David Perna, D.C.

Physical events in a gravity environment have always caused injuries. The mathematics and physics of these injuries were not formalized until the year 1687 when Sir Isaac Newton wrote the book Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (1). In this publication, Newton details the principles of inertia. Inertia is the resistance of a physical object to [..]

You’ve probably heard of a friend or loved one whose back pain resulted in a spinal fusion surgery, but you may not understand what prompted surgery over non-surgical approaches, including chiropractic care. Simply put, spinal fusion is a surgical technique that aims to eliminate excessive motion (instability) in the spine by fusing two or more [..]

A quick look around any airport, mall, or auditorium/theater will reveal that poor posture is common. There’s forward head posture, rolled forward shoulders, and uneven/misaligned heads/shoulders/pelvis-hips. Some people even limp or shuffle while walking. Research shows that when a person adopts an abnormal posture, it can place added strain on various areas of the body, [..]

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a condition that we typically associate with overuse activities, especially occupations that require fast, repetitive hand work such as typing, sewing, and packaging. However, the hormonal changes that occur in pregnancy can also lead to swelling or inflammation in the wrist, and subsequently, the symptoms associated with CTS.  A 2019 [..]

Musculoskeletal conditions drive millions of patients to doctor’s offices each year, with back and hip pain being among the most common. Because the hip and low back neighbor one another in the body, these conditions often overlap, with only one of the two being diagnosed. This can lead to inadequate treatment, unnecessary costs, and unsatisfying [..]

While neck pain is most commonly associated with whiplash associated disorder (WAD), patients often report jaw or temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain following a car accident, sport injury, or slip and fall. Common symptoms associated with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) include pain in the jaw joint area (in front of the ear), neck and shoulder pain, ear [..]

The ability to take out a small device and check email, take photos, interact with friends, play games, and answer almost any question seemed like a great idea when smartphones and social media debuted over a decade ago; but in recent years, several studies have looked at the downsides associated with heavy social media and [..]

Chiropractic Analysisand Management For decades, chiropractic and spinal manipulation has proven to be very effective for the management of low back pain (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17). Yet, chiropractic does not fix or improve all patients. Some patient’s problems are more complex making [..]

Since the late 1980s, researchers have embraced the biopsychosocial model (BPS) to understand both the causative and prognostic factors associated with neuromusculoskeletal disorders, which includes back pain. In order to achieve the best possible outcomes for patients with back pain, it’s important to understand the role that factors outside of the biomechanical injury model play [..]

Wry neck, also known as torticollis, is a painful condition in which the top of the head usually tilts to one side while the chin rotates to the opposite side. Torticollis can have several causes from infection (cold, flu, or otitis media, for example) to sleeping in a draft; however, the cause is usually unknown [..]

When someone is diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), there seems to be an automatic assumption that surgery is imminent or at least inevitable. However, treatment guidelines for CTS that are intended to be followed by ALL healthcare professionals ALWAYS recommend an initial course of non-surgical treatment, NOT jumping directly to surgery. Unfortunately, evidence-based treatment [..]

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis and is caused when the smooth cartilage surface of an articulating/moving joint wears away until there is bone-on-bone contact that results in both loss of movement and pain. Although OA most commonly affects the joints under the greatest load (the hips and the knees), it can [..]