Call today: 416-906-0767
Have you been in a car accident? Compassionate care is available here!
Have you been hurt in a car as a driver, passenger or as a cyclist or pedestrian? You are automatically eligible for 12 weeks of care under the Minor Injury Guideline. As a licensed provider, I can directly bill on your behalf to make the process smoother.
If you have a minor to major injury and are looking for an assessment to begin your claim, look no further. As a primary care provider, you may come to a chiropractor to start your treatment under the Minor Injury Guideline. After a car accident, please notify your insurance company so they can provide you with a claim number/file. If you have waited a while and are now noticing pain and require care, I can assist you with any forms you have received from your car insurance company. I am here to assist you in your healing and to make this process less stressful for you as the bundle of forms can seem overwhelming. Come to a trusted provider who will provide a safe and caring environment.
Benefits to coming to an independent chiropractor vs. rehab chain:
I offer quality care with ample treatment time in a beautiful, zen clinic space
I explain all diagnoses, treatment plans and recovery times with you
I offer a closed concept office space (compared to open concept health care settings seen in bigger chain rehab clinics where everyone is exercising together or overhearing each others conditions or treatments. I value your privacy and will do my best to ensure you are comfortable and feel secure
Dr. Maria Davidovic Chiropractic
1246 Yonge St. Suite 303
Toronto, ON M4T 1W5
dr.mdavidovic@gmail.com
416-906-0767
Been in a motor vehicle accident? Have Whiplash?
Have you been in a motor vehicle accident as a driver, passenger, cyclist or pedestrian?
Even if you haven’t felt immediate pain after a car accident, you may start to feel pain 24hours or even weeks post collision. Whiplash can present itself with minor, moderate or severe symptoms. It is very important to report the accident and seek appropriate care. If you have been in a car accident, you are automatically eligible for coverage under the Ministry of Injury Guidelines. Book your initial examination to ensure you recover and continue to lead your pre-accident life in a healthy state. I offer a caring environment with evidence based care and rehabilitation to assist in recovery.
Involved in a motor vehicle collision? call or email today to get the help you need and deserve.
call 416-906-0767 or email dr.mdavidovic@gmail.com to book your assessment now. Visit www.drmdchiropractic.com
Dr. Maria Davidovic Chiropractic
1246 Yonge St. Suite 303
Toronto, ON M4T 1W5
416-906-0767
dr.mdavidovic@gmail.com
Contemporary Medical Acupuncture treatment
Medical Acupuncture
Are you experiencing weakness or muscle atrophy? Feel like you’ve tried just about everything and anything and still don’t have the desired results? If you haven’t tried medical acupuncture, book your appointment today with Dr. Maria Davidovic. You will undergo an initial assessment to determine what the source of your ailment is and a customized treatment will be presented to you.
Contemporary medical acupuncture is a precise peripheral nerve stimulation technique, whereby fine solid needles are inserted into neuro-reactive sites and stimulated manually or with electricity for the therapeutic purpose of modulating abnormal activity of the nervous system and/or of its associated effectors, i.e. the endocrine, exocrine and immune system. It is used for the treatment of acute and chronic musculoskeletal pain and visceral pain.
The acupuncture needles used are very thin, and often hardly felt or a little sharp pinch may be felt. Treatment is always performed within your comfort level. The electro-acupuncture part is performed to stimulate the nerves that innervate the weak muscles to help bridge that connection again. Acupuncture along with instrument assisted-soft- tissue-mobilization (IASTM) may help, especially if the source of nerve impingement is due to some scar tissue in muscle that is preventing you from healing. Check out my Graston blog to learn more about IASTM aka. Graston Technique.
If you’d like to arrange your acupuncture visit with Dr. Maria Davidovic, please email dr.mdavidovic@gmail.com or call 416-906-0767.
Old or new scar tissue causing pain? Learn how Graston technique® can help
Graston technique®
Graston technique® or instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization (IASTM) is used by clinicians to effectively detect and treat scar tissue and myofascial restrictions that interfere with normal function. When tissue is placed under stress and damaged, it will heal in a haphazard pattern (scarring) that can cause reduced range of motion, loss of strength and pain.
Skilled clinicians use the stainless steel instruments to comb over the area and locate fibrotic tissue. The instruments are then used to break up the scar tissue, while increasing the amount of blood flow to and from the area that allow for healing. Graston technique® has been shown to be effective in treating all acute, chronic, and post-surgical soft tissue conditions. The benefits of using IASTM are an overall decreased treatment time, and faster recovery.
In my clinical practice:
I have had great outcomes with the use of Graston Technique® in patients with new or old injuries. Patient’s typically remark feeling less scar tissue every visit. As the stainless steel tool glides over the site of injury, the scar tissue is felt as “bumpy bits” or tender areas. Both the patient and myself notice these “knots”, “bumpy bits” or fibrotic areas in the muscle decrease and are less painful with every treatment. Here’s an example for neck pain: I’ve noticed the use of Graston technique® on the upper trapezium (the muscle that helps shrug your shoulders up) provides effective relief for neck pain. It also helps to decrease the frequency of headaches in patients who hold a lot of stress in the shoulder and neck area. Once we increase blood flow to the area and relax the muscle, we are able to get in and stretch the muscle. Then, neck core exercises are introduced to ensure the endurance is there in the deeper neck muscles so that the more superficial muscles (aka. traps) don’t work overtime to support the neck.
Graston Technique® is commonly used to treat:
Repetitive stress injuries, sports injuries, chronic pain, headaches, neck pain, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shin splints, shoulder pain, knee pain, plantar fasciitis, tennis elbow, golfers elbow, and sciatica.
If you are experiencing any of the above conditions, and haven’t tried Graston technique® yet, email to arrange an appointment dr.mdavidovic@gmail.com or call 416-906-0767
Seniors and chiropractic care
Why chiropractic care is important for the aging population
Chiropractic care is important for the aging population because it helps keep the body functioning optimally. Health and mobility are very important to the aging population. Continue reading to find out why 🙂 Loosing your balance can decrease the quality of your life. How so, you ask? Well, slips and falls can lead to serious complications like wrist or hip fracture. Do you recall how it feels to have a joint limitation after a sprain or strain? Imagine how that would feel as a senior citizen. And, imagine how limited you would become with your activities of daily living. Being limited or inactive poses many other side effects like muscle atrophy over time, or social isolation with seniors when they become house bound. Becoming hospitalized after a fracture may pose some serious adverse effects like life-threatening pneumonia. These are all good reasons why keeping mobile and staying active and healthy can prevent something from occurring. Things happen and we all experience injuries but if someone asked you if you could avoid an accident, would you? The answer would be yes. So take the necessary measures to do that starting now.
Chiropractic care focuses on treating neuromusculoskeletal system imbalances, which means addressing areas of weakness to improve strength, proprioception and balance. Chiropractic care may also decrease pain and the frequency of reoccurring pain by addressing spine or extremity limitations with gentle mobilizations/manipulations and muscle release techniques like Graston technique®(see my newsletter regarding this technique).
Rehabilitation and patient education about how to avoid slips and falls
The use of patient education on ways to prevent falls within the home, reassurance, and exercise prescription are very beneficial. Special considerations are made for patients with osteopenia (bone density lower than normal) or osteoporosis in terms of gentle spine and extremity work. Movement is key as weight-bearing activities stimulate osteoblasts (bone-building cells) like resistance training (weight lifting), jumping, jogging/walking depending on a person’s ability. Exercise prescription is made with a gradual progression and dependent on the person’s overall health status. If someone has existing cardiovascular conditions, or other medical conditions, these are taken into account to ensure a safe plan of action is made for any new therapeutic exercise prescription.
Here’s one general household tip and one balance training tip to help with avoiding unnecessary slips and falls. Do not have loose rugs around the house as they slide easily and can cause an accident. Improve your balance by doing a single-leg stand beside the wall or have a chair that you can easily hold on to. Try to keep your balance first with eyes open and then try with eyes closed for up to 30secs to 1min. Gradually open the eyes if you feel too unsteady. You can improve your balance and proprioception doing this simple exercise.
If you’d like to arrange an initial chiropractic appointment, email dr.mdavidovic@gmail.com
or call 416-906-0767
December Newsletter 2014 *Happy Holidays*
Here is the link to the pdf newsletter: DEC2014PrintLetter
It’s that time of year AGAIN! With the hustle & bustle of the holiday season, don’t forget to take good care of your immune system with adequate rest, a good diet, exercise and throw in your chiropractic “tune-up” visits, and your spine and nervous system will be good to go! While for some, this season can be a pain in the neck, figuratively speaking, many others suffer from acute or chronic headaches stemming from the neck. Read below on how chiropractic care can help you or someone you know.
Research Review
Efficacy of Spinal Manipulative Therapy (SMT) and Cervicogenic Headache (HA).
Cervicogenic headache is a secondary complaint from a disorder within the cervical spine or soft tissues of the neck. It is pain referred to the head from joint structures in the upper cervical spine. Patients with headache are frequently treated with spinal manipulative therapy, which is moving a “stuck” or restricted joint beyond someone’s physiological range in order to restore normal, pain-free motion.
According to research, SMT is effective in reducing HA intensity, duration and medication intake, and may also help to decrease headache frequency in Cervicogenic HA patients.
In my practice, I utilize MANY therapeutic techniques such as, the aforementioned, spinal manipulative therapy, cervical mobilization, which is challenging a restricted or “stuck” joint within someone’s physiological range of motion, Graston Technique®, Muscle Release Therapy, Kinesiotaping, therapeutic exercise, acupuncture and thoracic spine manipulation, which is also effective in decreasing neck pain (see next page.)
If you are experiencing neck pain and headaches and are unsure as to why that is, call or email to book a free 15 min consultation to find out how Chiropractic Care can help you.
Thoracic SMT for cervical spine pain and HA
Because of biomechanical, anatomical and nerve relationships between the cervical and thoracic spine, disturbances in the thoracic spine could contribute to the maintenance of neck pain. Treatment directed at the thoracic spine may have hypoalgesic (a decreased sensitivity to pain) or biomechanical effects on the cervical spine.
Preliminary evidence suggests that thoracic spine SMT may result in an immediate decrease in pain and an increase in cervical range of motion in patients with mechanical neck pain. (Flynn et al, 2001)
In a controlled study (Cleland et al.), they demonstrated that patients with mechanical neck pain who received thoracic spine manipulation experienced a significant immediate improvement in neck pain as compared to a sham manipulation group. The results showed a clinically significant reduction in pain at rest in subjects with mechanical neck pain immediately and 48 hours following a thoracic SMT.
You can follow me on Twitter & Facebook where I will be re-posting a headache diary and some easy neck exercises/stretches. Here’s wishing you a safe, healthy and happy holiday season with all the best to come in the New Year! J
One of the best gifts you can give this holiday season to a friend, colleague, family member, or significant other is sharing your experience with chiropractic care and your health accomplishments in 2014.
Invite a friend to come in for a free 15 min Consultation to learn more about Chiropractic Care
Cesar Fernandez-de-las-Penas et al. (2007). Changes in Neck pain and active ROM after a single thoracic spine manipulation in subjects presenting with mechanical neck pain: a case series. JMPT, 30:4.
Fernandez-de-las-Penas, C et al. (2005). Spinal Manipulative Therapy in the Management of Cervicogenic Headache. Headache, 45:1260-1270
Spring 2012 – What is Graston Technique?
What is Graston Technique®?
It’s a patented form of instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization (IAST) which allows clinicians to effectively detect and treat scar tissue & restrictions. It is grounded in the works of Dr. James Cyriax, an Orthopedic surgeon.
What is the Technique used for?
Graston Technique breaks down collagen cross links, splays and stretches connective tissue and muscle fibers, increases skin temperature, helps alter reflex changes in chronic muscle holding patterns, increases the rate and amount of blood flow to and from the area, increases cellular activity (fibroblasts and mast cells), and increases histamine response (secondary to mast cell activity).
What is Scar tissue?
It is damaged tissue which heals in a haphazard pattern (scarring) that results in a restricted range of motion. It can cause pain which prevents the return to optimal functioning prior to injury.
How are the instruments used?
- The tools are used to help the clinician detect adhesions/scar tissue/or restrictions in the tissues.
- Break up the scar tissue to be absorbed by the body.
Minor discomfort during treatment and some bruising may occur after, which is a normal response and part of the healing process.
Who uses Graston Technique?
- Hospital based outpatient facilities
- Onsite treatment in Indiana University and University of Michigan
- NBA, NHL and Major league Baseball trainers
- Chiropractors
The technique is equally effective in restoring function in acute and chronic injuries, pre and post-surgical intervention.