[originally published in KCN, September 2007]
It is estimated, that at any given time, 15% of the female population and 10% of the male population is suffering from chronic neck pain. It’s one thing to have had a short-lived kink in the neck, but having neck pain that goes on for months and months without any intention of going away, well, is truly a “pain in the neck.”
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…)
[originally published in KCN, April 2010]
Every chiropractor who has been in practice for some time has had a population of patients that did not respond as he would have expected. Oh sure, many of them got relief from the chiropractic care provided, but it only lasted for a few hours — a day, tops. And mind you, we’re not talking about the first few visits, but, rather, a well-established pattern. Or the patient did well with the adjustments, only to have the back misalign again from a trivial event. It’s been my experience that not every patient 
falls into the typical “restore-motion-to-stuck-spinal-joint-and-watch-patient-get-better” category. Sometimes we chiropractors need to acknowledge that not every case of mechanical back pain is due to spinal joints being” stuck” or “locked” — instead, sometimes it’s just the opposite: the joints are too loose.
[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. (more…)
[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!
Listen to Interview with the “Bear Chiropractor!”
[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.
(more…)
[originally published in 