One minute, you’re thinking about how good that Italian sausage you just picked up is going to make your spaghetti dinner taste. The next, a blur of white racing in from the next lane drives any thought of dinner from your mind. You’re in a crash; police car lights are flashing and first-responders want to know if you’re all right. It’s a dizzying experience as your mind inventories everything that happened and absorbs all that’s changed. And as surely as you’ll send your vehicle to the shop to assess the damages, think about what you need to make sure you’re OK. If there are injuries, you’ll want to head to the hospital for medical attention. You’ll immediately want to see your doctor of chiropractic, too, even if you don’t notice obvious symptoms. Ask Jess Caruso, who in a Palmer College of Chiropractic blog discussed the chiropractic care she received to treat the debilitating effects of a crash. She revealed that it was what led to her decision to become a doctor of chiropractic herself. She doesn’t even want to imagine what her life would be like today, she said, if she had continued to rely on prescription drugs for relief....

On May 17, 2018, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ (ACOG) Committee on Obstetric Practice released an important and timely committee opinion addressing postpartum pain management. The advice of the ACOG Obstetrics Practice Committee is consistent with federal guidelines and recommendations seeking to increase the use of non-pharmacologic approaches to pain management and a minimization and elimination of the use of opioid containing products whenever possible, according the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP). “Pain and fatigue are the most common problems reported by women in the early postpartum period. Pain can interfere with a woman’s ability to care for herself and her infant,” notes the nation’s OBGYN community. In addition to interfering with the ability of a mother to care for her child, the use of opioids puts infants at risk. In April 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced labeling revisions advising “breastfeeding is not recommended while using medicines that contain codeine or tramadol because of the potential for serious adverse effects in the infant due to opioid overdose.” ACOG carefully explores the impact of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDS) and codeine (opioid) containing products. Unfortunately, the ACOG opinion statement does not offer any guidance to obstetricians...

Why, months before our “Drug-Free Pain Management Awareness” campaign in September, are we choosing to bring up the opioid epidemic? To answer this question, we point to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) release about the toll it took in 2016, when more people died from drug overdoses in a single year than in the Vietnam and Iraq wars combined. It is no surprise that the CDC says synthetic and classic opioids today account for six of every 10 drug overdose deaths, given that another CDC study found that one out of every four Americans prescribed long-term opioid painkillers struggle with addiction. It’s a national tragedy that deserves our continuous attention. As doctors of chiropractic join with other healthcare providers to explore the intricacies of chronic pain and the combination of treatment options, beginning with drug-free, non-invasive chiropractic care, a myriad of pain-related issues continue to surface. Deserving careful consideration are the risks of over-the-counter pain relievers such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and acetaminophen. • Managing the pain with NSAIDs and acetaminophen is like constantly replacing the tires on your car instead of getting the alignment that’s causing them to wear out in the first place. It...

Stand Tall By definition, chiropractic care encourages your body to heal itself by bringing it back into alignment. And by doing your part, you can make the lifestyle changes that prevent the conditions that brought you to the doctor of chiropractic in the first place. Eat better. Become more active. And, in keeping with the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress’ theme for May, practice good posture. In olden days, proper young ladies would walk for hours balancing books on their heads, perfecting their posture. But times change and, with technology keeping us hunched over our laptop for hours on end and continually checking our mobile devices, we’ve lost our natural curve. Whether you call it tech neck or millennial hunchback or a pain in the neck, doctors of chiropractic are seeing it show up on younger people these days, and it raises more than aesthetic concerns. Poor posture leading to postural kyphosis can bring on back and neck pain, poor circulation, shallow breathing, fatigue, muscle tension, headaches and premature aging of the spine. Among the middle-aged and elderly, studies show it increases the risk of falling. But here’s the good news; chiropractic care, including spinal manipulation, can improve your posture and...

Military life requires many physical challenges. The physical stresses of carrying heavy loads, running with body armor and jumping out of planes can often have a long-term impact on a person’s body. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that many Veterans suffer from chronic pain from the lingering effects of active duty. Of the millions of patients served annually in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities, more than half experience chronic pain. Much of the chronic pain reported by Veterans is musculoskeletal pain, with around 25 percent consistently reporting low back pain (LBP). The prevalence of severe pain is more common in Veterans with LBP than in non-Veterans. Chiropractic care – a safe, effective and non-pharmacological approach to manage pain, as well as general health and wellness - should be an increased part of the integrated care that Veterans receive for LBP. Luckily there is hope. A Department of Veterans Affairs policy enforces that Veterans have access to chiropractic care, but this service is dependent on the availability of doctors of chiropractic (DC) on staff at VA facilities. The VA now provides chiropractic care at approximately 75 major VA treatment facilities within the U.S. Unfortunately, most of America's Veterans still do not have access to chiropractic care because the VA has yet to provide DCs at a vast number of its medical facilities. The Veterans Health Administration is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,243 health care facilities, including...

Those who serve in the U.S. military are heroes, dedicating their lives to ensure the safety of our country. Military life requires many physical challenges, and for the troops to be in optimal shape they must undergo rigorous training. Common tasks include carrying heavy loads, running with body armor, jumping out of planes and much more. These types of activities can have a long-term impact on a person’s body, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many of our military suffer from chronic pain. For many active duty military, chiropractic care is not easily accessible while they are serving. It could be difficult to see a doctor of chiropractic, leading many active duty members to simply deal with the pain. Unfortunately, too few military bases have a doctor of chiropractic (DC) onsite. According to a 2005 Government Accountability Office report, while there is a DC at 60 military bases around the country, only 54 percent of servicemen and women eligible for chiropractic care can reasonably access the benefit. Could better access to chiropractic care be the answer to getting military personnel on the road to living a pain-free life? Care for Back and Neck Pain Back pain can make life miserable and it’s common in the military. According to the 2016 National Health Interview Survey, more that 43% of veterans deal with joint pain. Over 30% deal with back pain and another 16% with neck pain. Randomized trials have found that spinal manipulation can be effective for...

Nine out of 10 Americans suffer from headaches. Some are occasional, some frequent, some are dull and throbbing, and some cause debilitating pain and nausea. What do you do when you suffer from a pounding headache? Pop a pill and hope the pain goes away? When taken in higher doses than recommended, commonly used over-the-counter pain relievers can increase the risk of serious health conditions such as ulcers, stomach bleeding, kidney and liver damage and even death. But there is a better option. Doctors of chiropractic (DCs), who receive seven years of higher level education, are well positioned to diagnose and manage headaches. Research shows that spinal manipulation – most often performed by a DC – may be an effective option for managing specific types of headaches. What causes headaches? Headaches have many causes, or “triggers.” These may include foods, environmental stimuli (noises, lights, stress) and/or behaviors (insomnia, dehydration, excessive exercise, blood sugar changes). About five percent of all headaches are warning signals caused by physical problems. The remaining 95 percent of headaches are primary headaches, such as tension, migraine or cervicogenic headaches. These types of headaches are not caused by disease; the headache itself is the primary concern. Three Kinds of Primary Headaches Contrary to popular belief, a migraine is not just a bad headache. It is an extremely incapacitating collection of neurological symptoms that usually includes a severe throbbing recurring pain on one side of the head and is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting and extreme sensitivity to light...