Work injuries fall into two broad categories. The first is the sudden injury: a lift gone wrong, a slip, a fall, an awkward catch. The second is the slow injury that builds over months or years: hours at a desk, repetitive motion, sustained poor posture, vibration from equipment. Both produce real damage to the spine and nervous system, but the slow kind often does more long-term harm because the body adapts to dysfunction until it cannot anymore.

Common work-related problems include low back pain from lifting, neck and upper back tension from desk work, carpal tunnel symptoms from keyboard and tool use, frozen shoulder from repetitive overhead motion, sciatica from prolonged sitting, and disc problems from any combination of the above. The pain is the warning. The structural problem behind it has usually been building for a long time.

Dr. Lena Hartwell starts with a full picture of the job, the injury, and the symptom pattern. The exam pinpoints which joints have been affected and how they have been compensating. The Gonstead adjustment is specific to the joints involved, which is the right approach for cases where the body has built layers of compensation around an original problem. The goal is to restore proper joint motion, ease the nerve pressure that is driving the symptoms, and give the patient practical guidance on how to keep the same problem from rebuilding once they return to work. Many work injury patients also need documentation for their employer or insurance carrier, and that paperwork is part of the standard process.