Chiropractors in the Military?

April 17, 2008 at 2:38 pm (Chiropractic Legislation, Current Events)
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Resolution to commission DCs introduced in Senate

 A concurrent resolution in support of commissioning doctors of chiropractic as officers in the Armed Forces has been introduced into the Senate.  U.S. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 75 that requests the Secretary of Defense to take immediate steps to establish a career path for doctors of chiropractic. The resolution is the Senate companion to House Concurrent Resolution 294, which was introduced in February.

The military commissioning of doctors of chiropractic would:

 

  • Expand the availability of chiropractic services to all realms of military operations and activities, thus providing needed care to active duty personnel;
  • Increase the cost effectiveness of military healthcare expenditures by making optimal use of the conservative, drugless and non-surgical care chiropractic offers;  
  • Enhance the combat readiness of skilled personnel by offering a non-pharmaceutical option to care for their health;

Doctors of chiropractic, chiropractic patients and other interested parties are strongly encouraged to contact their senators to help support this action.  It is about time military personnel were given access to chiropractic care and that chiropractors who want a career path that includes service in the military were given options other than standard military routes.

 

Dr. Brett L. Kinsler is a chiropractor practicing in Rochester, New York.  His website is www.RochesterChiro.com

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Neck Pain Task Force

April 16, 2008 at 8:25 pm (Patient Information, Patient Resources)
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The Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010 Task Force on Neck Pain has issued some of their key findings in the peer-reviewed journal Spine.  The work of a multidisciplinary team of researchers and clinicians led by Task Force President Scott Haldeman, MD, Phd, DC, the task force concluded that neck pain is common, typically has no single cause or one single effective treatment.  They stated that chiropractic treatment is as safe as any treatment offered by primary-care medical doctors.

 

The task force found that neck pain should be classified into four grades. Grade 1 (pain that causes little or no interference with daily activities); Grade 2 (pain that limits daily activities); Grade 3 (pain accompanied by radiculopathy); and Grade 4 (pain with serious pathology, such as tumor, fracture, infection, or systemic disease). Grade 4 was beyond the mandate of the task force to study.

 

Grades 1 or 2 neck pain can benefit from a variety of treatments including: education, exercise, mobilization, manipulation, acupuncture, analgesics, massage, and low-level laser therapy.

No ‘best’ treatment exists. A variety or combination of therapies, according to what the patient wants is ideal. The task force also concluded that risk of vertebrobasilar (VBA) stroke associated with a visit to a chiropractor appears to be no different from the risk of stroke following a visit to an MD’s office. 

 

Very useful data to be produced from one task force publication.  We are pleased that not only is one of our primary methods of treatment, spinal manipulation, validated in this report, but also the use of cold laser therapy has validity in this study.

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Free Quit Smoking E-Book

April 14, 2008 at 5:00 pm (Patient Information, Patient Resources, Website Recommendations)
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Use this link for an excellent free quit smoking e-book: http://whyquit.com/NTAP_large_print_212_pages.pdf

The first page is blank, so do not worry if you do not see the cover of the e-book right away.

If you would like to quit smoking, you simply must read the free e-book and use the resources at www.whyquit.com

 

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Cold Laser Therapy

April 14, 2008 at 4:50 pm (Patient Information)
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The term cold laser refers to the use of low-intensity or low levels of laser light. Laser therapy can reduce pain and inflammation and promotes wound healing. These lasers are used directly on or over the affected area. New research is being produced daily and the results are encouraging.  Cold laser threapy is certainly emerging as a valuable, safe and effective adjunct to non-surgical musculoskeletal care.

Cold lasers can also used for acupuncture, with laser beams to stimulate the body’s acupoints rather than needles.  This treatment regimen appeals to those who want acupuncture but who fear the pain of needles.  Despite claims to the contrary, scientific evidence does not appear to support claims that cold laser acupuncture is an effective method of helping people stop smoking. (For a truly excellent approach to smoking cessation, visit www.whyquit.com )

Well-controlled scientific studies are rapidly accumulating using low level laser devices for pain, wounds, injuries, and other conditions.  This method should not be confused with conventional laser surgery, which is used as a surgical treatment for some cancers. Such hot lasers may be used to shrink or destroy tumors on the skin or on the surfaces of internal organs and are sometimes used to remove colon polyps or tumors.  Cold laser therapy produces no or little warmth and has minimal side effects.

In our office, we are using cold laser therapy as a treatment for tendonitis, tendonosis, rotator cuff syndromes, frozen shoulder, pain relief from active fractures, neck pain, back pain, bursitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, cold sores, speeding open wound healing.  We are seeing excellent results with many of these conditions.  It appears that the sooner cold laser is applied following the injury, the better the chance for a good outcome.  Perhaps you have a condition for which you’d like to try cold laser therapy? 

Dr. Brett Kinsler uses cold laser therapy or low level laser therapy (LLLT) in his chiropractic practice in Rochester, NY.  Visit his website at www.RochesterChiro.com

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The Gift of Life

April 14, 2008 at 1:45 pm (Patient Information)
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Did you know that the national waiting list for life-saving organ transplants contains more than 90,000 patients? Sadly, many wait-listed patients die each day because a donor organ didn’t become available in time. Thousands more need tissues and marrow. Blood that can make possible these and other vital medical procedures also is in critically short supply. You can help.

Organ and tissue transplantation saves lives. About 74 people receive life-enhancing organ transplants each day and about 82 percent of patients who receive a donated kidney are still alive 5 years later. The following information will help you learn more about how you can become a lifesaver for someone in need. 

What organs can be transplanted?

Donated kidneys, heart, lung, livers, pancreas and intestine can be transplanted.

What tissues can be transplanted?

Blood vessels, bone, bone marrow, connective tissue, corneas, heart valves, middle ears and skin are among the tissues that can be transplanted.

Must I have medical tests to register as an organ and tissue donor?

No testing is needed before you sign a donor card or indicate your intent to donate on your driver’s license.  At the time of donation, organs are tested for infectious diseases, including HIV. Only healthy organs are actually transplanted.

Will I receive less aggressive medical treatment because I am willing to be a donor?

No. Your own physicians do everything possible to save your life. Only after they determine that further efforts would be futile does a transplant team become involved.

What if members of my family oppose donation? 

The best way to ensure your wishes are carried out is to tell your family how strongly you feel about being an organ and tissue donor. You should also sign and carry a donor card (see below), indicate your intent to donate on your driver’s license, and record your wishes in legal documents.

Does organ donation leave a body disfigured?

Donation does not change the appearance of the body for the funeral service.

How much will organ donation cost my family? 

Nothing. All costs related to donation are paid by recipients and their health insurance. Your family pays only for the medical care provided before death and funeral expenses.

Who decides who receives donated organs?

The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network matches donated organs with critically ill patients on the national waiting list. Medical urgency, compatibility of blood chemistries and body size are considerations in making the match.

Does the donor family meet the recipient? 

Most donor families are told the age, sex, occupation and other general characteristics of the recipient. If both the donor family and the recipient agree, they may exchange names, correspond and even meet. 

Are there religious objections to organ and tissue donation?

Most major religions in the U.S. support donation as a gift of life to fellow human beings.

What organs can be donated from a living donor? 

An individual can donate a kidney and a portion of the liver, lung, or intestine while living.

Are there age limits for donors?

There are no age limitations on who can donate. The deciding factor on whether a person can donate is the person’s physical condition, not the person’s age.  Newborns as well as senior citizens have been organ donors. Persons younger than 18 years of age must have a parent’s or guardian’s consent.

How Do I Become an Organ Donor?

  • Sign an organ and tissue donor card on reverse, and carry it in your wallet or purse at all times. Have two people witness your signature, preferably family members.
  • If you have a driver’s license, find out from your local motor vehicle department how you can indicate on it that you want to be an organ and tissue donor.
  • Tell your family members that you have decided to become an organ and tissue donor so they will understand your wishes and support them.
  • If you are under age 18, you may need to take additional steps to make a valid donation declaration.
  • For more information and a donor card, visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services web site at www.organdonor.gov or call 1-888-ASK-HRSA.

 

Dr. Brett L. Kinsler is a chiropractor in Rochester, NY who was involved in the organ and tissue transplantation field for several years.  Information about his office, Natural Health Chiropractic, can be found at www.RochesterChiro.com

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What To Do About Headaches

April 14, 2008 at 1:15 pm (Patient Information)
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If you have a headache, you’re not alone. Nine out of ten Americans suffer from headaches. Some are occasional, some frequent, some are dull and throbbing, and some cause debilitating pain and nausea.  What do you do when you suffer from a pounding headache? Do you grit your teeth and carry on? Lie down? Pop a pill and hope the pain goes away? There is a better alternative.

Research shows that spinal manipulation – the primary form of care provided by doctors of chiropractic may be an effective treatment option for tension headaches and headaches that originate in the neck.  A report released in 2001 by researchers at the Duke University Evidence-Based Practice Center in Durham, NC, found that spinal manipulation resulted in almost immediate improvement for those headaches that originate in the neck, and had significantly fewer side effects and longer-lasting relief of tension-type headache than a commonly prescribed medication.  Also, a 1995 study in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics found that spinal manipulative therapy is an effective treatment for tension headaches and that those who ceased chiropractic treatment after four weeks experienced a sustained therapeutic benefit in contrast with those patients who received a commonly prescribed medication.

Headache Triggers

Headaches have many causes, or “triggers.” These may include foods, environmental stimuli (noises, lights, stress, etc.) and/or behaviors (insomnia, excessive exercise, blood sugar changes, etc.). About 5 percent of all headaches are warning signals caused by physical problems.

Ninety-five percent of headaches are primary headaches, such as tension, migraine, or cluster headaches. These types of headaches are not caused by disease. The headache itself is the primary concern.  The greatest majority of primary headaches are associated with muscle tension in the neck.  Today, Americans engage in more sedentary activities than they used to, and more hours are spent in one fixed position or posture. This can increase joint irritation and muscle tension in the neck, upper back and scalp, causing your head to ache.

What Can You Do?

  • If you spend a large amount of time in one fixed position, such as in front of a computer, on a sewing machine, typing or reading, take a break and stretch every 30 minutes to one hour. The stretches should take your head and neck through a comfortable range of motion.
  • Low-impact exercise may help relieve the pain associated with primary headaches. However, if you are prone to dull, throbbing headaches, avoid heavy exercise. Engage in such activities as walking and low-impact aerobics.
  • Avoid teeth clenching. The upper teeth should never touch the lowers, except when swallowing. This results in stress at the temporomandibular joints (TMJ) – the two joints that connect your jaw to your skull – leading to TMJ irritation and a form of tension headaches.
  • Drink water to help avoid dehydration, which can lead to headaches.

What Can a Doctor of Chiropractic Do?

  • Perform spinal manipulation or chiropractic adjustments to improve spinal function and alleviate the stress on your system.
  • Perform soft tissue treatments or therapies to help alleviate muscular issues that may cause headaches
  • Provide nutritional advice, recommending a change in diet and perhaps the addition of B complex vitamins.
  • Offer advice on posture, ergonomics (work postures), exercises and relaxation techniques.

This advice should help to relieve the recurring joint irritation and tension in the muscles of the neck and upper back.

Doctors of chiropractic undergo extensive training to help our patients in many ways – not just back pain. We know how tension in the spine relates to problems in other parts of the body, and can take steps to relieve those problems.

Chiropractic Care Can Help

Talk to your doctor of chiropractic about other ways to improve your lifestyle. Doctors of chiropractic are trained and licensed to examine and treat the entire body with specific emphasis on the nervous and musculoskeletal systems. We can also help people lead healthier lives by focusing on wellness and prevention.

Avoid the Following Food “Triggers”

  • Avoid caffeine. Foods such as chocolate, coffee, sodas and cocoa contain high levels of the stimulant.
  • Avoid foods with a high salt or sugar content. These foods may cause migraines, resulting in sensitivity to light, noise or abrupt movements.
  • Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages. These drinks can dehydrate you and cause headache pain.
  • Other headache sufferers may want to avoid not only caffeine, but also high-protein foods, dairy products, red meat and salty foods.

 

Dr. Brett L. Kinsler is a chiropractor in private practice at Natural Health Chiropractic in Rochester, NY.  Information about the office can be found at www.RochesterChiro.com

 

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The 10 Most Back Breaking Jobs

April 14, 2008 at 1:09 am (Patient Information)
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 Top 10 Most “Back Breaking” Jobs

In a recent informal survey, the following occupations were found to cause the most stress and strains on the muscles of the back.

10. Auto mechanics work in physically awkward positions, bending over cars, sliding under cars, etc.

9. Nursing home workers have to lift elderly people into and out of bed. The workers’ bodies can become twisted and off-center.

8. Delivery drivers are always running, often carrying heavy and awkward packages. Packages shipped via UPS, FedEx, etc., have increased in weight over the years. The job also involves a lot of driving.

7. Firefighters/EMTs deal with fire, water pressure from hoses, have to chop obstacles with an axe and lifting and moving injured patients, which is particularly difficult if the victim is obese or incapacitated.

6. Shingle roofers are always twisting their bodies and frequently working on sloped surfaces.

5. Farmers lift heavy equipment and bags of feed andgrain. When doing fieldwork, they have to constantly turn backward to watch equipment that is pulled behind a tractor.

4. Police officers sit in their cars for long periods of time, which is rough on the lower back. When called into action, they have to make sudden movements and often face resistance from those they are arresting. Police officers also wear belts that can weigh up to 40 pounds, which can cause chronic back pain.

3. Landscapers lift heavier objects than many other professions. Wheelbarrows can twist and turn, wrenching the workers’ backs.

2. Construction workers’ jobs can involve hammering, lifting, steelwork, or ironwork-all in very awkward positions. Moving steel beams can wreak havoc on the entire body.

1. Heavy truck and tractor-trailer drivers endure constant compression and vibration from trucks. This can damage the back. Prolonged sitting puts pressure on the spine, which can result in disc degeneration. Liquid-carrying trucks are particularly bad. When this type of truck comes to a sudden stop, the fluid in the truck’s tank slams back and forth, and the driver feels the impact. Also, because professional truck drivers are always on the road, their diets are seldom what they should be, which can contribute to back problems.

Dr. Brett L. Kinsler is a chiropractor practicing in Rochester, NY.  Visit his website at www.RochesterChiro.com 

 

 

 

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Does back pain go away on its own?

April 14, 2008 at 12:37 am (Patient Information)
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 Eighty percent of people suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. Back pain is the second most common reason for visits to the doctor’s office, outnumbered only by upper-respiratory infections. Most cases of back pain are mechanical or non-organic—not caused by serious conditions, such as inflammatory arthritis, infection, fracture, or cancer.

The back is a complicated structure of bones, joints, ligaments, and muscles. You can sprain ligaments, strain muscles, rupture disks, and irritate joints, all of which can lead to back pain. While sports injuries or accidents can cause back pain, sometimes the simplest of movements—for example, picking up a pencil from the floor— can have painful results. In addition, arthritis, poor posture, obesity, and psychological stress can cause or complicate back pain. Back pain can also directly result from disease of the internal organs, such as kidney stones, kidney infections, blood clots, or bone loss.

Back injuries are a part of everyday life, and the spine is quite good at dealing with these often “pulled” muscles. These very minor injuries usually heal within 1 or 2 days. Some pain, however, continues. What makes it last longer is not entirely understood, but researchers suspect that the reasons may include stress, mood changes, and the fear of further injury that may prevent patients from being active. In addition, sometimes a painful injury or disease changes the way the pain signals are sent through the body, and, even after the problem has gone away or is inactive, the pain signals still reach the brain. It is as if the pain develops a memory that keeps being replayed.

Until recently, researchers believed that back pain would heal on its own. We have learned, however, that this is not true. A recent study showed that when back pain is not treated, it may go away temporarily, but will most likely return. The study demonstrated that in more than 33% of the people who experience low back pain, the pain lasts for more than 30 days. Only 9% of the people who had low-back pain for more than 30 days were pain free 5 years later.

Another study looked at all of the available research on the natural history of low-back pain. The results showed that when it is ignored, back pain does not go away on its own, but continues to affect people for long periods after it first begins.

If your back pain is not resolving quickly, visit your doctor of chiropractic. Your pain will often result from mechanical problems that your doctor of chiropractic can address. Many chiropractic patients with relatively long-lasting or recurring back pain feel improvement shortly after starting chiropractic treatment.

The relief is often greater after a month of chiropractic treatment than after seeing a family physician. Chiropractic spinal manipulation is a safe and effective spine pain treatment. It reduces pain, decreases medication, rapidly advances physical therapy, and requires very few passive forms of treatment, such as bed rest.

How Can I Prevent Back Pain?

  • Don’t lift by bending over. Instead, bend your hips and knees and then squat to pick up the object.
  • Keep your back straight, and hold objects close to your body when lifting.
  • Don’t twist your body while lifting.
  • Push, rather than pull, when you must move heavy objects.
  • If you must sit for long periods, take frequent breaks and stretch.
  • Wear flat shoes or shoes with low heels.
  • Exercise regularly. An inactive lifestyle contributes to lower-back pain.

References

1. Hestbaek L, Leboeuf-Yde C, Engberg M, Lauritzen T, Bruun NH, Manniche C. The course of low-back pain in a general population. Results from a 5-year prospective study. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2003 May; 26(4):213-9.

2. Hestbaek L, Leboeuf-Yde C, Manniche C. Low-back pain: what is the long-term course? A review of studies of general patient populations. Eur Spine J 2003 Apr;12(2):149-65.

3. Stig LC, Nilsson O, Leboeuf-Yde C. Recovery pattern of patients treated with chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy for long-lasting or recurrent low-back pain. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2001 May;24(4):288-91.

4. Nyiendo J, Haas M, Goodwin P. Patient characteristics, practice activities, and one-month outcomes for chronic, recurrent low-back pain treated by chiropractors and family medicine physicians: a practice based feasibility study. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2000 May;23(4):239-45.

5. Time to recognize value of chiropractic care? Science and patient satisfaction surveys cite usefulness of spinal manipulation. Orthopedics Today 2003 Feb; 23(2):14-15.

 

 Dr. Brett L. Kinsler is a chiropractor practicing in Rochester, NY.  Visit his website at www.RochesterChiro.com

 

 

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