Donald Backstrom, D.C.

Patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) have hand and wrist symptoms that range from tingling and numbness to pain and weakness. Some occupations see more of this disease than others. For example, workers who use vibratory hand tools and those who engage in repetitive flexion motions of the wrist seem to be at greatest risk. [..]

Fibromyalgia affects 1-3% of the United States population and approximately the same percentage of the population is affected by chronic fatigue syndrome, which is a closely related disease. Up to 18 million adults in any given year report these symptoms, making them a substantial public health problem. Women seem to be more affected than men.The [..]

Over the past few decades, chronic migraine headaches have increased dramatically (up ~60%) among the population in the United States. Most of this increase has occurred among adults younger than 45 years of age, and women are slightly more affected than men.One study showed that 80% of women and 70% of men reporting chronic migraine [..]

Scientists who have studied the architecture of the spine have concluded that it is meant for walking. This may come as a surprise since we humans do very little walking these days. Over the millennia,  our lives have moved from days filled with walking and searching for food to a largely sedentary existence. A good [..]

Whiplash injuries are a major public health problem. Not only do they cause significant pain and time off from work and leisure activities, there is also a general effect on quality of life. A study in the European Spine Journal compared female patients with whiplash of the neck to patients with low back pain and [..]

Carpal tunnel symptoms typically come on slowly. Day after day we are able to type at the computer with no problem and then one morning a little tingling in the fingers develops. We shake our hands, stretch the fingers, and try to go back to the keyboard. But inevitably the tingling continues and seems to [..]

Fibromyalgia is a complex disorder. It is complex because different systems of the body are affected, and treatments need to be both comprehensive and specific. Fibromyalgia overlaps with other diseases such as chronic fatigue syndrome, which shares many of its characteristics. The patient usually has general fatigue, and due to pain, may be impaired in [..]

The head is a large and heavy part of a person. In a child, the head can account for a quarter of their total weight. In the adult, the head weighs 10-14 pounds (about 4.5-6.3 kg), and this load has to be balanced by the strength of the neck muscles. In normal upright posture, there [..]

Like many health conditions, low back pain is a chronic problem. Patients with low back pain typically suffer on and off for years. Back pain seems to come on when we overexert or do something out of the ordinary, such as moving boxes or when returning to a sport we have not tried since our [..]

The short answer is yes. But let's look at how the neck is injured in whiplash and why a trauma from years earlier can produce symptoms today.Even in more moderate motor vehicle collisions with substantial car damage, symptoms rarely come on the day of the injury. When symptoms do occur immediately, this is a sign [..]