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Q: What to expect at the first chiropractic visit:

A: On your first visit, Dr. Rodrigues will go over your health history and perform a physical exam, with particular attention to your spine. If necessary, adjustments and manipulations will be made.

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Q:  What are the benefits of chiropractic?

A: For those that experience low back pain, neck pain and headache, chiropractic may be helpful for you. Chiropractic treatment helps balance your body's structure & function, and the adjustment itself promotes self-healing. 

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Q: What are common conditions treated by a chiropractor?

A: Dr. Rodgrigues specializes in the management of many types of sports, posture, and repetitive strain injuries. Listed below are some of the most common injuries we see regularly:

​ICBC Injuries

Low Back Pain

Herniated Disks

Headaches 

Shoulder Injuries, including Rotator Cuff tears and impingements 

Osteoarthritis 

Numbness and Tingling related conditions

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If your condition is not listed, contact us directly to see how we can help you.

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Q: What is shockwave therapy?

A: Shockwave Therapy is a proven technology used to treat conditions of

the musculoskeletal system. It is a good treatment option when other types of therapy's have been exhausted. It is most suitable for chronic conditions that have persisted more than 3 months. 

It is usually recommended to have 1 treatment per week for 3 - 5 weeks. Then we wait an additional 3 weeks without treatment to allow for healing to take place.

 

A shockwave is an intense, but very short energy wave traveling faster than the speed of sound. This high-intensity sound wave interacts with the tissues of the body and leads to a cascade of beneficial effects such as tissue ingrowth, reversal of chronic inflammation, stimulation of collagen and breakdown of calcium build-up.

 

Simply put, shockwave therapy stimulate certain components within the body, creating an optimal healing environment so the body is able to heal. It also has a direct effect on nerves, diminishing pain.

**Many traditional therapies--such as anti-inflammatory medications, steroid injections, physiotherapy, massage, acupuncture, and so forth--can assist the body during the early, acute phase of an injury.  However, they are much less effective in assisting the body to heal when an injury becomes chronic.  As an example, many patients can relate to a history where a steroid injection (like cortisone) seemed to be effective in resolving pain early in their healing process, but subsequent injections were much less effective.  This isn't really surprising when you realize that a chronic-state, degenerative injury isn't likely to respond well to a

medication designed to affect an acute-phase, inflammatory condition.**

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What makes Shockwave Therapy unique is that it is one of the very few technologies in any field of medicine that seems to work best when an injury reaches the chronic, non-healing state.  Shockwave Therapy is able to "jump start" the healing process in chronic, non-healing injuries and move them back into the acute phase of healing. 

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What Conditions Can You Treat With Shockwave Therapy?

Shockwave Therapy can be for a wide variety of musculoskeletal conditions, particularly those where major connective tissues attach to bone:

• The shoulder/ rotator cuff

• The elbow (epicondylitis or tennis/golfers elbow)

• The hip

• The knee (tendinitis)

• The foot (Plantar Fasciitis, Strained Arch, Achilles Tendinitis or Tendinosis)

•  Muscle Pain and Injuries

• Joint Injuries

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 Shockwave Therapy also encourages bone healing and has been used to help treat:

• Stress fractures

• Avascular Necrosis (A dead portion of bone)

• Slow-healing bone (Delayed unions)

• Non-healing bone (Non-unions)

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Shockwave Therapy works best in chronic cases, when the body has demonstrated a previous unwillingness or inability to heal itself on its own.

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 What is the success rate of shockwave therapy according to Health Canada?

• Tennis elbow (Lateral Epicondylitis)- up to 91%

• Calcifying tendonitis of the shoulder- up to 91%

• Plantar Fasciitis- up to 88%

• Patellar Tendonitis/tendonosis (Jumper’s knee)- up to 87%

• Achilles Tendonitis/tendonosis- up to 87%

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Q: Does shockwave therapy hurt?

A: Treatment can be uncomfortable, but most people are able to tolerate it. It is an intense 5 minutes

where 2000 shockwaves are administered.

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Post-treatment you will most likely be feeling no pain but it is possible to experience throbbing pain 2-4 hours following the treatment. This throbbing pain may occur for up to 24 to 48 hours. The shockwave will trigger an inflammatory response, which is the body’s natural process of healing. For this reason, refrain from using anti-inflammatory medications or ice. Use Advil or Tylenol if necessary. We recommend decreased activity for 48 hours following the treatment. 

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Q: Does shockwave therapy have any contraindications and/or precautions I should be aware of?

 

 A: YES

• Cortisone injections (within the last 6 weeks)

• Hemophilia or any blood coagulation disorder

• Blood thinning medications such as Heparin or Coumadin

• Heart or circulatory problems

• Cancer, Diabetes, Pregnancy

• Growing children (Growth Plates)

• Blood or nerve supplies too close to the affected area

• Shockwaves are generally not applied to target areas located above air filled tissue (lungs), large nerves and blood vessels, the spinal column or the head

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