Chiropractic
Chiropractic is a health care profession that focuses on the body's muscular, skeletal and nervous system. Chiropractic care is most often used to address neuromusculoskeletal complaints, including but not limited to:
- Low back pain
- Arthritis
- Sciatica
- Neck pain
- Headaches and migraines
- Shoulder pain
- Elbow pain
- Wrist pain and carpal tunnel syndrome
- Hip pain
- Knee pain
- Foot pain
- Jaw pain and TMJ
- Scoliosis
- Muscle tightness and stiffness
- Fibromyalgia
- Stress
- Pain during pregnancy
- Sports injuries
- Workplace injuries
- Automobile accident injuries
Doctors of Chiropractic, practice a drug-free, hands-on approach to healthcare that includes patient clinical examination, diagnostic imaging (for example x-rays) and other diagnostic interventions to determine when chiropractic treatment is indicated. In addition, Chiropractors are well trained to help you enhance your health and wellness by taking preventive measures to avoid injuries and by providing nutritional and lifestyle counselling and prescribing therapeutic exercises. In addition, chiropractor can also advise you on ways to prevent potential health problems from occurring before they arise.
Working in conjunction with several different health care providers at Bay-Bloor Chiropractic and medical doctors within the downtown core, Dr. Myrtos and Dr. Sapozhnikov readily refer patients to the appropriate health care provider when chiropractic care is not suitable for the patient’s condition, or the condition warrants co-management in conjunction with other members of the health care team.
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy is a health care profession aimed at improving and maintaining your functionality and physical well-being. This is achieved by preventing and managing pain, improving any existing physical impairments, and eliminating any disabilities that may be limiting you. In general, a physiotherapist will help improve your health, fitness and wellness.
Our physiotherapists will assess you, and using a variety of techniques, provide treatment for a wide range of health problems you may be experiencing, including muscle problems, joint pain, tendonitis/tendinosis to name a few.
Registered Massage Therapy
Depending on the area of involvement or injury our massage therapists can help get you back to normal again and feeling great. If pain has resulted as a consequence of an accident, surgery or repetitive strain, our registered massage therapists can physically stretch muscles, inhibit muscle spasm, increase the range of motion and help break down any scar tissue that may be present. In addition, our massage therapists are trained to provide advice and tools such as specific exercises and stretches to lessen or eliminate muscular problems.
In addition to the benefits to the muscular system, massage therapy also causes an increase in blood circulation and an increase in lymphatic fluid circulation, thereby providing you with several benefits. Since the lymphatic system is essential to our immune system, massage can increase the effectiveness of this system by increasing the distribution of lymphatic fluid. By increasing blood circulation, our massage therapists will help bring down any swelling that is present, speed up the healing process, lower heart rate and blood pressure and enhance our overall health.
Lastly, and perhaps most important to you, massage therapy can often help us with our psychological well being by reducing stress, which in turn will reduce or eliminate the production of stress hormones and chemicals that can be harmful to your body. Massage therapy can help slow a busy, overworked mind and centre a person.
Some of the conditions that have been shown to improve with massage therapy include:
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Back pain
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Chronic and acute pain
- Fibromyalgia
- Gastrointestinal disorders
- Headaches
- Immune system disorders
- Insomnia
- Joint strains and sprains
- Motor vehicle accidents
- Myofascial pain
- Pregnancy associated problems
- Repetitive strain injuries
- Circulatory problems
- Sports injuries
- Stress
- Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction and other jaw problems.
Medical Acupuncture
Medical acupuncture can promote health and alleviate pain and suffering by needling. Medical acupuncture has been successfully incorporated into medical practices in Canada and the United States over the past 20 years and has gained wide acceptance within the medical field. Recently, it has been subjected to a great deal of scientific research, and has been proven to be a useful tool in clinical science.
Medical acupuncture is based on the therapeutic insertion of fine needles in various combinations and patterns based either on tradition principles such as encouraging the flow of gi, a subtle vivifying energy, or modern concepts such as recruiting neuroanatomical activities within the body, or a combination of these two principles. Medical acupuncture is in accordance with the philosophy of Bay-Bloor Chiropractic in that it tries to minimize the patient’s dependence on pharmaceuticals and other more invasive procedures.
At Bay-Bloor Chiropractic, our doctors use medical acupuncture alone or in conjunction with other modalities and disciplines according to the needs of the patient. Medical acupuncture can address musculoskeletal pain such as:
- Soft tissue contusions
- Muscle spasms
- Joint sprains
- Musculotendinous strains
- Nerve injuries
Chronic pain problems are also commonly treated with medical acupuncture including:
- Arthritis. Recent studies have demonstrated positive effects when medical acupuncture was used for patients with knee arthritis.
- Repetitive strain disorders (such as carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, golfer’s elbow, plantar fascitis)
- Tension headaches
- Neck pain
- Back pain
- Shoulder pain
- Knee pain
- Hip pain
- Jaw pain. Studies have shown that acupuncture can decrease the pain and improve the range of motion associated with jaw pain.
- Degenerative disc disease
- Pain following surgical intervention.
Some other less common situations in which medical acupuncture might be used include:
- Bowel or bladder problems (such as irritable bowel syndrome)
- Allergies
- Skin problems (rashes, itchiness, ulcers, dermatitis)
- Sinus problems
- Dry mouth/dry eyes
- Stopping smoking
- Menstrual problems and menopausal symptoms.
In addition, acupuncture has been shown to have a preventative value, being able to address conditions before they become very symptomatic and encouraging the patient’s health and well-being.
Foot Orthotics
At Bay-Bloor Chiropractic, our doctors can prescribe customized foot orthotics that are specially designed and are worn inside your shoe to control abnormal foot function or to accommodate painful areas of the foot. By addressing any abnormal motion in your foot, the orthotics can drastically improvement your foot symptoms. By controlling the position and motion of your foot, orthotics will help prevent the development of pain or the progression of any additional deformity.
Firstly, a clinical biomechanical evaluation is performed to determine the amount of correction necessary, then, a neutral position foot mould is taken and sent to a professional podiatry lab were a positive cast is produced. Your custom-made orthotic is made from this platform with any corrections or modifications incorporated based on your individual needs.
Orthotics have been shown to assist in the management of many clinical conditions including:
- Achilles tendonitis/tendinosis
- Calluses
- Corns
- Diabetic feet (diabetic neuropathy)
- Heel spurs
- Plantar fascitis
- Metatarsalgia (pain located in the balls of the foot)
- Morton’s neuroma
- Sesamoiditis
- Ankle pain
- Knee pain
- Hip pain
- Low back pain
Core Stability Training
Unfortunately, for most of us, modern life has meant a reduction in physical activity and an increasing sedentary lifestyle spent seated at work in front of a computer or in front of the television. As a result, the muscles that help us to maintain a good posture and movement have weakened due to deconditioning leading to the most common symptom: back pain. Core stability training when performed properly, trains the trunk musculature to control the position of your spine during movements and at rest by acting in a coordinated manner. Core stability targets the muscles that connect the spine, pelvis and shoulders, that lie deep within the torso and that assist in the maintenance of proper posture and provide the foundation for all arm and leg movements. By maintaining good posture, you are able to protect your spine, especially your low back, from the forces acting on it during sitting, standing or other more demanding activities. Core stability training will help address any symptoms you may be experiencing in the low back and assist in the prevention of new symptoms or re-aggravations resulting from bad posture. In addition, core stability is essential in sports performance and other more demanding physical activities that require movement of any sort, such as running, swimming, manual labour and lugging those heavy shopping bags.
While the benefits of core stability are well documented, many of the exercises given to improve core stability can actually make people worse! During your physical examination, our doctors will identify what key stabilizing muscles require training and will teach you the best exercises to target these deficiencies, while minimizing any potential side effects. Since these muscles are not required to be very strong, but rather well coordinated with good endurance, our doctors will supervise you during the exercises to ensure that you are maintaining the proper form and holding your spine in the neutral position with correct alignment. This will involve covering certain topics including:
- abdominal hollowing
- abdominal bracing
- abdominal muscle training
- proper breathing
- stability ball exercises
- wobble board exercises
- medicine ball exercises
- Pilates exercise programs
- Yoga programs
- Simple “low-tech” exercises that can be performed at home
Therapeutic Modalities (Ultrasound, TENS, Laser, Percussion, IFC)
Ultrasound
Therapeutic ultrasound is a very common technique that applies high-frequency sound waves to the patient’s skin using a round-headed probe with ultrasound gel to reduce friction and assist in the transmission of the waves. It uses sound waves in the frequency of 1-3 MHz that are created by the vibration of crystals in the probe that in turn causes vibration of the local tissues and leads to a deep heating locally, even though no sensation is felt by the patient normally.
In addition to heating the tissues, therapeutic ultrasound has been shown to produce an increase in local blood flow, aid in the break down of scar tissue, reduce chronic inflammation, promote healing and cause a relaxation in soft tissues. Also, ultrasound has been shown to produce cavitational effects, whereby the vibrations stimulate cell membranes and assist in the healing process. Other beneficial effects you can expect include improvement of pain, swelling and increased range of motion.
Some of the most common conditions treated with ultrasound include:
- Tendinitis/tendonitis. The Philadelphia Panel guidelines recommend the use of therapeutic ultrasound in the treatment of calcific tendonitis in the shoulder.
- Joint swelling (chronic)
- Muscle spasm and trigger points
- Scar healing
- Shoulder pain. Studies have shown that ultrasound can help with several shoulder conditions including calcific tendonitis or tendinosis.
- Low back pain. Recent studies suggest that ultrasound may improve the functional ability of patients with low back pain.
- Fibromyalgia. Treatments consisting principally of ultrasound have been shown to be helpful in improving pain intensity, complaints of non-restorative sleep and impact on functional activities in patients with fibromyalgia.
- Arthritis. For example, when coupled with isokinetic exercises, ultrasound can increase the functional improvement in patients with knee arthritis. Certain studies have concluded that commercial over-the-counter medications were not as effective as ultrasound in patients with knee arthritis.
- Rheumatoid arthritis. The Ottawa Panel recommended the use of therapeutic ultrasound as part of a complete treatment plan for the management of rheumatoid arthritis.
- Knee pain.
- Foot pain and plantar fascitis.
TENS
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is an electronic device that is a commonly used form of pain relief. It consists of electronic pulses that are transmitted to the skin using electrodes. Though its mechanism of pain-relief is not fully understood, TENS is thought to inhibit nerves that control pain while increasing the body’s “natural pain-killers” (such as endorphins) and restoring the proper nerve activity. At Bay-Bloor Chiropractic, if indicated, our doctors will incorporate TENS into your treatment plan, provided no contraindications are present. Many studies have indicated its potential efficacy in treating various types of pain conditions including:
- Low back pain. Studies have shown that TENS can reduce pain and improve the range of motion in chronic low back pain subjects, especially when combined with exercise.
- Neck pain. A recent study showed that when coupled with exercise, TENS helped improve disability, neck muscle strength and pain.
- Muscle pain.
- Muscle weakness. A study showed that TENS can be used to strengthen partially denervated muscles and affect their function.
- Joint pain from osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Recent studies have shown that TENS may provide pain relief, increase functional cavity and does no harm in patients with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
- Nerve pain or neurogenic pain
- Pain originating from the organs (visceral pain)
- Painful menstruation (dysmenorrhea). Since TENS treatment is free from the potentially adverse effects of analgesics, and no adverse effects are reported in the literature, this makes this treatment method even more attractive.
- Post-surgical pain
- Headaches
- Jaw pain (TMJ). Specifically, TENS has been shown to improve mouth opening in jaw pain sufferers.
- Post-fracture pain
- Shoulder pain. Recent studies have indicated that electrical stimulation may help decrease the pain-muscle guarding cycle associated with shoulder conditions such as adhesive capsulitis.
Low-Level Laser Therapy
Low-level laser therapy, is a non-drug treatment used to decrease swelling, pain and other musculoskeletal injuries. Without producing heat, the laser causes light and chemical reactions in cells where it is targeted. This in turn stimulates metabolism of certain types of cells in the body and reduces inflammation by reducing other compounds in the body that promoted swelling. Recent studies have indicated that laser therapy can have a multitude of clinical applications including:
- Treatment of jaw/TMJ pain
- LLLT in addition to exercise is effective in relieving pain and in improving grip strength in patients with lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow).
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Swelling
- Knee arthritis
- Reducing inflammation and pain in Achilles tendonitis.
- Relief of pain and morning stiffness for rheumatoid arthritis patients.
- LLLT has been shown to be an effective method in reducing pain and functional disability in patients with chronic low back pain.
- A recent study suggests that laser may be an effective treatment in cases with fibromyalgia.
IFC
Nutritional Counselling
Personal Training Programs (Medically designed)
Medical supplies and Braces
- Knee brace
- Ankle brace
- Back Brace
- Cervical Pillows
- Elbow brace (Golfer’s elbow, Tennis Elbow)
- Wrist brace (Carpal tunnel syndrome)
- Taping
- Compression stockings
- SI Belts
Seminars
Third Party Assessments
- Independent Medical Reviews
- Paper/Documentation reviews
- In-home assessments
- Worksite assessments
- Functional Ability Assessments
- Caregiver Assessments
