About St. James Chiropractic

Chiropractic is the largest natural primary health care profession in the world. It is the art, science and philosophy of realigning vertebrae (bones) that are out of alignment in the spine to restore function in the nervous system (nerves).

The human body is controlled by nerves. Everything (circulation, breathing, etc.) is under the direction of this unbelievably complicated system. If the impulses of this network are transmitted normally to and from the brain without interference, the body will be at its optimum and able to ward off disease to the best of its ability.

If these impulses are stopped or interfered with, the area dependent upon them will malfunction and/or become diseased. When a vertebra in your spine becomes misaligned (subluxated), it can cause nerve interference.

Chiropractic is the only profession that utilizes gentle spinal alignments to remove nerve interference so that the body can heal itself. Chiropractors focus on the spine and the nervous system to correct problems throughout the body. Although my practice is principally focused on muscle, bone (spine, neck, lower back) and nerve pain, many patients relate other problems and are relieved due to chiropractic treatment. This may be due to pressure removed from the nerve by movement of the bone off of the nerve. Most chiropractors believe this to be so. If you are looking for a St. James Chiropractor, Dr. Raymond Semente can help you!

Recent Blog Posts From St. James Chiropractor

5 Amazing Facts About Chiropractic Medicine

You may not know very much about chiropractic medicine if you’ve never seen a chiropractor yourself. Even if you have visited a chiropractor before, you may not be very informed about chiropractic medicine. For starters, chiropractors focus on conditions of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems and determine how they may affect one’s overall health. Patients may visit chiropractors for back, neck, and shoulder pain, as well as migraines, headaches, and other musculoskeletal or nervous system issues. Dr. Raymond Semente, a St. James Chiropractor, has a great list of facts about his chiropractic practice on his website, but we have selected an additional five amazing facts about chiropractic medicine in general that you’ve probably never heard before. 

The Facts

 

1. Chiropractors can fix issues you never knew you had: Have you experienced pain for years, but you always thought it was normal, or part of the aging process? Our chiropractor near Smithtown can help relieve your mystery pain and prevent re-occurrence. 
2. Chiropractors make up the third-largest group of doctors in the US: Nine out of ten people visit a chiropractor every year.
3. Chiropractors must go through seven years of school and take four National Board Exams to become a practitioner: That’s a lot of studying, but it’s all for a good cause. You can be at peace knowing that your practitioner has gone through a sufficient amount of schooling and testing to be able to take good care of your health.
4. Chiropractic care is not only corrective, it’s preventative: Of course, you can always visit our chiropractor near Smithtown when you obtain an injury or experience chronic pain, but visiting a chiropractor even when you feel healthy is a large step in preventing pain before it even occurs. 
5. Multiple doctor visits can start to break the bank: Visiting a St. James Chiropractor puts you in a better position to take care of multiple ailments all in one visit, allowing you to steer clear of an empty wallet by avoiding extra trips and copays. 

St. James Chiropractor

 

Hopefully, these amazing facts surprised you and inspired you to consider visiting a chiropractor if needed. Chiropractors will work to diagnose your symptoms and help you feel great again. Here at the office of Dr. Raymond Semente, our St. James Chiropractor, we have an experienced team who will work to treat your pain and improve your overall health. If you want to know more about how chiropractic medicine can benefit you, contact us today! 

What Is a Herniated Disc?

 

A herniated disc can be a frustrating condition that causes discomfort during most physical activity. Also commonly referred to as a slipped disc, a herniated disc is an injury to the cushions (discs) or tissue between the vertebral bones of the spine. Essentially, discs have a soft interior (nucleus pulposus), and a herniated disc occurs if a portion of this soft interior pushes out through a tear in the harder exterior (annulus) of the disc. A herniated disc can be caused in a myriad of ways, which makes it often difficult to identify when and how the injury occurred. An awkward motion whiling lifting an object, a sudden physical impact, an abrupt movement or any other similar action could cause an injury. However, a herniated disc often occurs gradually. Discs degenerate over time, so simple wear and tear can lead to a rupture or tear of the disc. Poor posture, a sedentary lifestyle, being overweight, or an occupation requiring repetitive pushing, squatting, pulling, or twisting are all factors that could increase the chance of a herniated disc. If you feel you are at risk of herniating a disc, contact Dr. Raymond Semente, our St. James Chiropractor, to develop a preventative treatment plan to address your concerns.

What are the symptoms?

A herniated disc can have a number of symptoms, ranging from mildly agitating to painful and debilitating, depending on the location of the disc and the size of the herniation. If the herniation is in your lower back, most pain will be felt in the buttocks and lower body. If the herniated disc is in the neck, the pain will be felt in the neck, shoulders, and arms. Pain is often felt on one side of the body. Usual symptoms of a herniated disc include:

• Numbness or tingling in surrounding muscles and nerves
• Burning or radiation in surrounding muscles and nerves
• Muscular weakness
• Impaired movement
• Sciatica
• Loss of bladder and bowel control (in severe cases)

Sometimes symptoms aren’t notable at first, and other times they can be difficult to attribute to a specific injury. If you consistently have the symptoms of a herniated disc and feel that your body just feels a little “off”, it’s important to get it checked, as even after treatment, a herniated disc can take time to heal. Dr. Raymond Semente, a St. James Chiropractor, has experience helping patients with herniated discs and other related concerns and can help you determine the root cause of your symptoms.

How can a St. James chiropractor treat it?

Regular exercise, good posture, strengthening your core, increasing flexibility, and maintaining a healthy weight are all important components of preventing a herniated disc. However, once a rupture or tear in a disc occurs, professional treatment is often needed.

A chiropractor can uniquely treat a herniated disc by utilizing gentle spinal adjustments that allow the body to heal itself. A chiropractor can perform a physical examination that includes evaluating your entire spine and range of motion to determine the nature of the injury. They can then use spinal manipulation to help one’s musculoskeletal structure be in proper alignment, as well as spinal joint adjustments to address the specific components of the herniated disc.

If you feel you have suffered a herniated disc injury and are looking for a St. James Chiropractor, contact Dr. Raymond Semente, who has over thirty years of experience in the field.

What is Spinal Manipulation?

Spinal manipulation, also referred to as spinal manipulative therapy, or a chiropractic adjustment, is a technique frequently used by chiropractors, including Dr. Raymond Semente, a St. James Chiropractor. Spinal manipulation is designed to reduce inflammation, relieve joint pressure, and treat a variety of health conditions, including back pain, headaches, and neck pain. The technique involves practitioners applying a short, quick, controlled thrust to a joint of the spine which often results in a cracking sound or popping noise commonly associated with a chiropractic adjustment. There are many different specific techniques that practitioners of spinal manipulation can use, but they all involve a manipulation to the vertebrae. Spinal manipulation is often confused with spinal mobilization, (a different technique used by chiropractors), which is a lower velocity manipulation.

Dr. Raymond Semente, a St. James Chiropractor, employs spinal manipulation, as well as other chiropractic techniques, to address a variety of health concerns. Click here to learn more about how Dr. Semente specifically uses spinal manipulation to help his patients.

How Can Spinal Manipulation Help You?

 

A St. James chiropractor can use spinal manipulation and gentle spinal adjustments to help the body heal itself. The goal of a chiropractic adjustment is to reduce the subluxation (altered position of the vertebrae) and realign the joints, which restores the bodies normal nerve function, allowing the body to heal itself. This technique can be used to address a multitude of injuries and health conditions, including the following:

• Migraines and tension headaches
• Fibromyalgia
• Back pain
• Neck pain
• Herniated disc
• Sciatica
• Chronic pain

Spinal manipulation also provides a number of benefits, such as reducing stress or anxiety, improving range of motion and flexibility, improving the immune system, decreasing flexibility, and reducing dependency on pain relief drugs.
If you are suffering from a medical condition that you think spinal manipulation can address, contact Dr. Raymond Semente, a St. James Chiropractor. He can perform a physical examination, evaluate your spine and range of motion, speak to you about past injuries and treatments, measure your muscle strength, and perform other tests to determine if spinal manipulation can help you.

Nobody ever wants to be involved in a car accident.  The pain that you may experience as a result of an accident can be unbearable and greatly diminish your quality of life.  Dr. Semente, a chiropractor in St. James, can help correct this issue.  By providing top quality chiropractic care, you can be sure that your pain will be taken care of.

Chiropractic Care After A Car Accident

What Is Chiropractic Care?

 

After being in a car accident, there may be lingering injuries you experience.  Before determining if chiropractic care is the best way to deal with your injuries, you need to know what it is.  The main goal of Dr. Semente, a St. James Chiropractor, is to ensure your body is in proper alignment. When there are spinal or other alignment issues, this leads to the pain and discomfort you are feeling.  By returning your body to proper alignment, healing of injuries can occur without the need for medication, surgery, or other treatment methods.

Injuries After A Car Accident

 

There are a variety of injuries that can occur in a car accident, all depending on the severity of the crash.  Broken bones and bruises are often common. You may also suffer from lower back pain, making it very difficult to move around.  Whiplash is also an injury frequently associated with car accidents.  If you have been in an accident that forced your head to be violently jerked back and forth, you are at risk for this type of injury.  Though not life-threatening, whiplash should be taken care of to alleviate some of the pain your experiencing. Other symptoms of whiplash you may suffer from include:

• Neck stiffness.
• Limited range of motion in your neck.
• Headaches.
• Tingling or numbness in the arm.  
• Dizziness.

Spinal Manipulation With A Chiropractor in St. James

 

If you’ve been in a car accident, you can see Dr. Semente to treat your ailments.  Being a chiropractor in St. James, he may use spinal manipulation as a means of alleviating your pain.  This process involves applying forces of pressure along your back and spine to realign the affected area after the car accident.  Many times, you may hear a large popping sound during treatment as the bulging areas are forced back into place. One session will usually not be enough, as a few weeks of treatment is typically necessary to have the fully intended effect.  One study showed that after 6 weeks of sessions, over 70% of patients experienced reductions of pain. Chiropractic care is a non-invasive form of treatment with limited complications when performed by a specialist, so be sure to contact Dr. Semente if you’ve been injured after a car accident.

Being in a car accident can be a traumatic experience.  Trying to live with injuries that took place as a result of this incident can make matters even worse.  If you’ve been experiencing neck or back pain after your accident, chiropractic care could be the answer.  Dr. Semente, a chiropractor in St. James, has the knowledge and experience to put you back on the path to a pain-free life. If you’d like to learn more about how chiropractic care can help you, don’t hesitate to reach out.