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Monday 8:30am - 1pm 2pm - 6pm Tuesday 7:30am - 1pm 2pm - 4pm Wednesday 8:30am - 1pm 2pm - 6pm Thursday 9am - 1pm 3pm - 5:30pm Friday 8:30am - 1pm 2pm - 5:30pm

http://www.princegeorgechiropractor.com/

PG Family Chiropractic Inc., 3320 Massey Drive # 103, Prince George, BC (2026)

11/28/2025

Sciatica relief beyond the pill bottle

Yesterday a patient told me he felt no pain for the first time in three years.

One adjustment.

Three years of constant sciatica pain... gone after we addressed what was actually irritating his nerve instead of just covering it up with medication.

Usually it takes longer than that but sometimes when you find the source and remove the trigger, the body just responds. That's what it's designed to do when you give it the chance.

A massive study analyzing over 216 million US patients just confirmed what I've been observing in my Prince George practice for two decades.

Patients receiving chiropractic care for sciatica had 71% fewer opioid-related adverse events compared to conventional medical treatment. They also showed a 32% lower risk of receiving opioid prescriptions in the first place.

372,471 matched patients per treatment group. That's not a small clinical trial, that's population-level evidence.

Here's what happens in real life though.

A sciatica patient comes in after trying the medical route first. They managed their pain with medication until their body accommodated to it, and now they're just waiting for the next episode to hit. They know it's coming, they just don't know when. That uncertainty, that waiting... it affects everything.

We work differently. Find the area causing the sciatica - whether it's lumbar spine, sacroiliac joint, or a muscle issue like the piriformis - and we address that specific trigger. Adjust the spine so the nerve isn't irritated anymore, release the tight muscle, teach you how to stretch it properly at home so you're not dependent on office visits.

Take the irritation off the nerve and the pain goes away.

No medication needed.

Early in my practice I had a patient who worked at an auto parts store, dealt with sciatica constantly. We got it under control and kept him on maintenance care. One day he walked in smiling and told me his back hurt.

Confused me at first.

He explained he had to grab a starter from the bottom shelf in a tight corner, one of those awkward lifts that tests your back. Before we started working together? That awkward lift would've laid him up for two weeks. Unable to work, unable to play with his kids, unable to do anything but wait for the pain to subside.

This time he was sore for a couple hours and then fine. Back to his life, back to his family, back to work like nothing happened.

His body could handle the stress without breaking down completely. That's what proper function looks like.

Will this study change how the medical community views chiropractic?

Probably not.

We've had similar studies before. Economists have shown government officials we could save billions by fully integrating chiropractic into healthcare. Nothing changes at the institutional level.

But chiropractic has always been an in-the-trenches profession anyway. We win patients over one at a time, get them real results, and they tell the next person who's suffering. That's how we build trust, one person at a time.

BC has the highest prevalence of opioid prescriptions in Canada at 13.3%. The opioid crisis hit us particularly hard. For anyone facing that choice between chiropractic care and conventional medical treatment for sciatica, the research points to a clear path.

Chiropractic first, medication second, surgery last.

People's lives are busy, more so now than ever. You don't have time to be laid up for weeks. You have families to care for, work that depends on you, activities you want to enjoy with the people you love. Getting you back to your full life as quickly as possible with minimum disruption, that's what drives everything we do here.

The evidence is clear. Your body can heal when you address the source instead of just managing symptoms.

Like this if you've dealt with sciatica and want others to know there's an option beyond medication. Comment below if you've tried chiropractic for nerve pain - I'd love to hear what worked for you.

11/27/2025

Ignoring this could sideline your season.

I see it happen more often than you'd think.

The worst injuries aren't the ones that happen during a game. They're the ones nobody notices developing until it's too late.

As the official chiropractor for the Prince George Cougars and Kodiaks, I work with athletes who push their bodies hard every single day. Last week one of our players came in for his regular maintenance visit. Nothing hurt, everything felt fine to him. But when I assessed his right SI joint, it wasn't moving the way it should. His hip and lumbar spine were already starting to compensate for it.

He didn't feel anything yet. That's exactly the problem.

Compensation injuries develop quietly while your body tries to work around a joint that isn't functioning properly. There's no dramatic hit, no specific moment you can point to on game film. By the time the pain shows up, you've already developed altered motor control, delayed reflexes, and scar tissue in areas that shouldn't be under that kind of stress.

Your nervous system controls everything in your body. When you take a hit, your system has milliseconds to stabilize joints, fire protective reflexes, and distribute force away from vulnerable areas. If your nervous system is already compensating for something else, those protective responses are slower and less effective.

The research on proprioception supports this. Athletes receiving regular chiropractic care demonstrate improved sensory input and faster motor responses. When that control is optimized, your body can sense threats and react faster. It's twofold - increased range of motion because everything is working together, and increased control through the entire input-output feedback loop.

Those on maintenance care come in with minor tweaks that we address before they become real problems. Those who wait for a crisis come in unable to play. The difference isn't pain tolerance or toughness. It's how their nervous system was functioning when the injury happened.

About 90% of professional athletes use chiropractic care as part of their regular routine. Every NFL team has a team chiropractor performing 30 to 50 treatments weekly during the season. The NHL, MLB, and NBA have all integrated doctors of chiropractic as standard protocol. These organizations understand that health is a process, not an event.

That compensation pattern we caught last week? We fixed it in two visits. If we'd waited until it caused pain, we'd be looking at 8 to 12 visits over a month, and he'd probably miss games during playoffs.

Your body is either building resilience or building compensation patterns. There really isn't a neutral ground here.

The athletes who stay in the game longest aren't necessarily the ones with the highest pain tolerance. They're the ones who never let the silent problems become the loud ones. They understand that maintaining their system before it breaks down is what keeps them performing at their best.

Ever had an injury that seemed to come out of nowhere? Drop a comment if you've experienced this as an athlete. I'd love to hear your story.

11/26/2025

Ignoring recovery is costing you wins.

I notice something the moment an athlete walks into my office at Prince George Family Chiropractic.

They're minimizing how bad it really is. Your typical athlete thinks they should be back on the field in an hour, maybe a day. They heard something pop yesterday, so surely it should be fixed just as fast.

They don't acknowledge the healing process like they should.

I get it. I was a high-level wrestler at SFU on a scholarship. I've been on that side of the injury, convincing myself I could push through when my body was telling me otherwise.

But here's what changed my entire approach to helping athletes recover.

When a young hockey player sits in front of me, convinced they're fine to play, I don't argue with them about it. Instead, I get them to do a simple movement test. Squats. Jumping. Bend over and pick something up off the floor.

If there's a groan, a limp, a stagger when they do it... I point it out.

"You couldn't even complete that basic activity. Now you're gonna try to play a game of hockey?"

Then I ask the question that reframes the entire conversation.

"Are you gonna be an asset out there?"

Not "does it hurt?" Not "can you technically move?" Will you actually help your team or potentially cost them a game?

Usually, once you point out a couple of things, they understand. And that gives you a window to really get them focused on proper recovery, because they want to be an asset. They don't want to be out there as a liability to their teammates.

Once they understand that they need to be healthy to help their team, they're all in on the recovery process.

That's one massive difference I see with athletes compared to non-athletes... the motivation to do their home care and follow through with recovery plans is completely different when their team is counting on them.

Here's what people need to understand about sports injuries.

Being pain-free isn't the same as being performance-ready. When I'm assessing these athletes, I'm looking at basic movement dynamics. Comparing one side to the other. Lateral movement patterns. Some ballistic movements to see what's really going on beneath the surface.

Once we hit a fault in the movement pattern, we stop. There's no sense stressing the system more just to prove a point.

Research backs this up too. Athletes who seek care within seven days of injury recover an average of four days faster than those who delay treatment. That early intervention window matters because we can address movement restrictions before compensation patterns set in and create additional problems down the line.

And here's something critical that most people miss.

If the joint isn't moving fully, it can't rehab properly. You need contraction across the entire range of motion to truly stabilize a joint. Same thing with low backs... you cannot get a back properly rehabbed until it's moving fully through its range.

That's what we as doctors of chiropractic bring to sports recovery. Ensuring full segment-to-segment range of motion so that strengthening exercises and rehabilitation protocols can actually work the way they're designed to.

Let me show you what this looks like in practice.

Say I've got a hockey player with a shoulder injury. Maybe they've already seen a sports medicine doctor. Maybe an athletic therapist is doing strengthening exercises with them.

Shoulders are actually the easiest thing to assess for range of motion. I lift both elbows and see how high one goes compared to the other. The injured side is restricted. It doesn't give that full range of motion arc you need for performance.

I adjust the shoulder, moving the humerus in the glenoid fossa. Then I post-check immediately, and it's typical to see a 30% improvement in that range of motion second to second. Almost instant results.

The shoulder is a mono-articulation structure, so when you get that joint moving properly, the amount of increased range you can achieve with a single adjustment is incredible.

But here's where the athlete's role becomes absolutely critical to their recovery.

I've restored that range of motion in the moment. Now we need to prevent it from tightening back up, which is where shoulder stabilization exercises come in. Internal and external rotators. The rest of the rotator cuff complex.

And here's something I find consistently with shoulder injuries: weakness in the posterior shoulder. Everybody's strong up front from all the pushing movements. Not so much pulling back.

So we work the posterior shoulder heavily in the rehab protocol. Athletes who actually do these exercises stabilize much faster. If they don't do them, recovery takes much longer because the joint just doesn't hold as well as it could.

The shoulder sacrifices stability for motion by design. It's not as inherently stable as a hip joint. So muscle control becomes even more important for athletes returning to sport.

Now here's where things get interesting with sports injuries.

Sometimes the site of pain isn't where the actual problem lives. It's almost become cliche how common this pattern is in my practice.

An athlete comes in with knee pain. You focus your treatment on the knee and it's not really improving like it should. Why? Because every time they do something, that knee is still compensating for an ankle that doesn't work properly.

The decreased dorsiflexion in the ankle leads to increased wear and tear on the knee with every step, every jump, every pivot. So you have to drop down and address what's happening at the ankle first.

The same pattern plays out with low back issues. Lack of motion in the ankle leads to changes in biomechanics in the lumbar spine. Now you have a lumbar spine issue that won't truly resolve until you address what's happening downstream in the kinetic chain.

Or take cervical restrictions in the neck. A locked joint in the neck leads to changes in the trapezius muscle that feel more like a shoulder issue than a neck issue to the athlete.

Research shows that a 20% decrease in kinetic energy delivered from the hip and trunk to the arm requires a 34% increase in rotational velocity of the shoulder to generate the same force. That's a massive compensation that dramatically increases injury risk over time.

This is why the full kinetic chain matters in sports recovery. You can't just treat the site of pain and expect lasting results when the body works as an integrated system.

As the official doctor of chiropractic for the Prince George Cougars and Kodiaks, I work alongside athletic therapists and sports medicine doctors regularly. I'm not trying to be the only answer for these athletes. Different healthcare professionals bring different tools to the table.

My role is restoring full joint range of motion so that strengthening and rehabilitation can actually work effectively. The athletic therapist does daily reassessments and manages the rehab protocols. The sports medicine doctor manages the broader medical picture and coordinates overall care.

When an athlete needs co-management between multiple providers, we coordinate our approaches. Sometimes they'll need other healthcare professionals helping them get back to full function. With teams that have in-house athletic therapists, we track progress on a daily basis.

Once we identify what we're dealing with, we address it. I adjust the affected area, give them their home care instructions, and then depending on severity and injury type, we bring in whoever else needs to be involved in their recovery.

The key is getting that joint moving first, because you can strengthen all you want, but if the joint won't move through its full range, you're building stability on top of dysfunction. That's a recipe for re-injury down the road.

If you're an athlete dealing with an injury right now, here's what I want you to understand.

Don't wait to seek care. That seven-day window for beginning treatment makes a measurable difference in total recovery time according to the research.

Don't confuse pain-free with performance-ready. Ask yourself honestly: would you be an asset out there contributing to your team, or would you be compensating and potentially hurting your performance?

And understand that isolated treatment of just the painful area often misses the real underlying problem. If your knee isn't improving, the issue might actually be your ankle. If your shoulder won't stabilize, check your neck and thoracic spine mobility.

Recovery isn't just about making pain stop so you can get back out there. It's about restoring full function so you can perform at your best and actually help your team win rather than being someone they have to compensate for on the field.

That's the real difference between getting back on the field and being truly ready to compete at the level your team needs from you.

What's your experience with sports injuries and recovery? Have you ever pushed through thinking you were fine, only to realize later you weren't actually ready to perform? I'd love to hear your story in the comments.

11/24/2025

Chiropractor's winter back-saving secret

Every year after the first big snowfall here in Prince George, I see the same injury walk through my door.

Someone threw snow over their shoulder. Their back seized up. Now they can barely move.

The weight of the snow? That's not the problem.

It's the rotation.

Your spinal disc can handle serious compression... bending forward, lifting heavy things, even jumping. It's built for that.

But twist while you're loaded? The disc loses half its strength. Research shows those annular fibers that keep everything stable basically shut off during rotation, and that's when the damage happens.

One twisting motion while throwing snow → disc irritation, sciatica, back pain that lasts weeks.

And here's what catches people off guard:

Rest actually slows recovery down.

I know that sounds backwards. But controlled movement speeds up healing. Walking around your house, gentle stretches, intermittent ice... that's what helps the injury settle. Sitting on the couch for three days waiting for it to magically improve? That delays healing and can trigger degeneration you'll feel years later.

So what's the fix?

Push and throw instead of twist and throw.

That's it. Keep your torso straight, take smaller scoops when it's heavy, and when you feel that little tweak starting, stand up and walk it off before going back at it.

Because the spine you have at 60 is shaped by the injuries you deal with (or ignore) at 40.

If you're dealing with a shoveling injury right now, don't wait it out. Getting that segment moving properly again through adjustments and controlled movement prevents the long-term stiffness and degeneration that follows immobility.

We've got plenty of winter left... share this with someone who shovels, or comment below if you've ever felt that exact moment when your back decided it was done 👇

11/21/2025

Tension headaches stealing your family time?

As a doctor of chiropractic, I've spent nearly 20 years working with people dealing with tension headaches. They're the most common type we see: that pressure sensation across the forehead and temples, sometimes wrapping around to the back of the head.

And here's the part that gets me.

Tension headaches do more than cause physical discomfort. They steal your ability to be fully present for the people who matter most.

Here's what I've learned over nearly 20 years in practice: Your body doesn't create symptoms randomly. That pressure building across your temples is often your body's way of signaling that something in your daily patterns needs attention.

When someone comes into our Prince George practice with recurring tension headaches, I look at three areas:

How they're moving through their day. Posture at work, how they're holding stress in their neck and shoulders, repetitive strain patterns.

What they're putting in their body. Hydration levels, inflammatory foods, caffeine cycles that might be contributing.

How they're managing stress load. Because mental and emotional tension shows up physically, often in predictable ways.

Some people find relief through simple changes they can implement at home. Others benefit from chiropractic care to address specific structural patterns combined with lifestyle coaching. Every situation is different, which is why we focus on understanding what's happening for you specifically rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.

Health is a process. That's something I remind patients of regularly.

Getting back to being fully present for your family isn't about perfection. Your kids don't need you perfect. They need you there. Your partner doesn't need you to have everything figured out. They need you engaged, without that constant pressure stealing your patience and energy.

If tension headaches are costing you moments you can't get back, let's figure out what your body is trying to tell you. Give us a call at the office and we'll talk through what might be contributing.

Comment below: What do you notice makes your tension headaches better or worse? I'd be curious to hear what patterns you've noticed.

11/20/2025

That searing pain down your leg might not be a simple nerve issue. Often, it's a symptom of something deeper that's being missed, and ignoring it can lead to bigger problems down the road.

I see it every week here in Prince George. Patients walk in after months of failed treatments, completely frustrated and confused about why their "sciatica" won't heal.

The problem starts with the diagnosis itself.

Sciatica is a diagnosis, sure, but it doesn't tell you what's causing the problem. We use it to describe pain radiating down the back of the leg. Think of it like calling everything a "headache" without figuring out if it's tension, migraine, or something else entirely.

The biggest misunderstanding I run into is patients using "sciatica" like it explains what's wrong with them. The diagnosis doesn't tell you anything about the actual cause.

And that's where the skill of the examiner really comes into play.

I have to check if pain reproduces with pressure on the piriformis muscle. I evaluate motion in the lumbar spine and pelvis to see what's triggering the problem. Sometimes I use x-rays to assess for degenerative disc disease.

So many of my patients have been stretching their glutes, using tennis balls, doing everything they can to release that piriformis area. They had virtually no back pain so they were blindsided when I explained their low back was the real culprit.

When I tell patients their problem is coming from their lumbar spine despite having no back pain, I show them an anatomical model. Once they see that the nerve going down the back of their leg originates from the lumbar spine, the light bulb goes off.

It's an easy explanation once you understand the connection.

The other issue I see constantly is people calling any lower leg pain "sciatica." Pain on the front or side of the leg isn't sciatica. True sciatica is specific to pain radiating down the back of the leg.

From a chiropractic standpoint, it's very challenging to rehabilitate a joint that's not moving properly. My primary intervention focuses on releasing the lumbar spine, whether that's L4, L5, or sometimes the SI joint when that's the real trigger.

I get that spine segment moving better through chiropractic adjustment. Then I add the stretching exercises people are more familiar with from physical therapy.

You can't treat the joint, nerve, and muscle in isolation. They all affect each other. Without looking at it from that holistic standpoint, treatment becomes very challenging.

When I adjust the joint, the joint affects the nerve. The muscle can then provide stress across that joint and activate it through more complete range of motion. As the joint releases, range of motion increases, allowing the muscle to lengthen. As that muscle lengthens, we need to strengthen that new range too.

It's treating everything together.

Patients expecting quick fixes get disappointed. I expect to see improvement between one and two weeks, but full resolution takes longer depending on what we're dealing with.

Long-standing issues with degeneration lengthen the treatment process. Significant muscle weakness also extends recovery time. Unfortunately, quick fixes aren't possible when someone has been dealing with extensive problems for months or years.

If the muscle is the limiting factor, that's actually better news. Patients can manage that with home care. I give them exercises to strengthen and stretch, and as long as those get done consistently, people get better.

From a stretching standpoint, I target four main muscle groups: hamstring, glutes and piriformis, hip flexors, and psoas. One advantage of where we're at now is the abundance of information on exercise modifications. I give you a stretch, and if that doesn't quite work, we can alter it to target that tight corner you're dealing with.

Basic calisthenics help tremendously. Planking, squats, lunges, and modified lunges strengthen the legs. Glute bridging strengthens the torso and pelvic girdle.

These aren't revolutionary exercises. They work because they address the integrated system causing your symptoms.

As a doctor of chiropractic practicing in Prince George since 2005, I've learned that successful sciatica treatment requires proper diagnosis first, then integrated care that addresses joint mobility, nerve function, and muscle balance simultaneously.

People's lives are busy. They can't afford to be injured or take weeks off work. My goal is getting you back to your full life as quickly as possible with minimal disruption, using evidence-based approaches that actually address the root cause of your symptoms.

If you're dealing with leg pain that won't resolve, the first step is getting an accurate diagnosis of what's actually causing your symptoms. That makes all the difference in choosing the right treatment approach.

What's been your experience with leg pain? Have you been treating symptoms without understanding the real cause? Drop a comment below 👇

11/19/2025

Your health is a loaded backpack.

I've been a doctor of chiropractic for nearly 20 years at Prince George Family Chiropractic, and I see this pattern every single day. Someone walks through my door with low back pain that "started about two weeks ago" and when I examine them, the whole story unfolds differently.

Movement patterns compromised. Muscle mass decreased. Flexibility gone.

Then we talk more.

"How's your blood pressure?"

"Oh that's doing well... been on medication for three years now."

And right there, I see what's happening.

We've become so accustomed to managing chronic conditions that we've lost sight of what vibrant health actually feels like. When symptoms are controlled, we think we're healthy.

Here's what I want you to understand: medication plays a critical role in healthcare. Blood pressure management saves lives. Diabetes treatment prevents serious complications. These medical interventions are essential, and I'm grateful they exist for my patients who need them.

What I focus on as a doctor of chiropractic is something different.

While your medical doctor manages your conditions, I'm looking at the lifestyle factors that might be contributing to that heavy load you're carrying. Poor nutrition adding weight. Lack of movement making everything harder. Chronic stress piling on. Structural misalignment in your spine affecting how your body functions.

The patients I see carrying the heaviest loads are usually in their 40s. Managing children and aging parents simultaneously. Working demanding jobs. Grabbing whatever food is convenient because there's no time to cook.

Then they rake leaves on Saturday morning and their back goes out.

What they don't realize is that raking leaves didn't cause the problem. It was simply the moment when the accumulated stress became too much for their body to handle.

As doctors of chiropractic here at Prince George Family Chiropractic, we work alongside your other healthcare providers to address those lifestyle factors. We focus on restoring proper spinal function through adjustments. We talk about nutrition choices that reduce inflammation. We encourage movement patterns that build resilience. We help you find stress management approaches that fit into your actual life.

Real change happens when we address multiple factors together, not just one symptom at a time.

Because managing symptoms is valuable, but so is building vitality.

You deserve both.

Like this if you're thinking about your own backpack. Comment with one lifestyle factor you'd want to address first.

11/18/2025

Snow shoveling back pain isn't about lifting.

Every winter after the first big snowfall, I see the same pattern walk through my door at Prince George Family Chiropractic.

Someone threw snow over their shoulder. Their back seized up. Now they can barely move.

And here's what surprises most people.

It's not the weight of the snow that caused the injury.

It's the rotation.

Your spinal disc can handle remarkable compressive force... bending, leaning, jumping. The disc is built for that. But when you twist and throw snow over your shoulder, the whole game changes.

The annulus fibrosus (the tough outer part of your disc) has fibers arranged in a specific pattern. Research shows your disc loses half its load-bearing ability during twisting because the oblique fiber orientation disables half the annular fibers. That's why that one movement, the twist and throw, leads to disc irritation, low back pain, and sciatica.

Most people think bed rest will help.

That actually delays recovery.

Motion helps these injuries settle down. Multiple studies confirm that bed rest slows healing while staying active speeds it up. I tell people to walk, don't sit for longer than 30 minutes, intermittently ice, then get up and walk around.

Here's how you know if you're moving too much: no pain means you're safe to continue. Mild discomfort is actually the therapeutic window, keep moving. Overt pain means you've gone too far, stop immediately.

The chiropractic adjustment gets that specific injured joint moving again on a segment-to-segment level. That's what the adjustment does that walking alone cannot do.

And here's the part that matters long-term.

If you wait too long and don't get that segment moving properly, it stays immobile. And immobility triggers the degenerative process. A "minor" shoveling injury that doesn't get properly addressed can start a cascade you'll feel for years.

Prevention is simpler than you think: take smaller scoops during heavy snowfall, keep your torso straight, and here's the big one... push and throw instead of twist and throw.

That one technique change prevents most of the 11,500 emergency room visits from snow shoveling injuries each year.

The spine you have at 60 is built by the injuries you address or ignore at 40.

Drop a ❄️ in the comments if you've ever learned this lesson the hard way. And share this with someone who needs to read it before the next snowfall.

PG Family Chiropractic Inc.

11/28/2025

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