Posts by Dr. Naveed Elahi

With the Migraine Research Foundation reporting that migraine headaches affect 38 million people in the U.S. (more than asthma and diabetes put together), it's not surprising that Dr. Elahi sees a lot of headache patients in our Schaumburg office. While some people try to relieve migraine pain with drugs, chiropractic is a great, all-natural approach that usually provides positive results.

Research Proves Chiropractic Care Helps With Migraines

For instance, one study published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics involved 127 patients ranging in age from 10 to 70-years-old who struggled with frequent (at least monthly) migraines. Each subject engaged in up to 16 chiropractic sessions. The patients noted that their headache frequency, duration, and disability two months before the treatments began, during the duration of the sessions (which was two months), and two months post-treatment.

What the investigators discovered is that chiropractic reduced the frequency, duration, and disability of the migraine pain when compared with the control subjects who didn't receive chiropractic. In addition, this allowed them to take less medication for the pain, providing them an all-natural answer for a chronic condition.

Another study found that a combination of chiropractic and neck massage reduced migraine pain almost 68%.

If you have migraine headaches and are looking for relief, call Dr. Elahi today and request an appointment in our Schaumburg chiropractic office. We'll do what we can to help you become pain-free!

Resources

Migraine Fact Sheet. Migraine Research Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.migraineresearchfoundation.org/fact-sheet.html on November 2, 2015
Noudeh Y et al. (2012). Reduction of current migraine headache pain following neck massage and spinal manipulation. International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork;5(1):5-13
Tuchin P et al. (2000, February). A randomized controlled trial of chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy for migraine. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics;23(2):91-5

Massage has been used for thousands of years as a natural pain relief treatment. We use massage therapy in our Schaumburg office, as it works great in conjunction with the chiropractic care that Dr. Elahi provides. Massage therapy does much more than just feel good. It also offers many positive effects as well. Some are physical and others are psychological, and here are just a few of each:

• Pain reduction (back, neck, shoulder, legs, arm, and headache pain)
• Increased range of motion and mobility
• Improved circulation
• Improved immune system function
• Enhanced sports performance
• Reduced depression and anxiety
• Higher levels of energy
• Decreased levels of fatigue
• Improved sleep
• Easier labor and delivery for expecting mothers
• Reduced stretch marks
• Less scar tissue

We Can Help Clients Find Relief From Neck Pain and Headaches with Massage Therapy

Benefits such as these have been found to be particularly helpful for individuals who suffer with chronic conditions such as arthritis and asthma. Massage has also proven advantageous for burn injury patients, people with hypertension, and women who suffer from premenstrual syndrome. Even preterm infants have shown benefits with massage therapy as they have improved levels of weight gain.

To learn more about the massage therapy services we offer in Schaumburg, give our office a call today at (847) 519-7046 .

Knee pain is a frequent problem for patients in our Schaumburg chiropractic office, and Dr. Elahi has happily provided many of these folks relief. This is mostly because chiropractic care has been found to help with many kinds of knee pain.

For instance, some patients encounter pain in and around the knee tissues due to degenerative arthritis. Research has shown that this condition responds very well to chiropractic--and rather quickly, too. In fact, one article published in The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association found that men and women with osteoarthritis in their knees felt significant pain relief and improved function after just two weeks of chiropractic care.

If your knee pain is caused by a medial meniscus sprain, chiropractic could likely help with that as well. One case reported that combining chiropractic with soft tissue therapy, rest, ice, and compression on the affected knee helped lower the intensity of the pain.

Of course, sometimes a knee replacement surgery is necessary in order to fix the issue, and if that's the case, chiropractic can also help improve the outcome. How?

Research Shows Chiropractic Helps With Knee Injuries

Medical research has found that patients with low back pain frequently have less positive results after knee surgery. So, dealing with your back pain through chiropractic before having a total knee arthroplasty can assist with your post-surgery recovery.

No matter what your knee issue, Dr. Elahi can likely help. Call our Schaumburg location today and find out what we can do for you!

References

• Pollard H et al. (2008, December). The effect of a manual therapy knee protocol on osteoarthritic knee pain: a randomised controlled trial. The Journal of the Canadian Chiropractic Association;52(4):229-42
  Boyle J et al. (2014, March). Influence of low back pain on total knee arthroplasty outcome. Knee;21(2):410-4
• Jarosz B & Ames R. (2010, December). Chiropractic management of a medial meniscus tear in a patient with tibiofemoral degeneration: a case report. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine;9(4):200-8

We see a lot of individuals with headaches in our Schaumburg office, and Dr. Elahi has been able to help many of them. Additionally, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that one half of all adults deal with some manner of headache disorder, so this really isn’t unexpected. One of the most common sorts of headaches that our patients are afflicted by is cervicogenic headache which, luckily, chiropractic can usually help.

What is a Cervicogenic Headache?

A cervicogenic headache is one that arises from an issue in the cervical spine. It could be because of a problem with either the spine itself (in particular, the vertebrae, joints, or discs), or it can be brought on by a problem in the muscles and tendons of your neck. This dysfunction in your spine creates compression or aggravation of the spinal nerves, which can generate headache pain.

How can you recognize if the headache you are enduring is a cervicogenic headache? Aside from obtaining a diagnosis from a healthcare specialist, a common symptom of cervicogenic headaches is tenderness or pain in your neck. This is occasionally combined with pain in the back of your head or between your shoulder blades.

How Chiropractic Helps

Seeing that cervicogenic headaches will not go away until whatever problem is initiating them is remedied, it is essential to receive treatment rather than just trying to "wait it out." Chiropractic care is an excellent solution, and one that offers a great deal of pain relief.

In one study published in Chiropractic & Osteopathy, experts evaluated 80 people who had regular cervicogenic headaches. Half received chiropractic care and the other 50% engaged in light massage therapy. Each participant was assessed 12 and 24 weeks after the treatment and it was found that chiropractic delivered the most beneficial outcomes.

Specifically, this study found that chiropractic adjustments gave patients more significant pain relief and decreased the number of headaches that occurred. On top of that, it also reduced the disability that resulted from these painful headaches.

To find out what Dr. Elahi can do for you and your headaches, call our office today. We'll do our best to get you the pain relief you need!

References

• Haas M, Schneider M, Vavrek D. Illustrating risk difference and number needed to treat from a randomized controlled trial of spinal manipulation for cervicogenic headache. Chiropractic & Osteopathy 2010 18(9).
• World Health Organization. (2012, October). Headache disorders. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs277/en/

We see quite a few patients in our Schaumburg office with ankle sprains but Dr. Elahi has had a lot of success helping them heal more quickly. Why are ankle sprains so common and how can chiropractic care help?

According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), an estimated 25,000 men and women in the US sprain their ankles every day. In fact, these injuries make up almost half of all sports injuries, causing people to spend time away from the activities they enjoy most.

Like any injury, there are many causes of ankle sprains. The most common is inversion, or when the ankle rolls inward. This injury can happen due to one forceful movement, or it can develop over time, and exercises that increase the risk for this type of ankle sprain include running and jumping. You're also at risk if you have past ankle injuries, poor posture or balance, weak muscles, and reduced range of motion.

How Can Chiropractic Treatments and Dr. Elahi Help?

A paper published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics set out to determine chiropractic's role when it comes to ankle sprain recovery. Researchers enrolled 33 people between the ages of 18 and 45 who had a history of ankle inversion sprains, who were experiencing tenderness and/or pain, and had not re-injured the ankle in the previous six weeks.

Eighteen of the participants were assigned to participate in rehabilitation and the remaining 15 patients received chiropractic adjustments in addition to rehabilitation. Each person had five full weeks of therapy, with the rehabilitation group receiving therapies seven days a week and the rehabilitation plus chiropractic group receiving treatment six out of the seven days.

Research Supports Chiropractic Helps With Ankle Sprains

The study found that the people who participated in both rehab and chiropractic fared the best at the 4-week mark when it came to pain and joint restriction. Additionally, no negative effects were reported, showing that chiropractic is safe.

If you're near our location in Schaumburg and you're struggling with an ankle injury, give us a call. We'll do what we can to keep you up and running... literally!

Bibliography

• American College of Sports Medicine. (n.d.). Ankle sprains and the athlete. Retrieved from https://www.acsm.org/docs/current-comments/anklesprainstemp.pdf
• Lubbe, D et al. (2015, January). Manipulative therapy and rehabilitation for recurrent ankle sprain with functional instability: a short-term, assessor-blind, parallel-group randomized trial. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 38(1), 22-34, doi:10.1016/j.jmpt.2014.10.001

If you suffer with fibromyalgia, you are not alone, as Dr. Elahi sees many people with this particular condition in our Schaumburg chiropractic clinic. Actually, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that roughly two percent of all adults in the United States have fibromyalgia. Fortunately, chiropractic is one treatment option that can provide positive results.

Research Proves Chiropractic Helps Fibromyalgia

In a paper released in mid-2015, 215 adults with fibromyalgia were assessed based on factors ranging from pain to quality of sleep to the levels of depression symptoms and anxiety they felt. Then they were divided into two groups with one group receiving a multi-modal therapy program for three months and the second group receiving the same program plus chiropractic adjustments (specifically, to the upper neck area) for the same length of time.

The individuals who received chiropractic adjustments combined with the multi-disciplinary therapy program reported greater benefits in all areas (pain, sleep, depression, and anxiety) at 12 weeks post-treatment when compared to the study patients who received multi-modal treatment without chiropractic care. Furthermore, those positive benefits were long-lasting as the subjects reported continued improvement one full year later.

Fibromyalgia can greatly decrease your quality of life, both mentally and physically. If you're suffering from fibromyalgia, we might be able to help.

You don't have to suffer! To find out what Dr. Elahi can do for your fibromyalgia pain, call our Schaumburg chiropractic office today.

Sources

• Fibromyalgia. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/basics/fibromyalgia.htm on November 2, 2015.
• Moustafa I & Diab A. (2015, July). The addition of upper cervical manipulative therapy in the treatment of patients with fibromyalgia: a randomized controlled trial. Rheumatology International;35(7):1163-74.

Regrettably, quite a few of our Schaumburg patients are familiar with the pain associated with a herniated disc all too well. Fortunately, Dr. Elahi has helped many people with disc pain, and a number of scientific studies have verified that chiropractic care can help patients recover from this kind of condition.

Research on Herniated Discs and Chiropractic

In one report, specialists from Switzerland selected 148 patients who were coping with pain in their low back and legs due to a herniated disc (which was confirmed through magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI). Each individual then received chiropractic adjustments that focused on the location of his or her disc herniation.

Results were collected after the preliminary treatment session at set intervals--namely, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year--to ascertain what kind of short-term and long-term effects, if any, chiropractic care offers when it comes to treating this particular condition. Among the data collected was the individual's self-reported changes in both lumbar and leg pain.

Investigators found that, as a whole, the study participants reported "significant improvement" for both types of pain every time the results were collected. In fact, over 90% of the individuals claimed that their pain "improved" within the first three months, with 88% still citing improvement one year after their first treatment session.

Even those patients who were defined as "chronic" still claimed an improvement in pain at a rate of 89% one year beyond when treatment first began. This is the same positive result that was found in the following case study.

Case Study Shows that Chiropractic Benefits Chronic Disc Herniation Symptoms

In this paper, a 26-year-old male had presented with disc herniation symptoms such as pain in the lower back, left leg, and left groin area, along with left foot drop and muscle weakness. He had endured these problems for more than two years after sustaining an athletic injury, and his herniated disc was confirmed via MRI.

After receiving chiropractic, "The patient responded favorably and his multi-symptom complex resolved within 90 days of treatment." Furthermore, the patient was still experiencing relief one year after the chiropractic intervention.

Studies like these show how useful chiropractic can be when it comes to alleviating herniated disc pain and relieving the symptoms they bring about. So, if you are suffering from back ache caused by a herniated disc and want to find some relief, chiropractic may well be an effective solution.

Don't suffer from chronic herniated disc pain. Give our Schaumburg office a call today at (847) 519-7046 for a consultation or appointment.

References

• Leemann S, Peterson CK, Schmid C, Anklin B, Humphreys BK. Outcomes of acute and chronic patients with magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed symptomatic lumbar disc herniations receiving high-velocity, low-amplitude, spinal manipulative therapy: a prospective observational cohort study with one-year follow-up. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2014;37(3):155-163.
• Polkinghorn BS, Colloca CJ. Treatment of symptomatic lumbar disc herniation using activator methods chiropractic technique. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 1998;21(3):187-196.
  

Dr. Elahi sees a lot of people struggling with carpal tunnel syndrome in our busy Schaumburg chiropractic office. While some people think that the source of this wrist-related pain is muscular, it's really a condition that arises from the nerves--and not just the nerves in your hands.

A recent study published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy assessed 71 women between the ages of 35 and 59 who were diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome. Upon investigating the subjects' neck range of motion, the authors discovered that the women had reduced cervical mobility when compared to a healthy control group.

Furthermore, it was also discovered that the degree of the women's reported carpal tunnel pain was linked to the lateral flexion of the cervical spine. In short, the less flexibility in the neck, the greater the level of pain.

This research is extremely important, as you can't effectively resolve a problem until you fully understand its source. By realizing that the root of carpal tunnel symptoms is in the neck, this means that all-natural approaches such as chiropractic can often restore normal function, reducing the need for risky surgical procedures.

If you have carpal tunnel pain, call our Schaumburg location and ask how Dr. Elahi can help you get relief!

References

De-la-Llave-Rincon A et al. (2011, May). Women with carpal tunnel syndrome show restricted cervical range of motion. Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy;41(5):305-10.
Simon H. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. University of Maryland Medical Center. Updated May 6, 2012. Retrieved from https://umm.edu/health/medical/reports/articles/carpal-tunnel-syndrome on November 2, 2015.

We see quite a few back pain patients in our Schaumburg practice, and Dr. Elahi has been able to help a lot of them get relief through various chiropractic techniques. At the same time, dealing with back problems doesn't necessarily mean having to decide between chiropractic care and medical therapy, as many people utilize both types of care with great outcomes.

Research Confirms Chiropractic and Medical Treatment Work Well with One Another

In a report published by the journal Spine researchers¹ looked at a group of active-duty military personnel between the ages of 18 and 35 who were suffering from both acute soreness and limited function due to back pain. Some of the test subjects engaged in treatment via standard medical therapy, while the rest received chiropractic adjustments in addition to regular medical care, as the authors wanted to determine which group fared better.

The authors determined that the group that received standard medical care along with chiropractic care scored "significantly better" than the group that got medical care alone; 73% reported positive benefits compared to just 17 percent of the medical care only group who indicated the same amount of improvement. This was true regarding both pain and level of function at two and four weeks.

Accordingly, incorporating these two forms of treatment can greatly benefit you--the patient--offering advantages when compared to medical care alone. However, while chiropractic and medical approaches can work together, chiropractic offers some unique advantages over medical treatment.

Where Chiropractic Care Pulls Ahead

Although it might seem as if each approach plays a 50/50 role, there is one significant advantage that chiropractic has over medical treatment and that is in patient satisfaction. In fact, a study done at UCLA² that was printed in the American Journal of Public Health found that, on average, chiropractic patients are generally more satisfied with their recovery than those undergoing medical care.

According to the experts, the main aspects that patients preferred over medical treatment were "self-care advice and explanation of treatment." This isn't unexpected, as chiropractors commonly spend much more time consulting with their patients as to how they can improve their health on their own, as well as explaining more thoroughly what to expect from chiropractic.

Chiropractic Offers a Non-Invasive Approach

Without a doubt, the techniques associated with chiropractic are very different than those available with medical treatment, but a great deal of the distinction is the fact that chiropractic is a holistic approach to health and wellness. Instead of focusing on just relieving the symptoms, chiropractic care involves tracking down the primary cause of your pain, which often translates to greater improvement as you are tackling the problem at its source.

Additionally, while medication is sometimes helpful for managing certain conditions, many health issues respond well to natural forms of treatment such as chiropractic care. This means fewer negative responses to medications and more permanent results.

You don't have to endure back pain or other health issues. Give our Schaumburg office a call today at (847) 519-7046 . We'll do everything we can to help you get and stay free from back pain.

References

1. Goertz CM, Long CR, Hondras MA, Petri R, Delgado R, Lawrence DJ, Owens EF, Meeker WC. Adding chiropractic manipulative therapy to standard medical care for patients with acute low back pain: results of a pragmatic randomized comparative effectiveness study. Spine 2013;38(8):627-634.
2. Hertzman-Miller RP1, Morgenstern H, Hurwitz EL, Yu F, Adams AH, Harber P, Kominski GF. Comparing the satisfaction of low back pain patients randomized to receive medical or chiropractic care: results from the UCLA low-back pain study. American Journal of Public Health 2002;92(10):1628-1633.

Shoulder Pain is a common symptom after an auto collision, and it's something that Dr. Elahi sees frequently in our Schaumburg office. Chiropractic can be very helpful for shoulder pain symptoms after a crash. Let's see what causes shoulder pain and why chiropractic works.

There are at least two different ways that you can get shoulder pain after a crash: by direct injury to the shoulder joint or by referred pain from the neck.

Direct damage can be caused by striking your shoulder on a hard object in the car during the impact, or can occur if you have a tight grip on the steering wheel during a rear end crash. With this type of trauma, you'll usually be aware of the pain shortly after the crash.

More frequently, Dr. Elahi finds that shoulder or arm pain does not immediately appear after a crash, but begins a few days or weeks after the trauma. This type of shoulder discomfort actually starts in the cervical spine. Injured ligaments or muscles in your neck can tweak nerves in your neck, causing tingling, numbness, or pain in your shoulder, elbow, or wrist.

We've treated both types of shoulder pain in our Schaumburg office. This care involves chiropractic adjustments to restore your spine's natural mobility and exercises that strengthen your neck and shoulder.

Dr. Elahi has been helping patients in Schaumburg since 2006, so we know what you're going through. We're here to help you, too. The first step is to get an accurate diagnosis to determine what's causing your pain and then we will determine an appropriate treatment strategy. Ready to make an appointment? Give us a call at (847) 519-7046 and we'll get you back on the road to health.