Chiropractic Techniques

Dr. Priestman has developed an efficient system of testing that gives a clear picture of what is not working. This system examines the joint/muscle/nerve relationships and gives unambiguous results that are clear to both the doctor and the patient. The quick and efficient nature of the testing allows the patient to be reassessed at each visit and the treatment to be modified accordingly, ensuring optimum therapeutic effect. As the patient progresses, the patterns of joint dysfunction will shift to less problematic joints. Keeping up with the dynamic nature of the patterns is one of the secrets of Dr. Priestman’s success at quickly resolving pain.

Different problems call for different solutions. Once we have assessed your situation, we base your treatment plan on what will work most effectively for you.

For folks that have a pinched nerve, or sciatica, we have a state-of-the-art traction table. This unit uses spinal decompression therapy to work on the neck and lower back. It is very relaxing and effective.

Our Active Therapeutic Movement machine is amazingly helpful to restore range of motion and reduce pain in the back, neck, arms or legs.

We’ve had great results helping people with carpal tunnel and tennis elbow using a cold laser and micro current stimulation units.

We also use a holistic approach that includes shoe inserts and orthotics to correct the feet, the foundation of the skeleton.

Decompression
Spinal Decompression Therapy is an updated, more effective, and much more comfortable version of conventional traction. People sometimes even fall asleep!

A better fastening system, a table that moves with you and a computerized traction device are the secrets of this new system.

Discs are like sponges and depend on a sponging motion - caused by the movement of your back—to provide nutrition and remove waste products. When the back suffers trauma and discs become compressed by tight muscles, sponging motion is prevented. For a damaged disc, this can cause a worsening of the condition. A 10- to 15-minute session on the traction table will reintroduce this vital sponging motion and begin to loosen up your back. The session can then be enhanced by home exercises.

Currently, this service is covered by your office visit - something you won’t find with many chiropractors.

Active Therapeutic Movement Machine
Active Therapeutic Movement (ATM) is a painless treatment that allows the restoration of pain-free range of motion. It does this by getting the brain to reset default program settings for various parts of the body. When you are in pain, your brain compensates for this automatically, making you work around the pain. If you have ever had a limp, you know that this is not the optimal way to move! There is often a domino effect where one painful area causes one compensation, which then causes another compensation and another, and so on.

The ATM machine allows Dr. Priestman to stabilize the torso in such a way that the brain does not have to compensate for it any longer. The muscles in the affected part (back, neck, arm or leg) that are painful no longer have to compensate and go back to their "default setting." There is immediate improvement in terms of comfort and range of motion and usually only two or three treatments are required for permanent change.

Cold laser unit
Cold Laser is approved by the FDA to treat carpal tunnel syndrome, and is also used to treat a number of other conditions such as Plantar Fascitis, Tennis Elbow, Rotator Cuff, Back Pain, and Arthritis. It is a special kind of light that can penetrate up to two inches into the body and stimulate the metabolism of the cells, which encourages and speeds up healing and reduces pain. Cold laser is also used instead of needles to perform acupuncture. It is especially efficacious in the treatment of scars, which may be interfering with the acupuncture system. Cold Laser is easy and painless to administer and takes very little time.

Micro Current Stimulation
Micro-Current Stimulation works like laser by helping the cells produce more energy, which is then used to make repairs that the cells could not otherwise afford.  It is sub- sensory: you can't feel it. It is similar to the current found in acupuncture meridians, and somewhat like TENS treatment, only with about 1,000 times less current.

It was first shown to be useful in the treatment of bone fractures that wouldn’t heal. In one experiment, fractures that hadn’t healed even after three to five years were healing normally within a week.

Micro-Current Stimulation is an extremely safe treatment—it can even be left on for extended periods, and placed over metal implants, without danger. It often restores motion to damaged joints where all other therapy has failed.

Orthotics (inserts for your shoes)
If you think of yourself as a house, your feet are the foundation. If your feet are poor, the second story (your back) will never be great.

There are 208 bones in the body – and 56 of them are in your feet! That means that there are many opportunities for things to go wrong. Inserts and orthotics are like eyeglasses for the feet. If you need them (and 40 percent of people do), they’ll correct issues that cause you to walk incorrectly, creating problems in the knees, low back, shoulders and neck - even the jaw.

Often, inexpensive generic inserts are sufficient, but if not, we work with the Foot Performance Center Lab to make custom orthotics. For people who need them, they generally decrease back problems by 50 percent.