examine your injuries. The higher the level of training in this area, the higher the specificity in finding and helping to resolve your problems.

 

#2- Start with ICE to reduce inflammation, not heat!  One of the most basic rules of treatment is that ice helps decrease inflammation because it pushes the blood away from the muscles, tendons, ligaments, all the soft tissues that are trying to heal after an injury. Heat will bring blood towards the area thus making it more difficult to repair the area. When in doubt, ice! I am continually amazed how often a patient comes in after an accident and they have been told by someone to put heat on it- even from the E.R. and urgent care centers!! Try to get extra amounts of water for hydration to the muscles and extra rest as your body is working in overdrive to repair itself and will feel fatigued and run down for a while.

 

#3- At a minimum, get spinal x-rays to check the alignment and curvatures of the spine as well as under the radar fractures that may occur. This is necessary before undergoing any form of treatment! Just a few months ago I examined a woman after her car accident. She inquired if her son should be checked as well since he had a little bit of pain. After I agreed, she brought him in and I started with an examination and x-rays. I found a large fracture at his fifth lumbar vertebrae! If he had begun many forms of treatment without knowing about this he would have been injured worse from treatment. This case was a surprise since his levels of pain were much lower than expected with this finding. As a rule, after a car accident, at least get spinal x-rays and a complete examination performed by a car accident chiropractor that is expert in this area.

Car Accident Injuries As Seen On X-Rays- by Chiropractor near San Marcos TX

You’ve probably at some time in your life driven by on the highway as there is a car accident on the side of the road and been backed up by traffic from the rubber-neckers driving by. Many people wonder if there were injuries or if they are ok. Some car accidents cause traumatic injuries requiring the ambulance and emergency care due to fractures, internal organ damage and more. Other visible signs of a motor vehicle accident include scrapes, bruises, swelling and burns.

In our office we see many types of whiplash from different types of wrecks. They can range from muscle strain to ligament sprain, joint inflammation, concussion, dizziness, pain, numbness, tingling, herniated disc, nerve compression, back pain, neck pain, shoulder and hip pain and many many more. Car accident injuries can be difficult to diagnose to the untrained eye since they are not all visible at the start and can take weeks to fully develop.

If you experience a car collision, you should at least receive an examination and x-rays from a chiropractor certified in personal injury. This can determine if chiropractic care is appropriate for you or if another specialist is best suited for your situation. It can also determine if more information is necessary in the form of MRI or other diagnostic imaging to determine the extent of injury. It’s important to find all of the associated injuries from the car crash for insurance purposes so that you receive proper coverage during the treatment process. If not, then it will be too late for the insurance to cover your treatment and you are left to deal with care for the injuries later on. We’ll treat you through auto insurance, personal injury attorney, letter of protection, worker’s compensation, etc.

Our office offers NO COST INJURY CARE to help you get evaluated ASAP after an accident and help you determine the best course of action. If chiropractic care and therapy done in our office is the best solution we will let you know.  If it is not, we will let you know as well and get you to the best place for you.

My BEST advice after an accident is to have the chiropractic evaluation including x-rays after your motor vehicle accident to make sure. Find any underlying injuries. Just this week our office was treating a woman for her accident and she commented that her son was having some back pain and wondered if he should be checked out. We did and found a large fracture on his lowest vertebrae (L5). This was a great surprise since his pain levels were moderate, not what would be typical of a spinal fracture! Thankfully, this was caught or he would have been in great danger of spinal cord damage in the future.

If you or someone you know has been in a car accident, please consider being properly assessed (examination, x-rays at minimum) to make sure this does not become a long-term problem for you or a loved one. We are a chiropractor near San Marcos & Kyle & Buda.

In Health,

Dr. Ryan Browning

 

 

 

 

Attention Kyle TX…How To Treat Sciatica Without Pain Medication!

So you’ve got a pinched nerve!? Many suffer from sciatica or similar nerve like symptoms and wonder what is going on. Nerve symptoms typically show as numbness, tingling, weakness and sensitivity to hot or cold. The pressure on the nerve can often be found from misalignment in the lower spine and require chiropractic adjustments to fix the cause of the symptom and relieve the pain. We have helped many people with this problem.  Come find out if you are a candidate for a non-invasive, natural health solution at our chiropractic and wellness center!  512-405-0400  https://www.browningfamilychiropractic.com

 

3 Keys to AVOID BACK PAIN from Kyle TX Doctor

Let’s talk back pain real quick and simple… The pain is the result of something, not the cause.  It could be caused by a car accident, poor posture, lifting wrong, bad sleeping position or just the overall accumulation of wear and tear to the spine.  These are all examples of activities or habits that can gradually or suddenly create misalignments in the spine.  When the spine is misaligned it loses the ability to move smoothly and often pinches on nerves.  It also creates more stress on the discs in between the vertebrae.  As time goes on and they lose their proper position, good movement and tension on the nerves pain or symptoms of some sort are inevitable.

Taking care of your spine and body requires some work. But if you will be proactive you’ll save yourself a lot of grief and pain over the long haul.  The 3 Keys are 1- Flexibility 2- Strength 3- Alignment

 

Flexibility affects your range of motion.  If a joint cannot go through its full range of motion then it will lose the ability to move through the entire range.  Stiffness then settles in and then your movements become altered. Imagine squatting down to lift a box with hips that can’t squat all the way or a stiffened low back- this changes where the lifting force is felt and makes you more likely for injuries.  A simple stretching routine or yoga if done regularly are the first part of preventing back injuries.

 

Strength and stability of the spinal and core muscles are important to give support to the vertebrae and the discs to protect them against injury or herniation.  Simple core exercises include plank position and variations of plank. Cross-crawl exercises and thera-band exercises for the spinal muscles. The average person will see big benefits in doing these for 15 minutes 3x a week.

 

Alignment affects everything from movement of the joints, protection of the discs and health of the nerves. Misalignment is inevitable as we go throughout life carrying kids, falling asleep on the couch, rigors of travel or driving, sports, accidents, etc, etc.  Spinal alignment needs to be attended to on a regular basis to prevent pain and injury. This will assure pressure is staying off the nerves and protecting the discs by allowing them to stay hydrated so they don’t dry out, thus leading to decay and degeneration.

 

These are 3 Simple Tips that can help you stay more active and take better care of your body as the years go on.  All 3 need to be part of your regular routine to ensure a health and wellness lifestyle so you’re not always reacting to the body’s pain signals, but preventing them instead!

 

In Health,

Ryan Browning, DC