Dr. Zimmerman uses an extensive variety of approaches which work synergistically to help with many conditions. Treatment is individualized depending on a particular patient’s condition and comfort.
Chiropractic Adjustments
A great chiropractor is like a mechanic for your body. You look at yourself in the mirror and worry about your hair or skin etc., while we look at you and see a bent or twisted neck and back, forward head posture, and perhaps a mechanical imbalance in your feet or knees and contemplate how we can fix that.
The most important tool in the chiropractic tool box is called the adjustment, also known as spinal manipulation. Simply put, “stuck” or fixated joints that are supposed to be movable cause irritation to the nervous system often resulting in pain and other symptoms. A properly performed chiropractic adjustment helps to restore normal function to the joint complex involved in the spine or extremities.
Dr. Zimmerman uses a wide variety of manual and mechanical techniques, depending on the needs of a particular patient, to decrease pain and increase function as quickly as possible in a manner that is as comfortable for the patient as possible.
Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine
Due to frequent exposure in the media, most of the public is now at least vaguely familiar with acupuncture. However, many people do not realize that acupuncture is only one of a number of therapies included under the wide umbrella of what is known in Asia as Chinese medicine (also known as Asian and Oriental Medicine in the west). In fact, the word acupuncture in Chinese actually denotes the use of acupuncture needles as well as moxibustion. Commonly used therapies in Chinese medicine include:
- Acupuncture-The puncturing of the skin with extremely thin needles in 1 or more of several hundred points known to help with certain conditions or patterns of imbalance. Points may be chosen according to the ancient, and elaborate, diagnostic system of Chinese medicine, or other less intricate ways of choosing points to treat may also be employed. The needles use are so small that most people, even those who generally hate needles, find them tolerable. However, for those folks who are just plain needle phobic, the principles of acupuncture can still be used without actually penetrating the skin used pressure against the skin, ie. acupressure. However, the effects are generally milder and take longer to achieve the desired effect.
- Herbal Medicine-Including plant, mineral, and animal products, herbal medicine has been used in Asia for several thousand years for the treatment of both acute and chronic diseases.
- Moxibustion-The application of a an herb called moxa, or mugwort, which is burned above certain acupuncture points or areas of the body to increase circulation.
- Cupping- The application of glass or plastic cups with suction to the skin. Useful for muscle knots and for some internal disorders.
- GuaSha- Literally meaning to scrape until “sand” appears. This therapy uses a tool, traditionally made of bone, to scrape the skin until petechia (ie. small, sand like bruises) appear. Especially effective for chronic injuries, this technique bears a resemblance to much more recently developed techniques used by chiropractors and physical therapists like myofascial release, cross friction massage, and proprietary systems like Graston Technique.
- Qigong and Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan)-While western medicine only recently began to recognize the importance of exercise and stress management techniques on overall health, Chinese medicine has long advocated cultivation of health through physical methods that promote fitness and overall well-being. Qigong and taijiquan are arts which cultivate health through the promotion of integration of mind and body.
Soft tissue therapy
While Chiropractic adjusting methods are a powerful method of decreasing pain and restoring joint motion and movement patterns, in many cases soft tissue therapy, stretching and other methods are just as important, particularly with more chronic conditions.
Acute and chronic conditions often lead to the development of trigger points and myofascial adhesions in muscles and fascial connective tissue.
Dr. Zimmerman employs many methods to facilitate the release of these trigger points and adhesions including:
- PNF techniques (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation)
- Trigger point therapy
- Myofascial release techniques
- Acupressure
- Tuina
- Cupping
- Guasha
Functional Medicine
What is Functional Medicine (FM)?
To answer this question, it is first important to briefly look at the strengths and weakness of conventional “allopathic” medicine.
Merriam Webster defines allopathic as:
: relating to or being a system of medicine that aims to combat disease by using remedies (as drugs or surgery) which produce effects that are different from or incompatible with those of the disease being treated
The keyword to note in the above definition is that allopathic medicine means to combat illness.
Allopathic medicine is unparalleled when it comes to saving lives from acute illness or trauma. In this case, the “combative” approach may be the only thing that can help. But when it comes to chronic problems or preventative care, the weaknesses of allopathic medicine become glaringly apparent. When you go to see your medical doctor for a check up or a specific complaint, such as fatigue, your doctor examines you and usually order’s laboratory tests specifically to rule out pathology (i.e. illness) that can be associated with you complaint. If the lab values fall within the so-called normal range, you may be told that nothing is wrong.
Or perhaps you may be told that you do have a problem like hypertension (i.e. high blood pressure) or high cholesterol , and that you will need to take medications for a lifetime to control these problems as they put you at higher risk for serious problems like a heart attack or a stroke. While this is true, seldom are you taught that high blood pressure and cholesterol are not, in themselves, diseases, but are really often signs of an imbalance in biochemical processes occurring in your body. And even when because the numbers on conventional testing are “normal”, this does not mean that you do not have a problem.
There is another way. Functional medicine, is based on the idea that there is a broad spectrum between vibrant health and illness. Many people have symptoms of ill health but may not have a well definable illness. In functional medicine, the goal is to not combat the body by treating a specific illness, but work with it to bring chemical processes into a more harmonious balance. FM uses conventional, and novel, laboratory testing to help determine the biochemical imbalances or “glitches” that may lead to symptoms and sickness. FM can be looked at as detective work for the body.
Functional medicine in no way replaces allopathic medicine for treatment of any illness, but it may be useful as an adjunct to conventional treatment or to help bring the body into a more chemically balanced state so that pharmaceuticals, which often have dangerous or unwanted side effects, may be minimized.
What can functional medicine help me with?
Again, it is important to acknowledge that FM is not a treatment for any particular disease. However, even in cases where you have been diagnosed with a particular disease, FM can be a useful approach to control or minimize symptoms. Some problems that can commonly be helped with this approach include:
CAD
fibromyalgia
IBS
Autoimmune Disorders
rheumatoid arthritis
Chron’s disease
Lupus
Ankylosing spondylitis
asthma
chronic sinusitis
perimenopausal symptoms
stress
low energy
thyroid and adrenal problems
How will you approach my problem?
First, we’ll have you fill out a very extensive symptom questionnaire which can help determine which systems of your body’s physiology are under the greatest burden. Next, we’ll request you medical records from your previous doctors to see what kind of testing has already been done and what the results were.
Based on the above, we may need to order additional conventional testing, such as comprehensive blood and urinalysis, and stool testing as well as more advanced functionally oriented tests to look for a number of confounding factors including:
Heavy metal toxicity
nutrient testing:
amino acids
essential fatty acids
vitamins and minerals
antioxidant status
food allergy testing
intestinal mucosal barrier testing
sex hormone imbalance
total load on liver-liver detox testing
How will you treat any imbalances you find?
Treatment may include dietary and lifestyle modification and nutritional and herbal supplements that have good evidence to support their use in a particular problem. If we happen to find a problem that requires drug treatment, we will, of course, refer you to a medical doctor for this purpose.