After 120 Years How Are We Choosing To Change The World?

A message to all Chiropractors on the 120th birthday of our profession

Chiropractic embodies a truth and as that is shared through words and actions the more the awareness of that truth will spread. When that awareness reaches critical mass, action, actual system wide change will automatically come forth. I know we all want action now but I feel that the best action right now is to continue to tell the story. Right now there are too many people and groups that will try to squash any real action steps, and they will most likely succeed. It will only be when critical mass has been reached that the core paradigm will shift and those same people and groups will not be able to stop the actions that will spring forth. Perhaps our charge is to continually strengthen the wave of change that is already rising and then ride that wave on to the beach of a brighter future.

P.S. As BJ Palmer once said, "You never know how far reaching something you may think, say or do today, could affect the lives of millions tomorrow!" Who knows how many souls have read or been told something today, right now this very minute, that has changed how they view the world for the better. People that, had others not been willing to tell the story again and again and again and again, might not have heard it. Getting frustrated with the world and people today is normal, but change will happen faster if we are willing to keep telling the story.

"It is not the final chop that brings the tree down but all the ones that came before."

Keep chopping away.

Happy Birthday to a great profession and principle!

Off-Label Uses For Upper Cervical Chiropractic Care

by Dr. Adam Tanase

(Editor's note:  This post again comes from my good friend and colleague, Dr. Adam Tanase.  His perspective on this topic is interesting and I think will serve to help more people understand the potential uses of Chiropractic care more easily.) 

Medical physicians commonly use Botox, a medication intended to treat wrinkles, on patients with headaches. They also give Singular, an adult asthma/allergy drug, to children with atopic dermatitis. This practice is called "off-label prescribing" and it’s so common that the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality estimated 20% of all prescriptions are written for off-label use.

Since this now happens on a daily basis, it doesn’t really shock anyone. Plus, it’s perfectly legal. What you might be surprised to find out, however, is that (upper cervical) chiropractic care has off-label uses of its own.

If you have generalized back or neck pain, (upper cervical) chiropractic adjustments are very helpful. This type of pain relief could be considered an "on-label" reason for seeking the assistance of a chiropractor. But what about the patients who don’t have back or neck pain, and elect to receive care for relief from other conditions? Examples may include constipation, dizziness, or TMJ.

Believe it or not, (upper cervical) chiropractic offices across the world are filled with patients receiving these "off-label" benefits. That’s why you might hear chiropractors discussing how they’ve been able to help patients with psoriasis or IBS. To outsiders, this can seem like complete quackery. And while I would consider it irresponsible for chiropractors to advertise a "cure" for these conditions, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a hoax. Some people with non-musculoskeletal conditions really do respond well to (upper cervical) chiropractic care.

In fact, just yesterday, two of my patients expressed how they can immediately feel their sinuses open up after getting an upper cervical adjustment. Now, both of them originally came to see me for "on-label" reasons – neck pain and upper back stiffness. I didn’t attempt to diagnose either of them with any sort of sinus issue, nor did I ever tell them that the adjustments would help sinus congestion. Moreover, neither one mentioned sinus irritation being a concern when we first met. But now, they each come back as needed for an "off-label" benefit (improved sinus function), as well as typical relief from back/neck pain.

Why does this happen? The answer is fairly simple: Our bodies function better with a strong and balanced spine that moves properly.

I invite you to consult with a reputable chiropractor in your area so that you too may experience the "off-label" benefits of (upper cervical) chiropractic care.

The Most Expensive Lie in Health Care

By Dr. Jason Watts

We have all heard lies in our lifetime. As a country we have been lied to so many times that we don’t believe anything our government leaders say anymore: we are skeptical of advertising, we are sure all salesmen are lying about their products. Let’s face it; we have a lot of experience with lies.

I’d like to tell you about a lie most people aren’t aware of. This particular lie happens to be the most expensive lie in health care history. This lie costs our country somewhere in the vicinity of $1 Trillion per year and also has another expense that comes in the form of human life, about 200,000 to be specific. The lie that we have all been taught is that how you feel is more important than how you function.

Let me explain how this lie affects you: You have a fever. You feel very poorly, so you go to your drug store and get a drug to help you feel better by getting rid of the fever. The fever goes away, you feel better. The part that most people don’t get is that the fever is not the problem. Fever is a perfectly healthy, natural response of the body to rid itself of some bacteria, virus or toxin. In fact, a fever is the most powerful stimulus the immune system can have. While your body is trying to raise your body temperature to rid itself of something that isn’t supposed to be there, you may feel badly, but you are functioning perfectly. If we take the fever away to feel better, we have the potential of getting much sicker and risking death if we are not able to get rid of the invader.

Another good example would be food poisoning. If you eat tainted food the healthy response is to throw up, therefore ridding your body of toxins. You may feel terrible while you throw up but you are functioning perfectly. If you take some drug to stop the nausea and vomiting you might feel better, but you will get very sick or die if your body doesn’t get rid of the toxins. The same scenario is true of almost all symptoms; a cough is your body trying to get rid of foreign objects in the lungs, does it make sense to stop that with a cough suppressant? A runny nose is the body’s way of preventing pollen and dust and bacteria from entering further into your body, does it make sense to take a drug to stop that? Diarrhea is your body’s way of getting rid of foreign invaders, why would we want to stop it with a drug? How you function is always more important than how you feel.

If everyone in the country understood this concept there would be no market for over the counter medications or most prescription drugs. 99 percent of drugs treat how you feel, not how you function. Oh, and by the way, these drugs kill 200,000 Americans every year. The most important thing you can do in your health care is support your body’s function and that is why upper cervical chiropractic care is so important. Chiropractic is the only profession with the objective of removing nerve interference to enable your body to function more efficiently. So, while no one can guarantee that you will always feel good, Upper cervical chiropractic will guarantee that a body free of nerve interference will always function better! And that’s no lie.