The 5 most dangerous words I know are; “maybe it will go away”. I am always amazed at the numbers of patients I meet and ask, “how long have you had this problem?”. Most give me answers in years, not days or weeks. Can you imagine hearing a rattle in your car’s engine and simply ignoring it? So many of us wouldn’t dare do that with our cars or air conditioners or even our pets. Yet somehow, when it comes to our own health, we are willing to choose to ignore our symptoms. In all my years in practice, I have learned one thing, problems seldom go away by themselves. In fact they often become more complicated and worsen with time if not dealt with.

Watch this video:

Albuquerque Back Pain

About 85% of the Albuquerque population will experience disabling lower back pain at least once in their lives. The estimated cost of this problem nationwide is over $50 billion per year. Low back pain often comes on suddenly and for no apparent reason. The lumbar spine takes an enormous amount of stress in that it connects the upper half of your body to the lower half and is involved in twisting and bending motions between the two. The normal curve in the small of your lower back, called the lumbar lordosis, allows for structural stability. The common cultural activities of forward bending and long hours of sitting put adverse stress to this curve. Postural stresses and /or trauma commonly lead to a mechanical disturbance called subluxation (a spinal bone which loses its normal position and motion leading to nerve irritation). The subluxation leads to stiffness, inflammation, muscle tension/spasm and nerve irritation. Many times a subluxation is incorrectly diagnosed as a sprain or strain because of the muscular pain associated with it. Muscle spasms in the spine are typically a protective mechanism protecting the more vital underlying problem. Long-term subluxation is typified by intermittent painful episodes, and can lead to disc herniations and degenerative arthritis because of progressive wear and tear from abnormal spinal mechanics. Unfortunately, low back pain is commonly addressed from a symptomatic approach (muscle relaxers, pain killers, massage, traction, ultrasound, corticosteroid injections, etc.) rather than addressing the cause by correcting the biomechanical disturbance and making lifestyle modifications.

Gonstead Chiropractic and Low Back Pain

Even antagonists of chiropractic agree that chiropractic is the choice for low back pain. In 1994, after reviewing a wealth of large scale studies, the federal government made a definitive pronouncement that chiropractic is one of the preferred and most effective treatments for acute adult low back pain. Controlled, scientific studies conducted by medical physicians comparing chiropractic with medical care, physical therapy, and non-surgical therapy for the back show that doctors of chiropractic relieve chronic and severe pain, both immediate and long term, in one half the time it takes medical physicians. Gonstead chiropractic aims to address the cause of low back pain rather than just suppress symptoms. The difference between Gonstead chiropractic and other chiropractic and osteopathic techniques is that a Gonstead adjustment is aimed at the specific problem spinal joint only, rather than manipulating the entire region.

See your Albuquerque Chiropractor today for treatment of lower back pain.

How often and for how long do I need to come in for chiropractic care?

Every case is unique. Different patients have different goals. You may choose only to have treatment until your symptoms are gone. Some patients want to go beyond that point and correct or stabilize the problem areas. Others want to stay feeling great and choose to enjoy the benefits of preventative care. For the remainder of their lives… Not because they have to, but because they want to. How often do you need to come in?

As long as you maximize your ability to naturally feel great. In our office, all final decisions regarding treatment are up to you.

Gonstead Family Chiropractic has 2 convenient locations in Albuquerque:

Northeast Heights Clinic:
8001 Wyoming Blvd NE, Suite D-4
Albuquerque, NM 87113
(Paseo & Wyoming)

Phone: 505.884.8584

Westside Clinic:
1632 Alameda Blvd NW
Albuquerque, NM 87114
(Alameda & Coors)

Phone: 505.922.9444

Here’s what Gonstead patients say:

“I began to experience what I thought was a stiff neck. The stiffness increased as time passed and pain started to radiate up the back of my head all the way to the crown. The headaches had become a 24/7 ordeal. I had 7 months of physical therapy, MRI’s, trigger point injections, muscle relaxers, narcotics, and even a nerve block directly into the nerve in the back of my head. All of this brought little relief or hope. I suffered and my family suffered. After just a couple of weeks of Gonstead care I began to notice improvement in my health. I would recommend it to everyone. It has been a lifesaver for me and has helped to restore some sense of control over my condition rather than my condition having control over me.”
> Julie P.

“It works for me. My neck is so much better. Don’t giver up. This program does work.”
> Patsy L.

“I had chronic neck pain for years. I would wake up often throughout the night in tears because of the pain. Now I sleep through the whole night . Why suffer with pain when you can be treated without drugs or surgery and have almost instant relief. It really works!!”
> Gloria P.

Transcript of video:

Why are so many MDs referring to Chiropractic Doctors now?

I believe the reason so many MDs are referring people to the Chiropractor is because they are demanding it. Chiropractic has experience a 10% increase in new patient visits, for the past two decades. People want to feel great. At the same time, we learn about more and more side effects from medications and risks of surgery. Once people learn about the benefits of chiropractic care, they demand it from their doctor and or insurance carrier. Some patients even choose to pay for it out of pocket is care is not covered. Luckily you don’t even need a referral to come to our office. We have worked with health insurance companies for almost 20 years.

We can’t speak on behalf of other people but here are Gonstead, we go to great lengths in order to properly determine what is going on with the patient. The first step is to have a conversation with the patient and get a good history. Then we move forward to a physical exam. This isn’t a typical “physical” but rather, a detailed exam focused on your complaints to help determine the cause of your problem. We use our hands to look for things such as swelling, tenderness, spasms, loss of mobility, etc. we also utilize a hand held instrument or “scope”, to help us detect the exact areas of irritation. Last but not least we obtain a blue print of your spine in the form of an x-ray. We often will x-ray the entire spine so we can get the complete picture. Once we review all this data, we come up with a plan to help that patient, feel great again.

If you have already been pregnant, then you know how uncomfortable carrying all that extra weight can be. And, as part of the childbearing process, the weight simply goes up and up, causing ever greater discomfort. This can put a lot of strain on the lower back. So, is it okay to have your back adjusted? Watch this short video for the answer.

For some people, pregnancy is a lot easier than for others and while certainly a body altering condition, does not carry an inordinate amount of discomfort. For others, the discomfort is severe and they are willing to do just about anything to relieve the pain and soreness. Regardless of which category you fall into, or anything in between, chiropractic adjustments can help your spinal column stay aligned which is good for both mother and baby. Honor yourself and make your visit to the chiropractor and integral part of your pregnancy.

Full transcript of video

Chiropractic Care for Pregnant Women

Dr. Erin Prince

Hello, I’m Dr. Erin Terry and as a female chiropractor, I’m often asked whether someone can see a Chiropractor if they are pregnant.

Obviously, that’s a very important question for a mom-to-be and as a mom, I can especially relate to it. In fact, lower back pain is extremely common during pregnancy and during this time, an expectant mom under normal circumstances is not supposed to take prescription drugs. However, they still deserve to feel great. Chiropractic care becomes the best and most effective option for these mothers to be. Research states that Chiropractic care can reduce labor time by up to 4 hours on a first time pregnancy. Therefore, this means that both the mother and the baby benefit–a complete win-win for all. I certainly had chiropractic care during my pregnancy and I recommend it for all soon-to-be moms.

For over 100 years, chiropractors have been using their hands to adjust the spines of their patients. At the beginning of chiropractic, mechanical devices had yet to be invented. Therefore, by definition, a finely trained chiropractor can certainly perform any needed adjustments without a device. That mean that the devices are bad? Absolutely not, though they are certainly the topic of much debate inside the profession. Take a look at this video.

Few things can spark a debate quicker among chiropractors the value and merits of mechanical devices versus treatment by hand. In chiropractic school, all students of chiropractic are taught to use their hands to make spinal adjustments. That part it is a given. As technology advances, there will always be new gadgets that come into the marketplace with the promise of doing a better, quicker or easier job of this or that type of treatment. Rest assured that your chiropractor, through continuing education, stay on top of the best methods to care for your spine. At the end of the day, that’s all you really care about and all that really matters.

Transcript of video

Gonstead Family Chiropractic

Dr. Todd Pickman

Hi, Dr. Todd Pickman here and patients sometimes ask me why sometimes we do adjustments by hand and sometimes we use instruments? What is the difference?

What a great question. The word Chiropractic is defined as “to be done by hand.” Therefore, any treatment of the spine not done by hand is, by its own definition, not Chiropractic. However, some doctors have chosen to use hand held mechanical devices to treat the spine. They believe that instruments can be more precise and less traumatic and at the end of the day, that’s a personal preference. While I acknowledge that some chiropractors are more “rough” with their techniques than others, a finely trained doctor can do a fantastic job with just their hands. Personally, I carefully adjust the spine by hand because I feel it is the best way to help a patient feel great and that’s why I’m here. Manual adjustments are precise, safe and very beneficial and hand held instruments are in essence just an extension of the hands. Both methods are designed to help you feel great.

Not at all. The chiropractic care that a patient receives depends entirely on their condition. Obviously, someone who is just been in a car accident will need a different type of treatment as someone who feels a little soreness after working out. Watch this video as we explain the various types of chiropractic care that you can benefit from.

Often, when a patient comes to see a chiropractor, we have to take that patient through various stages. First and foremost, we want to relieve any immediate pain as quickly as possible. Once that is taken care of, we can move into a corrective stage where we continue chiropractic treatment to take care of a particular ailment or condition. Following the corrective care, we can then move to preventative care, where the main objective is optimum health. No matter what stage you may be in, chiropractic care can be beneficial and we hope that you will make regular adjustments a part of your healthy daily living.

Here is the transcript for the video:

Albuquerque Chiropractor

Dr. Erin Prince

Hello, Dr. Erin Terry here and I want to share with you the 3 different types of Chiropractic Care…

We have relief care, corrective care and wellness/preventative care. Relief care is designed to provide relief and help a patient get out of pain or some other symptom. For this type of care, we aim for results for our patients in a matter of days or weeks, not months. Once relief care is completed and the pain or ailment has gone away, you can begin with corrective care. This portion of care is design to correct the entire problem on a longer term basis and we highly recommend this as a follow up to the relief care. Just because the pain is gone, does not mean that the condition has been permanently fixed–hence the need for corrective care. Once a patient is feeling great and any issues have been corrected, we want to keep it that way through wellness and preventative care and regular visits on a monthly basis–because we believe that you deserve to feel great.

Of course you should. Not only that, you should call and stop by to see your chiropractor even when you feel no soreness at all. A lack of soreness does not indicate that you are operating at your absolute best and oftentimes, when you finally feel pain you may have spent a considerable amount of time out of alignment. Watch this video were we discussed briefly the relationship between pain and a healthy spine.

One of the greatest challenges that we face as chiropractor is helping our patients understand the need for ongoing maintenance of our spinal column. So often, patients come into the office and say things like “I’m not sure what’s wrong, I simply don’t feel quite right.” They then ask if they have a problem. Generally, if you’re not feeling the way you normally do and believe you should feel, then yes you probably do have an issue that needs to be addressed. Far better to wait until that time, when a problem they have been festering quite a while, is to schedule regular chiropractic adjustments to make sure that you maintain optimal health. After all, we truly believe you deserve to feel great.

Are you one of those types of people that doesn’t like to sign hardly anything, especially not a contract? Don’t worry. The overwhelming majority of the time chiropractors don’t require signed agreements. Take a look at this video and find out why.

The only agreement that you should truly worry about when it comes to your chiropractic care, is the one that you make with yourself to schedule regular visits with your doctor. Don’t do this for the doctor sake, rather, think of your own overall health and wellness and how much better you feel when you take great care of yourself. A chiropractor’s main mission is to be of service are you and your family. Let’s not worry about a contract. Let’s focus on your optimal health.

Here is the transcript for Dr. Dehoogh’s answer:

Albuquerque Chiropractor, Dr. Austin Dehoogh, answers this question: “If I become a patient, do I have to sign a contract?” Absolutely not! Sadly, it has become a trend in chiropractic to have patients commit to a contract prior to beginning treatment as some form of a sales tactic. We are here to serve and the extent of our service is up to the patient. Different people want different things. When it comes to your health, all the decisions will be up to you. We give our best recommendations but if they are not in line with your schedule or your budget, we will adapt and modify so we can be of greatest service to you and your family. We believe strongly in a philosophy of “no pressure, no contracts, just results”.

Yes, you can perform moderate exercise immediately after a chiropractic visit if your health permits it. Chiropractic adjustments are designed to improve your quality of life, not reduce it. Everyone deserves to feel great and exercise is a big part of that. Now, the idea is to do even healthy things in moderation. We typically recommend long stride walking following an adjustment but if you are a more experienced athlete, exercising at 75% of maximum capacity is acceptable. As you feel better, the limitations will decrease.

These tips about exercise and chiropractic treatment were provided by :

Albuquerque Chiropractor

Dr. Tony Del Angel of

Gonstead Family Chiropractic