(1888PressRelease)
May 16, 2007 - Dr. Emmett J. Hughes, chiropractor, clinical nutritionist and homeopath is the clinical director of Huntington Health and Healing Center in Huntington village, the center of holistic medicine in Long Island, New York. Recently, he has been treating many patients for headaches, the source of which have been problems with their cervical spine (neck) muscles.
While it is not unusual to have headaches due to trigger points in the neck, the incidence of patients misdiagnosed and mistreated for this disorder seems to be very common.
Traditional treatment of headaches usually consists of medications and bed rest. While these might help to temporarily relieve some of the person’s symptoms, they do little to nothing to treat the underlying cause.
Dysfunction of the neck is very common. Due to the lifestyle that we lead, there is an abnormal amount of stress put on the neck on any given day. Driving, desk work, computer work, and sitting for extended time puts a greater stress on the neck than normal. We are not designed for sitting and attending to a task for eight or ten hours a day, five days a week, for many years. This causes postural imbalances that lead to chronic tightness of one group of muscles, and a reactive weakening of the opposing muscles.
Typically, the chronically tight muscles of the neck are the upper trapezius, levator scapulae, suboccipitals, scalenes, and SCM. These muscles can cause pain that radiates into the head, as well as numbness and tingling into the arm and hand, pain into the same area and into the shoulders and chest. The scalenes and pectoralis minor can cause a condition called thoracic outlet syndrome. It can results in numbness and tingling, coldness, decreased blood flow, and a deep achy pain into the arm. These symptoms are often misdiagnosed as carpal tunnel syndrome, migraine headaches, rotator cuff syndrome, and “pinched nerves”. Without the proper treatment, these symptoms can linger for years. Even after surgery, these patients often have the same symptoms. This can lead to dependency on medications and a high level of frustration for patients suffering with these conditions.
Dr. Hughes uses a conservative approach to treating these conditions. A combination of chiropractic care, massage therapy, active release technique, Graston® technique, physiotherapy (ultrasound and electric stimulation) and special stretching techniques called post-isometric relaxation and post-facilitated stretching. Additionally, massage therapy and acupuncture can be used as an adjunct to the techniques offered by Dr. Hughes. There are practitioners that do both massage therapy and acupuncture practicing in the office along side Dr. Hughes at Huntington Health & Healing Center. After getting the person out of pain, a series of rehabilitation exercises are employed to help correct the imbalances that led to the problem initially.
Using these techniques, Dr. Hughes has had tremendous results. It is a drug-free, holistic approach that suits most people and can offer fantastic results when properly applied.
Dr. Hughes is currently accepting new patients at his office. The services at Huntington Health & Healing Center include chiropractic, clinical nutrition, massage therapy, acupuncture, homeopathy, life coaching, and psychotherapy.
You can reach their friendly staff at www.huntingtonhealthandhealing.com.
###
