Dan Brandvold, D.C.

Whiplash is a slang term for an injury to the neck that's typically associated with a motor vehicle collision (MVC). A better term for “whiplash” is “whiplash associated disorder” (WAD) as it includes specific history and exam findings. There are usually two phases to an MVC: 1) an acceleration phase that is followed by 2) [..]

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common ailments that chiropractors treat. That’s probably because MOST of us will suffer from low back pain that requires outside help at some point in our lives! Posture has long been studied as a potential cause of low back pain, and this month’s topic will take [..]

Pain in the jaw joint, or temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD), is a common complaint for many people. In fact, a 2009 publication reported that TMD affects between 20-30% of the adult population, typically between 20 and 40 years old, and is more common in females than males. TMD is also the second most frequent cause [..]

Chiropractors are often asked, “Why does Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) bother me so much during the night?” Let’s take a look! The carpal tunnel is made up of eight small carpal bones that bridge the forearm to the hand. Without these eight little bones, the motion at the wrist would be very restricted and limited [..]

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic disease that results in generalized pain spread out over the body and affects over 5 million people in the United States alone. Because no one has yet determined the cause of FM, both the diagnosis as well as the treatment poses a big challenge because it’s basically a trial and [..]

The cost of healthcare is extremely high in the United States. According to the California HealthCare Foundation, these are the most recent numbers (1):United States Health Care Spending 20122014 (projected)Total Health Spending$2.8 Trillion$3.1 TrillionHealth Care asShare of GDP17.2%18.3%Per CapitaSpending$8,915$9,697Growth in Total Spending3.0%5.2%In 2012 (the most recently available data), approximately 44% of the United States costs of Health [..]

During the course of the history and examination with new patients, it’s quite common to encounter seemingly unrelated complaints that may benefit from chiropractic care. For example, last month we looked at alternative nutritional approaches to treating high cholesterol rather than jumping at the use of statin medications. We've also discussed the association between balance [..]

Low back pain (LBP) affects most of us at some point in life, and usually its cause is mechanical. We typically do not think about low back pain resulting from a virus or bacteria, though we might be quick to recall times when LBP occurred suspiciously close to an infection such as a flu or [..]

In the nervous system, there are three primary areas that regulate our balance: the cerebellum (located in the back of the brain), the dorsal columns (located in the back of the spinal cord), and the inner ear (the “vestibular” part of our cranial nerve VIII). There are also small, microscopic “proprioceptors” or mechanical receptors located [..]

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS) can present with a very mild, occasional numbness or tingling in the thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers and may never progress much beyond that point. But, for other patients, CTS is a painful, rapidly progressive problem that requires immediate attention. What makes it mild for some and bad for others? [..]