Conditions
Shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, feet and hands
Most people come to me for a back. A fair few stay for everything else. If it is a joint or a muscle and it has stopped you doing something, it is worth a conversation.
What people bring me
Shoulders. A shoulder that won't reach a seatbelt or a high shelf, and aches at night on that side.
Hips. Pain in the groin or the outside of the hip, stairs, and getting in and out of a car.
Knees. Sore going downhill or down stairs, stiff after sitting through a film.
Ankles and feet. An ankle that has never been right since it was turned, and heel pain that is worst on the first few steps in the morning.
Hands and wrists. Numbness or tingling that wakes you, and thumbs that hurt to grip with.
Feet that need support. Custom orthotics, when I think they will change something rather than because you asked for them.
What I'd look at first
Limbs rarely misbehave on their own. A sore knee often involves a hip or a foot; a shoulder often involves a neck and a rib. So I examine the joint that hurts and the ones either side of it, and I watch you use it — walking, reaching, standing up — before I decide anything.
When it isn't chiropractic
A joint that is hot, swollen and won't bear weight, a limb that changed shape after a fall, a wound that isn't healing, or several joints becoming painful at once needs your family doctor or an emergency department, not an appointment with me. Some things also need a surgeon's opinion before anything conservative is worth trying, and I'll tell you when I think that is the case.
Not sure it's something I treat?
Call me on 905.492.4470 and describe it. Two minutes on the phone saves you booking an appointment you didn't need.