Rehabilitation for Spine-Related Injuries

Each year in the United States, more than one million people are treated for a variety of spine-related injuries, usually, muscular sprains and strains that could have been avoided with proper training and education. At the office of Drs. Abrams, Piazza, and Julewicz, we utilize a conservative and uniquely integrated approach to Spinal Therapy. We focus on educating the patient about biomechanics; physical, and functional rehabilitation; and manual therapies such as Active Release Techniques, myofascial release, and joint manipulation/mobilization.

Research studies have repeatedly concluded that a regular chiropractic regime can improve muscle strength, build lung volume capacity, increase blood flow and oxygen levels, decrease reaction times and escalate endurance. One recent experiment found a 30% improvement in the performance levels of participating athletes after just 12 weeks of treatment. Chiropractic therapy has also been shown to accelerate recovery and even prevent sports-related injuries.

As part of every treatment plan, we develop a functionally integrated exercise program that is specific to your injury. The program includes posture and body awareness training, spine/core stabilization, and corrective exercises to help prevent future injuries and maintain your healthy lifestyle. Our experienced doctors are on hand to offer one-on-one assistance, providing guidance and encouragement on site and developing exercise programs for patients to perform at home, speeding recovery time.

 

Cold Laser Therapy

We are proud to announce that we have a new therapy at our office- Cold Laser Therapy. Cold Laser Therapy is a treatment that utilizes a specific wavelength of light to interact with tissues and can benefit patients with an accelerated healing process. Cold Laser Therapy can be used on patients who suffer from a multitude of acute and chronic conditions. Cold Laser Therapy can assist in eliminating pain, reducing muscle spasms, reducing swelling, and most of all increasing a patient’s functionality.
Cold Lasers are used via one of our experienced, healthcare providers and placed directly over the injured area for a minimum of 30 seconds. Non-thermal photons of light are emitted from the laser which passes through the skin’s layers. Once the light energy passes through the layers of skin and reaches the targeted area, it is absorbed and interacts with the light-sensitive elements in the cell.

For many years, physicians have been using Cold Laser Therapy on their patients who are seeking effective, alternative methods of pain relief. Studies have shown that Cold Laser Therapy is a proven method for pain relief. Low-level Cold Laser Therapy has been utilized for certain types of neck pain and can be a beneficial treatment.

Some of the conditions that can typically be treated via Cold Laser Therapy are:

• Neck Pain
• Arthritis Pain
• Tendonitis
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome,
• Knee Pain
• Back Pain
• Fibromyalgia Pain

Electrotherapy

Electrotherapy is a non-invasive form of medical treatment that employs electrical energy to stimulate the release of natural painkillers in the body. It comes in a variety of forms including galvanic current, interferential current, modulated current, and biphasic current. Electrotherapy is effective in the treatment of muscle spasms, disc injuries, tendonitis, back pain, and headache to name a few.

 

Intersegmental Traction

Intersegmental Traction is a therapy used in our office which utilizes a specialized piece of equipment to flex and exercise the vertebrae within the spine. Intersegmental Traction is highly effective in reducing muscle spasms, helps to restore normal range of motion, promotes regeneration of tissue and aids in nourishing discs, and helps with stretching tendons and ligaments to their normal length.

 

Ultrasound

Ultrasound therapy is the use of sound waves to treat soft tissue and muscular and joint injuries. Applied through a handheld instrument, high-frequency sound waves reach deep into an injured area and create heat that draws blood into the area, speeding healing and decreasing pain. Some effects of Ultrasound are breaking up adhesions and scar tissue, increasing metabolic rate, increasing membrane permeability and relaxing muscle spasms.

 

Active Release Therapy (ART)

Active Release Therapy is a patented state-of-the-art soft tissue system/movement-based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, and nerves. Conditions that are often a result of muscle overuse such as headaches, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, knee problems, and tennis elbow are just a few of the many conditions that can be resolved quickly and permanently with ART.

Every ART session is actually a combination of examination and treatment. The ART provider uses his or her hands to evaluate the texture, tightness, and movement of muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments, and nerves. Abnormal tissues are treated by combining precisely directed tension with very specific patient movements. This treatment protocols-over 500 specific moves are unique to ART. They allow providers to identify and correct the specific problems that are affecting each individual patient. ART is not a cookie-cutter approach.

 

Graston Technique

The Graston Technique is an evidence-based form of instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization that enables us to detect small, harder-to-detect adhesions as easily as big ones and permit deep, efficient work by using a stainless-steel tool to break down scar tissue and realign muscle fibers. The technique uses specially-designed stainless steel instruments, along with appropriate therapeutic exercise, to specifically detect and effectively treat areas exhibiting soft tissue fibrosis or chronic inflammation. The instruments also are used diagnostically to follow the kinetic chain, to locate and treat the cause of the symptom as well as the specific area of pain. After overuse or tissue injury, the tissue will heal in a haphazard pattern of scarring that results in a restricted range of motion and very often pain. Graston Technique helps to separate and break down collagen cross-links, plays and stretches connective tissue and muscle fibers, increases skin temperature, facilitates reflex changes in the chronic muscle holding pattern, alters spinal reflex activity (facilitated segment), increases the rate and amount of blood flow to and from the area, increases cellular activity in the region, including fibroblasts and mast cells and increases histamine response secondary to mast cell activity.

 

Spinal Decompression

Spinal Decompression Therapy involves stretching the spine to help relieve leg and/or back pain. This is often achieved through traction tables or other motorized devices. This is a nonsurgical form of decompression. While surgical decompression can be invasive and take longer to recover, decompression therapy can be a way to avoid such procedures.

 

Cox Flexion Distraction (F& D)

Cox Flexion Distraction (F & D) is a non-surgical, doctor-controlled, hands-on procedure that allows for the effective administration of flexion, distraction, and decompression of the spine. It has been well documented that F & D helps relieve spinal pain including disc injury, sciatica, stenosis, facet syndrome, and spondylolisthesis. F & D has been proven effective in decreasing intra-discal pressure, widening the spinal canal, reducing pressure on the spinal nerves, and returning to the normal range of motion to the spinal joints.

 

Thermostim

Thermostim utilizes a combination of 3 different therapies: Electric Stimulation, Hot & Cold Therapy, and Soft Tissue Massage. It helps to break up deep muscle spasms and decrease inflammation and increase circulation to the affected area. Our practice is the only office on Staten Island that offers this preferred service. Thermostim is an all-in-one tool that has the ability to perform 3 effective treatments all at the same time. Patients receive the benefit of not only 3 therapies in one, but it also cuts treatment time by 1/3.