Do You Have Any of the Following Conditions?

• Lower Back Pain
• Bulging lumbar discs
• Shooting hip or thigh pain
• Numbness or soreness in your legs
• Muscle spasm or strains

Having back and leg pain can bring life to a standstill. You might not be able to play golf, work, or even sit in the car for a 30-minute drive. You can’t remember the last time you even had a restful night’s sleep.
You’ve got too many dreams left undone to let back pain slow you down, and too many special moments waiting to be experienced.

“Chiropractor’s manipulation of the spine was more helpful than any of the following: traction, massage, acupuncture, and injection of steroids into the spine.”
– Stanley Bigos, MD, Professor of Orthopedic Surgery

Because I’ve seen it with my own eyes, I strongly believe…Back pain is NOT “just a part of life” and something you have to live with. Over the past 33 years since I’ve opened my doors, I’ve seen hundreds of people with back pain leave the office pain free. In just a short period of time YOU could be back on the golf course, enjoying your love life, working pain free and traveling again.

Call Dr. Barry Hitchcock in Athens, Georgia at (706) 353-8032 and schedule a consultation to discuss how to put back pain in your past. Life is too short to let pain slow you down.

Do you feel like every drop of energy is drained from your body and some days you just hurt all over? Does walking to the bathroom feel like a ten-mile hike?  You are not alone. Millions of Americans suffer from the effects of fibromyalgia. But the sad fact is…most have been told they’re crazy, lazy, or just depressed.

Do You Have Any of the Following Symptoms?

• Disturbed sleep
• Aching all ove
• Fatigue & Stiffness
• Recurring headaches

Maybe your doctor doesn’t even think fibromyalgia is a real disease, but you know it is. You suffer with it every day. Fibromyalgia is often called the invisible disease. You look fine on the surface, but underneath you’re often exhausted and in excruciating pain.  The more patients I helped get better, the more I realized that…

No Person Should Have To Suffer The Way You Do.

The average doctor is usually not the best option or resource to consult when dealing with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia.  Lasting results require a specialist with understanding of the underlying issues and an approach which extends beyond pain and sleep medications.  If you are not seeing improvement, then you may very well need to do something different.

What Will Your Fibromyalgia Pain Feel Like One Month From Today?

Let’s face it…if the pain hasn’t gone away by now, it’s not likely to disappear on its own.  Don’t continue to suffer.

Over the past 33 years, Dr. Barry Hitchcock of Athens, Georgia has used gentle treatments to help pain and fibromyalgia patients to feel better and live healthier, more joyful lives.  Call for an in-depth consultation where I will listen…really listen to the details of your case . To schedule an appointment at Family Chiropractic in Athens, GA, call (706) 353-8032.

Living with arthritis pain can affect every part of your life. It keeps you from enjoying the good things in life – time with grand kids, playing golf, even working in the yard. It would be nice to get out of bed – just one morning – without pain.

Every time you try and push through the pain…like standing or walking for a long period of time…you pay for it the next 2-3 days with even more pain.

Do you have any of these arthritic problems?

• Osteoarthritis
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Bursitis/tendonitis
• Degenerative joint disease
• Lumbar disc problems
• Aching pain in the arms or legs

Pain Pills Are Not The Answer!

Do you remember the Vioxx scandal? It was a medication designed to relieve arthritis pain…but like all drugs, it had side effects. After years of use worldwide, the makers withdrew it from the market because of the overwhelming evidence it caused heart attacks and strokes.
There’s a time to use pain medications, BUT not before seeking a natural way to correct the CAUSE of the problem! Ask yourself … after taking all these pain medications maybe for years…are you any better off?

“I only wished I had found you sooner”

I hear this too often, so I decided to do something about it. I began to offer a no charge brief consultation and exam where I will really listen to you describe your pain and situation and determine if you would benefit from care in my office. Could our approach of gentle spinal and joint manipulations, exercise, dietary changes and nutritional supplements be the answer to get you back in the game of life?

Dr. Barry Hitchcock is located in Athens, Georgia and appointments can be scheduled by calling Family Chiropractic of Athens at (706) 353-8032.

If we say the word “arthritis,” what images pop up in your head? Some people think of crippled hands or perhaps a friend who talks about his bad hip being, “…bone on bone!” Or, how about the neighbor who has a bum knee and walks with a limp and a cane? Rarely do we think about the neck being associated with “arthritis.”

Before we go too far into this discussion, we should define the term, “arthritis,” which means joint (“arth-“) swelling (-itis). Simple enough, right? Wrong! Without getting too complicated, we must realize there are MANY different types of arthritis such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, gouty arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, etc. To narrow this down a bit, we will limit our discussion to osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative joint disease.

Degenerative joint disease or DJD, is the most common type of arthritis that EVERYONE eventually ends up with – whether we like it or not.  Or do they? That’s because, over time, our joints absorb the stresses of life and can wear out prematurely and can become “arthritic.”

The most common cause of DJD is wear and tear over a long period of time complicated by joints that are not in their proper alignment. Of course, the rate of acquiring DJD in the neck (or anywhere else for that matter) is directly related to how “nice” we have been to our body, in this case, the neck.

For example, after a car accident, a common injury to the neck is whiplash. This Acceleration-Deceleration Injury occurs when the head is whipped back and forth overstretching joints, ligaments, muscles and nerves.  This causes altered bending and twisting mechanics in the spine with resultant abnormal wear and tear much like having the front end out of alignment on your car.  Your tires will prematurely wear out.  So will your neck and back joints and discs.

Our lifestyle choices play a big part in DJD. The way we sleep (cervical pillow?), sit at our desk at work, the amount of exercise we get, the amount of mental stress we are under (tight muscles pull neck joints out of alignment), and what we eat (the Typical American Diet is pro-inflammatory) are all factors.

As the condition advances, neck movements become tight and restricted with pain, which further limits movement, and sooner or later, the patient must rotate their whole body to look to the side. If the arthritis hits or bumps into a nerve as it exits the cervical spine, neck soreness, and numbness/tingling may radiate down an arm, at times to the hand, usually only affecting certain fingers.

Headaches, especially in the back of the head, can also occur from the reflex muscle “splinting” due to the pain associated with arthritis. As Dr. Peter Ulrich, MD points out  chiropractic adjustments, “…help control chronic symptoms or provide relief for more severe episodes of pain from osteoarthritis.”

But mostly, chiropractors can help you prevent degenerative disc disease in the first place or dramatically slow it down.  At our Athens office we have found chiropractic adjustments, exercise, myofascial release, ergonomic instruction and nutrition therapy to be a potent combination in the prevention and treatment of DJD.

We realize that you have a choice in where you choose your healthcare services.  If you, a friend or family member requires care for arthritic pain and/or spine pain, we sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence shown by choosing our services and look forward in serving you and your family presently and, in the future.

To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr Barry Hitchcock call 706-353-8032 and mention this blog post.

Two researchers set out to topple chiropractic or make it rock solid. They actually used kids for this study. They looked at 200 kids from chiropractors and 200 kids from pediatricians and went head to head. Here were the results:

• 20% fewer kids used medications with chiropractic care
• Almost 50% of the chiro kids never needed an antibiotic, while only 12% of the other kids didn’t use antibiotics
• 17% fewer kids had tonsillitis with chiropractic care
• The most important one of all: The #1 reason kids end up in hospitals
  • Ear Infections—-70% of the chiro kids never had one.
  • 80% of the pediatricians kids had them

“ This has shown that children raised under chiropractic care are less prone to infectious processes… and that their immune systems are better able to cope with allergens such as pollen, weeds, grasses, etc. as compared to children raised under allopathic care.” ¹

(Allopathic just means medical care)

Since 46% of children in school surveyed have back pain, and back pain is a tell tale sign that there is something wrong, so there are a lot of kids out there who could benefit from seeing a chiropractor.

Dr. Barry Hitchcock is an expert on the non-surgical treatment of migraines and headache, neck and back pain, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, hip, shoulder and knee pain. Dr. Hitchcock has helped thousands of northeast Georgians to live pain free.

Get Healthy and Stay Active.

If you live or work near Athens and would like to find out if you are a candidate for neck, back, or other pain treatment… call Family  Chiropractic at 706-353-8032. Mention this blog post for a complimentary consultation.

Sources:
1. A Comparative Study of the Health Status of Children Raised Under the Health Care Models of Chiropractic and Allopathic Medicine. J Chiropractic Research 1989; 5 (Summer): 101–103.

Cervical acceleration-deceleration disorder (CAD), frequently termed whiplash is an injury to the soft tissues of the neck – that is, the muscles, their tendon insertions, and the ligaments that hold the joints firmly together.  Neck pain is a very common health problem that affects between 10–15% of the population and drives people to all types of health care providers.    There is still discussion at to what treatment methods work best when managing patients with CAD.

In the May 21, 2002 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, a group of medical doctors and PhD’s reported on neck pain treatment comparing traditional medical and physical therapy approaches verses spinal manipulation. In the study, they compared three common neck pain treatment approaches in a group of 183 patients with chronic neck pain (patients who had neck pain for more than 3 months).

The 3 methods included traditional medical care which included medication utilization and rest, manual therapy (chiropractic adjustments) and physical therapy (active exercise training). After 7 weeks of treatment, the percentage of patients who felt either totally resolved (cured) or much improved were 68.3% receiving manual therapy/chiropractic care, 50.8% receiving physical therapy, and 35.9% receiving medical care.

The author, Jan Lucas Hoving, PhD reports that manual therapy/chiropractic was found to be more effective than the other 2 methods “…on almost all outcome measures,” not just a few! Further, although PT scored better than traditional medical care, “…most of the differences were not statistically significant,” meaning, not that much better.  The authors appropriately reported that further study was needed to better understand the differences between methods.

In 2008, the “Decade Task Force” reviewed 10 years of studies on the treatment of neck pain and found similar results and referenced many studies that indicated spinal manipulation for neck pain, headaches, whiplash, and other neck related conditions was one of the most effective methods and that patients with neck pain should be given the option of receiving manual therapy/chiropractic before other approaches as it was found to be less expensive, faster in obtaining satisfying results (shorter course of disability), and most effective in terms of long-term benefits.

This comparison discussion is by no means meant to minimize the importance of medical and PT care. However, there appears to be a lack of knowledge among patients with neck pain leading to seeking medical care first when the studies clearly show chiropractic care is the preferred method. Hence, the purpose of this article is to educate the reader that their choice in treatment for neck pain should favor chiropractic care FIRST, not last. In fact, the sooner manipulation can be applied to the injured joints of the neck, typically the faster the results.

We realize that you have a choice in where you choose your health-care services.  If you, a friend or family member requires care for whiplash, we sincerely appreciate the trust and confidence shown by choosing our chiropractic services in Athens and look forward in serving you and your family presently and, in the future.

To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr Barry Hitchcock call 706-353-8032 and mention this blog post.

Almost 75 percent of school children today who wear backpacks complain of back pain.  According to Spine magazine, this “back pain, is validated by significantly poorer general health, more limited physical function, and more bodily pain.”  Chiropractors, pediatricians and orthopedic surgeons alike agree that backpacks are a problem for a child’s spine. While a backpack alone may not cause major problems, overloading and improper carrying of a backpack can lead to headaches, neck, shoulder, and lower back pain.

“Most parents have no idea how much weight their child carries in their backpack and no idea how to be of help.  With proper information they can lighten the load and stress and improve their child’s health and lifestyle” states Dr. Barry Hitchcock, a successful doctor of chiropractic and a leading authority on stress in the spine and nervous system.

Dr. Hitchcock suggests the following steps:

• parents ask your child when and what activities or motions hurt

• buy the best, most ergonomic backpack or get a rolling book bag

• how heavy is too heavy for your child?

• Teach your child how to load their books heaviest toward the front

• Have your child evaluated be a Doctor of Chiropractic to detect any underlying spinal problems

Dr. Hitchcock has been helping residents of Georgia for over 33 years gain a better quality of life or restore a quality of life they’ve lost through better, advanced treatments and technologies he has brought to his practice.  He is passionate about helping children and young athletes live and perform better.

To schedule a complimentary consultation with Dr Barry Hitchcock call 706-353-8032 and mention this blog post.

Are you among the eight out of ten adults whose lives are altered by low back pain? Whether you have been injured by improper lifting or have been in a accident, or whether you’ve just overexerted yourself in that favorite sport or weekend project, you know the frustration of relentless pain, lost sleep, lost wages and inability to get back to where you feel like yourself again.

Many times low back pain is a result of immobility, irritation and inflammation of the joints at the back of the spine known as facet joints. Chiropractors address the immobility of these joints with specific chiropractic adjustments, restoring normal motion and reducing the irritation and inflammation of the surrounding area.

Surgical treatment of facet issues often involves the removal of these joints which protect the spinal cord.

Bulging discs that are pressing on the spinal cord or nerve roots can also be the cause of low back pain. Surgical procedures to address disc issues often bring about less than desired results with patients often reporting continued low back pain and dependence on pain medication, numbness, tingling, and radiating pain. Disc tissue that is meant to act as a cushion between the vertebra is no longer present, causing more immobility and more discomfort.

Numerous research projects continue to report the success of chiropractic care for low back pain as it strives to bring about normal function to the body, and avoid the risks, complications and permanent structural changes of back surgery.

You may have wondered, “If I get hurt in a car accident, who should I go to for treatment of my whiplash problem?”  This can be quite a challenge as you have many choices available in the healthcare system ranging from drug-related approaches from anti-inflammatory over-the-counter types all the way to potentially addicting narcotic medications.  On the other side of the fence, there are nutritional based products such as vitamins and herbs as well as “alternative” or “complementary” forms of treatment such as chiropractic, exercise, and meditation, with many others in between.  Trying to figure out which approach or perhaps combined approaches would best serve your needs is truly challenging.

To help answer this question, one study reported the superiority of chiropractic management for patients with chronic whiplash, as well as which type of chronic whiplash patients responded best to the care.  The research paper begins with the comment from a leading orthopedic medical journal stating, “Conventional [meaning medical] treatment of patients with whiplash symptoms is disappointing.”

In the study, 93 patients were divided into three groups consisting of:

• Group 1 : Patients with a “coat-hanger” pain distribution (neck and upper shoulders) and loss of neck range of motion (ROM), but no neurological deficits;
• Group 2 : Patients with neurological problems (arm/hand numbness and/or weakness) plus neck pain and ROM loss); and,
• Group 3 : Patients who reported severe neck pain but had normal neck ROM and no neurological losses. The average time from injury to first treatment was 12 months and an average of 19 treatments over a 4 month time frame was utilized.  The patients were graded on a 4-point scale that described their symptoms before and after treatment.

Chiropractic treatment includes methods aimed at reducing the tightness found in the joints and muscles. One of these approaches is called spinal manipulation or “adjustments” where the joints in the neck are moved to restore motion and reduce joint fixations.

See the article here:
Headaches: Causes and Treatments