Susan Carter, D.C.

Presently, someone in the United States suffers a heart attack about every 34 seconds, on average. In an effort to improve cardiovascular health and reduce the incidence of poor cardiovascular outcomes like heart disease and stroke, the American Heart Association released their Life’s Simple 7 guidelines in 2010. These include four modifiable behaviors and three [..]

Low back pain and gardening seem to go hand in hand, especially getting the garden ready after a long sedentary winter! As many people who love gardening know, keeping up with the weeds through the summer can also take its toll on the low back. Let’s take a look at ways to minimize low back [..]

Cervicogenic headaches are a form of secondary headache resulting from dysfunction in the cervical spine—typically, the upper most part of the cervical spine (atlanto-occipital joint) and upper three cervical segments (C1-3). Dominant symptoms and signs include unilateral head and upper neck pain, limited neck motion, and increased symptoms with certain neck and head positions. It’s [..]

Background According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the United States (CDC), the top ten causes of yearly death are (1): Number of deaths for leading causes of death Heart disease: 695,547 Cancer: 605,213 COVID-19: 416,893 Accidents (unintentional injuries): 224,935 Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 162,890 Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 142,342 Alzheimer’s disease: 119,399 Diabetes: [..]

Lateral epicondylitis, more commonly known as tennis elbow, is a muscle tendon injury located on the thumb-side of the elbow. While the condition can result from a single traumatic event, tennis elbow is typically caused by repetitive motions that involve gripping or extending the wrist that overload the forearm muscles. Initially, the tennis elbow patient [..]

Whiplash associated disorders is a term used to characterize the constellation of signs and symptoms that commonly result from the rapid acceleration and deceleration of the head and neck, most often from motor vehicle collisions. Whether from the recommendation of a friend, family member, or personal injury attorney or from a self-referral after other treatment [..]

The hamstrings consist of four muscles in the back of the thigh and upper leg—the biceps femoris (long and short heads), semitendinosus, and semimembranosus—that connect the ischial tuberosity to the knee area. This collection of muscles performs a variety of functions including bending or flexing the knee joint; extending the hip joint; internal hip rotation; [..]

Bone is a living tissue that naturally and continuously breaks down (osteoclastic activity) and is replaced (osteoblastic activity). Peak bone mass is achieved at around age 30 with breakdown accelerating thereafter. If sufficient bone mass and microstructure is lost, an individual may be diagnosed with a condition known as osteoporosis. Osteoporosis can affect both men [..]

It’s estimated that 84% of individuals will experience at least one episode of low back pain during their lifetime, with 23% developing chronic low back pain. While dysfunction in the lumbar region is typically thought to be the cause of a patient’s low back pain, there’s a growing body of research suggesting that the underlying [..]

With the rise of smartphones and social media apps that keep users glued to small screens for hours upon hours, forward head posture is becoming more common. Unfortunately, this postural fault can set the stage for neck pain. In fact, it’s estimated that up to 60% of patients with neck pain exhibit forward head posture. [..]