The Striking Truth Bonus Footage - UFC champion Georges St-Pierre, David Loiseau & Dr. Stuart McGill

"If you generate power with your spine, generally it will break, the discs will become damaged before you get to that ultimate performance." That is a quote from Dr Stuart McGill based on some of his newer research on elite athletes including MMA world champion George St-Pierre. His work has revealed that elite athletes protect their spine while generating tremendous power by using their hips and shoulders to create movement and super stiffening the spine at critical times. This discover translates to the average person in that we all need to learn to stiffen the spine when it is under higher loads so our spines and discs will be protected from damage.
One of several ways to do this is through abdominal bracing. Is anyone familiar with that technique?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb8ShtGSLHk

Dr. Stuart McGill demonstrates research based core exercises

I just spent 16 hours at a weekend seminar instructed by Dr. Stuart McGill, who is a world renowned spinal biomechanics researcher and who works with many world class athletes from many different sports. I have been following his work for about 15 years. Please take his advise and stop doing sit ups, crunches and the many other "abdominal" exercises that put repetitive flexion into the spine as these will many times eventually cause disc damage including herniations. He knows this because he has researched it in his lab at the Univ of Waterloo.
Here is a video form NY Times Magazine featuring his big four exercises.
Can you see why these exercises are much better for building the core?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kukmaW9CmSU

When to Say No to Your Doctor Medical Overutilization

I unfortunately see much very poor medical reporting by the media. 
Below is what I think is an extremely well researched article by someone who understands research analysis. It covers current findings on common screening tests, the over prescription of drugs, and the overutilization of surgery. It is rather long but I encourage everyone to read it as it may save you much time, money, worry, and unnecessary dangerous medical treatment.

http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/when-to-say-no-to-your-doctor-20140919?utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=092214_1201&utm_medium=email&ea=cGF0cmlja2ttY2NhcnRoeUB5YWhvby5jb20=

This article mentions the new VA chiropractic study that I just wrote about last week.
"VA doctors wrote more than 6.5 million prescriptions in 2012 for hydrocodone, oxycodone, methadone and morphine — more than the total number of patients they saw and a 270 percent increase from 2001. As a result of the numbers, the Minneapolis VA launched the Opioid Safety Initiative in 2012. Since the beginning of the program, the Minneapolis VA says it has been able to decrease risky high-dosage opioid use among patients by 67 percent. The Minneapolis VA, will be collaborating on a study of how chiropractic care might best be used for vets who have a combination of musculoskeletal pain and mental health conditions."
Do you think this new program will be beneficial?

Minneapolis VA studying chiropractic treatment and other alternatives to pain meds

Researchers at the Palmer Chiropractic College were recently awarded a $718,00 research grant form the National Institutes of Health.
The DoD/VA Pain Management Task Force now recommends chiropractic as a Tier 1 treatment within its comprehensive pain-management program. 
This study will find how chiropractic care might be best integrated into existing Veterans Health Administration (VHA) clinical practice guidelines for veterans with a combination of musculoskeletal pain and mental health conditions.
Do you think having better access to chiropractic care will decrease the problem of narcotic dependence and deaths of the veterans?

http://www.chiroeco.com/news/chiro-article.php?id=15582

Spine & Sports: Why go to a chiropractor?

Below is a link to an article from the Harvard Post that explains that although doctors of chiropractic are known for managing back and spine disorders, they are trained and in most states including Illinois they are licensed to manage a wide variety of musculoskeletal disorders.
Also mentions the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital's Medical Back Pain Program in Plymouth, MA. Their medical director is a chiropractor and they employ other DCs in the clinic and emergency department. This model is also used at other hospitals in the US.
Do you think hospitals in our area should adopt this model?

Spine & Sports: Why go to a chiropractor?

Inaugural Chiropractic VA Residency Appointees

I have posted about the new US Dept of Veteran's Affairs chiropractic residency program. The first six inaugural selections have been named. These three year hospital-based training programs expand the residents’ ability to collaborate with other healthcare professionals in team care, as trainees learn with and from other healthcare providers during interdisciplinary rotations.
Doctors of chiropractic presently treat veterans at 47 VA clinics around the country.

http://blogs.palmer.edu/news/2014/09/12/san-jose-campus-alumna-among-inaugural-va-residency-appointments/

The US Open's wellness team was created in 2002 and is chaired by chiropractic physician Dr. Jeffrey Poplarski. 
This year, the 125-member wellness team included massage therapists, athletic trainers, hyperbaric chamber technicians and some 30 chiropractors, assembled in two different locations to provide care to players, support staff and volunteers.
Have any of you golfers been treated by one of these manual medicine professions?

http://mydigimag.rrd.com/display_article.php?id=1785588&id_issue=221336

The man who wants to kill crunches

Now getting back to my specialty of manual medicine. 
During my three years of post graduate classes which ultimately lead to my board certification in chiropractic rehabilitation in 2001, Dr. Stuart McGill taught one of my classes. I have been following his fascinating work ever since that time.
He is a professor of spinal biomechanics and has researched and written extensively on the detrimental effects of lumbar (low back) flexion and is a critic of abdominal crunch exercises.
I teach many abdominal and core exercises based on the results of his work that put significantly less stress of the lumbar discs than crunches and many of the traditional abdominal and low back exercises.
Was anyone aware this work?
http://www.macleans.ca/society/health/the-man-who-wants-to-kill-crunches/

Workers compensation study from Spine Journal shows chiropractic results in significantly less surgeries

I guess this substantiates the famous psychologist Maslow's statement "I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail". This workers compensation study from the prestigious medical journal Spine found that of patents with work injuries who first consulted a surgeon 42.7% underwent surgery, but of those who first consulted a doctor of chiropractic only 1.5% underwent surgery!
Does this huge difference surprise anyone?
http://www.f4cp.com/hosted/newsletter/2014/august/F4CP-WSJ-Ad1.pdf

Certified medical examiner and now performing DOT CDL examinations

As I had posted in April, I am now a certified NRCME medical examiner for DOT (Department of Transportation) CDL examinations. As of May 21st of this year all medical providers are required to be certified in order to perform these exams. I have now begun to perform examinations.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration guidelines are used to determine safe driving status. Most patients and others are not familiar with these examinations. They consist of a review of medical history, a physical examination of many of the body systems, vision and hearing testing, blood pressure testing, color recognition, and urine dipstick testing for several substances. Further testing and reports from specialists are obtained if needed. This information is used by the examiner to determine certification to drive up to a maximum of two years.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Chiropractic Treatment More Cost Effective for Work Injuries

Getting back to the medical literature, here is a synopsis of a recent research study from the June issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. 
This study of over 13,000 work related back injuries found chiropractic to be the least expensive of five treatment categories, including more than 50% less expensive than physical therapy.
They concluded that this was probably because the chiropractors followed the research based back treatment guidelines better than any of the other providers.
This is the latest of a long list of studies showing chiropractic care to be less expensive, yet insurers many times think that by cutting chiropractic coverage they will save money.
Why do you think there is this irrational action by insurers?
Employers Need Chiropractic First and Sooner

Appreciation of patients makes it all worthwhile

The young American bicycle racer Andrew Talansky recently became only the third American to win the prestigious Dauphine race beating the favorites for this year's Tour de France.
“You put your life into something — the sacrifices, the training, the times when you crash or get sick — but it’s moments like this that make everything worth it,” said Talansky. “Just one moment like this makes you forget it all. This is why we do this, for moments like today.”
I feel the same way every time a patient tells me how much I helped them get their life back 

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/06/news/wins-criterium-du-dauphine_331972

Going from the 38 year old winner of the Boston Marathon to the 91 year old woman who just set an over 90 year old age group female marathon record.

hoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/91-old-marathoner-smokes-competition-153723959--abc-news-health.html

Ok...now getting of the topic of epidural steroid injections. I and many others were very excited to see an American male win the prestigious Boston Marathon for the first time in 21 years! Here is an Interview with Meb Keflezighi's chiropractic physician.

http://www.toyourhealth.com/mpacms/tyh/article.php?id=1978

Here is another comparative study...this one between manipulation and disc surgery for patients with radiculopathy 
(pinched nerve) from disc herniation. 60% of the patients in the manipulation group had the same amount of improvement as the surgical group at one year follow up.
Does it surprise anyone that manipulation can help patients with disc herniation?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21036279

DC appointed director of Virginia Department of Health Professions.

On Feb. 28, 2014, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe appointed David Brown, DC, as new director of the Virginia Department of Health Professions.
This may be the first time a doctor of chiropractic has held this position in any state – full-time director of an executive-branch agency that oversees the licensure and regulation of health professionals statewide.

http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=56977

Medical school leaders cash in on drug company boards

There was a lot of news coverage of a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association showing a surprising number of US medical school leaders serving on drug company boards of directors, raising questions about their independence. Average annual compensation from the drug company service was $313,000. Nice pocket change.

http://www.jsonline.com/watchdog/watchdogreports/medical-school-leaders-cash-in-on-drug-company-boards-b99237232z1-253425641.html

Chiropractic Procedures Found Beneficial for Spinal Stenosis

Spinal stenosis is a fancy medical term for narrowing spinal canal and/or the holes in which the nerves exit the spine and can be congenital or secondary to spinal arthritis. It is becoming more common with the increasing age of the population and is a common reason for spinal surgery. Symptoms can include back pain, leg pain and/or numbness, leg weakness, and difficulty walking. Here is a now study showing significant improvement for the condition with chiropractic procedures.
Has anyone had treatment for spinal stenosis?

http://gethealthyblog.org/significant-and-clinically-meaningful-improvement-in-patient-rated-improvement-and-disability/

Brains of elderly slow because they know so much

A new study in the Journal of Topics in Cognative Science comes to the conclusion that older people do not decline mentally with age, it just takes them longer to recall facts because they have more information in their brains, scientists believe.
Much like a computer struggles as the hard drive gets full up, so to do humans take longer to access information, it has been suggested

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10584927/Brains-of-elderly-slow-because-they-know-so-much.html

Federal Way chiropractor keeping Seahawks in top shape for Super Bowl

Here is an article from a Washington newspaper about the Seattle Seahawk's team chiropractic physician Dr. James Kurtz. He has been with the Seahawk's for 4 years and is one of 32 NFL team physicians. 
During his distinguished career, he has been a member of the sports medicine staff of the PGA Tour, and was the first chiropractor ever selected by the United States Olympic Committee to an international Paralympic event. He was Team USA’s chiropractor at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.

http://www.federalwaymirror.com/sports/242493291.html

Former pilot eases Soldiers' pain through chiropractic care

An article on the official U.S. Army website credited the chiropractic clinic at Fort Rucker, Ala. for helping soldiers heal from injuries and discomforts sustained during their "everyday" work week. The base's chiropractic clinic attends to more than 200 active duty personnel a week, and prides itself on delivering timely and effective care. Fort Rucker is the primary flight training base for army aviation and is home to the United States Army Aviation Center of Excellence.

http://www.army.mil/article/94469/Former_pilot_eases_Soldiers__pain_through___/

VA Prepares to Move Forward with Chiropractic Residency Program

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has released a request for proposals to establish up to six chiropractic residency program at VA medical facilities.
Currently, all veterans are eligible to receive chiropractic services, and nearly 50 major VA treatment facilities around the United States have on-site chiropractic clinics. 
Were you veterans made aware of this coverage by the VA?

http://www.acatoday.org/press_css.cfm?CID=5228

Huge increase of cancer risk from overuse of CT scans and medical radiation

I have written about this issue of cancer risk from overuse of radiation and CT scanning several times in the last few years. This is an article by a cardiologist who notes that the use of medical radiation has increased by six times in the last 20 years. The radiation doses of CT scans are 100 to 1,000 times higher than conventional X-rays. A 2009 study from the National Cancer Institute estimates that CT scans conducted in 2007 will cause a projected 29,000 excess cancer cases and 14,500 excess deaths over the lifetime of those exposed. "Given the many scans performed over the last several years, a reasonable estimate of excess lifetime cancers would be in the hundreds of thousands." Has anyone had a CT scan that they thought was unnecessary?
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/31/opinion/we-are-giving-ourselves-cancer.html?_r=0

How medical specialists make up for the decreasing fees from insurers

Doctors complain much about decreasing fee reimbursements from insurers, but this article discusses how many of the specialists can make up the difference by performing more procedures and more expensive procedures.
Were you aware of this trend?

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/health/patients-costs-skyrocket-specialists-incomes-soar.html?hp&_r=1

VA Prepares to Move Forward with Chiropractic Residency Program

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has released a request for proposals to establish up to six chiropractic residency program at VA medical facilities.
Currently, all veterans are eligible to receive chiropractic services, and nearly 50 major VA treatment facilities around the United States have on-site chiropractic clinics. 
Were you veterans made aware of this coverage by the VA?

http://www.acatoday.org/press_css.cfm?CID=5228