[originally published in KCN, January 2003 / cartoon provided by TomLamarCartoon.com]
Chiropractic is different.
Visit one of us, and I’m sure you’ll have no problem drawing this conclusion on your own. It’s not necessarily a bad thing that we’re different. After all, for many that consult our offices, that’s exactly what they are looking for — something different, something other than medicine.
[originally published in KCN, September 2002 / cartoon provided by TomLamarCartoon.com]
The crowd is tense. Excitement is in the air. The gate springs open, and out pops a wild bucking bronco with a cowboy clutched atop. As the bronco tries with all of its might to rid itself of this odd, restrictive force it senses on its back, the brave cowboy tries with equal might to hang on like glue — body being bumped, jerked, and whipped in every direction imaginable — all while trying to look “good” during this brawl between man and beast. As the second clock speeds along, the music from the PA system blares, the crowd cheers, and the announcer keeps it all going full throttle. In what seems like a blink of an eye to the fans — but more like days to the brave cowboy — the eight second buzzer sounds, signaling that his ride is over, and his score awaits. Hopefully the rescue cowboys will be along soon for an easy dismount. Of course, the other option is being bucked off, slammed to the ground, and possibly stepped on. Ahh yes, the rodeo is in town! And while it only comes once a year to Kitsap County, to the cowboys (and girls) this is just another day at the office. For while the fans that night will only see these cowboys perform once, chances are, their calendars are booked for two, three, maybe four, different rodeos that week. How do they do it — again, and again, and again? For many, the answer is chiropractic.
[originally published in KCN, April 2002]
Onions and chiropractic? A new culinary delight? Perhaps. But the reality is that when most people finally show up in a chiropractor’s office their spine resembles an onion. The symptom (usually pain) that eventually drives them to our offices is all too often an overt warning flag of a problem that has persisted for quite some time. Like the layers of an onion, neglected spines are virtually layered with a history of stress and injuries — making the chiropractic experience akin to that of an archeological dig. What surprises a lot of people, is that the neck or back pain they’re experiencing as an adult, could have stemmed from the time they fell off the changing table as an infant, the fender bender Mom got into when they were a toddler, or the fall they took off their bike as a youth. Or perhaps, they never had a fighting chance — perhaps their “onion” can be peeled back to an event we all share in common: birth.
[originally published in KCN, May 2011]
In the 1950’s the islanders of Borneo, specifically the Dayak people, were stricken with a major malaria problem. Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is mostly part of Indonesia. In their efforts to help, the World Health Organization came up with a solution that was simple, straightforward, and, in hindsight, stupid: (more…)
Just as the dip stick tells us when it's time to add oil, so too the spinal check tells us when its time to adjust. Of course, in both cases we always have the option of forgoing these proactive checks and waiting for breakdown!
[originally published in KCN, February 2011]
If you are waiting for pain to dictate how often you should see your chiropractor —or whether or not to see one in the first place — you’re waiting too long. Because without a spinal check from a chiropractor, you simply don’t know if your spine needs to be adjusted — as there is no reliable way to truly know. Spinal misalignments often crop up and cause little to no pain. And while this might not seem like a big deal, it is when you realize that these off-kilter vertebrae are slowly sapping the health of the body by robbing its effectiveness to function correctly. (more…)
[originally published in KCN, November 2010]
Every day in the practice of medicine doctors prescribe their patients “off label” medications. And while some might confuse the term “off label” with “generic,” it really is quite different. In fact, according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, as many as one-fifth of all drugs are prescribed off label.
Basically, what this means is that the doctor has found a use for the medication other than its “on label,” or intended, purpose. Examples of this include antiseizure medications to treat migraines, antidepressants to treat certain types of pain, and antianxiety medications to treat nausea. A classic example of off label drug use is that of Rogaine. Many are unaware that Rogaine is actually a blood pressure medication — a blood pressure medication that doctors (and their patients) soon found had an interesting side effect: hair growth in balding men.
As common as the practice of off label prescribing is in medicine, it’s my contention that something very similar is practiced in chiropractic. And while “off label chiropractic” isn’t actually a term… it should be. (more…)
SpinalColumnBlog 