Electric Muscle Stimulation

When you’ve suffered an injury to your joints or muscles, you don’t necessarily need invasive procedures to recover. At ACT Wellness Center in Woodbridge, we take a holistic approach to wellness, providing complementary treatments that are meant to take advantage of the body’s innate potential for healing. Among the most versatile of those treatments is electric muscle stimulation, or EMS. Since a few of our treatments involve electricity and patients often benefit from multiple approaches, we wanted to explain a bit about why EMS works and what it’s for.

 

EMS forces muscles to rapidly contract. This causes them to produce natural painkillers called endorphins, and to push out waste-filled blood and let fresh blood flow in. Inflammation is one of the body’s natural responses to injury; it helps to restrict the flow of blood that potentially carries pathogens and makes cellular walls more permeable to antibodies. But since prolonged inflammation can lead to weakness and is painful, using EMS to reduce it will allow for faster recovery times and ease patient comfort.

 

Most people describe EMS as pleasant or tingly. The way it works is that a small electric pulse is generated in a vibrating machine and delivered into the body by wires attached to sticky pads. The pads are placed over the part of the back or limb that is sore. EMS is commonly used to treat people with subluxations in their backs or shoulder pain, but can also be used on people who have suffered strokes to help their muscles relearn how to respond to electric signals from the brain. Although it is not recommended for people with pacemakers or who are pregnant, it’s easy on the patient and often done along with other therapies.

 

Don’t wait any longer to get treatment for back or shoulder pain. If you’re interested in EMS, visit Dr. Carmelino Caratozzolo at the ACT Wellness Center, 14111 Minnieville Road, Woodbridge, Virginia. Call 703-491-9355.

Back Pain in Teen Athletes

As children become teenagers, those who are athletic tend to become more competitive and push themselves harder. At ACT Wellness Center, we’re happy to see our patients engaged in healthy exercise. Occasionally, teens getting accustomed to work-outs are also at risk for overuse injuries, and since our own Dr. Carmelo Caratozzolo is a Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician, we wanted to supply some information about the most common musculoskeletal ailments.

 

It’s not unusual for teenagers to strain their back muscles. In most cases, only ice and a few days’ rest is needed, but if the pain recurs, they may benefit from low level laser therapy and electric muscle stimulation. These treatments will loosen the swollen muscles, allowing nutrient-rich blood to flow more freely. But there may also be a subluxation of the spinal column in play, including a fractured facet joint, spondylolisthesis (in which one vertebrae has slid forward over another), or a herniated disc. These patients may require a chiropractic adjustment to relieve pressure on the surrounding muscles, allowing them to recover more comfortably.

 

An examination will be required to determine whether the spinal column is misaligned. Disc herniation is less likely in teenagers than in adults, but they are at greater risk for spondylolisthesis. Female athletes, in particular, are vulnerable to osteoporosis if they don’t get adequate nutrition. ACT Wellness Center also offers vitamins and supplements to be taken under expert guidance, as well as recommendations for physical therapy.

 

If your teenager is having recurrent bouts of back, hip, or shoulder pain, schedule a visit to Dr. Carmelo Caratozzolo at the ACT Wellness Center, 14111 Minnieville Road, Woodbridge, Virginia. Call 703-491-9355.

Stingers

Do you suffer from pain in your shoulder or arm? You may have a stinger. We don’t just provide assistance for people with back pain at the ACT Wellness Center in Woodbridge. As experts in caring for the musculoskeletal system, we also provide extremity adjustments. This means we are able treat pain in the limbs without drugs or surgery, so let’s take a closer look at how stingers work and what we can do.

 

Many nerves branch out of the spinal cord in the neck. The ones that travel to each arm bundle together in each shoulder into what is called the brachial plexus. When a person’s shoulder is pushed down and their head is pushed in the opposite direction, the brachial plexus on that side is compressed. A person may feel a sensation of shock or burning down their arm, and although the pain may disappear after a few seconds, it tends to get worse and last longer with each injury. Sometimes, pain from a stinger can last for days.

 

We’ll perform physical diagnostics and imaging tests to determine whether a patient has a displaced joint in their neck or shoulder that may be compressing the shoulder nerves. A chiropractic adjustment can be performed on shoulder joints, as well as the spinal column, relieving excess pressure on the nerves and muscles. As a certified chiropractic sports physician, Dr. Carmelo Caratozzolo can also prescribe stretches to restore the muscles’ strength and recommend specialized shoulder pads to keep them protected as they heal. We also offer pulsed electromagnetic therapy to reduce pain and inflammation, as well as low level laser therapy to stimulate the growth of new tissue.

 

If you’ve suffered an injury to your neck or shoulder, schedule a visit with Dr. Carmelo Caratozzolo at the ACT Wellness Center, 14111 Minnieville Road, Woodbridge, Virginia. Call 703-491-9355.

Piriformis Syndrome

Sciatica is one of the most common issues people seek relief for. At the ACT Wellness Center in Woodbridge. we’re proud to say that we are able to treat it and other forms of nerve compression quickly and safely, but it’s important to recognize that sciatica can be caused by several things. A less-common but still significant cause of pelvic and leg pain is Piriformis Syndrome, and we want our patients to understand why it matters. 

 

 The sacrum is a body of fused vertebrae beneath the lumbar region of the spine. Several thick muscles in the pelvis connect to it, including the piriformis muscles. The piriformis muscles are wedge-shaped, located deep under several other tissues layers, and connect the sacrum to the tops of the femurs. There is one piriformis muscle on each side of the body. When functioning properly, they help to rotate the hip outward. The sciatic nerves originate from the lumbar spine, a bit above the sacrum, and run through the pelvis to the legs. They must pass through or around the piriformis muscles, and when a piriformis muscle is irritated, it could compress a sciatic nerve. 

 

Piriformis Syndrome shares symptoms with other lower back ailments, but it’s likelier to be the problem when the patient only feels pain or numbness on one side. At our office, we’ll perform imaging and range-of-motion tests to screen for other possibilities while making a diagnosis. We offer several options for reducing inflammation, including pulsed electromagnetic field therapy and electric muscle stimulation. Dr. Carmelo Caratozzolo is also a chiropractic sports physician who can recommend stretches that will make the piriformis muscles more flexible in the future. 

 If you suffer from lower back, hip, or leg pain, contact Dr. Carmel Caratozzolo at ACT Wellness Center, 14111 Minnieville Road, Woodbridge, Virginia. Call 703-491-9355. 

Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction

Do you feel pain or stiffness in your lower body? A joint problem might be to blame, but there are several joint dysfunctions that could cause similar symptoms. At ACT Wellness Center in Woodbridge, we provide natural, holistic pain management with special emphasis on musculoskeletal disorders. This week, we want to educate our patients about one of the lesser-known causes of lower back pain: sacroiliac joint dysfunction.

 

The sacrum is the structure of fused vertebrae that dangles beneath the lumbar region of the spine. It connects on both sides to the iliac crests, which are the highest bones of the pelvis, and the two connections are called the sacroiliac joints. These joints can suffer stress, especially when their supporting lower back and pelvis muscles are weak or tight; typically they don’t have very much mobility.  Inflammation of these joints is called sacroiliitis, and it may cause a person to feel sore in their lower back and buttock. Usually, only one side is inflamed at a time.

 

Although sacroiliac joint dysfunction is less likely than a herniated lumbar disc to compress a nerve, it could still cause pain to radiate outwards. A person is especially likely to feel pain when they put weight on the joint. We can make a diagnosis by testing how a patient responds to pressure on different bones. If a person has a sacroiliac issue, we can treat them by performing chiropractic adjustments, and by reducing their inflammation through low level laser therapy and electric muscle stimulation. Our chiropractor, Dr. Carmelo Caratozzolo, is a Chiropractic Sports Physician and Certified Chiropractic Extremity Practitioner; he may also recommend therapeutic exercises to strengthen the lower back and pelvic regions.

If you suspect you have sacroiliac joint dysfunction or a similar disorder, visit Dr. Carmelo Caratozzolo at ACT Wellness Center, 14111 Minnieville Road, Woodbridge, Virginia. Call 703-491-9355.

 

Tailbone Injuries

Have you recently been injured, and suffered a dull, throbbing pain in the rear? You may have coccydynia, known colloquially as a bruised tailbone. We can help you determine the nature of your injury at the ACT Wellness Center in Woodbridge and set up a minimally invasive, nonaddictive pain treatment plan and that will get you back in working order. But we also want you to understand how tailbone injuries happen and how to stop them.

The tailbone, also known as the coccyx, is made up of several small, fused vertebrae. It is suspended from the bottom of the sacrum, which is the part of the lower spine the hip bones connect to. The tailbone is surrounded by thick muscles and ligaments and is rarely fractured, but its supporting tissues may be bruised and swollen. This can happen as a result of blunt force trauma, as could occur while mountain biking or horseback riding, or during childbirth.

Although coccydynia usually heals well, an untreated person could be in pain for several weeks, especially when seated. We can ameliorate that by providing ring-shaped pillows or chiropractic wedges, which keep pressure off sensitive areas. We can also reduce swelling through practices such as low level laser therapy and electric muscle stimulation, and we can perform adjustments to ensure all the bones of the pelvic region are in the right place. Patients will also be advised on therapeutic exercises they can do to ensure their deep muscles will be strong and support their lower spine in the future.

We treat lower back injuries and tailbone pain at the ACT Wellness Center at 14111 Minnieville Road, Woodbridge, Virginia. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Carmelo Caratozzolo, call 703-491-9355 or visit ACT Wellness.