Tampa Chiropractor Approaches Wellness Differently

Pain is a result of inflammation. This can be from a traumatic incident (a fall, sports injury, an auto accident, etc). When your body experiences trauma, it will protect itself by tightening down the connective tissue (also known as Fascia). When your connective tissue is tight, it causes restrictions to all areas of your body. Tightened connective tissue will affect your muscles, tendons, joints and all areas of your body which results in pain. Our therapy works on your connective tissue. Our techniques help in releasing the tightened connective tissue. When connective tissue is released, your body including muscles, tendons and joints will begin to heal itself. Chiropractic adjustments can assist in healing, however, you don't have to be adjusted. If you are requesting an adjustment, Dr. Cobb will want to release your connective tissue before he will adjust you. How can your body be ready for an adjustment if it's wound up so tight from an injury?

Please have your paperwork completed prior to your appointment or come early to complete it so that it won't interfere with your scheduled exam/consult and treatment. Come to your appointment in comfortable clothing. It is difficult to treat patients in jeans or work attire. We have clinic gowns available, however, most patients feel most comfortable in loose clothing. Ladies prefer to wear a t-shirt, sports bra or tank top and yoga shorts. Men typically wear a t-shirt and athletic pants. We recommend that you refrain from using heat prior to your visit as heat increases inflammation which results in pain. The use of heat will interfere with your recovery.

When you enter our building, you will be greeted by our friendly staff. Your paperwork will be reviewed by Dr. Cobb prior to your exam/consultation. It is important to provide as much detail about your injuries/illness so that Dr. Cobb can make an accurate assessment. He carefully reviews your Health History and Symptom Survey so be sure to provide as much information as possible. After your consultation, he will discuss his treatment in detail and make recommendations.

We are a little different than most chiropractic clinics. Dr. Cobb will not give you an adjustment right away. Some patients think they want an immediate adjustment, however, based on his experience, Dr. Cobb feels that this is where most chiropractic injuries occur. He wants to learn your body by testing your range of motion, looking for any obvious asymmetries. He will check your muscle tone searching for areas of inflammation and tightness. When you go into the treatment room, that's when all the magic happens. Dr. Cobb uses a specific technique, Connective Tissue Release (CTR), to help with your healing. During your exam/consult, he will provide you with the details of this therapy. Most patients come out feeling relaxed and amazed with the pain relief that they have been seeking. Some patients won't realize the benefits until later in the day or even overnight. We recommend a minimum of 3 treatments. Most patients report pain relief with increase in mobility within 3 treatments. Some patients report immediate relief. Some patients report that it took several sessions for their pain to resolve. Everyone's body and injuries are unique so there's no cookie cutter approach. It will take more than 1 or 2 treatment sessions for an acute injury or chronic pain. Realistically, a pain that you've been dealing with for months or years will take a good amount of treatment to resolve. Please clearly communicate with Dr. Cobb when he asks for your feedback so he knows how to adjust to your needs. Many patients do not want an adjustment after their treatment. Some patients will request one after two or three treatments.

If you've had chronic issues, as soon as you're feeling something isn't right, don't wait. Seek help because you could easily make it worse. Many patients who wait until they experience limited mobility means they waited too long.

If you have an acute situation (unbearable pain with a recent onset typically from a trauma), you need to be treated right away! Don't wait so that the healing process can begin immediately. Sometimes your body goes into shock after a trauma to your body. At the time, you don't feel pain but it will come after the shock wears off. This is very typical. The sooner you recognize that it's not normal for your body to endure injuries from a bad fall, an athletic injury or an auto injury unscathed, the quicker you'll make a move towards proper treatment.

If you have resolved your acute or chronic issue from a series of treatments, once a month maintenance would certainly not hurt.

Absolutely! Quite often we have patients come in for headache relief. There are many reasons for patients experiencing headaches or migraines. Reasons can be as simple as dehydration, or more complicated when it's caused from whiplash or hormonal fluctuations from the stages of menopause.

Athletic injuries or injuries from being active are very common. Dr. Cobb is a Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician through the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians. He has extensive training and experience working with athletes and individuals who may not be athletes but are very physically active. These individuals push their bodies with repetitive, intense motion through training and performance. This often leads to fatigue, declining performance and potential injury. Unless there are broken bones, internal bleeding, most athletic injuries are soft tissue injuries involving your muscles, joints, tendons and connective tissue. As an athlete, Chiropractic and CTR are essential to have in order for your body to heal from soft tissue injuries. If it's not an injury, all the intense training and performance can cause a decline in performance due to tightening of connective tissue. Chiropractic and CTR addresses these issues where you can return and even improve your optimal performance.

If you are experiencing any type of soft tissue injury (typically injuries that are not life-threatening and don't involve broken bones) OR if you are feeling muscle, tendon or joint pain, AND you want your body to participate in the healing (meaning no drug use), it's time to see a chiropractor. Your primary doctor or general practitioner will prescribe muscle relaxers and/or pain medication. This is a great route when your pain is acute and you just can't function. Pain meds will mask or dull the pain. You start to feel better which means you think you're ok to start regular activities. It becomes dangerous when you are really not better and you haven't given it time to heal so you can easily reinjure yourself. Another greater danger lies with overuse and abuse of pain medication. It is dangerous because medications (especially opiods) can become very addicting. We have a national crisis with opioid use/abuse because they are highly addictive and extremely difficult to come off of. Additionally, excessive use of over the counter pain medication, although not addicting like opioids, these medications can destroy your liver. When it gets to this point, many other health problems can arise. Chiropractic and CTR are therapies that allows your body to heal without the dependency on pain medications.

Nutrition is key with to our overall wellness. You are what you eat! There are so many foods that are highly processed that cause inflammation. Inflammation results in pain and deterioration of tissue. Our whole body is made out of tissue. Think what's going on inside your body if you're constantly inflamed. If your diet is high in sugar and carbs, this will result in many health issues. If you're not feeling it now, you will as you age. Plant based foods are strongly suggested because these types of foods give you necessary nutrients and they do not cause inflammation. Healthcare professionals, no matter what discipline, all agree that your diet has a direct correlation to your health. With chiropractic, if you are in poor health and you have weak muscles and bones, an adjustment may help initially, however, you will continue to need treatment because you have to address what's going on inside your body in order to achieve pain relief. Chiropractic treatments can help temporarily with your issue, however, you will continue to have these issues if you don't fix what's on the inside…specifically what you're feeding your body.

Dr. Cobb loves to challenge patients by asking them to cut out excessive sugar from your diet (carbonated drinks, cereals, cakes, cookies, ice cream, anything foods high in sugar). Try this for 2 weeks and see what a difference it makes. A high sugar/carbs diet will keep your body inflamed which means your body stays in pain. Think about what it's doing inside your body that you can't see. Keep in mind that your first few days can be extremely difficult. Your body may react with more pain and headaches from sugar/carbs withdrawals. Stay hydrated to help curb these withdrawals. Typically, after the third day, you should start to feel the positive effects. All of our patients who have seriously tried this have reported results such as less pain, more mobility, increased energy, lower blood pressure and lower blood sugar readings, increased memory and awareness, etc. These patients are so blown away that they end up making permanent dietary changes. And even if they have to have a sugar fix periodically, they really see how it affects their bodies and it just reinforces the need to limit your sugar intake for a healthier you. Do the research: the number one food for cancer is…SUGAR! You are what you eat!

In Florida, an individual who has been involved in an accident, regardless of fault, has 14 days to see a medical professional. If you wait after 14 days, your auto insurance will not pay for medical bills related to the automobile accident. Therefore, it is essential to at least get examined since pain from an accident doesn't always come immediately.

Unless you are experiencing life-threatening injuries, have broken bones or open wounds, it is highly recommended to seek a chiropractor or go to a Walk-In clinic instead of the hospital. The ER (hospital or ER Urgent Care) fees for auto accidents are extremely high. We have had patients who go to the ER and receive bills from $15000-$30000k for a 1-3 hr visit. Your auto insurance only pays $10000 in medical (unless you opt for more coverage). These patients end up in a medical-financial mess because they can't pay their bill. In addition, the hospital doesn't treat soft tissue injuries. When you are discharged, they will suggest treatment with a chiropractor, physical therapist or auto injury clinic to help with your soft tissue injuries. If you exhaust your auto insurance benefits at the hospital, your treatment at these facilities will have to be paid out of pocket.

Many accident victims are in shock right after an accident. So they may think they are not hurt and are physically ok. Typically, inflammation peaks at around 72 hours post trauma. Inflammation equals pain. Immediately after an accident, if you're not feeling pain, don't assume you're ok. Make an appointment with a chiropractor and get checked out. Chiropractors and Physical Therapists work on soft tissue injuries. At Cobb Rehab & Wellness, we offer Chiropractic and Physical Therapy. We have treated thousands of auto accident victims. For those who are serious with their recovery, we are the clinic you want to go to. A good majority of our patients that come to us for pain relief were previously involved in an auto accident (or many accidents). They didn't take their treatment seriously or thought their injuries were so minor they didn't need treatment. Years go by and they're struggling with pain. Many patients report pain so severe that it interferes with their work and daily living. Don't be one of these patients! If you're involved in an auto accident and you think you aren't hurt, it's better to get evaluated and seek necessary treatment. And take those treatments seriously!