Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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Paul J. Fowler, DC, is the owner of Fowler Chiropractic Oce in Amesbury. 127 "We have all these movable segments of the spine, and we want to make sure they're all movable and in the right position. If anything is out of alignment in the spine, it's going to impinge on nerves and cause pain," says Joseph DeMarco, DC, owner and founder of DeMarco Chiropractic in Manchester-by- the-Sea. "Chiropractic is a natural approach to these dierent problems." DeMarco says one common cause of low back pain is dysfunction of the sacroiliac joint, which connects the sacrum with the pelvis. Often, people experiencing this have pain on one side of their lower back, which sometimes radiates into the buttocks. Unlike a traumatic injury, it's slow in coming, and one nal mo- tion, such as bending over or sneezing, can throw it out. "I nd that besides the joint itself going out, there's a lot of soft tissue adhesions," DeMarco says. "People start losing elasticity… and things start tugging or pulling." Paul Fowler, DC, owner of Fowler Chiro- practic oce in Amesbury, says that often, patients in acute pain suer for weeks, turn- ing to chiropractic care for the rst time when other remedies, like pain killers, heat, ice, and physical therapy, haven't worked. "What we're treating underneath is pinched nerves," Fowler says. "So many pa- tients say they feel a tremendous amount of relief, even after the rst visit." DeMarco uses a tool called an activator to put the joints back into alignment. Fowler uses a tool called an impact adjustor. But other chiropractors, like Jerey Kintish, DC, owner of Kintish Chiropractic Oce Inc. in Beverly, use a manual approach to adjust people's joints. He also uses other, passive modalities, such as electrostimulation and ultrasound, that can either increase or decrease circula- tion to the inamed area, depending on the needed treatment. Having a misaligned spine is part of life, and often it causes back pain. "Everyone's going to go out of alignment. Wear and tear are just go- ing to do it," DeMarco says. "As humans, we're bending, we're twisting, we're sitting." Fowler agrees, saying, "if you walk on two legs, 98 percent of you will have severe lower back pain at some point in your life." Although misalignment should be corrected periodically, there are things we can do to better hold our spines in alignment, such as strength- ening core muscles, keeping body weight down, getting regular exercise, eating well, avoiding sitting for long periods of time, and improv- ing posture. "It doesn't take a long time," Kintish says. "It's just a matter of doing it." soulpt.com, northshoreacu.com, joedemarco.webs.com, northbostonchiropractic.com, tnesstogether.com, belymbr.com, fowlerchiropractic.com PHOTOGRAPHS BY, LEFT TO RIGHT, JOE FERRARO, RACHAEL KLOSS