When you should see a doctor about head, neck, or back pain

When you should see a doctor about head, neck, or back pain

Spine
When you should see a doctor about head, neck, or back pain Matt had suffered from back pain on-and-off for years. He’d been in a car accident years ago and had also survived a nasty fall from a ladder. The past few years had been pretty good, though, with only occasional low back pain after hard workouts.  This recent slip from a ladder was different. And stupid, Matt said, because, in his hurry to clean out the gutters on a sunny day, he’d failed to secure the ladder properly. Matt said he felt strange the next morning - while his back hurt, his left leg felt wobbly like Jello. He’d nearly tripped over his foot on his way to the bathroom. And, he’d had difficulty urinating when he did make…
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When a headache is a real pain in the neck

When a headache is a real pain in the neck

Spine
When a headache is a real pain in the neck Written by Rita Chorba, DPT Originally published in The Raider Patch: Magazine of the U.S. Marine Raider Association I once worked with a very grumpy client who had a long and painful history of headaches. He had sustained a whiplash injury in a humvee rollover accident years earlier. He was taking the prescription medication Imitrex, but the results were inconsistent. The drug worked for the debilitating, fast-onset headaches, but seemed useless for the dull, achy ones that lasted for days or longer.  Grumpy's fast headaches were diagnosed as migraines, and he had a suitable medication for that problem. So why didn't the drug work for the dull headaches? Despite the thorough attention paid to his head - bloodwork, MRIs, and…
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