LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

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READY FOR BACK SURGERY #2..?

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My opinion on this matter, as a chiropractor, is clearly biased.  It has been rare that a patient under our care has progressed to spinal surgery.  Clearly it happens, but far more often we get patients who have had spinal surgery prior to coming into our office and likely could have avoided surgery.

The problem with spinal surgery is that it really is a crap shoot.  Some do better.  Some notice little change.  Some do worse.  And the ones who are worse after the surgery are much, much more difficult patients to manage.  Problem:  No one knows who is going to fall into what category.  Sure–the surgeon may tell you they expect a good outcome, but these statistics frequently seem to be bloated.

This particular study gives a little bit more background on the outcomes after a lumbar decompression surgery for a disc herniation.  Researchers looked at patients who underwent lumbar decompressive surgery at non-federal hospitals in the state of Washington from 1997-2007 that had to go through a second surgery.

The first surprising aspect is just how many patients had to have a second surgery within 4 years.  The numbers ranged as high as 24% re-operation rates at some hospitals.  Given that it probably wasn’t very fun the first time around, we can all guess the second time is not a party, either.

Now, to be fair, it is not uncommon for a patient to present to our office and be successfully treated for a lumbar disc herniation.  Some of them (never figured out the percentage) even return for care within the next 4 years.  But let’s compare both the costs and the impact of surgery on a patient’s life versus 2 episodes of chiropractic care.  Funny how some insurance companies view chiropractic care as a “cost” at all, rather than the hundreds of millions of dollars we save the system.

THE NEUROPROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF CAFFEINE – (02-11-08)

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The Neuroprotective Effects of Caffeine

Coffee has dealt with a bad rap for many years but this bad rap is not deserved. Much like chiropractic, the minivan and quiche. We have seen studies showing a protective effect of coffee consumption on Parkinson’s risk. The bottom line is that coffee contains polyphenols, just like tea, dark chocolate and red wine. These compounds are well known to protect us from chronic disease.

 With this in mind, this study was designed to evaluate caffeine intake, but intake was based on “cups per day,” which of course would include tea as well. But caffeine has its own set of benefits, although, like anything else, too much can create problems, in this case by overloading the adrenal glands. So caffeine is known to increase blood flow to the brain, and so increased nutrients to the brain would provide neurons with the ability to stay healthier.

Read entire article here

EAR INFECTIONS IN CHILDREN RESPONDS INCREDIBLY WELL TO NON-PHARMACEUTICAL APPROACHES – (03-17-08)

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Emergence of a Multiresistant Serotype 19A Pneumococcal Strain Not Included in the 7-Valent Conjugate Vaccine as an Otopathogen in Children

Geez. Where do we start with this one? Do we start with the idea that ear infections in children responds incredibly well to non-pharmaceutical approaches like allergen avoidance, probiotics and chiropractic adjusting that it is crazy to think we would need a vaccine?

Do we start with the fact that Mother Nature ALWAYS wins, and that when we try to squash down her creations that she’s going to get upset? It reminds me of a Whac-a-Mole game, where you try to smash down a mole with a mallet, only to have him pop up in another hole. Such is what we’re seeing here. Develop a vaccine against some strains of bacteria, and we see other strains, more difficult to treat, rise up. What a mess we are creating!!

Read entire article here

SELECTIVE PUBLICATION OF ANTIDEPRESSANT TRIALS – (08-25-08)

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Selective Publication of Antidepressant Trials

There are many who view chiropractic as being unscientific and think there is no evidence to support its use. This attitude permeates much of alternative medicine. Closer to reality, there is research to support alternative medicine, and massive volumes to support functional medicine. Rarely, however, is money to be made on the basis of a published article or two.

This is not true for pharmaceutical research. Quite the opposite. It has gotten to the point that the bias inherent in drug research is so massive and widespread that one has to step back and look and wonder if ANY is truly valid. I can tell you from my standpoint, as someone who reads a lot of medical literature, the evidence supporting MOST of what mainstream medicine does is shaky at best, downright dangerous at worse.

In this particular review, it was found that when the negative studies were thrown into the mix with all the other studies, there is NO evidence to support the use of antidepressants in normal clinical use. It’s not that there are isolated cases of positive response–there are. But for the number of patients on antidepressants given the very weak evidence of benefit (and a long litany of nasty side effects) it is inexcusable. Exercise 3 days a week shows improvements in mood dwarfing medication’s effects. But few stand to make billions on treadmills alone.

Read entire article here

PULLED A MUSCLE? WHY POPPING THAT ALEIVE IS A VERY BAD IDEA

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Obviously, this article is going to sound a little self serving since I am, after all, a chiropractor in Mesa with a vested interest in my patients not taking drugs of any kind unless absolutely necessary. My more inquisitive patients all seem to ask a similar question…if the body is so brilliantly designed, where do chronic musculoskeletal complaints come from?

Certainly there are injuries that are severe and result in tissue damage that is much greater in degree and have a high likelihood of producing chronic pain. Think skiing, skateboarding or snowboarding injury. High speed car crashes. Motorcycle accidents. Equestrian wipeouts. Surgery.

But what about the weekend warrior who pulls a hamstring? The 8 hour per day computer user? Or me, as a lifelong martial artist, who has had untold injuries over the decades to pretty much every potential area of my body? Why do these situations lead to chronic pain?

My personal thought (backed by lots of research and years of clinical practice) is that the development of chronicity has much to do with how we handle the immediate period after the injury or onset of symptoms. What do the vast majority of us do (which is, of course, the direction indicated by billions of dollars of advertising) in this immediate period? Rest the area and pop an over the counter pain medication or anti-inflammatory. This is arguably the worst possible combination possible.

Why?

First, let’s address the immobilization aspect. Literally within minutes of immobilization, the soft tissues surrounding the immobilized joint begin to break down. The longer that joint is kept from a full range of motion, the worse the tissue damage. Anyone who’s ever broken a bone and had it casted can attest to how much joint motion is lost once the cast comes off. Recovery time can be even longer than the immobilization time.

With tissue injury, ultimately, the size of the region affected is larger than the original injury size. Consider the swelling associated with an ankle sprain—the area of the ligament injury may actually be very small, but the entire ankle, foot and lower leg swells up to the size of a balloon and becomes discolored. Now the amount of injured tissue is much larger than the original injury and this tissue has to heal. But healing occurs in a haphazard fashion if the area is not used. I give the analogy of a leak in your bathroom faucet. You call in the plumber. He shows up with a crew that’s been drinking at the bar for half the day. They proceed to rip out half the bathroom to fix the leak and rebuild with a level of skill only a three-sheets-to-the-wind Irishman can achieve.

Our body is no different. As we heal after an injury, the new tissue, whether it is bone, muscle, ligaments, fascia or tendons, is laid down in a disorganized manner. Only as that region goes through movement do these healing tissues become stressed and become organized along the lines of force. Immobilization becomes the enemy of proper healing.

Next, let’s address the routine use of over the counter anti-inflammatories, or prescription, for that matter. All anti-inflammatory medications are, by their very nature, designed to interfere with the inflammatory process. Unfortunately, inflammation is the normal process of healing. Disrupt this and you disrupt the ability of our tissues to heal the way they were designed. Contrast this with the use of ice right after an injury. Ice works simply by reducing blood flow to the newly injured area, thus keeping the damage of the drunken plumbing crew from getting too out of hand. Arguably a good idea. But then blocking the crew from repairing the area in specific ways, like maybe taking all their crescent wrenches away from them, is going to result in improper repair.

Hopefully you can begin to understand why the combination of immobilization and anti-inflammatory medications immediately after an injury may be the first step in developing chronic pain. Repeat this cycle the next time you injure the area and the dysfunction begins to mount.

This particular study demonstrates just how bad the outcome can be when non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) are used after a rotator cuff surgery tendon repair. Researchers looked at the tendon to bone healing that occurred in the presence of NSAIDs and found that every case was affected, from complete failure of healing to weakened tissue. No normal healing tissue was present when compared to the group in which no NSAIDs were used.

While this relates to surgical cases in animals, the same process is interfered with in every case of tissue injury that happens in our body when NSAIDs are used. While my opinion that you should run to your chiropractor at the first hint of any type of pain may sound self-serving, the reality is that you may be diverting the development of chronic pain.

ANOTHER TOOL FOR CHRONIC LOW BACK PAIN RELIEF

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As a chiropractor, I obviously see my fair share of chronic low back pain patients.  If they have been managed through mainstream medicine, there’s a very good chance they’re on some, if not multiple, medications.  Currently, narcotic pain meds like Vicodin, Percocet and Oxycodone are given out like candy, despite their lack of efficacy in clinical trials.  So what good options are present to help manage the pain of chronic low back pain?  Luckily, there are options.

The first option (if you would really call it an option…) is to find a good chiropractor to be on your team.  Numerous studies have shown that, when a chiropractor is the first point of entry for any musculoskeletal complaints, the costs are much lower, while drug, surgery and imaging use is cut drastically.  A chiropractor can not only help with chronic pain in the office, but can guide you to other approaches that might help with your condition.  These may include an inversion table for low back pain or a cervical traction device for neck pain.

I have always been much more of a fan of moist heat rather than ice.  In reality, for most spinal conditions, ice and heat are going to have direct effects only about 1-2 cm beneath the surface.  The tissues that create pain such as the muscles, joints and discs of the low back are much deeper than this.  Thus, ice and heat are going to have their effects at a much deeper, indirect level.  Here ice and heat have similiar effects.

Heat wraps probably had their origins for menstrual-related pain and cramps, and then gradually expanded their use from there.  These packs (made by Thermacare, Sunbeam, etc…) use the exothermic reaction between oxygen in the air and iron in the wrap to generate hours of heat.

This particular article looks at the use of a heat wrap in chronic low back pain sufferers.   Researchers evaluated the effects of 2 hours of use of this type of heat wrap on chronic low back pain sufferrers and found a decrease in muscle activity as well as an improvement in self-report of disability, pain-related anxiety, catastrophizing, and self-efficacy.

That’s pretty powerful stuff for such a simple and safe intervention.  Now imagine what would happen when this is coupled with chiropractic care…

POOR BLOOD FLOW IN THE BRAIN LINKED TO CHIROPRACTIC CONDITION

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Can we all agree that more blood flow to the brain is a good thing?  I’m sure anyone experiencing a blood choke in ju-jitsu would agree-it’s NOT the best feeling in the world.

Increased blood flow to the brain means more nutrients, more oxygen and more removal of waste products.  These are all ideal situations and lead to increased brain health.  The converse is equally as bad.

We already know of several things that increase blood flow to the brain, such as exercise and whole body vibration.  In addition to increasing blod flow, increasing the availability of nutrients that improve the production of ATP in the mitochondria such as choline, CoQ10, Vitamin E (as mixed tocopherols–NOT straight alpha tocoperol) and alpha-lipoic acid will also result in very positive improvements in brain function and will likely lead to reductions in the risk of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, dementia, hearing loss, migraines and seizures.

So what’s missing from this list?

Based on this particular study, chiropractic treatment.

Researchers looked at the effect of chronic neck and upper back pain on the blood flow in the brain (cerebral perfusion).  They found that these patients with pain had less blood flow into their brains when compared to those who did not have chronic pain.  In the worst case, those with the most severe pain had 45% less blood flow to the parietal and frontal regions of the brain.  The parietal region functions heavily in evaluation the spatial relationships within our bodies and environment, while the frontal lobe is involved in higher mental functions like personality and decision making.

Given how important these regions of the brain are, I’m thinking that 45% sounds like way too much of a loss.  Now this does not mean that you run up to your favorite dolt and poke them in the upper trapezius muscle and ask if it hurts, but certainly entertains the additional value of chiropractic care to address pain in these regions.

If the combination of soft tissue treatment, at home stretches / yoga and chiropractic adjusting can help to increase movement in this region and reduce pain, it would make sense that blood flow to the brain would improve.  This would make chiropractic care an integral component of the treatment of the above mentioned conditions like seizures, migraines and dementia.  But that’s my biased opinion…

LIVING IN FEAR OF FLARING UP LOW BACK PAIN?

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Low back pain is highly prevalent in society today. Most studies suggest that about 80% of the population will experience low back pain at some time in their lives. For some, it is a few days of being careful how we move. For far too large a percentage of others, this pain passes into chronicity. So what creates the different outcomes?

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