[originally published in KCN, October 2001]
One thing I’ve come to learn about Northwest weather is that it definitely is not predictable. And turning to the T.V. weathermen for guidance is, well, not predictable. But for some, tracking the weather patterns can be quite predictable. As a matter of fact it comes naturally, whether they like it or not. No Hi-Tech weather equipment. No degree in meteorology. Just one or more arthritic joints is all that is needed for the perfect weather station.
[originally published in KCN, July 2001]
Hiccups. Who hasn’t had them? And who hasn’t heard of at least a dozen ways to cure them? Perhaps you are accustomed to the popular home remedies of sudden fright, holding the breath, breathing into a paper bag, inducing sneezing with pepper, or drinking water with baking soda from the wrong side of the cup while the ears are covered tightly. Or if you are well versed in the various medical treatments available, you’ll know that amongst the accepted procedures there are an assortment of medications, the inhalation of ether through the nose, the popular digital rectal massage, tongue traction, uvula stroking, and surgical excision of the phrenic nerve (which isn’t always a wise idea as this procedure literally paralyzes the diaphragm). Well, I’ve got a new one to add to your list, and it’s one that a New York woman will be forever grateful for: chiropractic.
[originally published in KCN, March 2010]
Torticollis. While it might sound like a strange Italian dish, it’s not. Imagine waking up one morning with your ear pressed to your shoulder as if cradling a telephone receiver. The only problem is, there is no telephone to be found — only an unrelenting, painful neck spasm with absolutely no ability to bring your head back to any semblance of socially accepted posture. Most would agree, it’s a pretty disturbing situation to find yourself in. Thankfully, in most cases, the “fix” for torticollis can be as simple as a visit to your local chiropractor. Read the rest of this post »
[originally published in KCN, May 2001]
Ten percent dead? What? Now before you stop reading, hear me out. It’s interesting if you stop to think about it: dead or alive. Pretty much an all or none proposition. Right? Well, maybe not. What about instead of being completely alive, you were partially dead? What would that feel like? What might some of your symptoms be? While we all can understand the concept of being alive, and all have a firm grasp on the concept of being dead, the notion of being somewhere in between might be a new one for us.
[originally published in KCN, May 2001 / cartoon provided by TomLamarCartoon.com]
Did you know that chiropractic can be extremely effective at treating headaches? Not a lot of people do, and from the looks of things, that’s just fine with some. However, a much anticipated headache evidence report released by Duke University earlier this year might help to reverse this troubling trend. Ironically though, with the events that led up to this point, I don’t think we as a chiropractic profession were expecting to contend with a headache of our own.
[originally published in KCN, April 2001]
Ever wonder who my biggest competitor is? No, it’s not the chiropractor across town or the ones in our neighboring cities. And it’s not even the medical doctor next door or the physical therapist across the way. No, my biggest competitor is you! Well, not you personally, but the chiropractic “baggage,” if you will, that you have managed to stuff in your cranium. We all have a lifetime of attitudes, perceptions, and opinions about our health and how we must take care of ourselves, and unless we have resided on some tropical island for most of our lives, we probably have a pretty attractive set of chiropractic “luggage” stored between our ears as well. The question you need to ask yourself, is who helped you pack your bags?
[originally published in KCN, February 2010]
As our nation waits on pins and needles for our elected officials to craft a “health-insurance- plan-for-everyone,” those who are super-excited by this proposition need to understand that it will not be “free.” We will all directly and indirectly pay for it. You can be sure of that. And the scary thing is, we are looking to the federal government to craft this utopian health insurance plan… when their track record in the insurance business is down right lousy. Can you say “Medicare?”
Read the rest of this post »
[originally published in KCN, July 1997]
I remember in my first year of chiropractic college that one of our assignments was to ask three complete strangers to explain what a chiropractor does.
[originally published in KCN, September 1997]
Ever wonder what sort of educational training your local chiropractor had to complete to hang his or her shingle out? Every once in while I’ll get this inquiry; however, I know more of my patients probably are just as curious.
Many people are surprised to find out that chiropractic education is every bit as comprehensive as is medical education.
[originally published in KCN, October 1997]
Subluxation (Sub•lux•a•tion). It’s what we chiropractors treat. We have been trained to detect them and are the most qualified at treating them. So just what is a subluxation — besides just another $25 word that we doctors came up with?
[originally published in KCN, November 1997]
We’re at the “Any-Day-Now” stage. My wife Keri and I are anxiously awaiting the birth of our first child. We are excited and feel good knowing we have done everything within our power to prepare for a healthy baby: eating good foods, exercising, getting regular chiropractic adjustments, attending our Bradley child birth classes, and avoiding alcohol, second-hand smoke, and medications.
Unfortunately for many expectant mothers, the joy of impending birth is diminished by pain and discomfort. And because the traditional medical remedies of pain relieving drugs are not advised , their 40 week term becomes more like a sentence rather than a time to cherish and enjoy.
Whoa! Wait! Back up a paragraph…regular chiropractic adjustments? How can they help?
[originally published in KCN, April 1998]
No, I’m not referring to your spouse, your parent, your unruly child, or anyone else that comes to your mind. What I’m really referring to is taxes!… Seriously, what I am talking about is a condition known as coccygodynia — simply put in layman’s terms: tailbone pain. We doctors refer to the tailbone as the coccyx. This name originates from the Greek word meaning “cuckoo” because of its resemblance to the bird’s bill. The coccyx is formed by 3 to 5 fused caudal (tail) vertebrae at the very end of the spinal column and forms a joint with the triangular sacrum bone above. While most other animal tails are considerably longer than humans (the cat has about 20 caudal vertebrae) and have obvious functions such as offering locomotion (whale), maintaining balance (kangaroo), or expressing emotion (dog) — the human “tail” is nothing but a small cuckoo bill that serves only for the attachment of certain nearby muscles and ligaments.
[originally published in KCN, April 1999]
As a chiropractor, going to dinner parties and other social functions can often be an interesting experience. Invariably, one of the guests, upon learning of my degree, will announce for all in the room to hear, why he would never need my professional services, as he proceeds to make a public display of theatric proportion, “cracking” and “popping” every joint his spine has to offer — an auditory performance that would certainly make Orville Redenbacher green with envy. Read the rest of this post »
[originally published in KCN, May 1999]
No, you won’t find this in any anatomy book, and the treatment of mentally deranged nerves was never brought up during my years in chiropractic college. However, ask anyone who has had the unfortunate displeasure of suffering from the intense leg pain that this “nerve” generates, and they will emphatically stand by this tongue-and-cheek, layman’s designation. Read the rest of this post »
[originally published in KCN, May 2009]
As I read the recent press release of the survey on back pain conducted by Consumer Reports from 14,000+ of its subscriber base, I flashed back to the Richard Dawson-version of the Family Feud from the 1970’s. This was a TV game show in which two families were pit against one another to come up with the most popular responses to “survey-type” questions. Richard would start the battle by shouting, “Let’s play the Feud!”
[originally published in KCN, November 2001]
September 11, 2001. There’s no question about the magnitude of the tragedy that occurred on this day — exactly what the terrorists were looking for. But what they probably didn’t forecast was the altruistic backlash that rose up because of it. No, they didn’t tear us down — they built us up. Made us stronger than we’ve ever been as a nation. They’ve rekindled a spirit of patriotism that our founding fathers must have had. The words “United States,” “In God We Trust,” and “God Bless America” now have a deeper, more emotional tie than they’ve ever had for most of us.
Perhaps one of the greatest lessons that has come from all of 
this is the tremendous debt of gratitude that we owe our nation’s firefighters, police, and paramedics. Men and women who are all too easily taken for granted, yet they continue to serve and protect us everyday — even if the day happens to be September 11, 2001. Read the rest of this post »
[originally published in KCN, November 2009]
Imagine, if you will, a Hollywoodesque, classic scene of a bygone era when a tantruming, unruly, obstinate toddler is grabbed by the wrist from his stern, fast-walking, nursemaid — who exemplifies the antithesis of Mary Poppins — and is briskly pulled along across the courtyard and up the steps of the manor. What you probably wouldn’t imagine though is what might happen next: the child shrieks out in pain and the arm that had been pulled by the nursemaid now hangs motionless. Too hard to imagine? Well, it must have happened often enough, because doctors ended up giving it a name: “nursemaid’s elbow.” Read the rest of this post »
[originally published in KCN, September 2000]
Now I’ve heard that neck pain can be a bear —but can a bear have neck pain? Apparently so. Just ask Fred. Fred, by the way, is a long-time resident of Montana’s Grizzly Discovery Center — that’s right, Fred is a grizzly bear.
Dr. Gale Ford, veterinarian and executive director of the center, told Dynamic Chiropractic (one of our popular trade publications) that Fred’s neck was most likely injured rough housing with one or more of his playmates. Much to Fred’s frustration, Dr. Ford’s initial treatment, which consisted mainly of antibiotics, offered no relief for his aching neck. Not giving up on her 700 pound, hairy patient, Dr. Ford did what she considered to be the next “logical” step — she called a chiropractor.
Read the rest of this post »
[originally published in KCN, December 2009]
Ever so often I will spot someone wearing a brace around their neck. To be clear, I’m not talking about the rigid neck braces that EMT’s and paramedics employ to stabilize a suspected neck injury when they arrive on an accident scene. I’m talking about the soft, usually white, neck-supporting collars that are worn by people who are suffering from neck pain. These devices are often prescribed by well-meaning doctors, or are purchased by patients themselves at local pharmacies as a form of self-care for neckache. And while they look official, the irony is that they don’t do a bit of good. In fact, according to most research, they actually do more harm than good!
[originally published in KCN, March 2001]
“The Department of Defense is on record [regarding the commissioning of Doctors of Chiropractic in the Armed Forces to provide chiropractic care] as opposing such action…. To employ chiropractors, who have a limited and narrowly focused scope of practice, is believed to be a manpower and financial expenditure that would be of little benefit to the beneficiaries of the military health care system.” Besides, as the statement points out, “The treatment of musculoskeletal ailments…is currently well covered by physicians and physical therapists.”
So goes a statement that’s all too common to the ears of our profession — this one was issued in 1991 by the then Secretary of Defense, Richard Cheney’s Deputy Assistant Secretary, Edward Martin, M.D.
[originally published in KCN, January 2010]
On January 1st, 2010, the SpinalColumnRadio.com “podcast” debuts with yours truly on the Internet “air” talking about the very topics I write about. And while the idea of a chiropractic podcast is relatively new, a chiropractic broadcast is not.
Our much anticipated “radio-style” chiropractic podcast is now on! ”Tune it in” at SpinalColumnRadio.com, and listen to Dr. Lamar talk about the topics he writes about here on this blog.
This "Old-Fashioned Radio Microphone" icon will take you directly to the podcast the article is about. This one will take you to "Episode 000"
Keep an eye out for the “Old-Fashioned Radio Microphone” icon in the articles appearing throughout our Blog, as they will link you directly to the Spinal Column Radio podcast for that article’s topic.
Click on the the microphone icon in this post to go directly to our very first episode entitled “Episode 000 — podcast chiropractor for hire!” In this episode you will learn the who, what, and why of Spinal Column Radio.
It’s fun, informative, and thought-provoking — all at the same time…. “infotainment” at its finest!
[originally published in Kitsap News Group's 2010 Balance Sound Fitness and Health Guide, January 29, 2010 / cartoons provided by TomLamarCartoon.com]
As we look to our elected offiicals in D.C. to come up with a health care plan we all can agree on, something tells me that the 2000-plus page storybook they are pushing needn’t be so long. At the risk of oversimplifying the matter, there is much wisdom to be gained from a childhood story we are all familiar with — and one that is considerably shorter: ”Goldilocks and The Three Bears.”
