Health Services

Chiropractic Care

At Spine Care Plus our Chiropractors offer a non-invasive, hands-on approach to health care. Chiropractic doctors are experts in muscle, joint and nervous system injury and pathology. It is within their scope of practice to diagnose, treat, and help prevent disorders and conditions related to the spine, nervous system, and musculoskeletal system.

Learn more about Chiropractic Care

At Cornwall Spine Care Plus we offer a vast array of chiropractic techniques with the intention of hand selecting the approach that best suits the needs of your unique condition. All clinical decision-making is performed with a ‘patient-centered’ philosophy where the chiropractor and his or her patients work as a team towards one or more common goals.

Who Can See A Chiropractor?

Chiropractors are primary care doctors. This means anyone can seek the consultation and care of a chiropractor without a medical referral. Commonly, people who suffer from workplace accidents, sports injuries, motor vehicle accidents, and stress-related ailments, seek chiropractic care for pain relief, improved physical function, and overall health.

What Happens During A Chiropractic Visit?

On the first chiropractic visit, the patient will take 10-15 minutes to fill out a new patient information form, a health history form, and a chief complaint form detailing his or her injuries, ailments, and/or intentions for coming to the office. At this point, the chiropractor will review all the information disclosed with the patient and conduct a full verbal history in an effort to learn more about the patient. With the patient’s permission, the chiropractor will now proceed with the hands-on physical examination consisting of a combination of observations, gait, range of motion testing, motion palpation, orthopaedic tests, neurological tests, and x-ray if needed. The chiropractor will then diagnosis the condition utilizing information from the intake forms, verbal history, and physical examination. At this point, the chiropractor will recommend a treatment plan, some alternatives, and gain consent for the treatment before continuing.

Perinatal & Pediatric Chiropractic Care

Chiropractic care during pregnancy?

Absolutely! If there’s one group of people who need chiropractic spinal checkups more than any other, it’s pregnant women.

How Can Chiropractic Care Help During Pregnancy?

During pregnancy, weight-bearing changes occur. This can cause an added stress to the spine. Over the course of a 40-week gestation, a mother’s weight gain will ideally reach somewhere between 30-40 lbs. This increase in weight can create spinal misalignment and/or postural distortions, which in turn affect the nerves, the muscles and mobility of the joints. As the bulk of this weight is deposited in the abdominal area, the mother’s center of gravity shifts forward. In order to compensate, the natural curves of the spine, particularly in the lumbar region, become exaggerated causing low back pain.

The hips may also expand laterally to help stabilize the body, putting pressure on the sacroiliac joints. The hormones of pregnancy cause muscles, and ligaments to relax. Pelvic bones “slip” and can become more easily displaced and/or fixated.

As the baby grows and the body adapts, often the ribs must expand to accommodate. Rib misalignment is a common complaint of pregnant mothers, which is easily corrected by chiropractic adjustments and soft tissue therapy.

Chiropractic care during pregnancy not only improves your comfort, but can also help facilitate your birth.

Chiropractic care during pregnancy has been shown to significantly reduce the length of time a woman labours. First time moms averaged a 24% shorter labour, while mothers who have already given birth experienced a 39% reduction in the average labour length, compared to controls (Fallon, 1991).
Chiropractic adjustments during pregnancy can also reduce the likelihood of experiencing back labour (Diakow, 1991).
Regular chiropractic adjustments can safely continue up until the time of birth (Penna, 1989).

Chiropractic for Infants and Children

Chiropractic care can play an important role in a child’s overall health and physical development. With the ever growing and changing bodies of active infants and children, chiropractic checkups can help ensure proper development of the musculoskeletal system and may also aid in the healing process of common day-to-day ailments.

The birthing process can be a traumatic experience for a baby. Commonly, physical interventions such as suction, hands-on assistance, or forceps extraction are used during delivery and the mechanical stress of this pulling and twisting can be injurious to the joints and soft tissue of a newborns spine. An experienced chiropractor, trained in pediatric care, can help assess for spinal issues and through the use of gentle adjustments and light joint mobilizations help correct any dysfunction, allowing the baby to develop in a healthy and natural way.

Toddlerhood can also be a very physical time, with falls and tumbles being part of a normal active childhood. By addressing the minor stresses and strains on the body early, you can prevent them from becoming issues as they grow.

Is Chiropractic Care Safe for Children?

YES! There have been several large-scale research studies verifying the safety and effectiveness of chiropractic care for kids. The amount of force used to adjust an infant is comparable to the amount of force you use to test a ripe tomato at the grocery store: a very minute amount of pressure! This light-touch approach is non-invasive and is often very soothing for the child. Generally, children respond much faster and more profoundly to chiropractic care than adults.

Dr. Kylie Draper is specially trained in treating expectant mothers, babies, and youth. She has taken numerous courses through the ICPA (International Chiropractic Paediatric Association), and is certified in Webster’s technique and GROWCO postpartum rehabilitation.

Chiropractic Care for Sports Injuries

With a vast knowledge of anatomy, physiology and biomechanics, our Chiropractors are experts in athletic injuries. We treat athletes of all ages and abilities, from beginners and recreational exercisers to youth athletes and professionals. Our expertise covers all athletic injuries and also common aches and pains experienced with everyday life. At Cornwall Spine Care Plus you can expect a thorough history and examination of your injury, including orthopedic tests and imaging, if necessary. The doctor of chiropractic will take the time to explain to you your diagnosis and the best course of treatment. Commonly, sports injuries are treated in house through therapies such as Active Release Technique (ART), laser therapy, medical acupuncture, joint manipulation and appropriate physical rehabilitation.

Commonly treated sports injuries include:

Groin and hip injuries
Strains/sprains of the ankle and foot
Back and pelvis injuries
Rotator cuff injuries
Tendonitis/tendonosis
Post-concussion syndrome
Contusions and hematomas
Bursitis
Pre/post-surgery rehabilitation (ACL, MCL, Rotator Cuff)
Shin splints
Nerve entrapments
Muscle and ligament tears

Performance Care

At Cornwall Spine Care Plus we work hard to keep you working hard. As most of our athletic patients can attest to, regular chiropractic treatments are needed to keep the body functioning optimally. With a rigorous training regime and intense competitions the body requires continuous care to ensure optimal recovery and healing.

Biomechanical screens including digital golf and running analysis and functional movement screens (FMS) are also used to correct biomechanical errors in an athletes form. This encourages injury prevention and performance enhancement.

Chiropractic Care for Wellness

We no longer consider health to be the absence of disease. Today, we understand that lifelong health is the presence of vitality — the ability to function with vigor and to live actively, energetically, and fully.

Vitality comes from wellness, a state of optimal physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, interpersonal, social, and environmental well-being. At all ages and levels of physical/mental ability, people can increase their vitality and wellness. People today have greater control over their health than ever before. Being responsible for one’s health means making choices and adopting habits and behaviors that will ensure wellness and lifelong health.

Regular Chiropractic adjustments have been shown to:

Improve and maintain optimal joint range of motion
Promote proper biomechanical function
Improve the body’s response to inflammation
Reduce over-sensitization of the central nervous
Promote optimal biomechanical function of the body’s musculoskeletal system.

Research shows that patients under regular chiropractic care experience:

85% lower pharmaceutical costs (the number one cost drive in the system)
60% fewer hospitalizations
62% fewer surgical cases
Less out-patient diagnostic tests (MRI, CT, blood work, etc.)
Improved Satisfaction reported by patients

Sarnat and Winterstein, 2004

What is a Chiropractic Adjustment?

An adjustment or spinal manipulation is a quick and controlled thrust applied to the joints of the spine by a highly skilled practitioner. With the vast number of research and clinical studies available today in support of spinal adjustments, the many benefit of this drug-free, non-invasive treatment cannot be denied or refuted. The American College of Physicians now lists spinal manipulation as a choice treatment for mechanical low back pain and all up-to-date medical and manual therapy guidelines list spinal manipulation as a safe and effective treatment for low back pain, neck pain and headaches.

The Positive Effects of the Chiropractic Adjustments

Stretching of abnormally tight tissues
Increased range of motion
Selective tearing of adhesions without damaging healthy tissue
Stimulation of wound healing
Improved edema removal
Removal of waste products & chemical mediators of pain
Increased fluid flows, discal & cartilage nutrition
Reduction of the pain-spasm cycle
Optimal mechanoreceptor activity
Close the “gate” to the central transmission of pain
Regeneration of functional tissue & less scarring
Improved rate & endpoint of tissue healing
Optimal collagen production
Increases cellular metabolism & protein synthesis
Improved ligament strength
Improved matrix organization
Proper alignment of new collagen
Normalize proprioceptive patterns from joints & muscles
Normalize coordinated complimentary motor program

Take Home Message: A Chiropractic Adjustment is one of the best things you can do for optimal spinal health.

Physiotherapy

Let’s get you back to doing what you love!

Reach your goals together – through education, exercise, and hands-on therapy; we’ll help assess your situation, and guide you to recovery!

Manage your pain – We help you manage your pain through hands-on treatment and tailored education to give you the knowledge, skills, and confidence to self-manage on your own when you are at home!

Learn more about Physiotherapy

Improve how you move – We know movement is a powerful tool for many problems and proper movement allows you to do the activities that drive you and that pain can disrupt. We’ll help improve your movement, so that you can move well and move confidently!

Increase your strength – Both physically and mentally! Rehabilitation is hard work, but the reward at the end sure is sweet! Our physiotherapist’s philosophy looks to bridge the gap between strength and conditioning and rehabilitation principles to stimulate the required adaptation desired, as well as increase your capacity, so that you won’t have to return for the same issue!

Physiotherapy Services

Rehabilitative Exercise – Exercise is one of the most evidence backed modalities. We help guide you towards exercises that are effective for your individual needs, and help you progress them over time.

Education and Advice – Education is the most important therapeutic modality. The more knowledgeable you about your body and circumstances, the more you are able to properly care for and manage your body on your own.

Sports Rehabilitation – Injury can be a tremendous setback for an athlete. As athletes ourselves, we will help guide you to manage your pain and transition back to sport. Our clinic is well equipped to meet all of your rehabilitation needs.

Manual Therapy – Manual therapy like mobilizations, manipulations, passive stretching, soft tissue release, and acupuncture can help provide symptom relief and improve range of motion. We often pair manual therapy with movement based rehabilitation for best outcomes.

For Patients: Please wear appropriate clothing and athletic footwear during your assessment and follow up appointments. Physiotherapy is “physical” therapy and you will be expected to perform some exercises and movements.

Registered Massage Therapy

Cornwall Spine Care Plus provides a wide array of massage therapy techniques, designed to manage pain and dysfunction of the body’s soft tissues. Our qualified registered massage therapist offers:

Swedish massage
Therapeutic massage; including:
- Trigger point therapy
- Superficial lymph drainage
- Sports massage
- Pre-natal massage
- Infant Massage
- Deep Tissue Massage
- Indie Head Massage
- Joint mobilization,
- traction and oscillations
- Remedial exercise
- Hydrotherapy

Learn more about Registered Massage Therapy

What is Massage Therapy?

As one of the oldest forms of complimentary healthcare, massage therapy is a clinically oriented treatment option shown to provide positive effects for most medical conditions. Its main purpose is to relieve pain and dysfunction using techniques that target specific soft tissues surrounding the problematic area. Registered massage therapists are also trained to use hydrotherapy alongside their techniques to manage blood supply, effect muscle or nerve tissue and promote faster healing times. Remedial exercise is then used during treatment, or as home-care, to strengthen and rehabilitate weak, overused or injured soft tissues. In Ontario, massage therapy is a regulated healthcare profession governed by the Massage Therapy Act, 1991 and the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991. Therapists must be registered in order to practice. A registered massage therapist is someone who has received a diploma from a recognized school of massage therapy and has successfully completed the registration examinations, offered by the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario (CMTO).

How will Massage Therapy benefit me?

With regular treatments, massage therapy is a beneficial healthcare option that can enhance your overall well being and quality of life. Common benefits include relaxation, a reduction in tension and stress, as well as improved sleeping patterns. Massage therapy is also beneficial in the management of many acute or chronic conditions such as sports injuries, scoliosis, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis and post surgical rehabilitation. It is also a great healthcare choice for expectant or new mothers, those who are in palliative care or those who suffer from depression or anxiety disorders.

Other important benefits of massage therapy include:

Reduces or eliminates pain
Stimulates lymphatic drainage, managing swelling and inflammation, while clearing metabolic waste or bi-products from muscle tissue
Encourages normal blood flow and circulation
Temporarily decreases blood pressure
Promotes a healthy immune system
Increases joint flexibility and range of motion
Increases healing times after injury
Remodels or prevents the formation of scar tissue, adhesion and contractures
Releases endorphins to combat anxiety/depression
Increases postural awareness and promotes a healthy body image

Orthotics & Braces

Cornwall Spine Care Plus is Cornwall’s premier location for custom orthotics and braces. Besides offering the very best in off-the-shelf braces, our doctors are leaders in joint assessment and custom brace fitting. At Cornwall Spine Care Plus you can rest assured that you are getting the best orthopedic device for your unique condition.

Learn more about Custom Orthotics

A foot custom orthotic is a device designed to align the foot and ankle into the most anatomically efficient position. They look like insoles, but are biomechanical medical appliances that are custom made to correct your specific foot imbalance.

Custom orthotics work on your feet much like glasses work on your eyes – they reduce stress and strain on your body by bringing your feet back into proper alignment.

The plastic body of the custom orthotic helps to re-align the foot by redirecting and reducing certain motion that takes place during the gait cycle.

Custom orthotics fit into your shoes as comfortably as an insole – and they have the advantage of having been made from precise imprints of your feet.

The doctors at Cornwall Spine Care Plus will consider patients for Custom fit Orthotics if it is determined that back, hip, knee or foot complaint stem from imbalance within a patients gait or foot mechanics.

Learn more about Braces

We offer a wide variety of custom and non-custom braces for practically all joints of the body. We have a large selection of pre-fabricated braces but if you can’t find what you need we can also order a unique piece to fit your unique needs.

Cornwall Spine Care Plus+ is a proud provider of Don Joy custom braces. Based on your diagnosis, size measurements and activity level the doctors at Cornwall Spine Care Plus+ will fit you for a brace that is perfect for you and your condition.

Braces can be made for both upper extremity and lower extremity conditions and can be used to help with rehabilitation, pain management and joint stabilization.

Commonly Braced Conditions:

Medical Acupuncture

Contemporary Medical Acupuncture is used to relieve pain, reduce inflammation and promote the body’s natural healing responses. It is a specific technique, in which acupuncture needles are inserted into anatomically defined neurofunctional sites and stimulated manually or with electricity for the therapeutic purposes of modulating pain and other dysfunctions.

Learn more about Medical Acupuncture

The process stimulates the nervous system to release chemicals (endorphins & serotonin) in the muscles, spinal cord, and brain. These chemicals can change the experience of pain, and will trigger the release of other chemicals and hormones, which influence the bodies own internal regulating systems.

What are the Benefits of Contemporary Medical Acupuncture?

The scientific evidence shows that acupuncture is effective for pain relief, improved blood flow, inflammation reduction, stress reduction, improved range of motion, improved nerve conduction and improved organ function. Contemporary medical acupuncture is a safe, effective and often painless therapy. The World Health Organization recognizes the use of acupuncture in the treatment of a wide range of neurological and musculoskeletal conditions, including: headaches, neck pain, frozen shoulder, tennis elbow, various forms of tendonitis, low back pain, sciatica, osteoarthritis, etc.

Who Performs Contemporary Medical Acupuncture?

The doctors at Cornwall Spine Care Plus are graduates of The McMaster University Contemporary Medical Acupuncture Program. This rigorous course focuses on the science and neurofunctional based application of acupuncture. The practitioner’s select needle insertion points based on their extensive knowledge on nerve and muscle anatomy and will often use acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy to chiropractic care and other therapies when creating patient treatment plans.

Commonly Treated Conditions with Contemporary Medical Acupuncture:

Bioflex Laser Therapy

The Bioflex Laser System is highly effective in the treatment of musculoskeletal conditions including arthritis and sports injuries. Scientific literature from peer-reviewed journals show that laser therapy provides successful outcomes with the following conditions:

Lower back pain (chronic and acute)
Neck pain (chronic and acute)
Rotator cuff repair pain (post surgical)
Sciatica
Hip and leg strain/sprains
Elbow and arm strain/sprains
Plantar fasciitis/fasciosis
Wound Healing

Learn more about Bioflex Laser Therapy

Laser therapy has the potential to improve tissue repair (skin wounds, muscle, tendon, ligament, bone, or nerve tissue), reduce inflammation and inhibit pain wherever the beam is applied. Treatments lasts 25-45 minutes per session, depending on the area being treated.

What the Science Says:

Low level laser therapy has been investigated and applied clinically for more than 40 years. It has been proven to suppress harmful inflammation via reduction of PGE2 levels (inflammatory marker), provide short-term and long-term pain relief, significantly reduced pain in the chronic joint disorders, and accelerate tissue healing times. Tissue ischemia as a result of inflammation, edema and injury have been shown to have a significantly higher response to laser therapy output power, wavelength and power density than normal, healthy tissue. The biological response includes DNA/RNA synthesis, increased cAMP levels, protein and collagen synthesis and cellular proliferation. These reactions lead to rapid normalization, regeneration and healing of damaged tissues. Because of these attributes, Laser Therapy has become an extremely popular and effective treatment option in pain management clinics around the world.

Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression

Non-surgical spinal decompression is a form of treatment used to relieve pain and dysfunction associated with disc bulges, disc herniations, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease and other compressive spinal conditions. Non-surgical spinal decompression therapy is safe, comfortable and painless.

Learn more about Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression

How Does It Work?

This state of the art technology utilizes a special force transducer bed to intermittently distract specific spinal vertebra with the goal of decreasing the pressure within the discs and joints of that region. As the vertebra are gently pulled apart, pressure is reduced within the disc (intradiscal pressure) until a vacuum is formed. This vacuum or negative pressure will ‘suck’ the gelatinous center of the disc back inward thereby reducing the disc bulge or disc herniation. Significant disc bulge reduction will remove pressure off the spinal nerves and drastically reduce pain and disability. This ‘sucking’ effect will also pull in much-needed oxygen, nutrients and fluid into injured and degenerated discs allowing the healing process to begin.

What Happens During Treatment

Before treatment commences, a full history and physical examination is carried out by one of our trained doctors of Chiropractic to determine if you are a candidate for non-surgical spinal decompression. During this time the doctor may ask to see any previous imaging (x-rays, CT, MRI) or may request reports of such tests from your family doctor or specialist. If it is determined that you are a good candidate for spinal decompression a treatment plan will be designed with the aim of achieving the best results for your specific condition. During the spinal decompression treatment the patient is full clothed. The doctor fits you with a harness around your pelvis and another around your trunk. You either lie face down or face up on a computer-controlled table. A doctor operates the computer, customizing treatment to your specific needs. Treatment may last 15 – 40 minutes. In extreme cases 20 to 24 treatments over four to eight weeks may be needed. A large majority of patients will see notable improvements within 1-4 treatments. Before or after therapy, you may have other types of treatment, such as LASER Therapy, interferential current, or hot/cold therapy. Specific at-home rehabilitation may be given to help expedite results and promote proper healing processes.

How Spinal Decompression Differs from Traction Therapy

When traction is applied, the body’s reaction is to pull in the opposite direction. Spinal decompression equipment, on the other hand, contains sensitive computer-feedback mechanisms, such as strain gauges, to overcome this phenomenon and allow for maximum therapeutic results. This allows the equipment to continuously monitor muscular reaction and to compensate by re-adjusting its distraction parameters. Each treatment is centered on a variety of adjustable logarithmic ramp-up, hold and release protocols implemented by the computerized system designed to bypass the proprioceptive response of ligaments and muscles to distraction. By comparison, traction therapy or inversion tables cannot adequately bypass the body’s protective proprioceptive response and therefore cannot create negative intradiscal pressure for extended periods like a decompression table can. A study by the Department of Neurosurgery and Radiology, Rio Grande Regional Hospital and Health Sciences Center, University of Texas, demonstrated the specific and important clinical action of decompression therapy that makes it effective. Intradiscal pressure measurement was performed by connecting a cannula inserted into the patient’s L4-L5 disc space to a pressure transducer. Spinal decompression was introduced and changes in pressure were recorded at a resting state and again while controlled tension was applied by the equipment. The results of this study indicate that it is possible to lower pressure in the nucleus pulposus of herniated lumbar discs to below -100 mm Hg when distraction tension is applied according to the protocol described for decompression therapy. The lowest intradiscal pressure measured during progressive traction was 40 mm Hg compared to 75 mm Hg resting supine. Standard decompression therapy, therefore, differs from standard traction by creating a unique clinical circumstance of prolonged negative intradiscal pressure.

Scientific Evidence for Non Surgical Spinal Decompression

Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression has been proven to be a safe and effective treatment for the relief of pain associated with bulging and herniated discs, degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis, sciatica, and even relapse or failed back surgery. Since its release, clinical studies have revealed an amazing success rate in treating lumbar and cervical disc related problems and managing arthritic conditions with spinal decompression. An increasing number of studies are demonstrating the efficacy of spinal decompression therapy. ¹. A research paper from Gose et al states: “We consider decompression therapy to be a primary treatment modality for low back pain associated with lumbar disc herniation at single or multiple levels, degenerative disc disease, facet arthropathy, and decreased spine mobility. We believe that post-surgical patients with persistent pain or ‘Failed Back Syndrome’ should not be considered candidates for further surgery until a reasonable trial of decompression has been tried.” ². Eugene et al reports: “For any given patient with low back and referred leg pain, we cannot predict with certainty which cause has assumed primacy. Therefore surgery, by being directed at root decompression at the site of the herniation alone, may not be effective if secondary causes of pain have become predominant. Decompression therapy, however, addresses both primary and secondary causes of low back and referred leg pain. We thus submit that decompression therapy should be considered first, before the patient undergoes a surgical procedure which permanently alters the anatomy and function of the affected lumbar spine segment.” ³. Adding spinal decompression to exercise for patients with cervical radiculopathy resulted in lower disability and pain, particularly at long-term follow-ups (Fitz et al, 2014).

For a full list of research studies on non-surgical spinal decompression please contact us directly.

Motor Vehicle Injuries & Concussion Management

Cornwall Spine Care Plus is S,D&G’s premier clinic for the assessment, treatment and rehabilitation of injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident (MVA). Whether it is whiplash, a shoulder injury, a concussion, a sprain/strain of the back, hip, or wrist, or a combination of many musculoskeletal injuries, the professionals at Cornwall Spine Care Plus will take the time to thoroughly assess your function, diagnosis your injury and work with you to develop a treatment plan that best suits your unique presentation.

Learn about Concussion Management

Concussion Management

Cornwall Spine Care Plus is proud to be a part of a network of certified physicians, chiropractors, physiotherapists and neuropsychologists who are committed to delivering the highest quality, evidenced based concussion care. As a certified Complete Concussion Management (CCM) clinic our concussion program in continually developing based on the latest research and the best established practices for athletes and concussed patients.

By offering the very best in baseline testing, manual therapy, concussion rehabilitation and patient education we can ensure your concussion is being managed in the best manner possible. To learn more about our concussion program or to request a baseline test or concussion assessment call us today!