David Perna, D.C.

According to medical historians, the first artificial total hip arthroplasty (THA) was performed in Germany in the early 1890s. Since then, there have been many advancements in the design of the artificial hip and how the procedure is performed, even to the point of the introduction of the minimally invasive total hip arthroplasty, or miTHA, [..]

While many people may consider carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) to be the default cause of any pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness in the hand and/or wrist, the condition is more complex. In some cases, a patient with such symptoms may not have CTS at all. So when a patient comes into the office to be [..]

Serious falls can lead to a number of negative outcomes in older adults, from impaired mobility to loss of independence to early death. Thus, steps that can be taken to reduce the risk for falls will not only potentially result in a longer life, but also help support a higher quality of life in those [..]

Non-surgical, conservative care to address shoulder pain, especially when caused by shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS), is one of the most common reasons patients visit a chiropractic office. Doctors of chiropractic often manage the condition with a combination of manual therapies and exercises targeted on the shoulder joint. The scientific literature is rich with studies showing [..]

Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (kg/m²) of 30 or higher. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that approximately 42.4% of adults in the United States are obese, up from 30.5% just two decades ago. The current scientific literature notes that obesity is associated with an increased risk for heart [..]

When neck pain strikes, it’s often assumed the cause is also in the neck. It’s only logical, right? In many cases, focusing on the neck for diagnosis and treatment may lead to a satisfying result but not all the time. For some patients, neck pain may be related to a condition elsewhere in the body, [..]

The early symptoms associated with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) are often easy to overlook or ignore because they don’t interfere too much with one’s ability to carry out their daily activities. As such, many people don’t consider it worthwhile to take the time to make and attend a doctor appointment to deal with the issue. [..]

There is plenty of research supporting chiropractic care as an excellent approach for managing whiplash associated disorders (WAD). While the in-office treatment aspect of care—spinal manipulation, mobilization, soft tissue therapy, massage, modalities, etc.—is important for restoring motion and reducing pain in the neck and surrounding areas, it’s the at-home exercises that not only maintain those [..]

Discussion A disease is not a thing, but rather a process. A disease has a beginning, a middle, and an end. A treatment intervention that is given in the middle of a disease process may be blamed for causing the disease itself. This is called protopathic bias. Protopathic Bias is when a treatment for the [..]

The cauda equina (Latin for “horse’s tail”) is made up of many nerves that travel down and exit out the sides of the lumbar spine and sacrum (tail bone) and transfer information (motor and sensory) to and from our legs and brain. If the cauda equina becomes compressed, the resulting cauda equina syndrome (CES) is [..]

Experts estimate that approximately 10% of the adult population in the United States experienced an episode of tinnitus—the perception of sound or noise without any external auditory stimulus being present—within the last year. Tinnitus can be caused by wax buildup in the ear, medication side effect, noise-induced hearing lost, ear and sinus infections, cardiovascular disease, [..]

Because the early symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) can be mild and tolerable, many patients put off seeing a doctor until the pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness in their wrist and hand is no longer bearable.  The current research supports chiropractic care as an excellent non-surgical option for new-onset CTS, but what about patients [..]