Musculoskeletal Injuries
Musculoskeletal Injuries & Treatment
Joints Affected by Pain & Injuries:
Hands
Knees
Elbows
Ankles
Shoulders
Neck
and more
All injuries that chiropractors and sports chiropractors can treat relate to the musculoskeletal system. The musculoskeletal is important for many different areas of life including movement, sports, recreation and performing those difficult chores and jobs. Below you will find information on musculoskeletal injuries and how we treat them.
What does musculoskeletal mean?
Musculoskeletal refers to the the connective tissue in the body that relates to structure, movement, function and appearance. This connective tissues ties the top of the head to the bottom of the feet and has continuity through the entirety of the body.
When the connective tissue of the body gets pushed past its limit it can lead to soreness, injury and fatigue. It is important that rotational athletes such as disc golfers, martial artists, baseball and softball players train their connective tissue to handle the required stresses put on the body to compete, at an amateur, semi-pro or professional level.
Types of Connective Tissue in the Body:
Bone
Ligament
Tendon
Muscle
Nerve
Blood Vessels
Cartilage
There are many different categories within each type of cartilage. It is important to remember that everyone’s body is different and every injury is different.
Types of Connective Tissue Injuries
Traumatic Ligament Sprains:
Ligaments are what hold the joints together and attach directly from bone-to-bone. Because of this attachment they are susceptible to injury at end ranges of motion. One of the most common injuries to occur in all throwing, contact and rotational sports is the ankle sprain. This common injury usually occurs first at the anterior talocrural ligament and transitions laterally around the joint to other ligaments. The injury is due to excessive force causing tears in the ligament. This can be a partial or complete tear and can take weeks to months to repair itself. Other common ligament injuries in include ligaments in the spine, shoulder, upper extremities and lower extremities
Acute or Chronic Tendinosis & Tendinitis:
Tendinosis is the term used for chronic overuse of a tendon. This is usually the primary diagnosis used in regards to tendons. Tendinosis is not the same as tendinitis. Tendinitis means “inflammation of the tendon” and is not as common as tendinosis. A common tendinosis found often in the body Tennis Elbow. This is chronic overuse injury of the lateral epicondyle tendon in your elbow. This injury, affects the extensor muscles of the forearm and is found most commonly in sports that use backhand movements to propel something such as Tennis or Disc Golf. Other Areas of
Acute of Chronic Muscle Strains:
Also known as muscles pulls are extreme tears in the muscle belly. They are fairly quick to heal but can be troublesome for athletics and can keep re-tearing if not the strain is not taken care of appropriately. Hamstrings are notorious for these recurring strains and can take 4-8 weeks to rehab appropriately. Other areas these can occur, include the biceps, quads and glutes.
Peripheral Nerve Entrapments:
Nerve entrapments can be really alarming when they first occur, but are fairly rare in there findings. These can be caused by muscle tension putting pressure on nerves, swelling and inflammation, and dislocations. Symptoms of a nerve entrapment including, numbness, shooting pain, tingling in the fingers and more.
How are Pain and Injuries Treated at Vector Sport and Spine?
MSK injuries can be treated in numerous different ways. The most common include, manual therapy, chiropractic adjustments, exercise, and more. Lets take a look at each of these treatments types
Hands-on Manual Therapy:
Manual Therapy alludes to the hands on soft-tissue treatment. Soft-tissue is the synonym to connective tissue and is the treatment of external force, in order to change the internal forces of the body. This process is knows as mechanotransduction and is one method by which we help treat different pains and injuries. We use PAILS/RAILS, PALS/RALS and movement to help assist our hands on manual therapy.
Chiropractic Adjustments:
Chiropractic Adjustments are used to help treat symptomology and modify the pain sensation felt during injuries and other causes of pain. The quick and relatively painless thrust allows the body to modify what it is sensing and allowing you to start moving again. Without movement, our bodies start to get sluggish and starts to deteriorate. We need movement to survive.
Functional Exercise/Movement:
Is a vital part of our treatment method, whether you have an ache that won’t go a way, tennis elbow from multiple disc golf tournaments, or a shoulder pain from pitching too much in softball or baseball. Consistency is the key to any treatment plan and when it comes to connective tissue injuries, it is even more important that movement is reintroduced ASAP. Our cells require force and that force tells the when, where and how to heal. We use a variety of progressions and regressions to fit your goals and needs moving foreword. (Pun intended)
What to Expect on Your First Visit to Our Clinic:
Thorough Standard Medical Exam and History Intake.
We start with a thorough history looking at your medical past, ruling out any serious conditions such as neurological signs, cardiovascular signs and other red flags. This will be done via an intake questionnaire and will be one of the first things you will discuss with Dr. Dan. Once you have discussed your medical history we move on to the exam. We perform a standard physical exam taking vitals, doing orthopedic tests and making sure there are no physical limitations to treatment.
Detailed Functional Exam
We then perform a localized functional exam looking specifically at your main complaint. This is done to learn what deficits you may have in any function regarding your injury/pain and to determine a diagnosis.
Review of Findings / Therapeutic Alliance
After the exam is complete we will sit down to explain our findings, and discuss steps moving forward. We call this stage 'A Therapeutic Alliance.' We want your input on the treatment process, and give you time to ask questions and make decisions regarding your care. We believe in creating open dialogue in regards to care, being as transparent as possible to give you the best care possible.
Treatment Plan
Treatment then is the next step of the first visit. Each treatment process varies depending on the case and presentation of symptoms. It is during the therapeutic alliance stage that we determine the amount and frequency of treatment required to meet your condition.
How to Contact Us to Schedule:
Call 952-222-5770 or hit any of the “schedule an appointment” buttons found on the page.