Posted tagged ‘spinal manipulation’

Maintenance Care: Medical Study Applauds but Misses Point

August 22, 2011

[originally published in KCN, November 2011]

Every once in a while a health care study comes out that makes you stop and say…

“Now why didn’t someone think of doing that earlier?”

Well, such a study recently hit the pages of the prestigious medical journal Spine. (more…)

Off Label Chiropractic

October 29, 2010

[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…)

…But wait! There’s more!

August 14, 2009

[originally published in KCN, February 2000]

visceral-but-wait-guyToday it is becoming more and more accepted by the health care community and public at large that chiropractors are great back doctors.  I would agree.  The scientific literature certainly supports our primary method of treatment for back pain, and more insurance companies are covering our services for it.  Considering our history of long uphill battles to gain “acceptance”  as a viable health care profession,  it is understandable that we might be drawn to settle into this “comfortable chair” of being labeled as back pain specialists.  But to do so would really be undermining the true potential that the art, science, and philosophy of chiropractic has to offer. (more…)


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