Chiropractic conditions and sports injuries can take a long time to heal, but new techniques and technologies are speeding up recovery time. We had a chance to interview Dr. Justin Southall about using Shockwave Therapy in his Eastern Shore Chiropractic & Sports Clinic in Fairhope, Alabama.
Dr. Southall graduated magna cum laude from the University of Akron in 2004 with a B.S. in Sports and Exercise Science, and from Parker College of Chiropractic in Dallas, Texas, where he graduated cum laude in 2007. He is also a team chiropractor for numerous college and minor league sports teams.
Describe Your Practice and What You Specialize In
Dr. Southall: We are a Chiropractic and Sports Clinic located in Fairhope, Alabama. We specialize in getting patients out of pain fast and getting them back to what they love doing as quickly as we can.
We do that by utilizing a few different techniques that no other chiropractors around utilize, an active release technique along with fascial distortion model and we are also incorporating Shockwave technology, which is allowing patients to get well even faster.
In Your Practice, Do You Utilize Combined Modalities To Excel The Healing Process?
Yes, we do. We spend almost 15 minutes with every patient. This is different from the typical chiropractor that spends three to five minutes, adjusts them and then they’re out the door. In those cases they need to come back three times a week.
We don’t see any patients three times a week. I’d say we get 80 to 90% of our patients well. If we can’t, we get them to the right professional to help.
Tell Us About Your Total Wellness Philosophy
Our emphasis is on getting patients to move better, feel better, and getting them out of pain. We have a whole body approach. When the patient comes in, if they’re dealing with Plantar Fasciitis for example we are still going to look at everything else too.
We will look at diet, nutrition, and see if they have any issues with a repetitive motion or a functional movement problem that could be causing the issue rather than it just being straight foot pain.
We are encompassing multiple techniques into a treatment and even include dietary supplement recommendations. Using this whole body approach is a key to getting patients well.
You Recently Incorporated Shockwave Therapy Technology In Your Practice. Why Did You Choose To Do That?
About a year ago I suffered from Plantar Fasciitis and I had a shoulder injury. I’m an avid weightlifter, bow hunter, I do some crossfit as well, and the Plantar Fasciitis was affecting me, every time I stood up.
Anytime I was taking a step, I was limping. I could not bow hunt and couldn’t work out. I couldn’t even get a glass out of the cabinet without my shoulder hurting.
I happened be in Florida, and had the luxury of being treated with Shockwave. In one treatment, my Plantar Fasciitis was 90% better and two days later it was 100% better.
That shoulder, which had been nagging me for months on end, I thought for sure I had a labral tear. I did four treatments with Shockwave Therapy and the pain was gone. I haven’t had a problem since.
I felt that If it could help this much and Plantar Fasciitis being one of the most difficult things that we treat in my office, as well as shoulder problems, if it could help me, it could help my patients.
So, we started incorporating the Shockwave Technology into the practice and the results on our patients have been amazing.
In Your Practice, What Types of Conditions Do You Treat With Shockwave Therapy?
We treat multiple different conditions with Shockwave. The most common one that we see is Plantar Fasciitis because once we cure, fix, or, improve one patient that has Plantar Fasciitis, their foot pain disappears and they start telling their friends and family.
One thing we know is if one patient that has Plantar Fasciitis, they know ten other patients that have it. But that’s not just it.
We just had a frozen shoulder patient that touched his hair for the first time in three months and he was basically dancing out of the door. We’re even seeing rib pain – it’s called intercostal neuritis. We’re having great results with that.
Car accident patients that have neck and upper back pain are having amazing results with it. We’re treating tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow, knee pain, and more.
We are having just incredible results with Shockwave Therapy. I can’t speak highly enough about it. It’s just awesome.
Why is Shockwave Technology So Effective For So Many Conditions?
It’s extremely effective with all these different conditions compared to say an injection or even some of the technologies out there like cold laser.
It’s more effective than cold laser because of the effect that it’s having to the body. It’s speeding up the body’s natural healing process. It’s causing blood circulation to be enhanced. The cells are starting to turn over and that healing process is being generated.
When you get an injection there is not really much healing process going on, unless it’s a specific type of injection.
Shockwave is causing a healing effect that lasts, and it continues to work even after the treatment is long over.
Are You Utilizing Shockwave to Address Back and Neck Pain?
We started initially with just plantar fasciitis and had great results, so we said let’s try it with the back and the neck.
We have found that we’re able to break up trigger points. We’re able to release some adhesions where standard chiropractic adjustments, physical therapy, and even acupuncture weren’t making a change. And we are having amazing results.
Patients come back and I am like, well, how you feel? And they’re like, well, that Shockwave machine, I feel the best I’ve felt in weeks. So it’s definitely been effective at treating neck and back pain.
How Do You Summarize the Results Your Patients Have Realized From Treating Them With Shockwave Technology?
The results are amazing. I would say we’re getting anywhere from eight to nine out of ten patients well with Shockwave.
I would say for sure we are seeing 90% results with plantar fasciitis. We’ve had 100% results so far with frozen shoulder, just amazing results with that.
We’re probably getting 80% of the patients well that have knee pain, hip pain, and probably 80% to 90% well with neck and back pain.
In Addition to Shockwave, You Specialize in Many Other Modalities in Your Practice. What Are Some of Those?
Outside of Shockwave the number one treatment that helps people would be the combination of Fascial Distortion model and active release. Fascial Distortion is a technique that I got the luxury of being the one of the first 12 chiropractors in the nation to learn. It’s not just lay down, let me adjust you, and out the door and come on back three or two more times this week. We want to see that change right then and there.
We also utilize dry needling and acupuncture. Acupuncture focuses on the meridian systems and hitting certain points and the dry needle focuses on tender spots, using trigger points and getting those trigger points to release.
Spinal Decompression is also something we specialize in. This technology allows us to treat someone that has a herniated disc or disc bulge even if they have facet arthritis or any type of degenerative disc disease in their neck or their back. And we’re able to put them on a table that actually tractions and pulls.
It allows the body and disc space to decompress and take pressure off that nerve and allows them to feel better.
How Can Someone Get More Information About You and Your Practice?
Dr. Southall: The best way is to visit our website at EasternShoreChiropratics.com.
You can see videos on the site and read about all the different techniques that we do.
People can also call the office at (251) 990-8383 and visit our Facebook page Eastern Shore Chiropractic and Sports Clinic.