Patricia Downey, D.C.

In a study that looked at stress and how people who seek chiropractic care perceive it, researchers wrote that psychosocial stress, “…pervades modern life and is known to have an impact on health. Pain, especially chronic back pain, is influenced by stress.” Here, ten different chiropractic clinics reported results tallied from 138 patients who were [..]

Between 80% and 90% of the general population will experience an episode of lower back pain (LBP) at least once during their lives. When it affects the young to middle-aged, we often use the term "non-specific LBP" to describe the condition. The geriatric population suffers from the “aging effects” of the spine—things like degenerative joint [..]

We all know what it’s like to have neck pain—whether it’s after a long drive, pinching the phone between the head and shoulder, star-gazing, or from talking to someone who is seated off to the side. There are many causes of neck pain, but the question of the month is, how do chiropractic adjustments help [..]

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is VERY common. If fact, it affects 3-6% of the general population, and up to 50% of those afflicted have it in both hands! So what makes it so common? Here are several reasons: 1) ANATOMY: The wrist is made up of eight small “carpal” bones that allow the wrist to bend [..]

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a very common condition affecting approximately ten million Americans (2-4% of the population)—with a ratio of about four women to each man with the disease. Part of the diagnosis and treatment challenge is that many of the complaints associated with FM occur in ALL of us at some point, such as fatigue, [..]

Whiplash is really a slang term for the rapid back and forth whipping of the head on the neck, usually associated with motor vehicle accidents. The title “Whiplash Associated Disorders”, or WAD, describes it best because it includes ALL of the MANY signs and symptoms of the disorder. WAD basically comes in three sizes based [..]

Have you ever said to yourself, “I’m in great shape for my age!” Or how about, “For the amount I exercise, I’ll live forever!” Well, I hope you are right and you have MANY great quality years watching your family grow and prosper ahead of you. The problem is there are NO guarantees! Did you [..]

Why is Chronic Low Back Pain So Prevalent and Often so Treatment Resistant? The Concept of Hyper-innervation, Neoneuralisation, Receptive Field Enlargement Pain, like all perceptions, is a cortical event. Pain is experienced in the brain. Pain perception in the brain begins in a peripheral tissue and is transmitted to the brain via a nerve. Thus, the peripheral tissue [..]

Introduction Vertigo is defined as “a condition in which somebody feels a sensation of whirling or tilting that causes a loss of balance.” To describe the sensation of vertigo, patients often use words such as dizziness, giddiness, unsteadiness, or lightheadedness. The neurological vertigo center is called the vestibular nucleus. The vestibular nucleus is located in the [..]

The escalation in health care spending in the United States has mandated an approach for cost containment. The contemporary approach in this effort is called “Evidenced-Based Medicine.” Proponents of Evidence Based Medicine have become increasingly organized, beginning in the 1990s. As an example, in 1996, the British Medical Journal published an editorial titled (1):Evidence Based Medicine: What it is [..]

Fibromyalgia is an incredibly complex, widespread, and disabling neuromusculoskeletal disorder. Fibromyalgia affects between 2-8% of the American population, somewhere between 6 million to 25 million individuals (1). A literature search of the National Library of Medicine of the United States using the key work “fibromyalgia” will locate 8,489 citations (May 8, 2015).Daniel Clauw, MD, is [..]

When a force is applied to a joint, increased motion and “joint separation” occur. This can be done without causing any injury to the joint tissues (bones, cartilage, ligaments, muscles, tendons, nerves, etc.). This increased motion has a number of proposed benefits, including (1):The disruption of intra-articular and peri-articular adhesions.The remodeling of peri-articular fibrosis.Generating spinal [..]