Our Techniques & Services

In addition to providing excellent chiropractic and massage therapy care, we take great pride in providing the best complementary and alternative health care therapeutic modalities to our patients.  Below is a sampling of the different services and techniques we offer at St. Albert Chiropractic & Massage Wellness Centre.


Chiropractic

From back and neck pain to headaches; from sports injuries to wellness check ups – millions of people around the world have experienced the benefits of chiropractic care. Chiropractic care can offer a complete wellness approach to maintaining a healthy lifestyle without the use of drugs or surgery.

Chiropractic is a primary health care profession concerned with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disorders of the neuromusculoskeletal system. The effects of these disorders on general health and quality of life are the prime focus of a chiropractic doctor.

Chiropractic care facilitates the body’s natural ability to heal itself. Every chiropractor has his own way of practicing, of blending techniques with a personal touch. Dr. Dan Cooper practices hands-on manual therapy including spinal adjustments. An adjustment is a specific force applied to a 'misaligned' or locked joint to correct its position and movement. Correcting the joint function will free spinal motion, reduce the associated muscle tension, and remove nerve interference. Chiropractic treatment offers you hands-on, effective treatments which can help to relieve your back, neck, and extremity pain. Chiropractic treatments do not include surgery or medications, which means you will be offered alternatives which are non-invasive, hands-on and effective.
For cases where manual adjusting is not appropriate or where the patient is uncomfortable with this technique, Dr. Dan utilizes alternative techniques to manage patients’ conditions. Gentle joint mobilizations are also used, as well as soft tissue techniques such as trigger point therapy and myofascial release techniques. Furthermore, Dr. Dan uses low level laser therapy as another alternative. This state-of-the-art technology blends with the chiropractic philosophy by supplying the body with laser energy which assists the body to heal itself naturally. Overall, there is a chiropractic technique suited to every individual’s comfort level.

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Massage Therapy

Massage therapy offers a natural conservative treatment approach that relieves musculoskeletal pain for many patients. Our office provides specific massage and muscular therapy that is tailored to meet the patient's condition and injury. Massage helps to ease stress and muscular tension, relieve pain from injuries, and speed healing from certain acute and chronic conditions. Tense muscles may also compress blood vessels and stretch nerves, restricting blood flow and causing pain. As the affected area is massaged, the muscles gradually release their strangle hold on the irritated nerves, and the pain eases. The same mechanisms also make massage helpful in the recovery process for an injured muscle.

The number of visits you'll require with a registered massage therapist can vary widely. If you are using massage for stress relief, you may want to visit a therapist as often as once a week. For acute injuries, the number of treatments will depend on the nature of your condition. Often massage therapy is prescribed by MD's and DC's to complement conventional care.

Health Benefits of Massage

Massage therapy is believed to positively affect everything from circulation to the body's metabolism. The benefits of massage therapy may include increasing blood circulation, reducing swelling, relaxing muscles, relieving muscle pain and spasms, and aid in recovery and range of motion after injuries.

Chiropractic and massage therapy are both a form of regular preventative health-care maintenance.

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Motor Vehicle Injuries

If you have been involved in a motor vehicle accident we can help make the process easier. Did you know you only have 10 days to file a medical claim? Chiropractors are legislated as primary contact health care professionals in every province in Canada. This means that patients can consult them directly, so no referral is required. We can submit all the paper work to your auto insurance provider, and design a specific treatment plan to try to get you back to your pre-accident status as quick as possible.

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Sports Injuries

Chiropractors undergo extensive training in the area of sports injury management, treatment, and prevention. They specialize in treating all regions of the body including shoulders, knees, elbows, wrist/hand, hips, etc. for both injury management as well as performance enhancement. While attending University in Australia Dr. Dan worked for an elite Aussie rules footy team along side orthopaedic surgeons, sports physicians, medical doctors, chiropractors, physiotherapists, and massage therapist. It was during this time where he gained first hand clinical experience dealing with and rehabilitating sever sporting injuries.

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WCB Injuries

As a health care provider, chiropractors play a major role in the health and well-being of workers who are injured on the job. Reporting to WCB-Alberta within 48 hours of providing treatment or assessment is a key component of the worker's claim. As a Chiropractor we can submit your first reports, progress reports and all invoices.

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Direct Third Party Insurance Billing

If your insurance company will take direct billing (assignment) from us we will be glad to file directly to your insurance company. We accept auto accident, workers compensation, personal injury and most health insurance plans. Most benefit plans cover some or all of our services.  Many patients pay directly for care, as they discover chiropractic to be extremely cost-effective and affordable. To learn more about our payment options for chiropractic and massage care, you can call our office directly.

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Physical Therapy Modalities

To aid in the treatment of neuromuscular and musculoskeletal injuries and conditions it is often beneficial to utilize physiotherapy modalities in conjunction with spinal manipulation and therapeutic massage. There are many different forms of modalities in use today for the treatment of acute and chronic injury.  A few of the most commonly ones we use are listed and their benefits explained. 

  • Low Level Laser Therapy
  • Cryotherapy
  • Heat
  • Myofascial Release Therapy
  • Theraputic Ultrasound
  • Electrical Muscle Stimulation
  • TENS Units
  • Traction
  • Therapeutic Exercise
  • Corrective Exercises
  • Custom Foot Orthotics
  • Inversion Therapy
  • Whole Body Vibration Therapy
  • Neuromuscular Re-Education

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Low Level Laser Therapy

Therapeutic Low Level LaserTherapy treatments provide patients with a safe, effective and painless therapy, with results which are often immediate with no side effects. It uses the body’s own natural healing systems to relieve pain, increase joint mobility, increase tissue integrity, and promote cell regeneration.

Therapeutic Laser Treatment offers treatment for both acute and chronic pain conditions, including arthritic pain. Within a short period of time, patients who have been incapacitated or restricted by pain for years may regain the active and healthy lifestyles they knew before their injury or illness occurred.

How Does It Work?

Therapeutic lasers work by supplying energy to the body in the form of billions of photons of light. The body absorbs this laser light and transforms it into chemical energy, which the body then uses to commence its own tissue repairs.

The biostimulating effect of laser therapy can:

  • Decrease pain
  • Decrease inflammation and swelling
  • Accelerate tissue healing
  • Reduce the formation of scar tissue from: cuts, scratches, burns, or post surgery
  • Enhance joint mobility
  • Repair damaged nerves
  • Bring numb areas back to life


What Conditions Can Laser Treat?

  • Neck Pain
  • Arthritis
  • Heel Pain
  • Shoulder Pain
  • Tennis/Golfer’s Elbow
  • Knee Pain
  • Tendonitis
  • Sprains & Strains
  • Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
  • Hip Pain
  • Wound Healing
  • Diabetic Ulcers
  • TMJ (Jaw) Pain

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Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy is the use of ice to reduce the temperature of tissues below the surface of the skin.  Cooling the skin’s surface constricts the blood vessels, numbs painful areas, and helps relax muscle spasms.  Cold reduces nerve transmission and provides temporary pain relief.  Ice is most often used to manage acute injuries or acute flare-ups of a chronic condition.  Cooling the injured tissues is effective in reducing and preventing inflammation.  Ice should be applied to the injured area several times a day during the initial stages of an injury.
            Benefits of ice:

  1. Helps reduce swelling and inflammation
  2. Numbs affected area to reduce pain
  3. Reduces muscle spasms
  4. Inexpensive and can be self-applied

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Heat
Superficial heat is used to help raise the temperature of the soft tissue directly below the surface of the skin.  Heat enlarges the blood vessels below the skin’s surface, relaxes tissues and can temporarily relieve pain.  Heat helps to relax muscles in spasm and to temporarily relieve the symptoms associated with chronic pain and muscle tightness.  Using heat on tissues experiencing long term spasm or irritation is an easy way to increase flexibility, range of motion, and promote increased circulation to speed the healing process.
            Benefits of heat:

  1. Helps increase circulation
  2. Decreases muscle tension
  3. Reduces joint stiffness
  4. Prepares tissues for rehabilitation
  5. Inexpensive and widely available

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Myofascial Release Therapy
Myofascial release is one of the treatments used when dealing with the muscular component to an injury.  It is also used in the treatment of trigger points, which are areas of increased neurologic activity in muscle tissue that can cause secondary referral of pain.  Fascia is the interwoven connective tissue that surrounds the muscles and internal organs.  Fascia shrinks when it is inflamed, is slow to heal because of poor blood supply, and painful when inflamed because of its rich nerve supply.  Myofascial restrictions occur when the fascia is disrupted or stretched by an injury, no matter how minor.  Myofascial release removes restrictions that impede movement.
            Benefits of Myofascial Release:

  1. Increase flexibility and range of motion
  2. Eliminate trigger points and associated pain referral
  3. Relieve nerve compression or entrapment
  4. Restore postural alignment
  5. Stimulate blood flow to aid in toxin removal and muscle nourishment
  6. Decrease scar tissue

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Therapeutic Ultrasound
Ultrasound is a treatment modality used by a wide range of health care specialists.  Sound penetrates solids very well and so does ultrasound.  This means it can penetrate below the skin surface into injured tissues, such as an inflamed tendon, and can dissipate its energy as heat to help speed the healing process.  The benefits of heat from ultrasound include promotion of muscle relaxation, increased local metabolism, reduction of pain by sedating nerve endings,  and it helps reabsorb blood or lymph that has escaped into surrounding tissue due to injury. Ultrasound waves also have non-thermal benefits resulting from the vibration of molecules within the tissue. These effects include increases in the flexibility of connective tissues such as joint capsules, ligaments, and tendons.  It helps break up adhesions and scar tissue, and there is an increase in cellular membrane permeability that helps to accelerate healing.  Ultrasound can also stimulate the growth of new collagen, which means it can help rebuild injured tissues.

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Electrical Muscle Stimulation
Electrical stimulation uses an electrical current to cause a single muscle or a group of muscles to contract. By placing electrodes on the skin in various locations, contraction of the appropriate muscle fibers takes place. The intensity of the current can be adjusted to allow for a forceful or gentle muscle contraction. Electrical stimulation can maintain the health of the muscle by promoting an increase in blood flow, providing nutrients to the soft tissue. It decreases fibrotic changes, strengthens healthy muscle, helps prevent or reverse disuse atrophy, maintains or improves mobility and can promote peripheral circulation. There is also a relaxing effect that occurs as the muscle being contracted fatigues.  There are various types of electrical stimulation in use today and the type used and its specific application will depend on the condition being treated.

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T.E.N.S Unit
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation is a type of nerve stimulation designed to control pain. TENS units vary in their ability to control parameter ranges of amplitude, frequency and pulse width. The units are small; battery powered, and light weight. They are designed to provide sensory and not motor stimulation.  This is important to note when using TENS units because motor stimulation will initiate or produce muscle contractions in cases of severe pain that may aggravate the condition.  Electrodes are placed in specific locations on the skin surrounding the area of pain and are connected to the TENS unit.  TENS units are designed to be used at home, as part of a comprehensive treatment program designed for pain management.

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Traction
Traction is the therapeutic use of manual or mechanical tension created by a pulling force to produce a combination of distraction and gliding to relieve pain and increase tissue flexibility. Indications for traction therapy include, but are not limited to, extremity pain or tingling that is temporarily relieved with manual traction, spinal nerve root impediment due to a bulging, herniated or protruding disc, decreased sensation that temporarily improves with manual traction, increased muscle tone that is reduced with manual traction, muscle spasms that are causing nerve root impingement and general hypo-mobility of the lumbar or cervical spinal region.
            Benefits of Traction:

  1. Separates and stretches spinal segments and/or extra-spinal joint surfaces
  2. Relieves the effects of compression on articular surfaces that are due to muscle spasm or other compressive factors
  3. Reduces the circumference of the intervertebral discs and thus aids in restoring its position to one that allows for normal biomechanics
  4. Relieves the compression effects of foraminal distortion, as with nerve root encroachment
  5. Promotes distraction and gliding of joint facets
  6. Relieves muscle spasm
  7. Dissipates edema or congestion in an area, especially when applied intermittently
  8. Stretches fibrotic tissues and breaks adhesions
  9. Triggers proprioceptive reflexes
  10. Temporarily immobilizes or splints parts

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Therapeutic Exercise
Therapeutic exercise incorporates a broad range of activities intended to improve strength and flexibility, increase range of motion and functional capacity, and can improve cardiovascular fitness. It will help restrengthen muscles and other soft tissues following injury and will decrease the potential for recurrence. If you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident, sports injury, or just through every day activities, it is essential that you begin an active, structured exercise regimen as soon as possible to decrease the likelihood of future complications due to the injury.
Exercise is one of my first recommendations when it comes to health and longevity. This is primarily due to the many "anti-aging" effects exercise provides. Many people believe that weight gain, weakness and stiffness are inevitable with age. However, there is plenty of research indicating that much of the decline attributed to aging can actually be attributed to sedentary lifestyles and that regular exercise will help people remain healthy and independent well into their later years. In fact, people who are physicall fit, eat a healthy, balanced diet and take nutritional supplements can present with biological ages of 10 to 20 years younger than their true chronological age. Not quite the fountain of youth, but who wouldn't like to look and feel 10 to 20 years younger! The sooner you begin exercising, the sooner you will begin to receive numourous health-related benefits of exercise.

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Corrective Exercises

We teach our patients’ special "blueprint" exercises to help strengthen and correct their own unique problem. These exercises can be performed in the comfort of your own home and can improve the effectiveness of your spinal correction. In addition to skeletal misalignment, muscles and connective tissues can be out of place or strained by improper alignment and use. Specific exercises and stretches can help your body stay in balance and in health.

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Orthotic_colour_feet.jpgCustom Foot Orthotics

Your feet have a direct impact on the rest of your body. Like the foundation of a house, your feet support the weight of everything above them. When a small problem develops in your feet, the subtle change in the way you walk will cause a chain reaction of adjustments in your posture and walking mechanics. These changes can put stress on joints higher up in your body, and lead to more serious problems.
Custom orthotics helps reduce pain and discomfort by restoring the normal balance and alignment of your body and gently correcting foot abnormalities. They are a pleasure to wear as they gently reduce problems associated with pressure points, muscle strain and abnormal forces on the ankles, knees, hips and spine. Over time, custom orthotic support will bring you relief from fatigue and pain, allowing you to enjoy daily activities comfortably no matter where your feet may take you.

How Would I Know If I Had A Problem?

The symptoms of faulty foot mechanics can include any one of the following:

  • Localized foot pain
  • Bunions, calluses, hammer toes
  • Arch / heel pain
  • Leg / knee pain
  • Hip or back pain – even neck pain
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Inversion Therapy

Inversion therapy puts gravity to work for you by placing your body in line with the downward force of gravity. Using your own body weight as a natural form of traction, inversion elongates the spine by increasing the space between the vertebrae, relieving the pressure on discs, ligaments and nerve roots. 

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Whole Body Vibration Therapy

Whole Body Vibration Therapy was first developed in the Soviet Union to condition Soviet cosmonauts to withstand the effects of weightlessness in outer space for months at a time. It is used in the medical field for the treatment and prevention of a variety of illnesses, injuries, and adverse health conditions.

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Neuromuscular Re-Education

Neuromuscular re-education are exercise instructions designed to improve and/or maintain balance, coordination, kinesthetic sense, posture, and/or proprioception for functional activities.

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Hair Anaylisis

The body contains 29 essential elements and a possible 8 heavy metals, hair analysis tests can show you what elements are out of balance in your body. Hair is used for mineral testing because of its very nature. Hair is formed from clusters of specialized cells that make up the hair follicle. During the growth phase the hair is exposed to the internal environment such as blood, lymph and extra-cellular fluids. As the hair continues to grow and reaches the surface of the skin its outer layers harden, locking in the metabolic products accumulated during the period of formation. This biological process provides a blueprint and lasting record of mineral status and nutritional metabolic activity that has occurred during this time.

The precise analytical method of determining the levels of minerals in the hair is a highly sophisticated technique: when performed to exacting standards and interpreted correctly, it may be used as a screening aid for determining mineral deficiencies, excesses, and/or imbalances. Hair Trace Mineral Analysis (HTMA) provides you or your healthcare professional with an ECONOMICAL and SENSITIVE indicator of the long-term effects of diet, stress, toxic metal exposure and their effects on your mineral balance that is difficult to obtain through other clinical tests.

Minerals are involved in and are necessary for cellular metabolism, structural support, nerve conduction, muscular activity, immune functions, anti-oxidant and endocrine activity, enzyme functions, water and acid/alkaline balance and even DNA function.

Many factors can affect mineral nutrition, such as; food preparation, dietary habits, genetic and metabolic disorders, disease, medications, stress, environmental factors, as well as exposure to
heavy metals. Rarely does a single nutrient deficiency exist in a person today. Multiple nutritional imbalances however are quite common, contributing to an increased incidence of adverse health conditions.

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Natural Supplements

We provide specific recommendations on nutritional supplements and healthy food choices to enhance our patient’s return to optimal health. Do you know which supplements and vitamins are good for you? Do you know how these supplements and vitamins interact with one another?



Medical Disclaimer: All information on this site is of a general nature and is furnished for your knowledge and understanding only. This information is not to be taken as medical or other health advice pertaining to your specific health and medical condition.