A Chiropractic-based research project is being used to study the effectiveness of Chiropractic care and it’s relation to the general health status of patients.

Data was collected from 311 patients for the project using the RAND Health Survey and a global well-being scale. X-rays of pre-adjustment and post-adjustment were also reviewed for the study.

Participants in the study were between the ages of 18 and 59-years-old. The patients received care until the maximum improvement for their specific complaint was reached.

Among the conditions being studied were back pain, neck pain, and headaches. 40% of the problems were acute, whereas 60% had been long-term problems.

Health surveys were distributed to patients at the initial visit, after four weeks, and again at the end of the program. The well-being scale was completed at each visit. Results showed Chiropractic adjustments significantly improved the musculoskeletal conditions of participants by an average 51-75%.

According to the health survey, significant improvements were noted following Chiropractic care in all of the surveyed categories: physical function, role physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social function, emotional and mental health.

Patients often find that Chiropractic is more successful than medical care, for treating a wide range of conditions and diseases.

According to nationwide surveys, results show the popularity of Chiropractic care is at an all-time high.

• Nearly 30% of the U.S. population, aged 18 and older, have used Chiropractic.
• 90% of Chiropractic patients felt their treatment was effective.
• 58% considered Chiropractic an essential part of their health insurance package.
• Chiropractic patients were three times more satisfied with their care than patients of family practice physicians.
• Chiropractors are now accepted as a legitimate healing profession by the public and by an increasing number of physicians.
• Chiropractic is a growing component of the health care sector, and it is widely used by the population.

Doctors were recommending back surgery for Jodi Spencer…she had immediate success with chiropractic care!

Automobile drivers in the United States are involved in over 5 million auto accidents each year. As a result, over 2 million people annually suffer from some form of injury as a result of the crash. Whiplash is the most common injury received by an accident victim.

A history of disappointing results in the treatment of whiplash patients throughout the medical profession has lead researchers to further investigate the benefits of Chiropractic in victim care. The study published in the Journal of Orthopedic Medicine points out the superiority of Chiropractic care for whiplash patients and examines the type of injuries which might best respond.

Whiplash injury involves the sudden movement of the head in any direction. The result is that muscles and ligaments supporting the spine can become strained or torn. Some symptoms include neck pain or stiffness, pain between the shoulder blades, blurred vision, fatigue, headache, and dizziness, just to name a few.

This study was designed to determine which patients with chronic whiplash could benefit from Chiropractic intervention. One hundred Chiropractic referrals for chronic whiplash symptoms formed the study groups.

Group 1 members were those with radiating neck pain and restricted neck movement but no apparent nerve damage. Group 2 had symptoms of nerve damage associated with neck pain and restricted motion. Group 3 members had severe neck pain and restricted motion, plus had more serious symptoms including blackouts, vision problems, nausea, vomiting, and chest pain.

Each person received an average of 19 treatments over a 4 month period. Excellent improvements were seen in the first two groups. In Group 1, 72% of the patients gained “some benefit” with symptoms disappearing completely for 24%. Group 2 had 94% responding positively with symptoms disappearing completely for 38%. Only Group 3, the group with the most severe whiplash problems, showed only 27% improvement.

Researchers concluded that Chiropractic provided superior care in treating whiplash patients. “The results from this study provide further evidence that Chiropractic is an effective treatment for chronic whiplash symptoms,” the researchers said. Pointing to the results in Group 3, they emphasized that a careful history and physical exam be done on all patients before treatment is commenced.

Nowadays, Derise Rawls visits chiropractor Dr. Chris Beckwith on a regular basis for knee pain. She started seeing him after a tear in the cartilage of her knee had kept her in pain for two years.
“I couldn’t walk my grandchildren outside. I couldn’t walk with my husband,” Derise said. She tried the usual avenue of treatment first: pain medication. “I was living off of those and it
wasn’t getting any better.”

Derise used Chiropractic care as a last result – but many other people choose it first. “More and more we’re getting people who don’t want to go through other forms of treatment.

They want to try things that perhaps are less invasive first and they’ve heard good things about this type of treatment,” said Dr. Beckwith. Since Chiropractic care involves neither drugs nor surgery, it has far fewer side effects and does not require recovery times after treatment like surgery does.

“Chiropractic is incredibly safe, even compared to something as simple as an OTC (over-the-counter medication). When we say things like this, we don’t mean there isn’t a place for either over-the-counter medication or prescriptions because of course there is,” said Dr. Beckwith.

Derise has found that she won’t have to have surgery for her knee because after treatment with Dr. Beckwith, she’s pain-free.

“I can walk with my grandchildren. I can walk with my husband. I don’t have to sleep with a pillow under my knees because of pain. I don’t have to take any more pain medicine. I have my life back,” said Derise.

Reference: Steven Shoshany, drshoshany.com

Your sciatic nerve is the longest and widest nerve in your body, and runs from the lower back, down through the buttock, and all the way into the lower leg, where it controls the muscles in that area. It also provides sensation to the thighs, legs, and the soles of the feet. When the sciatic nerve becomes irritated for some reason and causes pain, this pain is known as sciatica. Sciatica refers to the various symptoms associated with the irritation, and does not give any indication as to the root cause of the irritation.

Much of the low-back and leg pain reported is sciatic pain, and it is most evident in the age bracket of 30 to 50 years old. It is more commonly a result of general wear and tear, rather than an injury.

Symptoms of sciatica

The most obvious giveaway that you are suffering sciatic pain is when it follows the route of the sciatic nerve, as previously described, and is typically apparent only on one side of the body. However, there are variations in how exactly that pain is felt, including tingling, aching or burning. It depends on where the sciatic nerve is being affected. Some patients may also feel pins-and-needles in the toes or foot, or muscle numbness/weakness in the affected leg or foot

More often than not, sciatica first manifests slowly, then increases in intensity, often being accentuated after sitting or bending, or sudden movements such as sneezing or coughing.

Diagnosis of sciatica

This starts with your doctor of chiropractic taking a complete patient history. Your descriptions of where the pain is, how it is felt, when it began, and which activities cause you most pain, are all important in helping to form a diagnosis. It is also necessary to undergo a physical and neurological examination, with a particular focus on your spine and legs. Your ability to perform certain activities will be monitored to assess your sensory strength, muscle strength, and reflexes, and any pain resulting from these activities.

Diagnostic imaging, such as x-ray, MRI, or CT scan may be ordered by your doctor of chiropractic if it is felt there may be more at play, such as a serious underlying problem. This may happen if there is no improvement in symptoms following 6 to 8 weeks of conservative treatment.

Treatment options for sciatica

Conservative care, including chiropractic treatment, is a very effective solution for most people suffering sciatic pain. As there is an array of possible causes of sciatica, treatment plans will be individually tailored depending on what your chiropractor finds in your particular case. When we talk about “conservative”, it refers to the absence of surgical procedures or medication. Instead, chiropractic seeks to rectify spinal problems, thus restore spinal movement and reduce the inflammation that’s causing the sciatica. Treatment may include spinal manipulation and adjustments, the application of ice/heat therapy, ultrasound, use of a TENS machine, and rehabilitative exercises.

Prevention Is Better Than Cure

To protect your back, improve your spinal health, and guard as best you can against sciatica developing in the first place, follow these tips:

• Follow a healthy diet
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Exercise regularly
• Practice proper posture
• Avoid too much inactivity or bed rest
• Quit smoking
• Lift things safely, using good body mechanics

Every form of health care can contain some risk and the media often sensationalize those risks and create fear. But what are the real numbers? The following shows a comparison between spinal manipulation, spinal surgery, and anti-inflammatory drugs (non-steroidal).

Your patients need to know these statistics.

Cervical Spine Manipulation:

Complication 2.09 per million

Death .268 per million

Cervical Spine Surgery:

Complication 15,600 per million

Death 6,900 per million

Anti-inflammatory drugs:

Serious gastrointestinal event (all ages) 1,000 per million

Serious gastrointestinal event (65 and over) 3,200 per million

Almost half of all children will have at least one middle ear infection before they’re a year old, and two-thirds of them will have had at least one such infection by age 3. The symptoms can include ear pain, fever, and irritability. Otitis media can be either bacterial or viral in origin, and frequently results from another illness such as a cold. For many children, it can become a chronic problem, requiring treatment year after year, and putting the child at risk of permanent hearing damage and associated speech and developmental problems.

Standard treatment for most cases of otitis media is with antibiotics, which can be effective if the culprit is bacterial (antibiotics, of course, do nothing to fight off viruses). But, according to many research studies, antibiotics are often not much more effective than the body’s own immune system. And repeated doses of antibiotics can lead to drug-resistant bacteria that scoff at the drugs, while leaving the child screaming in pain.

Frequent ear infections are also the second most common reason for surgery in children under 2 (with circumcision being the first). In severe cases—for example, when fluids from an ear infection haven’t cleared from the ear after several months, and hearing is affected—specialists sometimes prescribe myringotomy and tympanostomy, more commonly known as “ear tubes.” During the surgical procedure, a small opening is made in the eardrum to place a tube inside. The tube relieves pressure in the ear and prevents repeated fluid buildup with the continuous venting of fresh air. In most cases, the membrane pushes the tube out after a couple of months and the hole in the eardrum closes. Although the treatment is effective, it has to be repeated in some 20 to 30 percent of cases. And this kind of surgery requires general anesthesia, never a minor thing in a small child. If the infection persists even after tube placement and removal, children sometimes undergo adenoidectomy (surgical removal of the adenoids)—an option that is effective mostly through the first year after surgery.

Before yet another round of maybe they’ll work and maybe they won’t antibiotics or the drastic step of surgery, more parents are considering chiropractic to help children with chronic ear infections. Published research shows that, after receiving a series of chiropractic adjustments, nearly 80 percent of the children treated were free of ear infections for at least the six-month period following their initial visits, which included maintenance treatments every four to six weeks. This pilot study is being used as a basis for larger scale trials of chiropractic as a therapeutic modality for otitis media (ear infections).

Chiropractic mobilizes the natural drainage of the ear in children, and if they can continue to drain without a buildup of fluid and subsequent infection, they also build up their own antibodies to recover more quickly and prevent infections to begin with.

Gentle upper-cervical manipulation on children with otitis media, focusing particularly on the occiput, or back of the skull, and atlas, or the first vertebra in the neck will help the middle ear to begin draining naturally. Depending on how chronic it’s been and on where they are in their cycle of antibiotics, children generally need to get through one bout of fluid and fight it off themselves. That means, for the average child, between six and eight treatments. If a child’s case is acute we will check the ears every day, using a tympanogram to measure the ear and track the movement of the eardrum to make sure that it’s draining. Adjustments every day or every other day for a few days if they’re acute, and then decreasing frequency over time.

Parenting and Baby Talk, both childrearing magazines report great success for childen with otitis media receiving chiropractic care. Many parents have reported that the only thing which finally resolved their childrens chronic ear infections was chiropractic care.

Many medical pediatric groups are now referring to chiropractors on a regular basis. Today more parents want a solution that doesn’t include anti-biotics or surgery and chiropractic offers the solution that keep parents and pediatricians both happy. It’s safe and effective and something that parents should definitely try before going the route inserting tubes in a child’s ears.

Chiropractic Care Can Help…

Talk to your doctor of chiropractic about your child’s ear infections. Doctors of chiropractic are licensed and trained to diagnose and treat patients of all ages and will use a more gentle type of treatment for children.

Patients under Chiropractic care experience strokes at a significantly lower rate than people who are not under Chiropractic care.

According to a report in the Journal of Vertebral and Subluxation Research, people who are not Chiropractic patients are 27,500 times more likely to suffer strokes than Chiropractic patients.

Results of this study are significant as many researchers have tried to link Chiropractic with the occurrence of stroke.

Chiropractic has also proven to be a significantly safer method of treatment than drugs and surgery. Aspirin and other NSAIDs have been linked to 80% of all ulcer-related deaths; people taking NSAIDS are three times more likely to die than those not taking the drugs.

More than 50% of all medications have serious and sometimes fatal side effects. In 1994, adverse drug reactions were responsible for 106,000 deaths.

Appendectomy procedures have a death rate of one in 74; Spinal fusion surgery has a death rate of one in 50; simple procedures such as drawing blood cause death in one of every 25,000 procedures.

An article published in In Touch Magazine noted that, “More Americans are killed in hospitals every six months than died in the entire Vietnam war; the medical death rate is equivalent to three jumbo jet crashes every day and that the disease care system may be a public health threat of epidemic proportions.”