David Perna, D.C.

When individuals experience pain, numbness, weakness, and other abnormal symptoms in the hand and wrist, their first thought is that it’s carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) followed by a worry that they’ll inevitably need surgery to resolve the condition. Some sufferers may even contact a surgeon as their first option for care. However, treatment guidelines do [..]

For adults under 50 years of age, migraine headaches are one of the leading causes of disability. There are several potential underlying causes for the condition, of which one appears to be a proinflammatory and oxidative state in the body. Fortunately, this can be addressed through healthier lifestyle choices. Low-grade or systemic inflammation happens when [..]

We’ve all been told—especially as children—to stop slouching and to stand or sit up straight. As it happens, this is great advice to keep the spine healthy and reduce the risk for a painful low back condition. A landmark 1981 study calculated the amount of pressure placed on the intervertebral disks in the lower back [..]

Clinical practice guidelines are systematically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances. Clinical practice guidelines define the role of specific diagnostic and treatment modalities in the diagnosis and management of patients. Clinical practice guideline recommendations are based on evidence from rigorous systematic reviews and synthesis of [..]

For decades, the public has been told that elevated cholesterol levels are a major cause of heart disease and stroke. However, in recent years, researchers have begun to question this notion. In an article published in the BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal) in 2020, an international group of authors discussed the controversy surrounding the [..]

Whiplash associated disorders (WAD) describes a constellation of symptoms (neck pain, headache, mental fog, radiating arm pain, mid- and/or lower-back pain, neck and upper back stiffness, muscle spasms, fatigue, anxiety, memory loss, etc.) that can result from the sudden forward and backward whipping motion of the head and neck. While motor vehicle collisions are most [..]

Neck pain and headaches are a leading cause of pain and suffering that affects hundreds of millions of seniors worldwide. Until recently, the use of chiropractic care for elderly adults with headaches and/or neck pain has been poorly understood. Let’s investigate the effectiveness of chiropractic care for the elderly who are affected with these conditions. [..]

Knee pain is a common complaint, and patients often wonder if manual therapies provided by a doctor of chiropractic can help manage their knee pain. In many cases, the answer is yes. Let’s take a look at what the research has to say about using manual therapy to address two frequent causes of knee pain [..]

Despite being the most common entrapment neuropathy (pinched nerve) in the extremities, a gold-standard test for diagnosing carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) has yet to be established. In part, this is due to how the symptoms develop from patient to patient, as well as the presence of other conditions that can result in a similar collection [..]

Concept and Terminology A common cliché is that the only certainties in life are death and taxes. Another certainty for the elderly is the increasing incidence of the wear-and-tear breakdown of one’s joints. The presence of joint breakdown increases with age at all joint sites. These joint breakdowns have a number of names: Arthritis Osteoarthritis [..]

The pelvic floor is the muscular “hammock” that carries the weight of the viscera located in the pelvis. If these muscles become too loose or too tight, an individual may experience urinary (or fecal) urgency or incontinence, sexual dysfunction, pelvic organ prolapse, as well as pain in the pelvic region and even in the lower [..]

Approximately 36 million Americans suffer from migraine headaches. Current pharmacological treatments are not very effective and they may have dangerous side effects (1). Migraines are the second most prevalent neurologic disorder (after tension-type headaches), with a female-to-male ratio of 3:1 and an estimated 1-year prevalence of approximately 15% in the general population (2). The total [..]