Likelihood of Surgery with Back Injury
For people that end up with a back injury on the job or not, those that visited a chiropractor first were much less likely to need surgery.
Chiropractic Care Can Help Reduce Medicare Costs
Regularly visiting your chiropractor may reduce the overall cost of medicare. Call us today to discuss the benefits of chiropractic care.
Avoid Damaging Back When Wearing Backpack
When wearing a backpack, make sure to chose the right one and to wear it correctly to avoid hurting your back.
Medical Care vs Chiropractic Care
With the rising cost of healthcare, talking to your chiropractor could save you quite a bit of money. Give us a call today to find out if chiropractic care is right for you.
Co-Management of Health Problems
Co-Management of Health Problems
Bay Area Chiropractor Comments: Recently I was talking to two different patients about how their health problems were co-managed in completely opposite ways. The first patient had been referred to my office from her surgeon who suggested that she try chiropractic care with me before he proceeded with any surgical options. This patient has had excellent results and is no longer a surgical candidate. She knows what she can and cannot do physically and knows what home care stretches and exercises she can do to prevent a re-occurrence of the pain. The second patient went to a doctor who told him that he would only get well by doing what he said. He tried multiple different treatments at the office, all with no benefit. When my patient asked about alternative treatments the doctor became upset and suggested that the patient would not get well with his “bad attitude”. Lucky for the patient, a nurse gave him my card and told him to call for an appointment. The problem was mechanical in nature and the pain resolved in approximately 3 weeks.
If all healthcare providers would learn their strengths and weaknesses, it would be much easier to resolve patient’s health problems. This is not just an issue between MD’s and DC’s. All healthcare providers benefit. If someone has muscle issues that aren’t responding to therapy here, perhaps they would benefit from massage therapy or from a personal trainer. Some people require surgery even after the best care I can offer. Some patients that are post-surgical require chiropractic care to prevent scar tissue or correct structural problems as a result of a cast or wheelchair. Some patients need to have different health problems monitored to allow their body to heal quickly.
It all comes down to doing what is best for the patient.
Dr. Ward Beecher practices at Beecher Chiropractic Clinic at 1001 Pineloch, Ste 700 Houston, TX 77062. You can schedule an appointment at BeecherChiropractic.com or by calling (281) 286-1300. If you have any questions regarding this blog, please comment below!
Post-Surgical Chiropractic Care
Clear Lake Chiropractor Comments: Frequently I get asked by patients if their spouse or friend could still get chiropractic care if they have had spinal surgery in the past. The answer is almost always yes, but I still need to explain how it won’t cause a problem.
Some people have had neck or back surgery with good results years ago and they want to make sure that chiropractic won’t cause the problem to reoccur. Depending on the type or surgery that was performed in the past, it will determine the current problems.
If the patient had a simple removal of the herniated disc (discectomy), opening up of the foramen where the nerve exits the spine (foraminotomy) or opening up of the back of the spine (laminectomy) then most of the problems will be due to scar tissue or lack of motion in the area of the prior surgery. The only discomfort that patients typically feel is some soreness from the scar tissue being broken up as mobility is increased.
If the patient had multiple levels of herniated disc he/she might have had surgery to stabilize their spine either with bone or with a metal cage (fusion). If the patient had scoliosis as a child he/she might have had a rod surgically implanted next to the spine. In both of these cases the area that is fused will not move. The pain is typically the area right above or below the fusion. The problem here is that these areas tend to move too much since the areas next to the fusion are trying to make up for the lack of motion in the fused areas. These patients typically do not feel much discomfort since the inflammation is being reduced. Patients might experience some soreness as we show them stretches and exercises to recruit other muscles in to use.
The hardest cases, but most rewarding, are the patients who have recently had spinal surgery with minimal or no relief of their pain. Until the surgeon has released the patient from care, we can only do therapy for the pain. After the patient has been cleared by the surgeon it is my job to determine what is actually causing the pain. This may or may not be the area where the surgery was performed. Depending on what is causing the pain will determine how it is corrected. Just because surgery was performed in the past does not prevent other treatment to the spine.
Dr. Ward Beecher practices at Beecher Chiropractic Clinic at 1001 Pineloch, Ste 700 Houston, TX 77062. You can schedule an appointment at BeecherChiropractic.com or by calling (281) 286-1300. If you have any questions regarding this blog, please comment below!
Understanding Sacroiliac (SI) Pain
Clear Lake Chiropractor Comments: When most people come in to my office complaining of “hip” pain, they usually point to their sacroiliac (SI) joint. The SI joints are located right below your belt line above your buttocks. The SI joints are designed to help transition the weight from the spine to the pelvis. Additionally, sacroiliac joints are designed to allow a minimal amount of movement, and are reinforced with an interconnected network of strong ligaments and tendons.
Pain in the SI joints comes from either too much motion or not enough motion. There can be too much motion in the joint during pregnancy when the ligaments become relaxed to help with the birth or as a result of an injury. The most common injury that we see is when people are bending and twisting at the same time. This can either sprain the joint or allow the joint become subluxated or out of alignment. There can be not enough motion in the joint when it has become arthritic or has degenerated.
Typically SI joint pain will start in the joint and radiate out into the adjacent muscles. The SI joint can also send out a referred pain. The referred pain will go into the buttocks, around to the groin and possibly down the front of the thigh. It will not cause pain to go past the knee. That is a nerve pain.
The best treatment for SI pain is chiropractic care to make sure that the joint is in the correct alignment and not immobile, physical therapy to help with the pain and relax the muscles, stretches to make sure that the joint and associated muscles are moving correctly and therapeutic exercises to make sure that the joints are properly supported.
Dr. Ward Beecher practices at Beecher Chiropractic Clinic at 1001 Pineloch, Ste 700 Houston, TX 77062. You can schedule an appointment at BeecherChiropractic.com or by calling (281) 286-1300. If you have any questions regarding this blog, please comment below!
Safer Solutions to Opioids
A safer solution to opioids: Choose Chiropractic First
Drug-Free | Effective | Non-Invasive
Doctors of Chiropractic who receive a minimum of seven years of higher education – are specifically trained to diagnose, evaluate and provide non-pharmacological care and rehabilitation to individuals with joint and spine-related pain.
What Are The Chiropractic Educational Requirements?
Clear Lake Chiropractor Comments: Have you ever wondered how many years your treating chiropractic doctor went to school for or how their education compares to that of other health care professionals? Knowing your doctor’s educational background and additional certifications is often essential to helping you choose the health care provider that is right for you. While the word “doctor” automatically implies an extensive academic curriculum, each health care specialist has a unique and individualized educational program to complete prior to practicing in the real world.
As with many professionals, the specific requirements outlined often vary from state to state. Typically, chiropractors are required to have completed undergraduate pre-medical studies and obtained a bachelor’s degree prior to admission to a post graduate chiropractic college. Each chiropractic college has undergone a meticulous evaluation process to become certified by the Department of Education as an accredited educational institution.
The amount of time that your chiropractic doctor spends at a specific chiropractic academic institution is impressive. In fact, your chiropractor has spent a minimum of 4,200 hours at a chiropractic college prior to receiving his diploma. This time is spent in the classroom, laboratory, and clinic learning about the various aspects of the chiropractic profession and health care in general.
In the classroom, your doctor focuses his studies on the subjects of anatomy, physiology, diagnosis, pathology, biochemistry, neuromuscular and orthopedic evaluation, pediatric and geriatric care, microbiology, nutrition, immunology, radiology, philosophy, and clinical research. While this may seem like a lot, all of this information is assimilated and tested prior to advancement to clinical work. Once the student has completed his academic work, he will typically spend a minimum of 1,000 hours at a campus clinic under the guidance of a clinic doctor. During this time he will learn hands on how to diagnosis and treat patients in real clinical situations.
During your chiropractors education they will be tested through a number of different evaluations. Not only is your doctor subject to evaluation by their chiropractic college, they must also pass a series of national board examinations. Chiropractors practicing in the United States are required to have passed a series of four national board exams which evaluate them on their understanding of the basic sciences, clinical sciences, physiological therapeutics, diagnostic imaging, case management, and clinical competency. In addition to these requirements, following graduation and completion of national board examinations, each chiropractor must become certified by their state licensing agency.
The completion of these standards is not the end of the educational journey for chiropractic doctors. Depending on the state, each chiropractor is required to complete additional approved course work at designated times following their licensure.
After reading the above information, I feel it is safe to say that your chiropractic doctor knows far more about your health than just treating your back. To help understand this it is useful to compare a chiropractor’s education to other members of the health care community. Since many people are familiar with a medical doctor, we will compare their educational background with that of a chiropractic doctor. For starters, the typical chiropractic student will have completed a total of approximately 2,419 hours of academic work prior to the initiation of clinical studies. In comparison, the majority of medical students will have completed somewhere around 2,047 hours of study. Further, while each health care discipline has its strengths, chiropractic students undergo more hours of study in the fields of anatomy, embryology, physiology, biochemistry, diagnosis, x-ray, and orthopedics. In contrast, medical practitioners have had more classroom hours studying the subjects of pathology, psychology, and obstetrics.
When analyzing these numbers it is important to understand that while differences exist, each of your doctors has undertaken and completed a similar core education. In addition, it is important to remember that each of your doctors (even in the same health care discipline) possess various strengths to compensate for other health care professionals’ weaknesses and utilize a different approach to healing the body. In the end, finding the doctor that understands your needs and has the tools to provide you with the most appropriate care is what is important.
Dr. Ward Beecher practices at Beecher Chiropractic Clinic at 1001 Pineloch, Ste 700 Houston, TX 77062. You can schedule an appointment at BeecherChiropractic.com or by calling (281) 286-1300. If you have any questions regarding this blog, please comment below!
When Back Pain Isn’t Caused By Your Back
Houston Chiropractor Comments: It seems odd when you say it, but sometimes back pain isn’t caused by your back. As a chiropractor, we are trained to determine the cause of someone’s back pain. This allows us to determine if the complaint is minor and can be handled out of the office with stretches and exercises, if it is a chiropractic problem that requires spinal adjustments and therapy or does the problem require medical attention. After being a chiropractor for 28 years I have seen many cases where the back pain wasn’t coming from the spine, but somewhere else.
One of the worst things that can be happening is that the patient is having an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Occasionally in individuals older than 60 with high blood pressure or genetic diseases, the aorta can stretch out and pain from this can refer to the back. The danger is that this vessel can rupture and may possibly need to be fixed surgically.
A more common cause is a gynecological problem such as endometriosis, ovarian cysts or a pelvic infection. It is important to get a thorough history of the patient’s cycles and activities to help rule this in or out.
Kidney infections are famous for referring pain to one side of the back near where the ribs meet the lower back. This is called costovertebral tenderness and is elicited by percussing at the lowest ribs along the side the spine. Severe pain in this region can be an indicator of a kidney infection.
Gall bladder attacks can also cause back pain. These attacks are typically a “crampy” type of pain occurring after a fatty meal that gets better and then worse.
Intestinal complaints such as ulcers and diverticulitis can also refer pain to the spine when the intestine becomes inflamed or irritated. A proper history and examination will help to determine if this is the cause.
Finally a pulled muscle from the ribs or abdomen can refer pain to the spine.
Dr. Ward Beecher practices at Beecher Chiropractic Clinic at 1001 Pineloch, Ste 700 Houston, TX 77062. You can schedule an appointment at BeecherChiropractic.com or by calling (281) 286-1300. If you have any questions regarding this blog, please comment below!
