Arm and Leg Pain Treatment in Grand Rapids MI

Your arms and legs do most of the moving in your life, and the shoulders and hips carry most of that load. Because so much of your daily motion runs through these joints, they face a higher risk of injury and wear. Many patients who visit our clinic cannot pinpoint where their pain came from, and the list of possible causes is long: overexertion at the gym, an auto injury, even sleeping in an awkward position. Whatever started it, our team at Kentwood Family Chiropractic works to relieve the pain at its source.

Why arm and leg pain is hard to pin down

Most cases of arm and leg pain develop slowly, so the people affected rarely know what set it off. When the pain becomes too much to push through, many turn to medication. Some prescriptions carry side effects that can actually add to the discomfort, and none of them address why the pain started in the first place.

Referred pain: when the problem is not where it hurts

Arm and leg pain can also be a form of referred pain, where trouble in one part of the body is felt somewhere else. A classic example is the arm pain some people feel at the onset of a cardiac event, or the ache under the shoulder blade that an inflamed gallbladder can produce. More often, though, the staff at Kentwood Family Chiropractic sees arm and leg pain that begins with nerve irritation in the back. The most common example is sciatica, where a problem in the lower spine sends pain down the leg. Because the vertebrae of the spine are delicate structures, it matters that you choose a team experienced in relieving these conditions.

Finding the source of your discomfort

We use a multi-pronged approach to determine exactly what is causing your pain: a review of your medical history, a physical exam, and imaging when it is needed. That evaluation lets us identify where your pain originates, what kind of pain it is, and which factors are feeding it, so your care targets the right problem.

How chiropractic care helps

In our experience, misalignments of the vertebrae in the neck and spine are behind most arm and leg pain. The explanation is straightforward: when discs or bones shift out of position and flexibility drops, nearby nerves become irritated and inflamed. Those spinal nerves run the full length of the backbone and continue out through the arms and legs to the hands and feet, which is why an injury in the spine can be felt in an extremity.

Sometimes the joint itself needs attention too. Extremity adjusting is a particular strength of our practice: Dr. McAllister regularly addresses the feet, knees, wrists, hands, and jaw, not just the spine. As an Advanced Certified Activator Methods chiropractor, he can deliver highly specific, low-force corrections to these smaller joints with no twisting or cracking. If your symptoms center on the hand and wrist, carpal tunnel syndrome may be involved, and widespread tingling or burning can point to neuropathy. We evaluate for both.