It’s that time of year again. Everything is slowing down and everybody is getting ready for their well-deserved holiday. You are looking forward to resting and spending some quality time with your family and friends. Come chat to Dr. Vicki Ferreira – Chiropractor Centurion before you head off on your well deserved holiday for 2017.

Family time is precious and spending those sunny afternoons next to the pool and braai with the kids is magic, However, this is also the time where most parents injure their back. Common injuries include lower back pain after picking up your kids and playing with them, swinging them around or walking for prolonged periods on the beach or in the malls. Neck pain can also arise from the “Christmas beds” in front of the television or from sleeping in a strange bed in your rental holiday home.

For some people, the December holiday is the perfect time to fix everything around the house that you didn’t have time for during the year or to do some home DIY and renovations. This creates its own set of injuries such as neck and back pain from heavy lifting, shoulder pain from overhead movements such as cleaning the gutters, painting the ceiling or even knee pain from all the gardening.

Luckily there are some things you can do to help prevent these injuries.

Here are some tips from our Chiropractor Centurion to make sure neck and back pains don’t put a damper on your Christmas holiday

1. When picking up your children or anything heavy such as luggage or boxes, make sure to lift it with your legs and not your back. When bending down to pick something or someone up, it is vital that your legs bend as you go down and NOT remain straight. This will ensure that the biggest part of the load is absorbed by your legs and not your back.
2. After you have picked up the load, take care not to twist your upper body. This places a lot of pressure on your spinal discs and could cause severe pains.
3. If you are driving to down to Durban or Cape Town, make sure your back is properly supported in your car seat and that you take regular breaks. This will ensure that your muscles don’t stiffen up and cause pain.
4. Continue to stretch your neck and lower back after intense physical work to ensure that you cool down properly.

These are just a few tips to help make this holiday pain-free. While you are getting ready to leave for holiday by checking the car and tyres, make sure to check your spine as well. If you are currently in pain or discomfort or simply wanting to make sure you don’t have any issues while on holiday, give us a call TODAY on 083 288 0679 to book an appointment.

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Tension headaches are the most common type of headache. It is estimated that 80% to 90% of the population suffers from tension headaches. The exact cause of these headaches are still under debate, however a few contributing factors have been identified.

You can experience tension headaches either infrequently episodic( less than 1 headache per month and less than 12 per year), frequently episodic (more than 1 headache per month but less than 15 per year) or chronically (more than 15 headaches per month).

The symptoms of tension headaches are usually felt on both sides of your head. You experience a mild to moderate squeezing type pain around your head. This headache is not aggravated with physical activity like walking or climbing stairs, but you might become sensitive to either light or sounds. Nausea and vomiting is not present. Tension headaches can last anything from half an hour to 7 days.

The causes of tension headaches can include a wide variety of factors such as:

• Cervical joint dysfunction
• Stress
• Lack of sleep or rest
• Musculoskeletal pain and fibromyalgia
• Prior neck injuries
• Poor posture resulting in postural imbalances (especially desk posture)
• Psychological conditions such as anxiety and depression

The management of tension headaches is relatively simple. If the cause is psychological, simple stress reduction techniques, like meditation or breathing exercises, can be incorporated on a daily basis. For diagnosed conditions such as anxiety or depression, prescribed medication will help. If the cause is mechanical, being mindful about your desk posture will also help tremendously to lower the stress on your neck and lower back. Exercise will also help you postural muscles to become stronger. However, this might only help temporarily.

If the cause is linked to cervical joint dysfunction, all the structures surrounding those joints will be affected. This includes the nerves, muscles and ligaments. Chiropractic treatment can help to correct the dysfunction and allow optimum functioning of the cervical joints.

If you or someone you know suffers from tension headaches, give us a call today on 083 288 0679

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Sciatica Lower Back Pain this is a term often used and that most people have experienced at one time or another. Sciatica is the term given to pain that starts in the lower back and buttock area and refers down the back of your leg. The pain could be due to compression of or injury to the sciatic nerve in the buttock area. It is usually felt as quite a sharp and shooting kind of pain that can be localized in the buttock area or spread down your leg to your knee or foot. Lower back pain is a common reason to see your chiropractor and is one of many pain issues dealt with in the practice. Whether you’re a pregnant mum to be, or noticed that you’re developing pain in your lower back, book an appointment with a professional chiro and let us work on the problem.

What is lower back pain?

Lower back pain is common in patients from all walks of life and can happen as a sudden onset or occur as a result of something else. Sometimes repetitive movements can cause strain. For example, overstretching, lifting heavy objects and bad posture.

Read our latest blog: How Much Does a Chiropractor Cost? A Complete Guide to Pricing

Things that could compress, injure or irritate the sciatic nerve and cause sciatica could be:

1. Tight piriformis muscles: The sciatic nerve runs through a muscle called the piriformis muscle. This muscle is v-shaped to allow passage of the sciatic nerve. If this muscle is contracted and in spasm it could cause the sciatic nerve to be compressed, causing the sciatic pain.
2. Sitting on your wallet: Men are usually guilty of this. Sitting on your wallet not only causes your pelvis to be in an awkward position, but it also compresses the sciatic nerve directly. This could also result in a leg length discrepancy, where one leg becomes functionally shorter than the other.
3. Spinal degeneration: Things like a disc protrusion/herniation or osteophyte formation could cause compression or irritation to the spinal nerves that make up the sciatic nerve. This will then not only cause the pain in you buttock and leg, but could also cause other neurological symptoms such as weakness, numbness or pins and needles.

Some causes of lower back pain include:

• Pregnancy in women
• An injury
• Poor posture
• No lumbar support when seated for long at a computer
• Damage to intervertebral discs
• Nerve compression
• Deformity
• Trauma
• Herniated disc

If you suffer from sciatica or sciatic pain, there are chiropractic treatment options available to give you the relief you want. These treatment options are surgery-free and involve spinal manipulation, myofascial release, dry needling and stretching. If your pain is due to anatomical causes, chiropractic will only be able to provide symptomatic relief, depending on the severity of your disc protrusion/herniation. With osteophyte formation, surgery could be an option to remove the pain causing osteophytes.

Common symptoms of lower back pain include but are not limited to:

1. A dull aching pain
2. Pain that radiates down the buttocks and legs
3. Increased pain when sitting for too long
4. A relief of pain when changing position
5. Pain seems worse in the lower back after having slept and woken up

How does a chiropractor help with Lower Back Pain?

A doctor of chiropractic has many years studying and learning more and more about how to help patients cope with lower back pain and improve their lives. Chiropractic treatment includes spinal manipulation, as well as manual manipulation. Mobilisation also allows specific stretches to help with range and increase flexibility. Chiropractic is safe during pregnancy and doesn’t require OTC drugs or chemicals to enhance its benefits. It is beneficial for babies and older patients. If you need more information or would like to book an appointment speak to a chiropractor in Centurion. Your chiro will work out a chiropractic treatment plan to suit your needs.

Lower back pain can be tricky, and sometimes unnoticeable. It can occur slowly or gradually with time. Some patients find that the pain worsens with time and sometimes seems reoccurring.

Give us a call today to get relief from your sciatica. Find us on Facebook Dr Vicki Ferreira Chiropractor

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Choosing the Correct Pillow – Chiropractor in Centurion

Choosing the correct pillow will not only helps you to get a good night’s sleep, but could also help with your neck pain and headaches. It’s seldom that we think about our pillows and whether we ought to change them after a few years. How a good pillow is made is probably also one of the last things on your mind when you lay your head down to rest.  Chiropractors often see patients who complain about a sore neck after waking up the next day. The wrong pillow can cause many problems but the right one will help you have better posture as you sleep. Driving Directions to Dr Vicki Ferreira Chiropractor in Centurion

To understand why the correct pillow is so vital, let’s look at the anatomy of your neck. You have seven neck vertebrae, separated by a spinal disc, that function together to allow a great range of motion for your head and neck. Between adjacent vertebrae we find facet joints. This is where the most movement occurs. We also have lots of muscles and ligaments that attach to the vertebrae and cause movement when they contract.

When you sleep on your side with an incorrect pillow, your neck will either go into side-bending towards or away from the pillow and could result in neck pain or headache.

Read our latest blog: Can Chiropractors Help With Back Pain?

When you bend your neck to the side, the little facet joints on the side you are bending towards gets compressed and opened up on the opposite side. If this occurs over a period of time, like when sleeping for a few hours in that position, the facet joints on the side of compression might become stuck and not be able to move as it is supposed to or possibly compress a spinal nerve. On the opposite side, opening up the joints might cause the muscles on that side to become overstretched and painful.

So how do we know if there is a problem with our pillows?

With side sleeping, your pillow is supposed to fit comfortably in the space between your shoulder and your ear to support your head. When you lie on your side with a pillow that is too flat or too fluffy, your neck will be forced into a side bending position for hours while you sleep.

When sleeping on your back it is important to have a pillow that supports your neck to prevent neck extension, or backward tilting of your head, during the night. This will also cause compression of the facet joints at the back of your neck as well as spasms in the back of the neck. To prevent lower back pain with back sleeping, it is recommended to place a pillow under your knees to help take some of the pressure off of your lower back by relaxing your lower back.

What makes a good pillow and what does a chiropractitioner suggest is best?

Pillows are a huge benefit because:

• They provide support to your head and neck
• They allow for comfortable positioning
• Some are hypoallergenic
• Some pillows have cooling fabric which is perfect for warm nights
• Most pillow sizes can fit an average-size bed

What are the disadvantages of sleeping on a pillow?

• Cotton pillows can give to unwanted wrinkles
• They may lead to dust mites
• When sleeping wrong, certain pillows can induce neck pain

What types of pillows does a chiropractitioner recommend?

The type of pillow you choose depends on your lifestyle and needs. Some pillows are suitable especially for patients who may have had surgery. Some pillows provide support to patients having to wear Continuous Positive Airways Pressure (CPAP) masks for sleep apnoea.

In most cases, pillows provide good support while you’re lying down.

• Roll-shape orthopaedic pillow – provides optimum posture support when lying down. It can also, be used for neck support during travel.
• Memory foam pillows – memory foam conforms to any shape and in the case of a pillow, it will give excellent support for your neck and head.
• Pillow with microbeads – microbeaded pillows are usually very firm and provide good support as a travel pillow.
• Neck pillows – these are specifically designed to support your neck and cervical spine.
• Feather pillows – provide a natural spring effect and is firmer than down pillows
• Down pillows – as its name suggests, down pillows are filled with the down feathers of birds.

So, if you maybe wake up with neck or lower back pain, a stiff neck or even a headache, give us a call and we will gladly help. Find us on Facebook Dr Vicki Ferreira Chiropractor

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You can injure your feet in any number of ways. Standing for hours on end can cause problems, so can sudden and jerky movements. A misaligned joint can be the culprit and sports men can injure feet, heels, or ankles by twisting them at odd angles or by running with the wrong shoes.

When the feet and heels are overused, and the tendons become inflamed a condition called Tendinitis develops. You can sprain an ankle and tear ligaments with sudden uncontrolled sideways movements. You will experience pain with the bruised and swollen ankle. A flat foot also causes problems. Weak muscles in the foot and leg can cause the arch of the foot to fall or collapse. You will feel the pain in a leg or a foot or you will be tired.

The chiro will examine the injury and look at your gait. X-rays and other forms of examinations may be required to pinpoint the injury and after a consultation with a chiro a series of treatments will commence.

The chiro will suggest ways to prevent a recurrence of the injury, one being to wear the correct shoes. Another will be to warm up properly before you exercise and allow time to cool down afterwards. Ask him for exercises that can strengthen the muscles that support the area of injury.

The chiro will gently stretch the foot and apply pressure to joints in the lower back, hip, or leg. He may suggest RICE treatment, rest, ice, compression, and elevation and ask you to come back for a check-up in 6 month’s time. If you follow the advice of the chiropractor, you may heal completely and prevent another episode from happening.

Check out the services that we have to offer here.

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A chiropractor in Centurion will take a full history and account from the patient about the situation, the symptoms and any other important information that they need to help diagnose the condition. At times, it may be difficult to do without the aid of technology, so a chiropractor will make use of x-rays, MRI scans and ultrasounds to help in identifying exactly what the problem may be and where the exact location is along the spine. They do a full assessment of bones, joints, muscles, tendons and ligaments, looking for pain, tenderness and changes in the feel of the structure, such as restrictions in movement.

Based on this assessment, the chiropractor will then make a decision on the treatment going forward.  Treatment can include a number of different things, ranging from spinal manipulation and decompression, massage, heat therapy, acupuncture, nutritional advice, exercise and other lifestyle changes.  In some cases, they work closely with other healthcare providers like doctors and physiotherapists to make sure a patient gets the best possible care.  All their treatment options are considered safe and effective, without any adverse side effects.  Their treatment has been considered contentious in the past, not everybody approving of what they do, but recently they are important part to the health care system.

A chiropractor may specialise in their work, focusing on the treatment of infants, or the elderly.  The benefit of a chiropractor is that they use non-invasive techniques and no surgery is required unless there is a chronic condition that needs treatment.

Want to find more about us? Click here to find out more. Find us on Facebook Dr Vicki Ferreira Chiropractor

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Back pain normally disappears within 2 months, whether treated or not. But if the pain is serious and connected to an injury, treatment is required. Often an operation will solve the problem although it may not be your treatment of choice.

If back pains originate from the abdomen or pelvic, it can be that you have an infection in that area. Appendicitis can cause back pain and so can ovarian or bladder infection. Once the infection has been treated with anti-biotics or other medication, the back pain will ease up.

The spine itself can be the cause of the pain, either by way of a previous injury or with a new one. A chiropractor can manually align the spine and in so doing the pain will be alleviated. The spine connects the nerve impulses from the brain to the rest of the body and if the messages are not delivered correctly, pain can ensue. By correcting the spine, the nerves can communicate again and the pain is soothed. They can also teach you how to exercise to strengthen the muscles of the back and the stomach.

Back pains can be chronic as from an old injury that acts up again and again but it can also be acute when you hurt yourself on the spot. The first one can be painful for months on end while the second will be shorter in duration. In both instances a back doctor can be of assistance.

It is however to your advantage to treat your body with respect; do not lift anything that you do not have the strength for, neither is it a good idea to move heavy furniture on your own. By keeping a good posture and looking after your health you can prevent a lot of pain from occurring. Find us on Facebook Dr Vicki Ferreira Chiropractor

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If you’ve had back pain, you’ve probably heard someone recommend going to a Chiropractor in Centurion. But what is a chiropractor?

A chiropractor is an approved medical professional that is concerned with the musculoskeletal system, with many of them specializing in treating the spine. Like any medical professional, a chiropractor needs at least 4 years of tertiary education where they learn about subjects such as human biology and psychology. It is important to know that your chiropractor is approved, as there are some that make outrageous claims such as being able to cure or prevent almost all diseases and illnesses.  A chiropractor is trained to look out for whether your back pain is caused by daily wear and tear, or if there is a more serious underlying medical cause. If that is the case, a chiropractor in Centurion will recommend certain tests to be carried out by a doctor.

Like any other medical professional, there is a set routine that most chiropractors follow. This includes finding out your case history, such as diet and lifestyle, past operations, any medicine being taken and history of family illness. A chiropractor will also do a physical exam, focusing on the joints, muscles and spine in order to find the root cause of the pain. If it is deemed necessary, a chiropractor may request an x-ray be done.

A chiropractor will move your joints in ways that you may be unable to. Another important aspect of enlisting a chiropractor to help with your back pain is the ability to do exercises and treat yourself at home. A chiropractor will give you advice relevant to your lifestyle and teach you exercises you can do at home in order to the further treatment of your back pain.

There is another way to relieve yourself of severe back pain, neck pain or lower back pain without having to beg your significant other, with puppy dog eyes, to rub your back or neck – or both. In fact, this kind of treatment will only harm your back and increase your pain. Seek the right treatment, for lower back pain treatment, sciatica, neck pain, back pain and even a severe migraine, contact a chiropractor in Centurion today.

Seeking a doctor of chiropractics is without a doubt the best route to take when suffering from pain or as a preventetery measure to take to avoid aches and pains later on in life. Anyone, of any age can benefit from the treatment of a professional and qualified chiropractor. Infants can benefit from a chiropractor who specialises in treating colic in babies, as well as reflux while seniors may benefit from a chiropractor in Centurion to help in the treatment of an arthritic condition.

What makes this a popular method of treatment is because chiropractic treatment is a completely holistic way to treat your symptoms without the use of medicine and or intrusive and dangerous operations. Chiropractors are Doctors who have spent years studying the body, bodily manipulation, massage and exercises to treat your symptoms, from lower back pain treatment to treatment for sciatica. Below are a few of the conditions that a chiropractor in Centurion can treat with efficiency and effectiveness:

• Headaches and Migraines
• Neck pain
• Neck Tension or Stress
• Whiplash (mild to severe)
• Lower Back Pain
• Upper Back Pain
• General Back Pain
• Sciatica
• Muscle Strain
• Sports Injuries
• Arthritis and Arthritic Conditions
• Pelvic Dysfunction
• Pregnancy Discomfort
• Colic
• Joint Dysfunctions

The treatment that a patient will undergo can include:

1. Manual Therapy
2. Manipulation of Spine
3. Massage Therapy
4. Rehabilitative Exercises
5. Promotion of Health and Physical Wellbeing

A chiropractor has the tools and years of study to help relive you of pain, stress, tension and anxiety. This is a natural and drug free form of treatment and is a hugely successful form of treatment for those who suffer any form of neuromusculoskeletal disorders. You can help in aiding your body’s own natural healing process with the expert help of a chiropractor. Seek the right kind of help. Speak to a registered and licensed chiropractor today.

Contact us today for a FREE screening. Find us on Facebook Dr Vicki Ferreira Chiropractor

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Chiropractors believe that the body has an innate ability to heal itself. This is why they do not administer any drugs or do any surgery. Chiropractic involves re-aligning the body’s bones in order to allow it to heal itself. The spinal cord in particular needs to be in top shape and be correctly aligned for it to send signals to the body to repair itself. This realignment aims to give the body an opportunity to be as it was made and thus be able to repair itself correctly.

Chiropractic involves physical manipulation of joints in order to align them correctly. This realignment is done by moving a joint past its usual range of motion till it reaches it maximum range of motion and not beyond it. This means you will hear a popping or cracking sound as the chiropractor does this. It then becomes important that your chiropractor is fully aware of what they are doing and not hurting your limbs.

This form of treatment has been around for over one hundred years. It is very safe when performed by a fully trained practitioner. It is even safe for new born babies when it is performed by an especially trained chiropractor. Naturally, you should do your research so that you fully understand what a chiropractor does and what you should expect when you visit the chiropractor. This way you will not be surprised by the methods of treatment and be aware of the methods to be used.

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Most importantly, the chiropractor will determine and plan a treatment method, as well as management plan for each individual patient. The chiropractor is also trained to make physical adjustments to spine joints and other extremities by using specialised equipment or by using their hands. Often, this is all a patient needs as muscles sometimes merely shift or suffer from light strains. A chiropractor can perform more complicated massages than a regular masseuse as they have medical knowledge of muscles and joints.

A chiropractor will be responsible for ensuring the patient is clued up on rehabilitation exercises that will help the patient recover and remain healthy in the long term. A proper practitioner will keep you medical records safe and confidential in order to follow up on your progress. If your ailment is too complicated for merely the chiropractor to solve, he or she should be able to refer you to other specialist or should have a lasting working relationship with specialists in other areas of expertise.

A good chiropractor never stops learning and training. He or she will undertake constant development by reviewing cases, reading periodical journals and by attending suitable conferences. A chiropractor should maintain a long-lasting relationship with patients, because this means the practitioner will get to know each patient and each patient’s history. It will thus become simpler to treat ailments and will help the patient prevent future problems.

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