Chronic pain, fatigue, moodiness, and sleep problems could mean you are having a bad day. But these conditions are also symptoms of a disorder known as fibromyalgia. Although fibromyalgia has no cure, the Chiropractic and Acupuncture Center of Sarasota offers a number of pain management techniques and treatments that can make it easier to live with the disorder. Our Sarasota chiropractic center can also provide lifestyle advice that can help alleviate the anguish.

Treatments Include Massage Therapy, Lifestyle Advice and Strategies from Our Chiropractor

Symptoms of fibromyalgia can include neck pain, tension headaches, temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ), and mental issues such as anxiety and depression. The disorder causes overall physical agony because it intensifies painful sensations and changes the way your brain processes signals that send out pain. The mental agony is due to living with constant pain. One of the treatments for the pain is massage therapy.

Massage can alleviate stress and tension in the muscles, which allows them to relax. Such relaxation often leads to pain relief for your body as well as anxiety relief for your mind. Massage also enhances your mobility and prompts your body’s production of natural pain killers. Our massage therapist uses various techniques designed to effectively manipulate your muscles, ligaments, and skin with rubbing, kneading, and various stroking movements.

Acupuncture, which involves the insertion of needles in key points along the body, is another pain relief method we use. The needles unblock the flow of energy, which can release pent up tension and pain, as well as target specific areas that can benefit from increased circulation.

Our chiropractor can also offer lifestyle advice which includes ways to alleviate the pain of living with fibromyalgia. Important strategies include reducing stress, getting adequate sleep, keeping your activity evenly spread out throughout the day, eating a healthy diet, and exercising regularly. We can provide a specific wellness program designed to incorporate all these strategies in way that fits your lifestyle.

Have you or anyone you know ever suffered from fibromyalgia?

Back pain is caused by many different factors. One of the most common causes of acute lower back pain is muscle strain. This type of back pain will likely heal in time. Other culprits such as injury to the spine or back muscles do not heal as easily and patients with back pain caused by outside elements may need therapy or other pain management assistance to heal correctly. Car accidents, sports injuries or accidental falls are all injuries that can cause back pain and/or injury. Chiropractors like those at the Chiropractic and Acupuncture Center of Sarasota are trained to treat and provide pain management techniques for back pain caused from various sources.

Massage Therapy and Acupuncture Treatments for Back Pain

Back and neck pain is treated through chiropractic care such as spinal realignment and adjustment, muscle stimulation and massage techniques. All of these services are available from the Sarasota chiropractor. Other types of treatments used to relieve back pain are acupuncture and massage therapy.

According to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine by Dan Cherkin, PhD a senior investigator at Group Health Center for Health Studies in Seattle, acupuncture-like treatments are proven to work better on chronic back pain than standard care such as medication or physical therapy. The study concluded that the individuals in the acupuncture group were able assume daily tasks easier after one year of treatment than the people in the standard care group. Certified chiropractor Dr. Abe Kozma offers acupuncture services that are tailored to meet the needs of each patient.

Massage therapy is another treatment that is used to alleviate back and neck pain. There are different types of massage including deep tissue massage and other massage methods that focus on certain areas of the body. Here at our center, Dr. Kozma treats patients by combining both acupuncture and massage to provide an overall positive procedure that promotes pain relief for not only the affected area but the entire body.

Have you sought chiropractic care to help relieve your back pain? What was your experience like?

Massage therapy is a medically recognized form of noninvasive and holistic treatment. It has been used for thousands of years to treat a variety of ailments and today’s massage is little different. Massages can be used to treat soreness but they can also be used for pain management, to reduce swelling, for relaxation and stress relief, to increase joint mobility, to temporarily reduce blood pressure, to improve circulation and massages even increase your body’s immune system.

Your First Massage Therapy Session – What to Expect

Whether you have a massage as a part of treatment for an injury or problem or on its own, Dr. Kozma, will direct the massage therapist in what kind of massage you should be receiving. When you arrive for your session, the massage therapist will ask you to remove most of your clothing, and lay face down on the table. The therapist will then drape you with a cloth, leaving only the area they are currently working on exposed.

Your therapist may perform any number of massage techniques, including Swedish massage, Shiatsu, sports therapy massage or hot stone therapy. During the massage the therapist will manipulate your skin, muscles and joints through a series of kneading, stroking, tapping and circular motions.

It is important that you communicate with your therapist during the massage. If the pressure is too hard or too soft, you need to let them know so that they can adjust. Your experience should be relaxing and reduce pain, not cause it.

At the Chiropractic and Acupuncture Center of Sarasota we believe that massages are just one tool used to help your body heal so that you can live a life full of vitality and one that is pain-free. We also believe that the cause of your problem or injury should be treated and not just the symptoms. By combining massage with other forms of therapy we can help you begin to live your best life; Dr. Kozma is a Sarasota chiropractor who truly cares.

How have you benefited from receiving massages? What is your favorite type of massage?

Preventing a Car Accident: Safe Driving Tips from Our Clinic

During the summer, we know that many of our patients will be traveling in cars for family vacations and outings. We hope that everyone will have safe travels since we know that a car accident can be very distressing. There are a few things you can do to help ensure that you and your family stay safe when you are driving this summer.

First, always wear your seat belt and adhere to speed limits, since speeding can increase your risk of a crash by as much as 50%. Also, do everything possible to avoid distractions like snacks, cell phones or other electronic devices while traveling in a car.

Make sure that you are well-rested when you get behind the wheel and always avoid consuming alcohol before driving. Drive very carefully in inclement weather or avoid driving in these conditions all together.

Ensure that you always stay a safe distance away from other vehicles on the road, drive defensively, and keep a close eye on your surroundings at all times. Finally, make sure that your car is properly maintained and safe to drive.

Benefits of Chiropractic Care after an Automobile Injury

In the unfortunate event of an auto accident, visits with our chiropractor, Dr. Kozma, can help you with pain relief from injury and can help prevent long-term damage from soft tissue injuries. Our staff at The Chiropractic and Acupuncture Center of Sarasota, Florida can help you deal with minor injuries after an accident so that you do not have to deal with major problems down the road. Even small accidents can damage soft tissue and cause persistent neck pain, back pain and headaches. Our Sarasota chiropractor, Dr. Kozma, can treat these issues by realigning your spine. Dr. Kozma may also prescribe massage therapy at our clinic to ease the muscle pain that can occur after an automobile accident.

What safe driving tips would you like to share with fellow drivers?

Whiplash is one of the most misunderstood injuries today because it is classified as a soft tissue injury. This type of injury may not result in broken bones, but can cause pain equal to, or even worse, than a broken bone can bring. One of our primary jobs at the Chiropractic and Acpuncture Center of Sarasota is helping patients who need chiropractic care and massage therapy as a result of injuries such as a car accident or an on the job fall. Whiplash has several tell-tale signs that patients can watch for in the hours and days following an accident or other injury.

Dr. Abe Kozma often sees patients who say that their first sign of whiplash was neck pain or stiffness in the neck area. Since an accident is often a very traumatic event that cases the neck to snap forward quickly, whiplash can easily develop, and bring moderate to severe neck pain along with it.

Another sign of whiplash is back pain. Whether the pain strikes in the upper back, where it may feel almost like an extension of the neck pain, or in the mid to lower back, this type of pain is often seen in whiplash and is a result of the sudden jarring of the spine. Whiplash can cause the spinal column to become improperly aligned, which needs immediate chiropractic care.

A headache is another sign of whiplash, particularly if headaches are rare for the patient. The headaches will often go along with the back and neck pain, but may exist alone as well. Pain management is often vital when dealing with whiplash, and chiropractic care combined with massage therapy at our Sarasota center can be an excellent, and completely natural, solution for our patient's whiplash pain.

Patients who believe they are suffering whiplash should call to schedule an appointment with Dr. Kozma right away. 

We are interested in your feedback. How has chiropractic care helped you recover from whiplash and other auto accident injuries?

The Chiropractic & Acupuncture Center of Sarasota is known to handle many kinds of pain. Neck pain which is a close second to back pain affects millions of people every year. Symptoms of neck pain can show up after a car accident, workplace injury, or even just sleeping the wrong way. The first treatment administered is usually some sort of medication such as an anti-inflammatory or the application of an ice pack to the neck for 15-20 minutes several times a day. The cold pack helps to reduce pain and swelling. A heat application can be used if there is no swelling or inflammation to relax tight or injured muscles.

These methods can sometimes be enough but in most cases are not. Medication can cause side effects and repeated hot and cold packs can only provide temporary relief.  This is where an introduction to Chiropractic care would be beneficial if the option has not been previously pursued.

Contrary to popular belief chiropractic adjustments are not painful. Our Sarasota clinic chiropractors are trained experts and use precise, targeted adjustments which gently manipulate your spine back into its natural alignment. These adjustments can relieve pain in the soft tissues, increase circulation, and stimulate your body's nervous system. Our chiropractors also use other all-natural, holistic techniques such as acupressure and massage therapy to help your body regain lost range of motion and improve the overall mechanics of the spine and neck.

During your visit to The Chiropractic & Acupuncture Center of Sarasota, your chiropractor will determine both the intensity of your neck pain and how long you've been suffering from the pain. Some types of mild to moderate neck pain are the temporary result of poor posture, unusual sleeping positions, or carelessness when performing certain daily activities. Severe neck pain, on the other hand, can be a symptom of a congenital defect such as scoliosis, a side effect of a spinal misalignment, an injury from a recent accident, or progressive age-related deterioration. Another common cause of neck pain is when a vertebra in your spine has moved out of place and is creating pressure and irritation near the spinal nerves.

So no matter what kind of pain you have, call us today at the Chiropractic and Acupuncture Center of Sarasota  at 941-348-6632 and get  started on your road to recovery. You'll be glad you did!   

A Sarasota chiropractor comments:

The Chiropractic and Acupuncture Center of Sarasota has been serving the chiropractic needs of the residents of Sarasota, Fl since it was first established in 1999. Dr. Abe Kozma uses an effective combination of chiropractic care, massage therapy, and acupuncture techniques in order to help patients with back pain and neck pain. Our chiropractor has a special interest in helping patients who are experiencing back or neck pain from an auto accident injuries like whiplash, and he works closely with attorneys to help ensure his patients get the legal help they need after being involved in a car accident. Dr. Kozma is able to fully document the initial assessment of injuries as well as the treatment and recovery plan, so that patients can provide the documentation need to get compensated by the auto insurance companies for their chiropractic care. Spanish is spoken in the office in addition to English to help make chiropractic care as accessible as possible for the residents of Sarasota and the surrounding areas.

Recently, Dr. Kozma has revamped his chiropractic website to include more useful information for new and current patients, and to make it easier for Sarasota residents to get the information they need about the care and treatment options available at the Chiropractic & Acupuncture Center of Sarasota. For more information about auto accident injuries and whiplash, please visit the new Auto Accident Injury page. In addition to helping patients with auto accident injuries, Dr. Kozma also helps patients who are experiencing back and neck pain for other reasons. Chiropractors are specialists of the neck and spine, and Dr. Kozma uses that knowledge to help patients restore their body back to 100% functioning.

As part of his website makeover, Dr. Kozma is excited to launch this new chiropractic blog to help educate the residents of Sarasota regarding current health and chiropractic news. Stay tuned for more wellness articles and blog posts coming soon!

For those who are interested in talking to a Sarasota chiropractor about their back pain, neck pain, whiplash, or other symptoms, please do not hesitate to contact us today at (941) 348-6632!