David Perna, D.C.

By some estimates, up to 20% of headaches are caused by a disorder of the cervical spine and its components (bone, disk, and soft tissue) usually accompanied by neck pain. It’s very common for patients with a cervicogenic headache to seek and receive manual therapies—like spinal manipulation and mobilization—from chiropractic care. Spinal manipulation is characterized [..]

Even though poor posture can impair physical function and affect one’s health, it’s very common to see people with a slouched, forward head posture.  Aside from advice to sit up straight, limit phone use, or hold devices at eye level, are there any exercises that can help reverse forward head posture? The answer: “YES!” Let’s [..]

We all know we need to regularly exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle, but many don’t because they feel that they don’t have enough time in the day to work out. In recent years, a form of exercise called high-intensity interval training (HIIT) has gained attention in both gyms and the scientific literature as [..]

Following a car accident, slip and fall, or sports collision, many whiplash associated disorder (WAD) patients are advised by friends, family, co-workers, or an attorney to see a doctor of chiropractic. For many WAD patients, this may be their first experience with chiropractic. What can they expect? During the initial visit, the patient will first [..]

When an individual’s hands and fingers start tingling, they will most often suspect carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). However, pressure on the median nerve anywhere along its course from the neck to the hand can produce similar symptoms in the hand and fingers. So what is the best way to diagnose CTS and differentiate it from [..]

Low back pain (LBP) and pelvic girdle pain (PGP) are common complaints during pregnancy with some studies suggesting these conditions affect up to half of expecting mothers. In the postpartum period, it’s estimated that as many as one in-five women will continue to experience these forms of musculoskeletal pain up to three years following the [..]

When it comes to a condition like low back pain, the care a patient receives can depend on case history and examination findings, as well as the doctor’s training and treatment preferences. For the patient with a lumbar disk pathology, a doctor of chiropractic may employ lumbar traction in combination with manipulation and joint mobilization [..]

There are many types of headache and each has an underlying cause that must be addressed to achieve a satisfactory outcome. A 2020 review of research from the previous two decades suggests that the best conservative, non-pharmaceutical approach for headaches may involve either a top-down or bottom-up approach. When the primary cause of a headache [..]

All perceptions occur in the brain, specifically in a region of the brain called the cerebral cortex (cortical brain) (1). These perceptions include sight (vision), sound (hearing), hot/cold (temperature), taste, smell, pressure, vibration, positional sense, pain, and more. The cortical perception in this discussion will be referred to as dizziness. Dizziness is a cortical perception [..]

When one spends time in nature, it can be surprising how quiet the world can be and just how much noise we’ve grown accustomed to in our day-to-day lives. But what we may not understand is that some noises can be more than a nuisance and can actually be harmful to health. An article published [..]

It’s estimated that half of patients with chronic whiplash associated disorders (WAD) will experience vision-related issues such as poor reading concentration, light sensitivity, visual fatigue, and eye strain. Why is this the case, and what can be done for such patients? Eye movement control depends on the position of the head in space, and head [..]

Osteoarthritis is the most common chronic joint condition. It causes local inflammation and breakdown of cartilage with joint structural changes that provoke pain and loss of function that results in a considerable reduction in quality of life. Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is one of the most disabling osteoarthritic conditions and it’s becoming more prevalent. So, what [..]