Welcome

About The Practice

Our mission at Stelzer Chiropractic Neurology Center® and the Childhood Development Center of San Antonio® is to deliver the highest quality healthcare through Chiropractic application with advanced neurology principles and measured outcomes. Individual treatment design specific to the uniqueness of each patient is the paramount key to our treatment success. Also, we consider having fun to be very important, both to our own personal happiness but also as an integral key to creative application of the above and the creation of a welcoming atmosphere for our patients.

Dr. Michael Stelzer has been in practice as a doctor of Chiropractic since 1993. He grew up in La Mirada, California and attended California State University of Fullerton and then Los Angeles College of Chiropractic.

Dr. Stelzer is:

•board certified in Neurology by the American Chiropractic Neurology Board (www.acnb.org); •board certified in electrodiagnosis (ACNB) which consists of special studies of the nerves through nerve conduction and electromyography (EMG); •a Fellow in neurology from the Carrick Institute of Graduate Studies (www.carrickinstitute.org); •a Board Certified Chiropractic Sports Practitioner (ACBSP – www.acbsp.com).

In 2008 Dr. Stelzer helped to write the general diplomate exam for the American Chiropractic Neurology Board and has participated in the Angoff review of that exam. Also, Dr. Stelzer is an examiner for the American Chiropractic Neurology Board in the general diplomate examination and in the electrodiagnosis subspecialty examination.

Both the American Chiropractic Neurology Board and the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Physicians are certified by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies, the accrediting body for the National Organization for Competency Assurance which is the leader in setting quality standards for credentialing organizations. These two boards are the only boards in the Chiropractic Profession to achieve such certification.

The Childhood Development Center of San Antonio® deals with developmental disorders such as autism, ADHD, OCD, Tourrette syndrome, and dyslexia. (Please click on the Childhood Development Center of San Antonio® tab above.)

Motor Vehicle Accidents

Injury

After a motor vehicle accident, there is a typical pathology: inflammation (6 to 12 weeks), fibrosis (6 to 12 weeks), and tissue regeneration (up to two years!). The inflammation begins immediately, but the structures often take hours to days to swell and cause pain, mainly for two reasons. Firstly, they are very deep. They swell just like an ankle after a sprain, but unlike an ankle that isn’t surrounded by anything, these structures are completely surrounded by other tissues which exert a constant pressure on the tissue injured, inhibiting the rate at which liquid can collect and therefore slowing the rate at which swelling occurs.

Secondly, much of the tissue injured is supportive, such as ligaments, intervertebral discs, and joint capsules, and doesn’t actually do anything active, like a muscle when it contracts. This means this tissue doesn’t have big arteries to deliver a lot of blood to the tissue, like a leg muscle has, for example, for when you run and it needs more blood. Having smaller arteries means the tissue swells more slowly, causing symptoms to begin hours or sometimes days later. But with the smaller arteries also comes smaller veins, and a much slower ability to drain the tissue once it does swell, resulting in a longer pain period for whiplash or back injury from a motor vehicle accident.

Treatment

Treatment is first designed to decrease pain, then restore mechanics, and lastly to strengthen the areas injured. Although initially there is a significant emphasis on pain relief, our ultimate goal is for full and pain-free range of motion with complete stability so that at no point in the future do you suffer any adverse consequences of your injury. Care is very gentle, and can begin immediately after the accident. In fact, the sooner we begin after the fibrosis phase has begun (within hours of the accident) the better the long term results.

Sports Injuries

Dr. Stelzer is board certified in treating sports injuries (Certified Chiropractic Sports Practitioner by the American Chiropractic Board of Sports Practitioners – www.acbsp.com). Shoulder, elbow, hand and wrist injuries, as well as hip, knee, and ankle and foot injuries are treated on an almost daily basis. Sports therapies matched with neurologic applications is a blend frequently used for such goals as improving a jump shot, lengthening a golf back swing, or improving the fluidity and mechanics of a runner’s stride. Additionally, making the most out of the function of an arthritic joint, such as a severely worn hip or knee joint, can give significant relief and improvement of function in daily life activities.

Electrodiagnosis

This is essentially testing of the nerves in the body, through primarily two ways:

Nerves are stimulated and the speed of their response and the size of their response are measured. A nerve is like a wire, with an outer covering and an inner core. If the outer portion is injured then the nerve will be slower, and if the inner core is injured then the size of the response will be smaller or absent. Muscles have a very small needle inserted, and this needle essentially listens to electrical activity within the muscle. If the nerve to a muscle stops working, the muscle will undergo remodeling and will then give off abnormal electrical signals only seen in disease.

This information tells us about specific areas of nerve injury, so we can, for example, tell the difference between a neck injury or an injury to the median nerve at the wrist, both of which may give hand pain.

Electrodiagnostic testing is done only when there is a strong clinical suspicion of nerve injury. Even if a patient is referred for testing by another doctor, Dr. Stelzer, must find clinical impression of nerve injury before he will do any testing. This testing is very valuable, but it is only tool within a doctor’s toolbox which mostly consists of a strong history and then clinical examination, which are refined by years of experience and continued education.