Santa Barbara Chiropractic & Physical Therapy Team Provides Care You Can Trust

A spinal adjustment helps to keep your nerves free from impingement, thus allowing your nerve signals to flow freely to all areas of your body. Since your nervous system serves every area of your body, when it is dammed up because of pressure from a vertebra out of place, your muscles tense up and you experience pain. Additionally, the specific area of the body that those nerves reach can suffer by becoming less efficient and therefore more susceptible to disease.

Chiropractic adjustments are not just for the spine. Our doctor frequently adjust bones within the hands and feet as well as the wrist & ankles shoulders and more. In addition, scoliosis, headaches, extremity numbness, ear problems and a variety of non-specific aches and pains can be relieved or at least greatly improved by treatments with our chiropractor.

There are three primary techniques that we use in our patient care:

Diversified: This is the traditional and most widely used technique which is also considered to be the safest and most effective method to correct a subluxation. As the name implies, the Diversified technique can be used to adjust most joints in the body, not only the spine. The chiropractor uses their hands to deliver a precise "thrust" in which the depth, speed and angle in which it is delivered are all determined by the doctor's years of experience, practice and education. The "popping" or "cracking" sound one hears when being adjusted this way is simply the release of gas within the joint as it is being unlocked.

Thompson Drop: This low-force technique utilizes a special adjusting table equipped with a "drop piece" that moves away during the adjustment.

Activator®: This technique involves the use of a mechanical instrument to correct subluxations. It is a low force technique that is most frequently used with osteoporotic patients, children or anyone who prefers it.

Wellness Care: This care is designed to prevent re-injury, maintain optimal nervous system communication and prevent or slow progressive degeneration of the spine. As you age your discs become thin, sometimes causing the vertebrae in the spine to fuse due to the formation of arthritis and lack of movement between each vertebral joint. Chiropractic treatments can help to slow down this degeneration by maintaining mobility and range of motion in the spine.

The frequency of wellness visits can vary from weekly, monthly, semi-annually or somewhere in between. Since each body has different needs just as each person has different goals, you and your doctor can decide on a frequency that feels right for you. Should you decide to discontinue care once your pain is eliminated, we will respect your choices and welcome you back anytime you need us.

Physical therapists are licensed by the state and are trained in treating musculoskeletal injuries and disorders, sports injuries, post-operative rehabilitation and massage therapy. They hold either a Master's degree or Doctorate in physical therapy.

Shockwave Therapy is a relatively new treatment option in orthopedic and rehabilitation medicine. A clinical shockwave is nothing more than a controlled explosion that creates a sonic pulse, much like an airplane breaking the sound barrier. The primary effect of shockwave is a direct mechanical force. The leading explanation is based on the inflammatory healing response. It is felt the shockwave causes micro trauma to the diseased tendon tissue. This results in inflammation, which allows the body to send healing cells and increase the blood flow to the injured site.

Shockwave therapy is used to treat many orthopedic conditions, including plantar fasciitis (heel spurs), patella tendinitis (jumper's knee), lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow), medical epicondylitis (golfer's elbow), shoulder tendinitis, bursitis, and Achilles tendon pain in addition to other soft tissue injuries.

Simply described, this is a sophisticated traction device. During each session, there are multiple cycles of distraction (stretching) and relaxation. Old-fashion traction would stretch the spine to maximum capacity and hold the stretch for an extended duration. Decompression therapy is different because the wave-like motion of stretching and relaxing fosters a phenomenon called "imbibition." Since the discs have no direct blood supply it makes them difficult to heal. The pumping action (imbibition) achieved by decompression actually draws the blood and nutrients into the disc, which helps it heal from the inside out. Also, the dramatic decrease of pressure in the disc can foster the drawing in of a bulge and help take pressure off a "pinched" spinal nerve.

The computer system applies a gentle force then releases it approximately every minute throughout the session. The total treatment time is usually less than 20 minutes. Most patients report feeling a gentle stretching and a sense of relief during the session.