Arm and Leg Pain Relief in Chicago IL

chiropractor near you may be able to help arm and leg pain

Do you have arm and leg pain in Chicago IL? Most people don't understand how much we use our arms and legs throughout the day. In fact, our shoulder and hip joints are two of the most mobile and frequently used joints in our bodies. This combination of frequency and mobility has led to a wide range of possible injuries and sources of pain. Our Chicago IL chiropractic clinic is here to help.

Sometimes people enter Elite Total Rehab completely aware of what caused their pain; maybe it is a weekend warrior who overused the joint in an athletic competition, an unfortunate participant in a car accident, a person lifting too much weight at work or home, or a grandmother who fell asleep holding their grandchild in one position all night. Typically, these situations cause almost immediate pain or discomfort as a result of muscle, bone, or nervous system damage and irritation.

However, many people develop arm and leg pain gradually over time and are relatively unaware of what may have caused it. When the patient is perplexed by what may have caused the pain, vertebral subluxations, arthritis, bursitis, tendinitis, and frozen shoulder become likely suspects. In addition to these sources of pain, switching or taking new medications such as antibiotics, birth control, and anxiety medications have been shown to contribute to the development of arm and leg pain.

If this list of possible causes wasn’t confusing enough, it has also been shown that arm and leg pain is often caused by “referred pain”. This pattern of pain is often used to describe the sensation of pain down the left arm that people feel during the start of a heart attack. Another example of a referred pain pattern is the pain that an inflamed gall bladder causes under the right shoulder blade. Frequently, our doctors at Elite Total Rehab see patients who present with arm and leg pain that is being referred from nerve irritation that begins at the spine. If the spaces where the nerves leave the spine become narrowed due to the vertebrae being out of position, the nerve becomes irritated and often produces pain down its entire path. The pain patterns associated with sciatica are a good example of this mechanism.


Arm and Leg Pain Chicago IL

Due to the complexity of the joints and the vast number of possible causes, it is important that you see someone who is trained in these areas to get an accurate diagnosis. Our doctors at Elite Total Rehab will use a detailed and complete approach to figure out what is exactly causing your pain, and as a result, the best possible treatment solution for it. Typically, our office will use a combination of a thorough history, physical examination, and advanced imaging to get to the root cause of your problems. Through their education and experience, our doctors are also able to use the location of the pain, aggravating or alleviating factors, type of pain sensation, and other symptoms such as swelling, skin changes, and bruising as other tools to assist in the diagnosis.


Elbow Pain

The elbow is made up of the humerus (arm bone) and the bones that help make up the forearm, radius, and ulna. The elbow is most commonly affected by tendonitis (inflammation of the tendons).

Common tendonitis of the elbow is termed Tennis elbow (pain over the lateral/outside aspect of the elbow) and Golfer’s elbow (pain over the medial/inside aspect of the elbow). Patients who have recently fallen should be evaluated for fractures, if the bony structures are normal and pain persists, bursitis (inflammation of the bursa-a fluid-filled sac that helps to lubricate the joint) must be ruled out. Problems from structures more proximal may also cause elbow pain such as pain from the shoulder or even the neck referring to pain distally into the arm.


Knee Pain

Pain in the knee can come in an array of symptoms from: localized joint pain, pain with squatting, clicking and cracking (known as crepitus), locking, and even instability (the feeling of the joint being loose).

A thorough history is important when evaluating the knee. Is there recent trauma? Was the knee bent or straight upon injury? Was there rotation with the injury? These clues can give the clinician information on what structures may be damaged and a plan of attack to address the issue. X-rays and an MRI may be required to further evaluate the symptoms, especially if conservative treatment fails in decreasing the symptoms.

Common conditions of the knee include tendonitis (inflammation of the tendons), bursitis (inflammation of the bursa-a fluid-filled sac to help lubricate the joint), partial/full tears of tendons and or ligaments, meniscus pathology, chondromalacia, patellar tracking syndrome, IT band syndrome, and muscular imbalances. Prevention of knee pain can be taken by strengthening the surrounding musculature that helps to protect the joints such as the hamstrings, quadriceps, and gastrocnemius (calf muscles).


Foot and Ankle Pain

The foot and ankle are prone to multiple problems including sprains/strains, arthritic changes, joint dysfunction, radiculopathy from the lumbar spine, diabetic neuropathy, gout, vascular claudication, and bony abnormalities. A complete workup with x-rays, MRI, blood draws, and even a biopsy of the joint may be required to thoroughly evaluate the symptoms.


Can Chiropractic Help?

So how can chiropractic help my arm and leg pain? As with any condition, you want to start with treating the most common and typical cause of the pain and symptoms first. Our doctors at Elite Total Rehab have found over many years that misalignments (subluxations) of the vertebrae in the neck are responsible for the vast majority of arm and leg pain. As described above, when these bones are out of position and lose their ability to move properly, they often cause irritation to the surrounding tissues including the nerves. Many people are surprised when they see that many of the nerves in our body travel from our spine all the way to the ends of our fingertips and toes.

As a result, injuries to the vertebrae in the spine can create the sensation of pain anywhere along our arms and legs. Through this pattern of treatment, patients at our office have experienced high levels of success through chiropractic treatment. If you are experiencing arm or leg pain contact Elite Total Rehab to schedule a consultation.

Monday
9:00am - 6:00pm


Tuesday
9:00am - 6:00pm


Wednesday
9:00am - 6:00pm


Thursday
9:00am - 6:00pm


Friday
9:00am - 6:00pm


Saturday
By Appointment


Sunday
Closed

Elite Total Rehab

7008 W. Higgins Ave
Chicago, IL 60656

(773) 763-2387