Disc Herniations and Disc Bulges - Herniations of bulging of the cervical or lumbar disc material causes severe neck and or low back pain. These disc conditions typically occur from lifting and twisting motions for the low back and motor vehicle accidents for the neck discs and have been treated for years with conservative management (physical therapy, chiropractic manipulation, over the counter drugs, prescription drugs, epidurals, and, of recent, nerve root ablation). Unfortunately, only 20% of patients with these conditions get relief from conservative measures and are left with surgery as the only option. Now, the good news! These conditions can effectively be treated using SpinalAid decompression therapy programs. When all other attempts to relieve pain have failed and surgery is the only remaining option, non-surgical spinal decompression may be the answer. Call our New Patient Coordinator today to schedule a no-cost consultation with Dr. Hansen to see if you qualify for this procedure. You will need to bring your recent MRIs (Renown, Great Basin, ROAM, and Reno Diagnostic Centers imaging can be obtained online) and plan to spend a half hour with the doctor. The doctor will review your images and take a complete and comprehensive history to determine if you are a candidate.

Motor Vehicle Accidents - often result in acute trauma to the neck flexor muscle groups (whiplash also known as CAD – cervical acceleration/deceleration syndrome), facet joint sprains, sacroiliac joints sprains, and muscle strains associated with the cervical and lumbar spinal areas.  It is not uncommon to identify, diagnose, and treat wrist and ankle injuries caused by excessive braking or protective bracing during an impact.  While muscle relaxers and pain medication can mask the effects of soft tissue injuries, they do not correct the scarring and fibrosis that develop in the joint capsules during the repair processes.  Therefore, coupling medical management with chiropractic care will optimize your changes of a full and complete recovery.  When treated for MVAs in our office, you will receive physical therapy modalities (electric stimulation therapy to muscles in spasm, heat to soften tissue prior to manipulation), chiropractic manipulations to the injured facet joints, and physical rehab (either in office, or referred to a local qualified physical therapist).  In severe accident cases and when cervical or lumbar disc herniations are identified, we employ our SpinalAid non-surgical spinal decompression program to get you back to pre-injury status. We also utilized the latest in electronic healthcare record (EHR) keeping to insure accurate legible notes for correspondence with your primary care doctor, your attorney, and your insurance company so there is no delays in treatment, referrals, settlements, or payments.

Facet Syndrome - like with most “syndromes”, it includes three or more objective findings during the exam.  The first and most obvious is joint tenderness over a spinal joint.  The second is the finding of an articular fixation at that level.  Thirdly, the joint must be inflamed to the point of causing local referred pain consistent with that spinal joint level.  Chiropractic manipulation is the treatment of choice for abnormally functioning facet joints and full blown syndromes.  These conditions are unquestionably the most common condition to present to a chiropractic office.

Back Pain – back pain can be caused by several different mechanisms.  The most common low back problems are facet related injuries; however, also very common to low back pain in discogenic pain.  Discogenic pain (aka pain caused by a disc injury) is likely from an annular tear (a tear of the outer bands of the annulus fibrosis), a disc herniations (which can be a protrusion, extrusion, or sequestration), or a disc bulge.  Disc herniations and disc bulges can cause radiating pain into the extremities with a burning or electrical quality.  When dealing with sever cases of back pain, only about 20% of people get relief from conventional medicine including massage, physical therapy, chiropractic, epidurals, nerve ablation, and prescription medications.  Usually, and before non-surgical spinal decompression, the remaining 80% (of 90 million people) would result to surgical intervention.  Now, however, we’ve added SpinalAid.  SpinalAid is more than just a decompression table it’s a comprehensive treatment program involving disc repair using non-surgical spinal decompression, physical rehabilitation to core muscle for spinal stabilization focused on a permanent resolution to back pain.

Headaches – There are several types of headaches: cervicogenic, muscle tension headaches, migraines (triggered by hormones, food allergies, caffeine, etc.), and cluster headaches (less common).  Each headache has a different sent of symptoms and can usually be reproduced during the physical exam.  Migraines, however, take a more investigative approach and, in some cases, food elimination efforts to effectively treat.

Neck Pain – neck pain is mostly commonly associated with facet syndrome.  However, if a patient has been involved in a sporting accident or a motor vehicle accident, the neck pain often is a combination of muscle strains, capsular sprains, and joint fixations.  All of these soft tissue injuries are addressed in our office with a combination of soft tissue therapy as well as joint manipulation.