Health Quiz #4
A 2009 study published in the journal Neurology concludes that people who consume the highest amounts of __________________ increase their risk of dementia (including Alzheimer’s) by 66 %.
A. NSAIDS (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as Tylenol, Advil, and Naprosyn
B. Paint Chips
C. Vitamin C
D. “Water pills”
The answer is A, NSAIDS. Eating lead paint chips is associated with dementia as well, but that’s old news. A 66% increase in dementia risk associated with pain medication use is HUGE! It should have been a top story on the major news networks and in all of the big newspapers and syndicated news sources!!
Chiropractic physicians offer drug-free options for restoring function and reducing back, neck, and joint pain plus many types of headaches. It is a great way to reduce pain medication consumption, and thus, not leave you as vulnerable to developing dementia!
Health Quiz #2
According to a 1999 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, How many people will die in the next year as a result of taking NSAIDS (Tylenol, Advil, Motrin, Aleve, Mobic, Celebrex, and others)?
A. 4oo
B. 9,000
C. 16,500
D. 245,000
The answer is C, 16,500. And that’s just deaths. Over 100,000 hospitalizations will occur as a result of NSAID use.
Here’s the point. Chiropractic has a very good track record of safety. As with any other intervention, there are risks of injury associated with chiropractic treatment. It is very rare, though. (Less than one death per year) In fact, premiums for chiropractic malpractice insurance are only a fraction of the cost of premiums for medical malpractice insurance. Simply stated, Chiropractic just doesn’t harm that many people.
So You Don’t “Believe In” Chiropractic
From time to time, I hear the words “I (or my husband or wife or ‘doctor’) don’t believe in chiropractic.” Or, I “I believe in” chiropractic (or swear by it, or whatever). I’m not too crazy about that phrase either.
Here’s the good news: It exists, whether you “believe in it” or not! More good news: a chiropractor can help most people at some point in their lives, whether they believe it or not!
There is now plenty of evidence in the medical literature (not just the chiropractic literature) that what we do is safe, effective, and cost effective for back pain, neck pain, and headaches. Some of these studies suggest that it is the MOST effective way of treating these conditions (with exceptions, of course).
To simply discount chiropractic because you “don’t believe” in it is simply an uninformed decision, and in some cases, a sure sign of insecurity.
Health Quiz #1
Here’s a multiple-choice question for you.
What do these things have in common?:
A runny nose, fever, diarrhea, coughing, sneezing, vomiting, pain, and inflammation (swelling).
A. They are all physical abnormalities
B. They are all normal responses to things that irritate the body
C. The lack of these means that one is healthy
D. (Insert your own ridiculous wrong answer here)
The answer is B. These are perfectly healthy responses to things that irritate the body.
Coughs and runny noses help to get rid of germs and foreign particles that enter our airways. Diarrhea and vomiting help the body to rid itself of germs or other foreign things that enter the digestive system. Fever indicates that your body is working pretty hard to rid itself of certain germs. Pain warns you that there is a problem somewhere in the body. Inflammation forms a natural barrier to stop the spread of an infection and in some cases forms a natural “splint” for injured ligaments, bones, or muscles.
Healthy people experience these things. In fact, if your body is not able to do these things, that’s when there is a huge problem at hand! How long would you last without the ability to feel pain? What if you couldn’t cough/sneeze and you encountered a really dusty dirt road?
The key is to ask WHY you have these symptoms, and not to just automatically counteract them with with a drug. I’m not totally against symptomatic pain relief. When I had a kidney stone 3 years ago, an IV dose of morphine was a very welcomed thing. However, the morphine did not get rid of the kidney stone (nor should I have expected it to). It simply made life livable until I could get rid of the stone.
Some of the treatments we perform in our office are aimed directly at reducing pain, particularly in the back and joints. The goal of chiropractic, though, is to restore proper function to the back, neck, and joints. By doing this, the pain just tends to go away without needing to rely on pain-relieving drugs to make life livable.
Miracle Worker?
Often, a patient will call me a “miracle worker.” I usually reply with the standard “I’m so glad that I’ve been able to help . . .” and so on.
Here’s the thing, though. I’m not a magician. I’m not a “faith-healer.” I don’t stick pins in a doll. There is really nothing I do that could be considered a “miracle cure.”
Here’s what I do. Like any other doctor, I examine the patient — an exam in my office consists mostly of orthopedic, neurologic, and palpation testing (using my hands to detect abnormal joint motion, swelling, misalignment, etc). Sometimes I send patients for an X-ray or MRI study.
If the patient has a condition I think I can help, I present a treatment plan. Every treatment modality in my office has a standard code that is recognized by other practitioners (MDs, DOs, PTs, etc) as well as insurance companies (insurance companies would never pay for a “miracle cure” — they scrutinize every type of procedure to the nth degree before they will ever agree to cover it).
If the patient accepts my treatment plan, they usually get really good results (usually very quickly). This is where I am often accused of being a miracle worker. They are just so amazed that I can help them without drugs or surgery.
Most people think that the only “real” solutions to medical problems are drugs and surgery (pharmaceutical companies do a great job of keeping this myth alive with their marketing). Sometimes drugs or surgery are required. For most back pain, headaches, neck pain, and other spine and joint conditions, drug-free, scalpel-free chiropractic will do just fine.
I don’t perform miracles. I just do what I was trained to do, and I have some experience under my belt. Don’t be overly surprised if I can help you too!
