Launceston Chiropractic Services

Our Clinic uses the HICAPS system for processing your Health Fund claim at the time of your treatment. 

This means that you normally only pay the gap amount not paid by your Health Fund. The amount of the gap that you pay varies depending on your Health Fund, and on your level of cover. We are a BUPA members first provider and are also registered with MAIB, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, WorkCover and participate in the Medicare/Allied Health program.

Low Back pain

Low back pain is now the leading cause of disability in the world. Back pain is a widely common problem and most of us, if not all of us, will experience back pain at some stage in our lives. At Launceston Chiropractic we aim to get to the underlying cause of back pain by evaluating things like:

  • Your current medical status, this will include finding out about any prescription medications or supplements you are currently taking and whether you have an existing condition such as diabetes, arthritis or cardiovascular problems
  • Your previous medical history, including previous illnesses, surgery or trauma causing fractures or other injuries
  • General questions, about your height and weight, your level of physical activity, the type of job you do and so on

This detailed assessment puts us in a position to then implement the most appropriate treatment for your back pain and whilst in the vast majority of cases we can trial a period of treatment, we will always request further assessment or referral to a more appropriate practitioner if we believe this is in the best interest of the patient. 

How will we treat your Low Back Pain?

When most people hear the word Chiropractor, they think of someone who deals with relieving pain by manipulating the spine. While this is definitely a significant part of a Chiropractor’s work, it is not the whole story. Chiropractic involves gentle realignment, stretching and balancing the body to stimulate its own healing mechanisms.

After your initial evaluation, a treatment plan designed to treat the root cause of your problem will begin. Most people are out of pain relatively quickly, but a series of treatments to maximise symptom relief, followed by rehabilitation care at less frequent intervals will provide the long-term health and rehabilitation benefits, not just for your back but also for your general well-being.

In most cases, we will also prescribe some gentle stretching and other exercises designed to strengthen the core muscles in your stomach and back. We also have excellent Exercise Physiologists and Pilates instructors that we can refer to for long-term management as well.

Sciatica

Sciatica is actually an umbrella term for any pain running down the back of the leg, but most often occurs as a result of a compressed or ‘trapped’ nerve or a number of nerves either in the spinal canal or where the nerves exit the spine. This can occur as a result of a disc bulge or inflammation around the exiting nerve. Sensations of ‘pins and needles’ or numbness in your buttocks, accompanied by spasms in the muscle in that area, are often due to Piriformis Syndrome, named after the muscle affected by the problem. Even the muscles around the hip and gluteal region can cause referred pain down the leg.  A condition more common in older people is Spinal Stenosis which causes a narrowing of the spinal canal as the nerves pass through, resulting in symptoms of Sciatica, among other problems. At Launceston Chiropractic we are able to treat all of these conditions taking an evidence-informed approach with the goal to always have good long term outcomes.

Neck Pain

Neck pain is the fourth leading cause of disability in the world and just as we do with back pain, a thorough history and examination will be performed so as to understand the cause behind your neck pain.

Why We Get Neck Pain

  • Stress is often the cause of neck pain. When we are under stress, our bodies react in ways we do not even realise. Clenching our jaws and tensing muscles in our shoulders, neck and scalp as a stress response can cause neck pain, headaches and referred pain elsewhere in the body.
  • The wear and tear that daily living causes for our joints accumulate with age. The vertebrae in our cervical spine are in almost constant motion throughout the day as we move, so arthritis and other degenerative conditions are common.
  • Vertebrae can become out of correct alignment too and when this happens, it is common for the nerves that leave the spinal column to become ‘trapped’ or compressed. This can result in pain in the immediate area but can also cause symptoms in a seemingly unrelated area such as the shoulder, wrist or hand.
  • Car accidents and sports injuries are another major cause of neck pain and these ‘mechanical’ injuries respond very well to Chiropractic care because it is so effective at reducing inflammation, relieving pain and facilitating the body’s own healing process.

Headaches and Migraines

If you get frequent headaches, generally defined as a headache on more than six and up to fifteen days every month, you are not alone!  It is estimated that around 9% of the male population and 12% of the female population are affected.

While more men get cluster-type headache pain, statistics show that more women get headaches from the tension or migraine type. In the United States, published figures show that 3% of people experience Chronic Daily Headaches (CDH) of the tension-type with women being more than twice as likely to experience this problem. CDH is defined as a headache on fifteen or more days per month.

The chances are that most of those affected by this problem or have a headache caused by an accident or injury, rely on painkillers in order to get on with daily life, which is not a suitable long-term management. The majority of headaches termed ‘primary headaches’ respond well to the safe, effective treatments provided by Chiropractors. This treatment might include a number of techniques including gentle manipulation and mobilisation, some self-help exercises designed to alleviate tension plus (possibly) a change in diet or the addition of supplements. Of course, no two people are the same and although they might be experiencing similar symptoms, what is causing their problems might be completely different. This is one reason why some people get more rapid relief than others after treatment but it is definitely the case that over a course of treatments, patients experience fewer, less frequent and less painful headache episodes.

Shoulder and Arm Pain

Many of us will suffer from the debilitating symptoms of shoulder and arm pain at some time in our lives. While the symptoms might have an obvious cause that can be blamed for the pain, such as an accident, sports injury or other trauma, in many cases, it is an injury caused by repeating the same action many times each day. This could be in our daily work, while playing sport, even lifting a small child.

Common Causes of Shoulder and Arm Pain

Adhesive Capsulitis

Although you may never have heard of this term, you will certainly have heard of the common name for this condition, ‘Frozen Shoulder’. This inflammatory condition comes on over a period of weeks or months, gradually getting worse. It affects the capsule inside the shoulder joint and makes moving the shoulder and arm, very difficult and painful, with considerable loss of mobility.

Rotator Cuff Tears

There are varying degrees of this type of injury and the tear may be only partial causing pain in the affected shoulder with associated weakness – but not impeding movement too much. If it is a complete tear it may prevent any kind of shoulder movement.

Tendonitis

This is a very common inflammatory condition and often develops in the neck, shoulders and arms if you have been doing an activity that is not usual for you that involves working with arms raised above your head. For example, you may have been laying under the car doing a repair or reaching up, cleaning gutterings or painting the ceiling.

Pain Referred From Another Location

The pain you are experiencing in your arm and/or shoulder, may not originate there, it might start in the neck or upper back and you may also experience symptoms of dizziness, headache or facial pain.

What should I expect from my Chiropractic Treatment? 

Chiropractic care is all about restoring the natural balance of your body, helping to relieve inflammation, adjusting and mobilising joints and the gentle manipulation of soft tissues. All this helps to encourage the natural healing process, ensuring correct and complete healing of the injury.

You might experience considerable relief from the shoulder and arm pain after your first treatment. For most people though, complete healing is only achieved after a course of Chiropractic treatments – often backed up by gentle home exercise including stretching and strengthening exercises that will help you feel better more quickly and make a repeat of the same injury much less likely in the future.

Massage Therapy

Massage therapy is a modality that has a long history, over hundreds of years centering on therapeutic touch to aid healing. Massage Therapy is manual manipulation of soft tissue in the body using a variety of techniques aimed at obtaining a therapeutic benefit and promoting wellbeing.

Remedial massage involves assessment and treatment, assists in relieving pain, in rehabilitation and recovery from injury, relaxation and stress reduction, and in the treatment of a variety of conditions.

Dry Needling

Dry needling is a treatment technique whereby a sterile, single-use, fine filament needle (acupuncture needle) is inserted into the muscle to assist with decreasing pain and improving function through the release of myofascial trigger points (knots in muscle).Dry needling is not the same as acupuncture, although there are similarities between the two techniques. The main difference between dry needling and acupuncture is the theory behind why the methods work. Dry needling is primarily focused on the reduction of pain and restoration of function through the release of myofascial trigger points in the muscle. In comparison, acupuncture focuses on the treatment of medical conditions by restoring the flow of energy (Qi) through critical points in the body (meridians) to restore balance.

availability

Mon-Fri 8am-12noon and 2pm-6pm

Open Saturday 9am-12noon

Emergency appointments available after hours

The initial consultation takes 30 minutes. This includes case history, examination and appropriate treatment. If x-rays or other scans are required we are able to refer patients to one of the local radiology clinics. Subsequent treatments are 15 minutes.

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