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