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Sciatica, lower back spasms and disc injuries are other common maladies. These can lead to a lot of debilitating pain for patients. Again, the root of these problems can lie with the bones of the pelvis and the low back. Once we analyze those regions and make some corrections in the bone positions, the muscles can start relaxing, and pain and swelling can be reduced.

The Feet and Ankles

Did you know we actually have three arches of the feet that are supported mostly by a large ligament and secondarily by the bones and muscles? When we have a collapse of these arches, which happens in eight out of 10 people in the world, we can have a variety of painful conditions. Plantar fascitis and Morton's neuromas cause pain on the bottom of the feet. Heel spurs, ankle sprains and Achilles tendonitis will affect the heel area. Shin splints affect the outer part of your lower leg.

The Head and Neck

Chiropractic is an effective option for headaches. Although the cause of many headaches remains somewhat of a mystery, one thing that is understood is that blood circulation and impulses from the nerves to the brain have a role to play. When patients have headaches, they almost always have a lack of normal movement of their skull and the first two cervical vertebrae (bones). By restoring alignment to these bones, muscle tension is released. This allows blood circulation and nerve information to flow better.

Some of the other conditions chiropractors see every day are neck muscle spasms, torticollis (also known as wry neck, a condition in which the head is tilted to one side, while the chin is elevated and turned to the opposite side), dizziness and ear infections. Many of us are also trained on how to work on the jaw joints (known as the temporomandibular joints), and gentle realignment of these joints is helpful with headaches and neck pain.-

What is so interesting about all of the above conditions is that they all have some relation to the bones of the body. At some point in your life, you may suffer a direct injury to a body part that causes pain. Or you may have pain develop out of the blue or get worse over time, but the cause is a mystery. Tell all of this to your chiropractor because it is our job to make sure we find out what is going on and help you with it.

The moral of this story is this: No injury or pain is ever just muscular. You know now that muscles attach to bones and bones make up joints everywhere in the body. It may be the muscles giving you pain, but unless you have the joints examined, you could be setting yourself up to have a relapse or a flare up down the road. If you have any more questions about any of these areas of the body I have mentioned, the person to ask is probably calling you into the treatment room now for your appointment.

Kevin M. Wong, DC, a 1996 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic West in San Jose, Calif., practices full-time in Orinda, Calif. He is also an instructor for Foot Levelers, Inc.