Dr. Darren Rief, DC
Chiropractor | Sports Physician
119 West 57th Street suite 207 NEW YORK NY, 10019About
Restore Motion, Restore Balance. My philosophy is to remove interference in the spine and help the body heal itself. Patient education is paramount to helping the patient realize their best physical self. Restoring motion is a chiropractor's focus, breaking down a dysfunctional pattern, and building a better, healthy pattern.
Through the adjustment, stretching of the tight muscles and strengthening the weak muscles, we can restore proper motion and balance to our patients. Focusing on posture and ergonomics, we can teach a patient how to eliminate physical stresses, and combat gravity more efficiently. Reducing Forward Head Posture, and restoring the natural cervical curve are typical keys to optimal posture correction.
Dr. Darren Rief is a Long Island native, who has been practicing in New York City since graduating from Life University in 2000. Focusing on posture correction, and eliminating the single most powerful stress on our spines, gravity!
Improved Posture = Improved Function of our nervous system = Improved health.
Dr. Rief has worked alongside Orthopedists, Neurologists, Physical Therapists, Acupuncturists, and Massage Therapists for most of his 22 years in practice. This has given him a unique approach to patient care that takes all aspects of a person’s health and musculo-skeletal system into consideration. He will not only consider a patient’s spinal (and/or extremity) misalignment / malfunction; but the soft tissue (muscle, tendon, fascia, ligament) component as well. Addressing the soft tissue is often the difference in a patient’s total recovery, accelerating healing, and returning to normal function completely.
Board Certified in Chiropractic, Physiotherapeutics, and Graston Technique, as well as proficient in Kinesio taping, Cox Flexion-Distraction, Spinal Decompression, Sacral Occipital Technique (S.O.T.), Chiropractic Bio-Physics (C.B.P.), Thompson Drop Technique, and Extremity Adjusting.
Dr. Darren Rief is bilingual in English and Spanish.
Education and Training
Life University 2000
Provider Details
Dr. Darren Rief, DC's Expert Contributions
Can you fix a bulging disc?
A bulging disc can be decompressed. The discs are cartilage cushions between all your vertebrae (bones of the spine). Time, gravity and sometimes physical stress can compress the spine, putting pressure on the discs. with enough pressure, the disc may bulge out on the sides. This is not good because you have nerves that exit the spine directly above each disc. If the disc material comes in contact with a nerve, or even the spinal cord; it can cause pain, numbness, tingling or weakness wherever that nerve innervates. The discs in your neck can cause symptoms in your shoulders, arms, hands or upper back. The discs in your lower back can cause symptoms in your buttocks, hips, legs &/or feet. Chiropractors are probably the best at decompressing discs, but physical therapists are trained in it as well. I recommend taking care of the bulging disc because it could get worse. A Disc Herniation is when a disc is under enough pressure that it bulges out and ruptures or tears. This is still treatable, but usually a longer process, and some bad herniations require surgery. I hope this helps. READ MORE
How can a chiropractor help a herniated disc?
Have you been diagnosed with a Disc Herniation/Bulge? Often called a pinched nerve because the extruded material can compress nerves and cause numbness/tingling, shooting pain, weakness and other nasty stuff. Chiropractors are great at diagnosing and treating discopathies. Sometimes I hear people say, "yeah, I have a bad disc, Chiro can't help me with that". Some of my best "war stories" are of people who were saved from surgical intervention. A good chiro can 100% help you with disc injuries. Proper assessments help the doctor know if you are a candidate for conservative care, or may actually need more aggressive interventions. Timely re-exams make sure you are progressing as expected. Unfortunately there have been too many times when I was "the last resort" for someone. They had failed at physical therapy and injections, and are now told surgery is their only option. Don't get me wrong, PT and injections help a lot of people too. Chiropractors just have the most experience working on backs, and most have special tables that can decompress an inflamed/injured disc. Not all cases get the results that both the doctor and patient hope for, this is the hardest part of any health care profession, you can't help EVERYONE. Bottom Line is that a good chiropractor can most likely help you with discopathy, and shouldn't be considered a last resort. READ MORE
Wrist Injury
It sounds like a sprain of your wrist ligaments, combined with a subluxated bone in your wrist. Likely chronic now. A good chiropractor or PT should be able to free up the subluxated bone with manipulation, and then perhaps begin a "Graston" regimen. (Graston is a name brand for "instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization") Most likely when you sprained your wrist, it began a normal healing process, but if the bones aren't positioned properly, the ligament would not be able to heal correctly and develop scar tissue and stress across the joint. Any sprain (small tears of a ligament) or strain (small tears of muscle or tendon) will undergo a healing response naturally. There are 3 grades of sprain/strains, and all but a complete tear can heal without intervention, but may leave scar tissue that can shorten the ligament or tendon, causing dysfunction. If it still hurts a year later under normal daily activities, it will likely develop arthritis in the future. You are still young, and young people usually respond quickly to care. If a course of conservative care doesn't produce results in 2-4 weeks, You will need an X Ray at minimum, and probably an MRI to rule out tears and occult fracture. Of course you can do the diagnostics first, and any good therapist will let you know if it is necessary before beginning any treatment. There are a lot of new, fancy treatments; cold laser, shockwave therapy, ect.. that may help, but I would combine them with manipulation and Graton if the physical exam dictates it. Good Luck! READ MORE
Areas of expertise and specialization
Dr. Darren Rief, DC's Practice location
Rief Chiropractic
119 West 57th Street suite 207 -NEW YORK, NY 10019Get Direction
Dr. Darren Rief, DC's reviews
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Get to know Chiropractor Dr. Darren Rief, who serves patients in New York, New York.
A licensed chiropractor, Dr. Rief has been in private practice in New York City for over two decades. His main approach to chiropractic care is posture correction, and eliminating the single most powerful stress on our spines – gravity.
His philosophy is to remove interference in the spine and help the body heal itself. Patient education is paramount to helping the patient realize their best physical self. Restoring motion is a chiropractor’s focus, breaking down a dysfunctional pattern, and building a better, healthy pattern.
Through the adjustment, stretching of the tight muscles and strengthening the weak muscles, Dr. Rief can restore proper motion and balance to patients. Focusing on posture and ergonomics, he can teach a patient how to eliminate physical stresses, and combat gravity more efficiently. Reducing forward head posture and restoring the natural cervical curve are typical keys to optimal posture correction.
A Long Island native, Dr. Rief has been practicing in New York City since graduating from Life University in 2000. He has worked alongside orthopedists, neurologists, physical therapists, acupuncturists, and massage therapists for most of his two decade career. This has given him a unique approach to patient care that takes all aspects of a person’s health and musculo-skeletal system into consideration. He will not only consider a patient’s spinal (and/or extremity) misalignment / malfunction, but the soft tissue (muscle, tendon, fascia, ligament) component as well. Addressing the soft tissue is often the difference in a patient’s total recovery, accelerating healing and returning to normal function completely.
Board-certified in chiropractic, psychotherapeutics, and the Graston Technique, Dr. Rief is also proficient in Kinesio taping, Cox Flexion-Distraction, Spinal Decompression, Sacral Occipital Technique (S.O.T.), Chiropractic Biophysics (C.B.P.), Thompson Drop Technique, and Extremity Adjusting.
Chiropractic is a form of alternative medicine that mainly deals with the detection and correction of spinal subluxations. A chiropractor uses specific scientific spinal adjustments and other techniques to manage patients’ health concerns including neck pain, back pain, headaches, vertigo and a long list of other ailments and conditions. They aim to improve patients’ functionality and quality of life by properly aligning the body’s musculoskeletal structure and enabling the body to heal itself naturally, without the use of medication or surgery.
On a more personal note, Dr. Rief is bilingual in English and Spanish.
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