Back pain is one of the most leading causes of disability worldwide. While there are many reasons why people experience back pain, our team at Great Lakes Spine & Sport are experts in this field of care and can efficiently help you address the root cause of your pain. We create individualized treatment plans tailored to each specific person and teach you at-home strategies and long term prevention. This way patients can proactively take care of their own back and stay pain free.

Do you live in the West Michigan (Holland, Zeeland, Saugatuck, Grand Haven, Grand Rapids) area and are dealing with back pain? Low back pain has been shown to be a cause in approximately 80-85% of people in their life time. While back pain and sciatica type symptoms are impacting lives and debilitating individuals on a daily basis our team at Great Lakes Spine & Sport using the most evidence based and researched protocols to properly assess, diagnosis, and treat your pain. Using an integrated approach beyond chiropractic adjustments with implementing Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy protocols, soft tissue therapies, strengthening and functional rehabilitation exercises, and at home programs so you will be an active participant in the process of taking care of your own back pain and not becoming dependent on a medical provider to “fix” it for you. With self-care strategies, and proper education on long term prevention we will be able to get you out of pain quickly and keep you pain free.

How Long Will It Take to Correct My Problem? Many patients have been dealing with episodes of back pain for some time before they ever see a chiropractor. The majority of chiropractors and physical therapy clinics generally want to see you several times a week for months on end. At Great Lakes Spine & Sportwe have a very high success rate in typically 10 visits or less in total. With our integrated approach beyond typical chiropractic adjustments, we are able to find the root cause quickly and implement a plan to effectively fix the issues at hand. While surgery has a time and place, it should always be considered as a last resort and all conservative care must be exhausted beforehand. While we commonly work alongside referral from surgeons, the work of MDT (Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy) is extremely powerful in the Orthopedic world and plays a large role in delegating cases as surgical or not (typically in 3-4 visits), ultimately reducing time and money spent when it may not be necessary. All the while a lot of patients who have been told by surgeons that they need surgery, fully reduce with the proper mechanical care and therapy.

The prevalence of neck pain is so common that studies have shown that any one point 14% (1 in every 7) of the population is suffering from it, and 48% will experience it in their lifetime. While there is normally a rapid decrease in pain and disability of most neck pain during the first few weeks, The severity and duration of symptoms persistence are likely to interfere with daily functioning and quality of life. If you or anyone you know lives in West Michigan (Holland, Zeeland, Saugatuck, Grand Haven, Grand Rapids region) and are dealing with the struggles of neck pain, looking for a different approach.Great Lakes Spine & Sport can help you get you the answers to your pain and how to self treat and manage your neck pain. Our staff utilizes the most effective and efficient pain classification and treatment protocol in order to help you get to the root cause, implement self -treatment strategies, and educate you how to keep your neck pain from coming back in the future.

How Long Will It Take to Correct My Problem? Many patients have been dealing with episodes of neck pain for some time before they ever see a chiropractor. The majority of chiropractors and physical therapy clinics generally want to see you several times a week for months on end. At Great Lakes Spine & Sport we have a very high success rate in typically 12 visits or less in total. With our integrated approach beyond typical chiropractic adjustments, we are able to find the root cause quickly and implement a plan to effectively fix the issues at hand. While surgery has a time and place, it should always be considered as a last resort and all conservative care must be exhausted beforehand. While we commonly work alongside referral from surgeons, the work of MDT (Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy) is extremely powerful in the Orthopedic world and plays a large role in delegating cases as surgical or not (typically in 3-4 visits), ultimately reducing time and money spent when it may not be necessary. All the while a lot of patients who have been told by surgeons that they need surgery, fully reduce with the proper mechanical care and therapy.

Headaches can be categorized into primary and secondary headaches. Primary headaches consist of migraines, tension-type headaches, cluster headaches (trigeminal autonomic cephalalgies), and are much more common than secondary headaches. Secondary headaches are due to things such as trauma, vascular or homeostasis issues, intracranial disorders, withdrawal or use of substances, and infection. On top of these common causes, our neck can play a role in our symptoms (cerviocgenic headache). The prevalence of cervicogenic headaches is low compared to migraine and tension- type headaches which are among the most common diseases in the world. Migraines are more common than diabetes, epilepsy and asthma combined. These conditions can be very debilitating and affect your quality of life considerably. Our team at Great Lakes Spine & Sport can help you by utilizing a comprehensive assessment and management system that allows us to accurately classify your presentation into distinct subgroups and treat you within the biopsychosocial framework, with emphasis on education and self-management.

Hip/ Knee Pain

Knee and hip pain are common musculoskeletal complaints that can affect people of all ages. These conditions often result from injuries, sports, repetitive overuse, dysfunctional patterns, and/or underlying medical issues. Often times, pain in these areas are also not the root cause of the issue at hand. but rather the site of pain. Regardless of the condition at hand, discomfort associated with knee and hip pain can make simple tasks, like walking, running, participating in sports, squatting, or climbing stairs, a challenge and limit you from living the life you desire. Our experienced team at Great Lakes Spine & Sport be able to help those struggling with such conditions. Seek the support of our chiropractic office located in Holland Michigan that is committed to your well-being and dedicated to helping you find relief from pain so you can get back to your life and be better off than before!

Does it hurt to move your jaw? Does your jaw hurts at rest, when trying to eat, when you first wake up in the morning. Did you have an injury to the jaw, or a TMJ (temporomandibular joint) not moving properly? If you have been struggling with jaw pain for months, or even years, it’s not unusual to get better, quickly with the right care plan. Our team at Great Lakes Spine & Sport is equipped to propely assess and treat the TMJ.

Jaw pain is a painful symptom, tand here are many reasons as to why you’re experincing it. We often associate pain with damage, like an injury such as a tear or break. Fortunately, it’s unlikely jaw pain is the result of an injury. The most common cause of jaw pain is improper joint mechanics. An interference of proper joint movement eventually leads to sensitivity of nerves and soft tissue structures around the joint, thus causing pain. This commonly evolves into spasm and tightening of the mover muscles of the jaw. Tightening of the jaw muscles leads to jaw pain and even headaches. As proper TMJ mechanics are restored, the muscles relax and jaw pain reduces. There are times the articular disc within the TMJ that can become displaced, through trauma or overuse. Displacement of the disc can lead to abnormal TMJ movement, leading to jaw pain and locking. If you are exeperincing jaw pain, find a provider trained in Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy (MDT) that can clarify whether the symptoms are sourced from the neck, the jaw muscles, or the TMJ joint itself. Knowing the cause of symptoms ensures the proper application of the best treatments and strategies to correct the problem as quickly as possible. If you or anyone you know is dealing with jaw pain that just won’t go away reach out to our office. We would be more than happy to assist you in the way you deserve.