Pain Relief | Mission: Dr. Smith provides pain relief for a wide variety of conditions in the Mission. If you suffer from low back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, or any other physical woe then you have come to the right place.
“And it Stoned me to My Soul”
~Van Morrison
Painful Conditions Treated | Mission
Dr. Smith believes that no two treatments should be the same because no two people are the same. He combines many different modalities to treat many different conditions. He passes seamlessly between chiropractic, massage, energy work, deep stretching, guided meditation, and craniosacral. Dr. Smith teaches while he works and instructs while he heals. You will leave his office understanding what it was that brought you there and what you need to do after you leave. He is sometimes subtle and at other times intense. Following is a list of his commonly treated conditions.
31 million Americans experience low back pain at any given time. It is one of the most common causes of missed work. Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on back pain—and that’s just for the more easily identified costs. Dr. Smith provides safe, effective, and affordable care for low back pain in San Francisco.
Neck pain is quite prevalent and can be debilitating. Finding effective treatment can be both frustrating and expensive. Dr. Smith has been effectively treating neck pain for over 14 years and is here to help. If you do choose to seek care, make sure it is with a licensed professional.
People experience shoulder pain for many reasons. It can be related to posture, repetitive activities, or improper lifting. To effectively treat shoulder pain, the involved structures must first be identified. Dr. Smith performs a targeted orthopedic exam as part of every shoulder pain treatment. He then tailors his treatment to the involved structures.
People experience Knee Pain for any number of reasons: Sports Injuries, Muscle Imbalances, Arthritis, or trying to walk over a ridiculously steep hill on their way home from the Castro. Whatever your situation, let Dr. Smith help you to properly diagnose the cause of your knee pain and make an informed decision as how to best proceed.
TMJ presents in many different ways. Perhaps you wake up with headaches or get pain in the jaw when you chew. Many people have issues in the neck, head and shoulder which relates to the TMJ without knowing that their jaw is involved. If you clench, grind, or have chronic pain, it is worth considering your TMJ.
People experience hand, wrist, and arm pain for many reasons. Sometimes the cause is local irritation, but other times the pain is referred from another area. Let Dr. Smith help you find the cause of your arm, hand, or wrist pain and treat it effectively.
Soft tissue structures around the joints, namely tendons and bursa, often get aggravated from overuse and overexertion leading to bursitis or tendinitis. Dr. Smiths blend of therapies can help get you on track to recover.
Osteoarthritis (OA), also known as degenerative joint disease, affects more than 20 million Americans and is more common in women than in men. Dr. Smith uses a combination of therapies to help maintain mobility, decrease inflammation, and slow the progress of degenerative changes.
There are several types of headaches and the exact cause can be complex. Causes range from muscle tension, jaw clenching, and food sensitivities, postural stress and automobile accidents. Determining the type of headache/cause is key to proper treatment.
For many decades, doctors and scientists believed that most back pain was caused by ”slipped” or “torn” discs. We now know this not to be true. Disc problems constitute only a small portion of the causes of back pain and rarely require surgery for pain relief. That being said, disc pain can be severe and requires expert treatment.
Plantar Fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain. Achilles Tendinitis is a close second. The Plantar fascia connects your heel to the toes and supports the arch of your foot. It gets aggravated, especially when you don’t have adequate arch support. The calves and Achilles also get tight from excessive sitting and a lack of stretching.
Whiplash is one of the most common and well known injuries from a car accident. This occurs when the force of the accident ‘whips’ the head violently from direction to another farther than normal limits, resulting in muscles, tendons and ligaments that support the spine being overstretched, torn or irritated.
The spine has a natural curvature from front to back which helps it absorb compressive types of forces. Sometimes the spine will have other curves, side to side or rotational, which affect its biomechanics. This is commonly known as scoliosis. Scoliosis can contribute to back pain, headaches, and early degeneration due to altered movement patterns.
Degeneration can lead to a narrowing of the spinal canal. This narrowing can lead to low back pain, numbness in the legs, and weakness. Stenosis often feels better when bending forward, and those suffering from it can have a forward-leaning, shuffling gait. There is no conservative cure for stenosis, but chiropractic care helps.
Sciatica causes pain and sometimes tingling in the back of the leg which can run from the low back and hip down as far as the foot. Sometimes weakness accompanies the pain. Trigger points also refer pain down the back of the leg. Dr. Smith is an expert at diagnosing and treating the various causes of leg pain and Sciatica in San Francisco.
Hip pain can originate in a number of structures: muscles in the low back, the hip flexors, damaged structures in the hip, the SI joint, and pelvic musculature. Damage to the abdominals related to pregnancy often leads to hip and low back pain. Hip pain often goes undiagnosed for years and can be a progressive problem.
