Robert L. Larson, D.C., C.C.S.T.

A lot of seemingly natural consequences of aging, such as the stooped gait seen in elderly people, are really caused by diseases. We spine health specialists at Dr. Robert Larson’s Billings chiropractic office don’t just treat back injuries, we also work to prevent them. Patients at our office are advised on nutritional needs to prevent neurologic degeneration and vitamin supplements that help prevent osteoporosis. Doctors use the word “hyperkyphosis” to describe an overly curved upper back. This is most often the result of osteoporosis. Bones are constantly breaking down and rebuilding, but in a person with osteopenia, they are dissolving more rapidly than they are being replaced. If osteopenia advances to osteoporosis, the patient’s bones will be filled with holes and be vulnerable to breaking just from ordinary jostling. These hairline-thin fractures are often too small to be felt, but if they accumulate, they can cause vertebrae to slowly cave in. As vertebrae break down, the patie...

Sprains to the tailbone are among the less common spinal injuries, but they can be a real pain. While the body possesses a potent capacity to heal itself, patients shouldn’t have to choose between suffering or taking dangerous painkillers while their tissues repair. At the Billings chiropractic office of Dr. Robert Larson, we provide minimally invasive, low-risk treatments to help our patients remain active and as comfortable as possible. The tailbone is a vestigial structure at the bottom of the spinal column that is made up of fused vertebrae. It is also called the coccyx and pain in the area surrounding it is called coccydynia. The tailbone is located in the pelvic region, and while it can be broken, it is more common for pain to be caused by bruising to the soft tissues that support it. Bruising in this area can be caused by injuries while horseback riding and cycling, and there are some cases that were caused by childbirth. Swelling in the pelvic region could cause sciatica and th...

When Billings athletes are suffering from lower back pain, Dr. Robert Larson’s chiropractic clinic will help them to heal quickly and safely. But we also value preventive care, which is why we educate athletes on how to avoid overuse injuries. Cycling is a great way to exercise without subjecting the skeletal system to impacts, but cyclists are at high risk for lower back pain if they do not avoid some common mistakes. It is important for a bicycle’s frame to be fitted to the rider. Cyclists may change their posture while riding, but if the handlebars are too far forward, having to stretch to reach them will put strain on their lower backs. Many peoples’ legs are also slightly different lengths, and while this wouldn’t usually make much of a difference, having to compensate for this over a long period of time could lead to muscle strain. Lower back pain is a common problem even in professional cyclists, suggesting that poorly fitted equipment is not the only issue. While it is necessar...

Dr. Robert Larson has long been recognized as one of the most comprehensive providers of chiropractic care in the Billings area. As part of his training, he is certified in the Gonstead technique for providing adjustments. This technique allows us to treat patients’ back pain with more specificity and less invasiveness. Misalignments in the base of the spine will result in misalignments higher up. If there is a problem with weight distribution at the level of the pelvic girdle, for example, the body may compensate by redistributing weight in the upper back, resulting in strained muscles and pinched discs. While treatments to the upper back may alleviate such a patient’s pain, they will not fix the problem. The Gonstead technique was developed to allow chiropractors to identify and treat all of the problems with a patient’s alignment. Gonstead practitioners use a device called a nervoscope to detect unusual amounts of heat in a patient’s spine, which could be the location of inflammatio...

As spinal wellness practitioners, we at the Billings chiropractic office of Dr. Robert Larson want our patients to understand how to maintain their own preventive care. In order to protect their backs, patients must first understand how their backs work, which is why we want to make sure they know the basics of spinal anatomy. The bones of the back are scientifically known as vertebrae, and they are linked by a complex system of joints, spongy discs, muscles, and ligaments. Vertebrae have hollow arches in back which together make up the spinal canal, through which the spinal cord runs from the brain to the thighs. Additional nerves branch off it to the rest of the body. At the top of the spinal column is a specialized vertebra called the atlas, which allows the head to move up and down, and below it is the axis vertebra, which rotates the head from side to side. Including the atlas and axis, the top seven vertebrae are called the cervical bones, or the neck bones. Next are the twelve t...

If you have kids, you’re probably doing your back to school shopping. A backpack is the best way for children to carry items, but not all backpacks are created equal. In order to prevent problems with muscle strains and worn-out cartilage in the future, we at Dr. Robert Larson’s chiropractic office want to provide a guide to proper backpack usage. A person should always wear both shoulder straps, and ideally, the backpack will have a strap across the chest, as well. The straps should be wide and padded. The backpack should sit on the middle of the upper back, not sagging down to the lower portion. It should weigh no more than 15% of the wearer’s bodyweight. This means that you should avoid getting a backpack with wheels or a pull-out handle or one which is disproportionately large for your child. As your child learns their schedule, they will need to plan when they can switch out books and other items so they aren’t carrying around too much. When your child leaves for school in the mor...

At the chiropractic office of Dr. Robert L. Larson, we strive to keep up with the latest advances in medical technology in order to best serve our patients. Dr. Larson is certified to manage spinal trauma cases and interpret MRI spinal scans. His office is also home to a digital motion x-ray machine, which provides additional valuable information to practitioners. Digital motion x-ray machines take hundreds of x-ray images of a patient’s spine while being put through different poses. This allows video software to assemble the images into a high-resolution animation of the spine that can be played back, paused, and overlaid with curvature measuring apps. By watching the video, a chiropractor is able to gain more information about how strained ligaments or other abnormalities are affecting the overall musculoskeletal system. This is particularly useful while analyzing cases of whiplash, in which the ligaments in the neck have failed, causing instability at the base of the skull.  Given t...