Dr. Pete Lazarnick "Dr. Pete": Blog

One of the most common ailments we see at Dr. Peter Lazarnick’s (Dr. Pete) Carrollton, Georgia chiropractic office is a stiff neck. While there are numerous causes of cervical pain, the most common are overuse and traumatic injuries. Our minimally invasive and non-addictive treatments include adjustments to the cervical spine and therapeutic exercise, which will help strengthen soft tissues that have been worn down. Injured patients should not attempt to devise their own therapeutic exercises, but we find that people are likelier to seek help when they have some idea of what to expect. The exercises we prescribe are meant to gradually increase the neck’s flexibility, as well as its strength. Some of these include slowly bending the neck in different directions, rotating it, and holding it in different positions, such as with the ear pressed against the shoulder. Over time, patients would increase the duration of their stretches and their number of repetitions each session. As the neck ...

A healthy lifestyle is essential to preventing back injuries. At the Carrolton chiropractic practice of Dr. Peter Lazarnick (Dr. Pete) we recommend physical therapy as part of our rehabilitative program. Patients should always seek guidance from a professional when determining what work-out routines are safe for them, but there are some basic aspects of core strengthening that form a common basis for therapy. Our abdominal muscles go several layers deep. The outermost one, the rectus abdominus, is the one people refer to as “abs,” but it has the least important role in stabilizing the spinal column. Beneath it are two layers of oblique muscles, which help the spinal column to pivot, and the transverse abdominis, which binds the organs. There are several muscles that link the vertebrae together and need to be kept flexible, the largest of which are the multifidus muscles. Some of the pelvic muscles can also be considered part of the core because they attach to the lower spine and help t...

Chiropractic isn’t just about spinal adjustments; it’s about treating musculoskeletal ailments in a way that is non-invasive and low-risk. At Dr. Pete’s Carrollton office, we do a lot of work with soft tissues, helping athletes to maintain or regain comfortable function. But many of the injuries in sports medicine are preventable, which is why we want to teach our patients to avoid overuse. Not all muscle injuries occur in a single, dramatic incident. Overuse can cause muscle fibers to fray slowly, and although this makes large breaks likelier, an athlete will usually feel pain or weakness before that. A person can suffer from overuse even if they only work out occasionally if they do so during overly long sessions. This is why we encourage patients to work out daily in periods of about thirty minutes instead of trying to cram all their exercise into the weekend. We also encourage athletes to do different activities on different days, allowing them to build up different muscle groups a...