Bone & Joint

My job is to reduce "Subluxations" in order to restore health to the human body.  Let me explain; aSubluxation is related to a joint in the body. A subluxation is the "less than" a "luxation" or dislocation of a joint. So a subluxation is a joint that is not in normal location but is not separated and out of location completely.   

Did you Know?

Did you know that research showed that compared to Medication and Acupuncture that spinal manipulation for chronic spinal pain syndrome was the only treatment that had a broad-based long-term benefit?  5 of 7 main outcome measures tested showed significant improvements compared with only 1 outcome measure in each of the acupuncture and the medication groups.  The study was performed on 115 randomized patients during a 9-week treatment period. [1]  

Another study showed significant improvement for sufferers of acute (short term-just happened) or chronic (long term) lumbar disc herniation.  This study showed 90.5% of all the patients in the study were “improved” after 3 months with 88.0% “improved” still after 1 year.  Acute patients responded better; however even 81.8% of chronic pain patients reported “improvement” after 3 months of care with 89.2% “improved” still after 1 year.[2]

In a 2006 randomized controlled trial comparing spinal manipulative therapy to fake spinal manipulative therapy (the placebo) with disc herniation patients, showed that patients treated with real spinal manipulative therapy had greater pain relief and consumed fewer drugs compared with those receiving the fake spinal manipulative therapy.[3] 

The last study I will bore you with was published in September, 2001.  Researchers did a comprehensive literature search using journal search engines like MEDLINE and EMBASE. Additionally they gathered all available data from the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature, the Chiropractic Research Archives Collection, and the Manual, Alternative, and Natural Therapies Information System.   They were looking for studies that were performed that showed the efficacy of spinal manipulative therapy in the treatment of headaches.  You need to know that research is very hard.  Mostly it is very expensive, costing a lot of time and money.   To conduct a study you have to get some way to pay for it and some way to perform it. These researchers found 22 original studies that assessed the effect of spinal manipulative therapy in the treatment of headaches.  These studies totaled 683 patients in the study groups.  A total of 386 patients whose age ranged from 15 to 70 years received spinal manipulation. The others received medication, deep friction massage, palpation and rest, cold packs, or no treatment at all.  Treatments ranged from 1 to 12 times over a period of 1 day to 8 weeks.  Because this was all types of professional journals they used, the spinal manipulation or other therapy was performed by all types of practitioners and physicians like chiropractors, medical doctors, medical doctors with physical therapists, and osteopaths.  Spinal manipulative therapy appeared to have a better effect than massage for cervicogenic (neck generated) headaches. It also appears that Spinal manipulative therapy had an effect comparable to commonly used first-line prophylactic (like anti-inflammatory) prescription medications for tension-type headaches and migraine headaches. [4]  

 As with all scientific studies, before drawing firm conclusions, further testing should be done in rigorously designed, executed, and analyzed trials with follow-up periods of sufficient length. I know that over 19 years in practice, my experience with joint manipulative therapy has done great things for all of my clients.  If you know anyone who wants to fund a research project please send them my way.

P.S. I included the references for you to check should you want to read them.

 

[1] Long-term follow-up of a randomized clinical trial assessing the efficacy of medication, acupuncture, and spinal manipulation for chronic mechanical spinal pain syndromes.  Reinhold Muller, PhD, et. al. ,Journal of Manipulative and physiological therapeutics, January 2005 Volume 28, Issue 1, page3-11.

[2] Outcomes of Acute and Chronic Patients With Magnetic Resonance Imaging–Confirmed Symptomatic Lumbar Disc Herniations Receiving High-Velocity, Low-Amplitude, Spinal Manipulative Therapy: A Prospective Observational Cohort Study With One-Year Follow-Up Serafin Leemann, DC, et. al. Journal of Manipulative and physiological therapeutics, March-April 2014, Volume 37, Issue 3, Pages 155–163

[3] Chiropractic manipulation in the treatment of acute back pain and sciatica with disc protrusion: a randomized double-blind clinical trial of active and simulated spinal manipulations. 7Santilli, V, Beghi, E, and Finucci, S.,  Spine Journal. 2006; 6: pages 131–137
 

[4] Efficacy of spinal manipulation for chronic headache: A systematic review, Gert Bronfort, DC, PhD, et al, Journal of Manipulative and physiological therapeutics, September 2001, Volume 24, Issue 7, Pages 457–466

 

 

 

The Body In an accident

The Body In an accident

The human body is designed to do just about anything we want to do, with some limitations. For example our bones can withstand huge amounts pressure. In studies of human bone strength the scientists took long bones from several cadavers and subjected them to forces from top to bottom, pulling them apart, and from the side. It was found that human bones could withstand top to bottom compression forces of 22,000 pounds per square inch, pulling apart force of 10,000 pounds per square inch, and sideways force of 5,000 pounds per square inch. That's incredible. The connective tissue is hard to test because no person alive will subject themselves to an experiment to test when their ligaments will fail. Studies on dead tissue will not prove accurate because the tissue is missing blood supply and regular repair mechanisms that are in place in our body. What we do know about the human body when it undergoes injury is the following:

    Back Surgery?

    For over thirteen years I have been a chiropractor. I love being a chiropractor so very much. It is so awesome to help people heal who could not find resolutions for their problems anywhere else. It is very gratifying to see that by correcting the spinal dysfunction, the nervous system starts to work again and their health improves. I love working outside the normal medical model and having multiple different tools for health care at my disposal. Yes it is true that not everybody has responded to the care I have delivered, but on the majority I have enjoyed helping people achieve better health. To the people I have not helped, "I am sorry that I could not help you. I am constantly studying to find resolutions for your various health problems and I am confident that in the future I will be able to help you."

    Diet Changes For Better Health

    About two months ago my wife came to me and said she was fed up with a particular skin condition she had on her eye lids. At the same time she said I needed to sit down with her and our oldest three daughters and tell them what they need to do to have better health. We were looking for a significant change that would bring a significant result. We were fed up with the symptoms of poor eating, like skin conditions, inability to lose weight, foggy brain feelings, and overwhelming fatigue. So I laid out a diet regimen that was designed to change our lives. Over the next 44 days we engaged in a restrictive diet to retrain us on what our bodies needed.
     

    Common Thoughts About Force Involved In Motor Vehicle Accidents

    A while back I received a rude response to my, “What happens in a car accident,” article. I was really surprised by the comment of the reader so I decided to do a little experiment and also poll a greater population to get an understanding of general impressions of what happens when a car strikes an object. Before I get to the experiment results and the pole results I will quote a class on Motor Vehicle accident:

    Sports For Children

    Recently my wife and I had another little baby. Combined with seeing all the young people who go through the doors of our clinic, I am often reminded of the special needs of young children. The physical needs of our young people are quite different than our own. First of all, their body proportions are different from ours.