What is Chiropractic? – Part 1

In our medically oriented society there is confusion about what chiropractic care is intended to accomplish and why. In the next two posts I will attempt to clarify our understanding of the purpose of chiropractic care. Much of this information was distilled from Essential Principles of Chiropractic by Virgil V. Strang, D.C., H.C.D. (Hon.), and Chiropractic Philosophy classes taught by Dr. Strang at Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport, IA.

Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary defines ‘health’ as “a state of optimal physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity” (underline emphasis added). The medical model teaches that disease is caused by ‘germs’ which must be actively attacked by the doctor, placing the patient in the role of passive victim. While this approach has some effectiveness, even casual observation reveals that a person cured of illness is not necessarily healthy.

A large percentage of the population believes (encouraged by the medical profession) that medical doctors are the only scientific healthcare providers. Allopathy (medicine), as chiropractic, is not a pure, but rather an applied, science. This science is clinical in nature, meaning that decisions are made based on statistical analyses of scientific data.

To define chiropractic properly, it is first necessary to understand the meaning of certain terms:

LAWS - Proven facts of science, or often the principles of science.

THEORIES - The generally accepted knowledge of science with data tending toward proof, none seriously challenging.

HYPOTHESES - A statement made, presumed leading to a conclusion; often called the working tools of science, or questions in a data-gathering mode. A hypothesis cannot be agreed or disagreed with, it can only be investigated.

PREMISES or CONJECTURES - A statement made from qualification regarding an occurrence in nature. In other words, an educated guess by one who is qualified to make it.

In the next post, I will explain how chiropractic care assists our bodies in being as healthy, and pain-free, as they can be.

Getting rid of your pain,

Dr. Steven Ray, Chiropractor

Val Vista Chiropractic

Chiropractic Has Trade-Offs Too – Part 2 (Continued Use Pain vs. Faster Healing)

I keep running into a particular situation in my office and it involves a trade-off – I call it Grandparents’ Syndrome.

Men and women come to me with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, lower-back pain, upper-back pain, neck pain, etc. I ask, “What are you doing to cause this?” They reply, “It hurts when I crochet/work in my woodshop/pick up the baby.” I say, “You need to stop doing that for a while.” The response, “NO!”

I explain that if they are constantly re-injuring the area with activities that are aggravating, the problem will not heal, but continue to get worse. “I HAVE to crochet ten afghans, OR finish building these presents, for the grandchildren.” “I HAVE to pick up the baby.”

I now clarify that if they want to get well as quickly as possible, these activities will have to be temporarily dropped. I can still help it to heal, but the process will be much slower and take longer if they continue. I ask, “Is it worth it to have your hands so numb that you have to be looking at them to continue to crochet? Is it worth back pain and spasms so bad that you can’t sleep at night to finish those woodworking projects. Do you HAVE to pick up the baby?” The answer, “YES!” (Usually, the best concession I can get on picking up the baby is that the children will be taught that Grandma only picks them up when she is sitting down.)

So I tell them that they will be coming to me very often for treatments until the projects are completed, and that the rate of improvement and pain relief will be much slower, but that they can expect to get some relief of their symptoms with each visit to Val Vista Chiropractic.

Imagine:  Patients trading their health and well-being to make their grandchildren happy! There are ALWAYS trade-offs.

Getting rid of your pain,

Dr. Steven Ray, Chiropractor

Val Vista Chiropractic

Chiropractic Has Trade-Offs Too – Part 1 (Example: Cortisone - Patients Must Choose Their Consequences)

Most things in life have trade-offs. While I don’t want to be perceived as slamming the medical profession, the fact remains that medical care has some of the biggest trade-offs in the world, but many times they aren’t pointed out to us.

Cortisone shots can seem to provide miraculous healing, but the trade-offs are rarely mentioned. Sometimes the trade-offs are worth the risks, but THE PATIENTS should be the ones making the decision, not the doctors. Most medical providers appear to start with the premise that the effects of drugs and surgery are so inconsequential that they are ALWAYS worth the risks.

The first thing that you probably have not been told about cortisone is that the body builds a tolerance to it. Every time you are exposed to cortisone, it is less likely that your body will mount the hoped-for response of decreased inflammation and pain. It appears that the 50% rule applies: 50% of the people will have no response the first time they receive an injection, of the ones who did, 50% will have no response the second time, and so on. We are able to purchase cortisone creams over the counter, and this exposure alone may be sufficient to trigger the tolerance and the body’s resistance to even the first injection.

The importance of this information is that if you have only one or two chances to enjoy a major decrease in pain, you might prefer to save them for a time when you believe there is no other solution. Studies show that when people are told of the risks of painkillers and then allowed to determine their own schedule for receiving them, the necessity for the painkillers is markedly reduced. Many times our pains are not as bad as we first thought.

The second item you may not have heard about is that repeated cortisone exposure causes joint surface deterioration and tendon ruptures. The very joints that we are treating experience a more rapid erosion of the joint surfaces, and tendons in the area become weakened, with an increased likelihood for ruptures and tears, resulting in circumstances worse than those for which we were injected. Interestingly, since cortisone also causes atrophy or loss of the fat pads, someone being injected for plantar fasciitis may actually experience MORE pain when walking due to the decreased cushion.

Thirdly, Prednisone, the long-term version of cortisone, usually in pill form, often causes dramatic weight-gain, generally uncontrollable by standard means.

I recognize that none of these are absolute, and that life-threatening circumstances, or unbearable pain must be alleviated whenever possible. But, all of this knowledge should be shared, and then the patient allowed to make an informed decision regarding the risks he is willing to take.

Cortisone is only one example of the trade-offs made under medical care. In the next post I will talk about a common trade-off that is made under chiropractic care.

Getting rid of your pain,
Dr. Steven Ray, Chiropractor
Val Vista Chiropractic

Chiropractic Care is Necessary ASAP After an Auto Accident!

I just had it happen again, and everyone needs to hear this.

An existing patient stopped into the office, obviously in pain, and wanted to ask me some questions. She told me she had been in an auto accident five weeks previously, and had left on vacation shortly after.  While she was out of town her neck and back began to hurt and the pain had increased to the point where it was constant, and bad enough to make it hard to sleep.

She said she had been the passenger in a vehicle which had been T-boned and totaled, and asked if I would be able to help her. I told her that we are very successful in assisting people to recover from whiplash-type injuries. She told me that she would pay for it, and I informed her that we either accept Medical Payments coverage, or would wait until the case was settled, since the accident was not her fault. She said her cousin (the driver) told her she had no Med-Pay, and that she couldn’t be treated by me until she saw her medical doctor and had x-rays and an MRI.

I said that her cousin was incorrect: she did not have to see her medical doctor first, and that any physician that ordered an MRI without first seeing the x-rays was, at the least, incompetent. I further stated that it had been my experience that if you went to the medical doctor first, most would do everything they could to dissuade you from coming to see a chiropractor, and would instead prescribe muscle relaxers and painkillers, and possibly physiotherapy, and tell you to be patient because it would just take time.

She told me that she had already been to the medical doctor once, and he had said that it would be fine for her to see a chiropractor, after he had determined that it was necessary. While I am NOT antagonistic toward most medical doctors, my training did not qualify me to perform brain surgery, and their training certainly did not qualify them to evaluate the benefits of chiropractic care. She said she would be calling me within a week to set up the appointments, and start being treated.

Here it is, more than TWO weeks later, and I haven’t heard from her yet. This is a patient who has already been helped by me for another condition, but she apparently has been convinced to avoid seeking chiropractic care for her injuries.

Please take note and understand, NOBODY can tell you what care you have to get – not a relative, not the insurance company, not your attorney, and certainly not your medical doctor. Research has shown chiropractic care to be the most effective treatment for whiplash-type injuries. Chiropractic care can be augmented, but not replaced, by certain types of physical therapy treatments. Muscle relaxers, painkillers, and anti-inflammatories cover, but do nothing to heal, the injuries.

Friends, PLEASE don’t allow yourself to be suckered or strong-armed into NOT getting the chiropractic care you NEED. Untreated whiplash injury symptoms get worse as the years go by (why do you think the insurance companies are so eager to settle as quickly as possible and be released from liability?), and our Arizona state laws allow two years after the accident to file a claim. See a chiropractor immediately and start getting better right away. It will be the best decision you ever made.

Getting rid of your pain,
Dr. Steven Ray, Chiropractor
Val Vista Chiropractic