Prairie Spine

11/11/2025

We often have a patient come in and say, “It just started a few weeks ago… but now it’s always there”?
That’s the moment when an acute episode starts to drift into chronic territory.
Researchers followed over 5,000 patients who went to primary care for acute low back pain. Then they checked back 6 months later to see who developed chronic pain.

This week’s research is a big one—and it gives us a clearer picture of why that transition happens and what we can do to prevent it.
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Researchers followed over 5,000 patients who went to primary care for acute low back pain. Then they checked back 6 months later to see who developed chronic pain.
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Here’s what stood out:

About 1 in 3 (32%) of acute cases became chronic.
The biggest controllable factor?​
Patients who received non-guideline care (like early imaging, opioids, or unnecessary specialist referrals) were significantly more likely to develop chronic low back pain.

In fact—the more non-guideline interventions a patient received early, the higher the risk of pain becoming chronic.

That’s huge.

This study reinforces a core principle of evidence-based chiropractic:
Early movement enhancement with a chiropractic adjustment improves long term outcomes. Know someone with acute or chronic pain that we can help? Send them our way.

10/29/2025

How does the position of the head affect spinal-pelvic alignment and the condition of key stabilizing muscles?

The head position strongly correlated with several spinal-pelvic alignment measures (like sacral slope and thoracic kyphosis).
The lower lumbar multifidus muscle — specifically at the L3/4 level — showed a significant relationship with head position.
Translation? When the head moves forward, that deep stabilizing muscle is working overtime to keep balance.
The study also reinforced that atrophy in extensor muscles contributes to kyphosis and overall sagittal imbalance.

Simply put: the head-spine-pelvis system is one integrated balance mechanism — and the multifidus is a key player in holding it all together. Keeping your spine in good alignment improves nerve function creating better communication to the muscles and improves posture

10/20/2025

Harvard researchers teamed up with chiropractors inside a hospital to co-manage migraine patients. Yep, Harvard.
What the Research Looked At

Each patient had chronic migraines and neck or jaw pain. Instead of just adding more meds, the neurologist referred them to an on-site chiropractor for a full-scope, non-pharmacologic approach — including spinal adjustments, soft-tissue therapy, posture and exercise guidance, and ergonomic/lifestyle advice.

All three cases saw measurable improvements:

Reduced headache frequency and intensity
Increased pain-free days
Decreased medication use
Improved mood and daily function

And — no adverse events were reported. Not one.
📊 Key Findings at a Glance

75%+ of migraine patients report neck pain as a major factor.
Chiropractic care targeting the neck, jaw, and upper back significantly reduced migraine symptoms.
Co-management helped patients reduce reliance on drugs while improving quality of life.
If you or someone you know is suffering from migraines let them we can help with a holistic drug free treatment.

09/19/2025

W e can all agree that whether we’re working out or just working, it’s no fun doing it in pain! Now, you may be wondering why we’re comparing professional athletes to “office” professionals. Get this. Research has shown that all the hours we spend sitting at our desks can place more stress on our spines than working out all day long!

So, it may be a bit too late to change careers and try out for a professional sports team. But there are a few things you can do to stay healthy and productive while you work that professional athletes also do, and you can start right now! Get active with daily exercise. Practice daily light stretching. Receive routine chiropractic care. Together, each of these can help keep your spinal discs healthy and strong and take the stress off your spine.

08/27/2025

06/27/2025

Fortunately, preventing sciatica may be easier than you think. New research indicates that consistent exercise can stop or even reverse the effects of too much sitting. Thirty minutes of exercise each day can help strengthen the supporting muscles around your spinal column and help prevent future episodes of sciatica. Getting periodic spinal adjustment may also be a great idea. The top research journal SPINE found that maintained chiropractic care can evaluate, detect, and potentially prevent future disc problems and low back pain episodes.

Take action by setting a daily schedule of exercise. If time is tight, just take a few minutes every hour at work to walk around the office. Remember, starting small is better than not starting at all. And, as days become weeks, months, and years, the exercise you do now will pay huge dividends down the road to keep you happy, healthy, and pain-free. If you have struggled with recurrent or chronic low back pain, be sure to have your next appointment scheduled in our practice to stay proactive with your health

06/18/2025

To recap, burning, numbness, or tingling in your leg could be caused by a pinched nerve in your low back. Staying active with daily exercise, stretching, and periodic chiropractic care can help prevent issues in your low back. Over 90% of patients with sciatica reported being "much better" or "better" after receiving chiropractic care.

Just like your local power company needs to perform maintenance on their equipment, you should also perform periodic maintenance on your body. Periodic chiropractic care has the potential to increase your flexibility and range of motion, help keep your spinal discs healthy, and could even prevent future episodes of back pain! If you don't have your next visit schedule, be sure to reserve your next appointment today! A little maintenance today can go a long way towards a healthier tomorrow.

06/10/2025

Nearly everyone will have back pain at some point in their life, but with sciatica, you'll know something is different right away. Pain that begins in your back travels down to your buttocks and shoots down your leg is a classic sign of sciatica. The shooting pain down your leg is caused by compression on nerves exiting your spine. Even a tiny amount of pressure can cause a tremendous amount of pain, so getting rid of the inflammation and opening up space for the nerve is essential to start finding relief.

Pinching or compression on a spinal nerve can occur because of an injury to one of your spinal discs (such as disc herniation), the development of a bone spur, or ligaments that have increased in size. Either way, it's likely to cause pain and discomfort until you can decrease the inflammation, open up space for the nerve, or improve the movement of the spinal joint.

To recap, sciatica occurs when a spinal nerve gets pinched by a disc, bone spur, or ligament and can cause pain that travels down the buttocks and leg. Research has discovered that 60% of people with sciatica benefited from chiropractic adjustments to the same degree as if they underwent surgical intervention (without any of the risks!). Exercise and rehab can help strengthen the muscles supporting your spine and reduce the likelihood of a relapse

Pain, numbness, or weakness in the legs can be scary. If you experience any of these symptoms, it's best to consult with us right away. Top research publications have shown that people struggling with sciatica can get fantastic results with chiropractic care. We've helped many people recover from sciatica without the need for drugs or surgery. Schedule an evaluation today and take the first step towards relief from sciatica.

06/09/2025

Sciatica is leg pain, numbness, or tingling, that originates in your low back. And wow, can it hurt! The sciatic nerve is the largest nerve in the body. It is made up of individual branches or nerve roots in your lower back that combine to form the sciatic nerve, which then travels down into your legs. Increased leg pain when sitting, weakness in your leg/foot, and sharp pain that makes it difficult to walk are some of the common symptoms people experience when the sciatic nerve is pinched or irritated.

Did you know that sciatica often resolves without having to resort to risky medications or a dangerous surgery? Research has shown that 89% of patients suffering from sciatica responded very well to chiropractic adjustments. Medications or injections are no longer a first-line treatment due to their risks and limited effectiveness. Also, if you've thought about therapy that doesn't include spinal mobilization, here is something to consider: a recent paper found 20% more patients experienced relief with spinal adjustments than exercise alone.

To recap, the nerve roots in your low back combine to form the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve travels from your lower back down into your buttocks, legs, and feet. Research shows over 89% of patients with sciatica respond well to chiropractic care.

Sciatica can severely impact your quality of life. But rest assured that you don't need to immediately resort to medications, injections, or surgery to correct the problem. Top research publications have shown that these risky prescriptions are hardly ever more effective than a spinal adjustment. So starting with chiropractic care is the smartest decision you can make. If you know someone struggling with sciatica, schedule an appointment with us today.

04/30/2025

If you’ve ever wanted ironclad evidence that your care doesn’t just relieve pain—but rewires how the brain perceives it—this is it.

A newly published study in the Indian Spine Journal revealed that spinal manipulation restores brain chemistry in chronic low back pain patients. And this isn’t surface-level stuff. We’re talking measurable changes in the thalamus, the brain’s pain-processing center.
After just 3 sessions of spinal adjustments, chronic low back pain patients showed:

A 65% drop in pain scores
A 60% reduction in disability
Normalizing of key neurometabolites—NAA, Cho, Glx, and Mio—all of which were previously significantly lower than healthy controls

Five weeks later, their brain chemistry was indistinguishable from people without pain.

That’s not hype. That’s brain-level healing, verified by MRI spectroscopy.