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If you are wondering whether chiropractic does work, the answer is yes. There seems to be a grey area between alternative medicine and standard health care. However, chiropractic care can be incorporated with medical care to yield effective results. While incorporating these two treatments can greatly benefit you, chiropractic offers some unique benefits over medical…

The answer is, it depends. There are different factors that influence the best way to stretch your hamstrings. Our hamstring muscle is a two joint muscle, meaning that it crosses two joints. The hamstring muscle works at both our hip and knee. We are able to actively stretch our hamstrings while lying on our back,…

We frequently use Aspen back braces as an element of a patient’s treatment plan. There are three different types of braces we utilize but the one that we choose depends on the condition. Sometimes there’s hesitancy from our patients when giving them a back brace because they are afraid it is going to make their…

Joint pain, also known as arthralgia, is a discomfort that arises from any joint. A joint can be painful without being inflamed, or it can be both inflamed and painful. Your joints connect bones, support your weight and allow you to move and though they are designed to cope with incredible amounts of stress, sometimes…

Well, since the golf season is officially over for most of us in Wisconsin – it’s time to tune into the guys that do it best on TV.  There are a couple of great tournaments coming up, specifically the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua’s Plantation Course, which is a great test for even the…

This is a question we get asked often here at Advanced Care Specialists. Fortunately, we not only have the answers to most of your questions, but we also have successful treatment options for some forms of arthritis. So back to the original question, what is arthritis? Arthritis is defined as inflammation or swelling of one…

If you have a busy schedule and a great deal of responsibilities, a healthy homemade dinner might not be at the top of your to-do list. However, spending extra time preparing healthy meals to last you a week is worth the trouble. You probably envision bland steak, rice and broccoli portioned out into several days’…

Injections are administered with the desired outcome to improve an individual’s function and reach a more tolerable level of pain or ultimately, eliminate the pain. Someone presenting for injections is already in pain, so ideally, I like to reiterate the fact that the injections can’t hurt any more than the pain the individual is already…

Oftentimes when you come to a new office they will take x-rays of your area of complaint.  X-rays are not always needed for treatment but visualization of the area of complaint can be an important piece of the puzzle. At ACS, we want to not only know WHAT is happening but, what can be more…

Whether you are 20 or 70, it is never too late to start working out. Exercise is highly beneficial for every age group and becomes more important as we age. It is one of the most powerful things to do to stay healthy and live longer. It can be daunting for seniors to start an…

The APTA (American Physical Therapy Association) defines Physical Therapists as “movement experts who improve quality of life through prescribed exercise, hands-on care, and patient education”. Physical therapy addresses the impairments a patient may have, not just a medical diagnosis. These impairments impact a patient’s function and life activities. Pain into your ankles or heels after…

Every year, about 37.9 million injury cases are received in the emergency room. Additionally, over 140,000 people die from injuries making it one of the major causes of premature deaths in the United States. Physical therapy is crucial to healing after an injury as it boosts your body’s natural healing process. Quality Physical therapy enables…

A trigger point is a localized spot of tension in a muscle that is especially tender to the touch. It can cause pain directly where it is located or can refer pain to a nearby muscle. Many people call trigger points “knots” as they can usually be felt superficially. Why do they occur? Muscle strains,…

A healthy diet and physical activity can help you maintain or attain a healthy weight, manage and prevent diseases, improve sleep, and boost your mood. Additionally, it can help you keep up with your work-home activities and become more productive. Certain health conditions, such as chronic diseases, can be prevented or managed by consuming a…

Here at Advanced Care Specialists, we have a few different departments, two of which are labeled as Active and Passive. Active refers to our Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation and Passive refers to the room in our facility with the therapeutic modalities. These modalities consist of many different treatments such as ultrasound, electrical stimulation, hot/cold therapy,…

Our program at Advanced Care Specialists has been created to offer a solution to patients with peripheral neuropathy. There are a number of different causes of peripheral neuropathy such as diabetes, previous chemotherapy, drugs or other toxins. The most common symptoms are numbness, tingling, and burning in the feet and sometimes in the hands. It…

At Advanced Care Specialists, our medical team works daily to redefine the patient experience. Our providers want to provide the patients with an experience that never have had before when seeking medical attention. We take time to listen to patients and actually hear what they are telling us. This is exactly why we decided to…

Over the course of the last two years, more and more people started working from home. It’s important to have a workspace that not only allows you to get your work done but to do it in a way that promotes good body mechanics. Poor body mechanics can lead to neck and back pain and…

The cause of headaches are often multifactorial and determining one cause is not always the right or only answer. At ACS we work for you to determine the true causes of headaches and while chiropractic can be one of the solutions to headaches, there may be more going on in the body that is also…

After neck, low back and knee pain, the next most common issue walking into our office is foot pain. The foot is a complicated structure, containing 26 bones, more than 30 joints and countless muscles and tendons. The foot plays an important role in providing support for our entire body, balancing, absorbing forces, helping to…

Calling all golf enthusiasts out there. It is that time of the year again with the weather warming and the golf courses getting busier and busier. For those of you planning to hit the links several times a week or even just a few times this summer, there are a number of things you can…

Here at Advanced Care Specialists, we do custom orthotics fitting. We typically do orthotics for neuropathy patients and patients with lower extremity issues. Even if we see patients with knee or hip injuries, it is always a great idea to start from the ground up. Foot orientation plays a major role in a person’s knee…

The formal definition for a muscle spasm is “an involuntary contraction of a muscle that can cause pain.” Oftentimes, muscle spasms occur when an area is injured or inflamed. When there is an injury, the surrounding muscles will spasm as a protective measure to prevent further injury. When muscles spasm, it causes pain and will…

Many people are surprised when we tell them babies and children can be adjusted! During the birthing process, an infant’s spine can experience physical stress that may interfere with the normal function of their growing spine and tissue/muscle development. This can contribute to health issues such as colic, chronic ear infections, reflux, torticollis, asthma and…

Background The McKenzie Method ™ (also known as repeated movements or MDT, an acronym for Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy ®) is a classification system used by some physical therapists to help determine the best pathway to treat a patient’s pain. This method is not only used for low back pain, but also for neck pain,…

Heat and ice can be a great cost-friendly and medication-free tool to use when you’re in pain, but it can be difficult to know when you should use one versus the other.  Heat is a vasodilator which opens up your blood vessels and increases blood flow to the area it is applied to. It’s typically…

We hear it all the time, “Can I just see my normal doctor for my Work Injury?” Absolutely! There are many great doctors in the area who can help injured patients. The difference between a normal visit to your doctor and a work comp injury visit is the documentation. The protocols and requirements of validating…

A 2008 Australian study concluded that every hour of TV watched after the age of 25 reduces life expectancy by about 22 minutes – compared to a cigarette, which research estimates a reduction in life expectancy by 11 minutes. Therefore, the impact of sitting may be more detrimental than smoking a cigarette. While I do…

Cupping is one of many modalities proven to provide relief for acute and chronic pain of muscles. It is a myofascial decompression technique used via suction by a silicone, glass, or plastic cup. The suction to a body part creates increased blood flow circulation, which helps to relieve muscle tension. Increased blood flow means more…

A gel injection…why would I want to get a gel injection into my knee? Well, let’s discuss what a gel injection is and how it can prevent you from dealing with persistent joint pain, possibly undergoing unnecessary surgery, or a joint replacement. Hyaluronic acid (HA) joint injection, commonly known as a “gel injection”, is the…

Current lifestyle trends, including looking down at cell phones, laptops, and tablets can cause an increase in neck stiffness and pain. When we bend our heads forward to look at screens of any kind, there is an increase in weight and pressure applied to our cervical spine. Over time, this can cause long term problems.…

Strength training along with stretching are both important to have and maintain healthy functioning muscles and lifestyle. Strength training protects your joints from injury by promoting stability and good proprioception, which allows you to know where and what position your body is in. Building your muscle can improve your balance and reduce your fall risk,…

Running is an amazing way to strengthen your muscles, challenge your endurance, increase your cardiac and respiratory abilities, and even release endorphins. But, what happens when something that is so good for your body starts to hurt? Running has an effect on your ankles, hips, spine, and more, but today we will be focusing on…

A difficult question to answer because there are many facets to answering: “does a chiropractic adjustment hurt?” The short answer is “no,” but the long answer would be that it depends on each individual’s pain tolerance/fear/relaxation/complaint. Most chiropractic adjustments are painless; in fact, the adjustment most likely will feel relaxing and can be relieving. If…

Accidents happen – a phrase we have all heard before. In unfortunate situations accidents do occur at work as well. Oftentimes individuals who are injured at work tend to hesitate on reporting the injury because they are embarrassed or in fear of losing their jobs; however, this is not only the wrong train of thought,…

What is the FRE? -A whole body examination that includes assessment of posture, body alignment and mechanics, muscle tightness and weakness, functional movement patterns, walking, and balance. We also assess Range of Motion and strength for affected body regions. What do we do with the FRE? -This assessment is usually recorded by a Physical Therapy…

Many may be wondering what that “Piriformis” word even means. Piriformis is a muscle that diagonally crosses your buttock. This muscle is important with lower body movement because it stabilizes the hip joint, as well as lifts and rotates the thigh away from the body. The Piriformis muscle allows us to walk by shifting our…

I was a high school athlete with dreams of playing college softball but I was plagued with shoulder and elbow tendinitis. I wasn’t sure I would be able to finish my season because I had so much pain. My mom had been seeing a chiropractor for a car accident which helped her. Ironically, he also…

As local courses begin to open up it’s time to polish up your clubs and get your body into shape to maximize distance, accuracy and prevent injury. There are a few things golfers can do to tune up their bodies for the upcoming season: Mobility: One of the most overlooked aspects of fitness, golf, and…