Back pain relief is just one component of chiropractic care, but it is often a patient’s first introduction. Back pain is horribly debilitating affecting all aspects of work and personal life. If you are suffering from back pain, you are not alone. Here are a few facts about back pain that may (or may not) surprise you.

• Back pain is the number one disability for those under age 45.
• In the United States of America alone, there is an expected 31 million people with lower back pain at any given time.
• Back pain runs second, after only the common cold, as the top reason for visiting a healthcare provider in the United States.
• Experts place the likelihood of any person to experience some type of back problem in their lifetime at about 80%. That’s four out of every five people!
• Over 50 billion dollars are spent per year in the pursuit of clearing up cases of back pain.
• Around 30 to 40 percent of all workplace absences are due to back pain.
• Approximately one quarter of U.S. adults reported having low back pain lasting at least one whole day in the past three months, and 7.6 percent reported at least one episode of severe acute low back pain within a one-year period.
• One-half of all working Americans admit to having back pain symptoms each year.
• Approximately 2 percent of the U.S. work force is compensated for back injuries each year
• Lower back pain accounts for two thirds of all back pain-related cases.
• More than two-thirds of back strains are caused by lifting and other exertions like pulling and pushing.
• Most cases of back pain are mechanical or non-organic—meaning they are not caused by serious conditions, such as inflammatory arthritis, infection, fracture or cancer.

The key to proper treatment of back pain is to understand the cause. Remember, pain is always a sign that something else is wrong and if continually ignored may lead to more serious harm. Chiropractors are experts in assessing the root cause of your back pain and putting you on the right course to recovery.

 

Disc Gard Plus is a dietary supplement of vitamin D, C, and B6 with calcium, magnesium, manganese, potassium, and zinc.  It also contains Glucosamine HCL and MSM. 

This is the first product that I have come across that provides all the nutritional supplements needed for proper vertebral disc nutrition.  This supplement provides the nutritional support needed for patients dealing with the pain of disc bulges, disc herniation, even degenerative disc disease.  

Manganese is a critical supplement needed by the disc which is very difficult to find in other supplements.  Disc Gard Plus contains 3750% of the daily amount of Manganese. 

I recommend this product be taken by anyone under active care chiropractic care for a disc condition.  It will speed the healing process, and return you to you living your life without back pain sooner!

We have this produce available in our office.  For a one month supply (90 tablets), the cost is only $24. 

I’ve been saying for years that chiropractic care does not add to health care costs, it actually reduces costs.  A famous study out of Ontario, the Magna Report details the cost advantages for chiropractic care. Here is a press release from the American Chiropractic Association: 

 

A new study finds that low back pain care initiated with a doctor of chiropractic (DC) saves 40 percent on health care costs when compared with care initiated through a medical doctor (MD), the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) announced today. The study, featuring data from 85,000 Blue Cross Blue Shield beneficiaries, concludes that insurance companies that restrict access to chiropractic care for low back pain treatment may inadvertently pay more for care than they would if they removed such restrictions.

 

Low back pain is a significant public health problem. Up to 85 percent of Americans have back pain at some point in their lives. In addition to its negative effects on employee productivity, back pain treatment accounts for about $50 billion annually in health care costs—making it one of the top 10 most costly conditions treated in the United States.

 

The study, “Cost of Care for Common Back Pain Conditions Initiated With Chiropractic Doctor vs. Medical Doctor/Doctor of Osteopathy as First Physician: Experience of One Tennessee-Based General Health Insurer,” which is available online and will also be published in the December 2010 issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, looked at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee’s intermediate and large group fully insured population over a two-year span. The insured study population had open access to MDs and DCs through self-referral, and there were no limits applied to the number of MD/DC visits allowed and no differences in co-pays.

Results show that paid costs for episodes of care initiated by a DC were almost 40 percent less than care initiated through an MD. After risk-adjusting each patient’s costs, researchers still found significant savings in the chiropractic group. They estimated that allowing DC-initiated episodes of care would have led to an annual cost savings of $2.3 million for BCBS of Tennessee.

“As doctors of chiropractic, we know firsthand that our care often helps patients avoid or reduce more costly interventions such as drugs and surgery. This study supports what we see in our practices every day,” said ACA President Rick McMichael, DC. “It also demonstrates the value of chiropractic care at a critical time, when our nation is attempting to reform its health care system and contain runaway costs.”

 

ACA - The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) - Representing doctors of chiropractic (chiropractors)-

A systematic review published in The Cochrane Library shows zinc supplementation reduceds the burden of the common cold. According to the results, zinc syrup, lozenges or tablets taken within a day of the onset of cold symptoms reduce the severity and length of illness. At seven days, more of the patients who took zinc had cleared their symptoms compared to those who took placebos. Children who took zinc syrup or lozenges for five months or longer caught fewer colds and took less time off school. Zinc also reduced antibiotic use in children, which is important because overuse has implications for antibiotic resistance.

"This review strengthens the evidence for zinc as a treatment for the common cold," said lead researcher Meenu Singh of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India. "However, at the moment, it is still difficult to make a general recommendation, because we do not know very much about the optimum dose, formulation or length of treatment."

Further research should focus on the benefits of zinc in defined populations, the review suggests. "Our review only looked at zinc supplementation in healthy people," said Singh. "But it would be interesting to find out whether zinc supplementation could help asthmatics, whose asthma symptoms tend to get worse when they catch a cold." The researchers also say that more work needs to be carried out in low-income countries, where zinc deficiency may be prevalent.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110215191627.htm

Recently, a patient came into my office with a history of not one, but two Achilles tendon ruptures. In case you don't know, this is a very painful injury which requires surgery and months and months of rehab. The Achilles tendon, which attaches to your heel literally snaps, and basically rolls up into your calf ... I usually describe the rolling up as like a "Fruit Roll Up" candy.

In her case, she was a college basketball player which put tremendous stress on her tendons to the point of failure. This is not always the case with tendon injuries. This injury is not uncommon in the weekend warrior who decides to do a little too much athletic activity without proper warm-up and stretching, or they are so deconditioned the tendon can not handle the stress.

Tendons can also rupture spontaneously! A common drug has been known to "cause tendon damage (eg. tendonitis, tendon rupture) during or after treatment". The drug is ciprofloxacin, or Cipro.

The first time I heard about Cipro was during the Anthrax terrorist attacks right after 9/11. (They never did find out who was responsible for those attacks). Anyways, Cipro was being used as a powerful antibiotic able to fight Anthrax.

I came across a blog article written by Seattle Chiropractor, Dr. Graeme Gibson who describes an interesting patient he encountered taking Cipro who suffered from detached tendons of her pelvic floor! The doctors could not give her answers to why this happened, until she learned the side effects of Cipro. She took the drug 4 months earlier for a bladder infection.

We all need to keep in mind that all drugs have side effects. This is an example of a drug causing a side effect unrelated to what it is treating, and possibly months after usage has stopped. Should you stop taking Cipro? Absolutly not! If your medical doctor prescibed it for you, you should continue to take it as directed. You may want to ask if other options are available, if not, just be aware of the possibilty of spontaneous tendon rupture in the near future.

I encourage you to read other posts from Dr. Gibsons blog . It is very informative, and provides a unique insight into chiropractic.

You can find Dr. Gibson at

Graeme Gibson
Queen Anne Chiropractic Center
1905 Queen Anne Avenue North
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 282-8275

With over 80% of the population experiencing low back and neck pain at some point, there have been countless approaches to help alleviate the suffering of these patients. Many have tried chiropractic, physical therapy, massage medicines, surgery, even hanging upside down to get rid of the pain!

Recent research has shown that the combination of several approaches is the ideal approach that works with the vast majority of the population.

Important factors to consider with chronic back pain:

• Motion. It is important each joint / muscle have full range of motion by improving flexibility. Certain muscles tend to be short, or tight in patients with back pain.
• Alignment. The spine, pelvis, and overall posture need to be in proper alignment. Chiropractic adjustments help with this.
• Strength. As certain muscles are short and tight, there are muscles that are weak, or inhibited. These muscles along with the supporting soft tissues need to be strengthened.

Dr. Kevin Smith, a Bethel Park, PA Chiropractor has developed a unique program incorporating "Motion-Alignment-Strength" into the "MAS correction" program. This MAS correction program offers a comprehensive solution for chronic back pain sufferers.

To date, the non-toxic, non-invasive program has worked with 95% of the population!

For more information about the MAS Correction program, refer to Dr. Smith's blog .

If you are looking for a chiropractor in the Bethel Park, PA area feel free to contact Dr. Smith at the Red Apple Wellness and Chiropractic clinic.

Red Apple Wellness and Chiropractic
2409 South Park Road Bethel Park, PA 15102

I got an email early this morning from a friend of mine who is chiropractor in California. Dr. Lloyd, sent me a link to his blog showing that Dr. Oz recently recommended chiropractic care for patients with low back pain! This is great news from Dr. Oz since it helps get the word out on the value of chiropractic. Personally, I am a big fan of Dr. Oz since he always recommends natural solutions to health care problems first. Rather then just taking more pills, he gives great advice on natural health care solutions.

And now that he recommends chiropractic care ... I'm even a bigger fan! Thank you Dr. Lloyd for sending me your blog post! Also, want to recommend Dr. Lloyd's blog, it is one of the best chiropractic blogs around. Limitless information is available, and he continuously adds more content. It is one of my most popular bookmarks! If you are ever in the need of a great chiropractor in Sonoma California , be sure to give Dr. Lloyd a call.

Todd Lloyd, DC
525 3rd Street West, Suite C
Sonoma, CA 95476
(707) 408-2225

I have recently found some time to look read through some of my fellow chiropractic blogs and found some very interesting information I would like to share!

While reading through Dr. Reza Abusaidi blog, I saw an article showing the negative benifits of excess high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

As a San Mateo Chiropractor, Dr. Abusaidi has shown how proper nutrional advice compliments chiropractic care.

As a Livonia chiropractor, I strive to give my patients not only the best chiropractic care, but recommendations to improve their overall health.

Advanced Back Solutions
10988 Middlebelt Rd.
Livonia, Mi 48150

If you want to read more from Dr. Abusaidi's San Mateo Chiropractic blog , feel free to visit it. If you need a chiropractor in San Mateo, you can find him at:

San Mateo Chiropractic
16  41st Ave.,
San Mateo, CA 94403
(650) 345-7010

Why fish oils work swimmingly against inflammation and diabetes
ScienceDaily (2010-09-04) -- Researchers have identified the molecular mechanism that makes omega-3 fatty acids so effective in reducing chronic inflammation and insulin resistance. ... > read full article

Each set of bones (vertebrae) in your spine are cushioned by a disc that makes movement easier. This disc also acts as a "shock absorber" to keep the bones from rubbing against one another any time you move. When a disc moves out of its proper place, it's called a ruptured, bulging, herniated or slipped disc. All these terms mean the same thing – the disc is damaged.

A person with a damaged disc can experience pain and loss of movement in the area of the damaged disc. And… if the disc exerts pressure on a nerve that is exiting the spine, other areas of the body can be affected as well. What causes a damaged disc?