Lancet Medical Journal Points to Chiropractic for Low Back Pain

The Lancet Defines Low Back Pain 

and Calls for Effective Care in Brand-New Three-Part Series

San Jose, Calif. – March 23, 2018 – This week, The Lancet, a peer-reviewed medical journal, published a three-part series on low back pain, which addresses the associated ailment, the disability caused by low back pain and provides call-to-actions to meet the challenges associated with the prevention and management of low back pain. The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness about the value of chiropractic care, notes that Good Morning America – the most watched morning show for most of 2017– referred to The Lancet’s series as the Magnum Opus of low back pain, and referenced spinal manipulation as a recommended approach to manage low back pain.

“Ninety-four percent of spinal manipulations in the U.S. are performed by a doctor of chiropractic,” shares Sherry McAllister, DC, executive vice president, F4CP, who notes that chiropractic care is proven to yield improved clinical outcomes, reduced costs and high patient satisfaction. “With

approximately 80 percent of the population bound to experience back pain at some point in their lives, the Foundation commends The Lancet for publishing a series that accurately communicates the education and action items necessary to establish more effective, patient-centered care, which may include spinal manipulation, surrounding low back pain to a global audience.”

Key findings from each of the three papers published in The Lancet:

• What low back pain is and why we need to pay attention
• Low back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide and is common among individuals of all ages, demographics and socio-economic statuses. The burden of low back pain must be addressed through amplified research and global initiatives.
• Prevention and treatment of low back pain: evidence, challenges, and promising directions
• Potential solutions to effectively manage low back pain may include but are not limited to focused strategies that can implement best practice, the redesign of clinical pathways, integrated health and occupational interventions to reduce work disability, changes in compensation and disability claims policies, and public health and prevention strategies.
• Low back pain: a call for action
• One call to action encourages the promotion of living well with low back pain through enhanced, patient-centered care which focuses on self-management and healthy lifestyles as a means of restoring and maintaining function and high-quality of life.

Doctors of chiropractic (DCs) receive a minimum of seven years of higher education and are specifically trained to diagnose, evaluate and provide non-pharmaceutical care and rehabilitation to individuals suffering from acute and chronic back, low back and neck pain, headaches, neuro-musculoskeletal conditions and general health and wellness.

Dr. McAllister continues, “With the number of individuals effected worldwide by low back pain, The Lancet’s new published series should spark an interest among providers across all disciplines to collaborate and provide patients with the safest, most effective care for the management of low back pain.”

About Foundation for Chiropractic Progress

A not-for-profit organization, the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP) informs and educates the general public about the value of chiropractic care and its role in drug-free pain management. Visit www.f4cp.com; call 866-901-F4CP (3427). Social media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube.

Chiropractic: Health and Wellness

Enjoy this brief video with some very interesting information regarding the studies done which found Chiropractic care to beneficial in so many ways other than back and neck pain.

Wishing you great health,
Dr. Heller

What a Pain in the Neck!

Many people suffer from chronic neck pain. Some suffer from chronic lower back pain...and some, unfortunately, suffer from both! And...unfortunately, untreated neck pain can potentially cause far more damage than untreated back pain.

Neck pain can be experienced in two ways – as actual pain, like that caused by a disc problem, or as "pins and needles," numbness or weakness, making walking difficult, creating balance issues or neck stiffness. It may originate as a result of a whiplash injury due to an automobile accident, the aging process, stresses of everyday living, job-related repetitive movements, spinal tumor, compression of vertebrae, discs or nerves, or obesity.

<< Read more >>

Beating Holiday Stress

It's a stressful time of year. In addition to performing the duties associated with all of your other responsibilities, you have added responsibilities that the holidays require. Where are we celebrating? Who will be there? What do I have to do/bring? Is my shopping done? Do I have enough money for gifts? Will the children be happy? This time of year can really pack on the stress!


How do you deal with that kind of stress? Well...you should put some of the focus on yourself and do something you really enjoy this time of year.

<< Read More >>

Chiropractic's Safety: Let's Look At The Facts

The other week while visiting with a patient during one of her appointments, she presented me with an article that her husband found in a past edition of the Reader’s Digest.  It was a short snippet from an internist (MD) in Michigan stating that he advised his patients that if they wanted to see a chiropractor that was fine “but don’t let them touch your neck”.  He states that this was because he has had a “number of patients over the years that have had strokes after chiropractic neck manipulations.”

I really found this amazing that he himself has seen “a number” of such patients.  Can significant complications occur? It seems that they can, according to case reviews.  Are they that common that one medical practitioner should see “a number of them”?  Statistically, no! 

Chiropractic adjustments (manipulation), even of the neck, is an extremely safe procedure when performed by a highly trained practitioner such as a doctor of chiropractic.  If it were not, malpractice liability premiums for doctors of chiropractic would not be among the lowest of all diagnostic level health providers.  This margin of safety is maintained due to the history of past health and of the current complaint which is done with each patient.  This is then followed up with screening tests for possible complications and possibly confirmatory x-ray or other special studies.  If the doctor of chiropractic practices “due diligence”, chiropractic care is extremely safe.  It can be much safer in fact than the use of  many over the counter remedies and pain relievers. 

A research paper published in 2001 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found 23 reported strokes over a 10 year period.  This is only a one in 5.85-million risk that a chiropractic neck adjustment will be associated with a subsequent stroke.  Other studies have placed the risk at 1 in 500,000 to 1 in one million visits resulting in a serious event requiring medical attention.  In contrast, a statistical review in the March 2000 issue of the journal Pain, authors calculated that 1 in 1,200 patients taking NSAIDs (Aspirin, Ibuprophen, Celebrex, Motrin, Toradol, Relefen, Aleve, Lodene and others) for at least 2 months will die from stomach and intestinal complications.   I often ask those inquiring about this subject if they know anyone, personally, who has been hospitalized after receiving a “routine” medical procedure or taking a prescribed medication.  The answer is almost 100% of the time YES.  In contrast I will ask them if they, personally, know someone that has been hospitalized due to a chiropractic adjustment.  The answer to that is almost 100% of the time NO.

In the February 2008 journal, Spine, researchers noted that patients are no more likely to suffer a stroke following chiropractic treatment than they would after visiting their family doctor’s office.  The authors also noted that neck manipulation “is unlikely to be a major cause” of these rare stroke events.  It is doubtful whether a neck manipulation, as it is practiced by chiropractors, would have the force to damage healthy arteries. This seems to be supported by the significant number of patients who are treated without incident. 

This issue tends to creep into the media from time to time.  While it is an unfortunate complication that can happen, a handful of case and retrospective studies indicate that it is extremely rare and no more common that might be expected to happen with everyday life activities.  Routine daily activities that can create the situation which is proposed to cause strokes, such as sudden neck rotation and extension, these include over the shoulder checking while driving, sports, lifting, working overhead, falls, getting your hair washed at a salon, sneezing, and coughing.

To put the above mentioned risks into perspective let’s use the mid range number of 1 in 1,000,000 (that’s one million) figure.  We should consider that a review of risks which appeared in the September 1980 edition of JAMA found these “voluntary risks” in everyday activities:

Activity                                                   Risk of Death per Person per Year

Smoking: 20 cigarettes/day                               1 in 200

Drinking: 1 bottle of wine per day                       1 in 13,300

Football (Soccer)                                                1 in 25,500

Automobile driving (UK)                                      1 in 5,900

Motorcycling                                                        1 in 50  

Rock climbing                                                     1 in 7,150

Taking contraceptive pills                                    1 in 5,000

Power boating                                                     1 in 5,900

Skiing                                                                   1 in 430,000

Pregnancy (United Kingdom)                              1 in 4,350

 

Looking at the numbers above for many day to day activities performed without significant fear for one’s safety, we see that
chiropractic adjustment of the neck is considerably safer.  Considering the numerous benefits attributed to a balanced, properly functioning spine and nervous system, the minute risks posed to a properly evaluated and qualified patient in the chiropractic office should be considered more than acceptable.

Oh, returning to our Michigan, internist friend!  Extrapolating from the above study finding 23 cases in ten years, adjusting for a complication rate of 1 in 1,000,000, we could expect to see about 133 strokes per ten years.  This means that there would be about 13 cases of stroke per year, nation wide.  This internist evidently is either an ambulance chaser for such cases, practices in an area with some very sloppy chiropractors creating this “number of cases” in his area or he is simply exaggerating the truth.  But those are topics for other articles!

For your empowerment,

       Dr. Heller

Children and Chiropractic Care: Birth to 18 Years

Chiropractic has been successfully caring for children for various conditions for over a millennium. The main issues are what conditions are cared for by chiropractors, what is the reported success rate and what is the incidence of side effects. Over time, research has started to catch up on what individual chiropractors have been realizing in their private practices and this article will outline the current state of the literature.

Conditions Cared For and Side Effects 2012 Report

The pediatric related conditions that were reported to be cared for by chiropractors were the following:

1. Musculoskeletal
   1. Joint pain
   2. Walking/crawling
   3. Neck pain
   4. Mid back pain
   5. Low back pain
2. Neurological
   1. Headaches
   2. Autism
   3. Balance
   4. Cerebral Palsy
   5. Movement Disorders
   6. ADD/ADHD
   7. Behavioral
   8. Crying/Irritability/Sleep
   9. Developmental
   10. Growing
   11. Cognitive
3. Gastrointestinal
   
   1. Colic
   2. Constipation
   3. Digestive
   4. Eating
   5. Drinking
   6. Reflux
   7. Hiatus hernia
   8. Bowel problems
4. Genitourinary
   1. Menstrual cramps
   2. Bed wetting
5. Immune
   1. Allergies
   2. Asthma
   3. Food intolerance
   4. Respiratory
   5. Eczema
   6. Skin rashes
6. Infections
   1. Ear infections
   2. Ear-nose-throat problems
   3. Common cold
   4. Flu     

As for side effects, "there was less than 1% of patients experiencing negative side effects and all of these adverse reactions to care were mild in nature; transient and required no medical care with serious complications. The typical reaction was transient crying."

"The incidence of adverse drug reactions among hospitalized children in the United States has not been well studied.....On the basis of [review] of 17 prospective studies conducted in the United States and Europe, the incidence of adverse drug reactions among hospitalized children was 9.5%, with severe reactions accounting for 12% of the total."    Comparatively speaking, chiropractic is a much safer choice than most alternative options.

The entire article can be found here. 

Posture and Health; A Short Video

Here's a short, animated video on the inter-relationship of posture and health.  Thanks to Dr. Joseph Ventura, developer of PosturePro digital postural analysis software for making it possible.   We have used PosturePro for years in the practice and the information from it is unbelievable.

Numerous studies have shown the connection between poor postures and health problems.   We work everyday with individuals to help them correct spinal problems creating postural distortions and health concerns.  We also teach them how to prevent the development or re-occurrence of these types of problems to improve and reclaim their quality of life.

Contact our office if you would like to know how to get started on creating a healthier life.  Hope you enjoy the video.

The Benefits of Chiropractic Side Effects

When a patient comes to a chiropractic office for treatment of a stiff neck or low back pain, he or she may report a side effect.

In addition to relief of pain, there may also be lowered blood pressure, improvement of psoriasis, allergies, asthma, digestive problems  or other medical problems.  The patient may be surprised, but the chiropractor really isn’t.  Chiropractic doesn't treat specific maladies; however, with a revived nervous system, just about anything is possible. Even the relief of headaches and back pain.

The basic premise of chiropractic holds that the nervous system has profound effects all through the body, and that spinal adjustments, by improving function and balance to remove impingement and interference on the nerves help  the nervous system function normally.  Scientific journals often agree.  A study reported in the British journal Nature notes that tiny nerve endings in the skin can affect the immune function of certain skin cells.  The Journal of Manipulative and Physiologic Therapeutics published three studies which showed chiropractic adjustments lowered high blood pressure.  A Russian medical journal reported on the effectiveness of spinal adjustments for relief of abdominal pain syndromes.

Drug manufacturers are required to list the negative side effects of their products.  Chiropractic can’t list or promise the side effects of treatment, but if they occur, you can expect they will be positive.

The benefits of safe, drug free chiropractic care can be far reaching and often times amazing in conditions otherwise unresponsive to traditional care.  Doesn’t it make sense to check into the safe, conservative approach first?