There has long been a myth or scare tactic used to deter people from utilizing chiropractic care, which is actually one of the most conservative and least invasive/dangerous options for an individual. I have been to numerous med-legal seminars and not once has there been reported a peer-reviewed study that can scientifically link chiropractic with stroke, yet I still occasionally hear the comment being made. Below is a recent article that puts this debate again into perspective.

In 2008, a peer reviewed study out of Spine journal studied the correlation of stroke and a previous visit with a chiropractor or medical doctor in the province of Ontario over a nine year period with a database representing almost 110 million person-years (12.2 million people, studied over 9 years equals 110 million person-years).

The purpose of this study was to investigate if an association between chiropractic care and vertebral basilar artery stroke exceeded the association between medical primary care providers and vertebral basilar artery stroke.

The premise was that if there was a greater association between chiropractic care and this stroke then one could logically say there was a cause and effect relationship between chiropractic care and this problem.

The results were conclusive that there was substantially less likelihood of a patient experiencing a stroke following a visit to his/her chiropractor than there was after a visit to his/her primary care physician.

The research did conclude that overall, 4% of stroke victims had visited a chiropractor within 30 days of their strokes, while 53% of the stroke cases had visited their medical primary care providers within the same time frame. The authors offer the perspective that because neck pain is associated with some stroke, patients visit their doctors prior to the development of a full-blown stroke scenario.

Cassidy, J. D., Boyle, E., Côté, P., He, Y., Hogg-Johnson, S., Silver, F. L., & Bondy, S. J. (2008). Risk of vertebrobasilar stroke and chiropractic care: Results of a population-based case-control and case-crossover study. Spine, 33(45), S176-S183.

It was reported in October of 2010 that 1 in 6 or 16.54% or approximately 45 million Americans get headaches yearly, with many people suffering daily. While the statistical numbers vary based upon your source of information, it can be agreed upon that headaches are very common and shared with Americans at an epidemic rate.

Taking into account that a single pill for many Americans can cost as much as $43, the overall cost to our economy totals billions of dollars and we need to focus on not the treatment of the effects, but the root of the cause.

While there are many types of headaches ranging from common headaches, migraine headaches, cluster headaches, tension headaches and many more, the one thing to keep in mind that there is no such thing as a “Normal Headache.” You are not supposed to get headaches as pain is an indicator of a problem and you body’s mechanism of letting you know something is wrong, go fix it.

One of the most common and less understood headaches is the “cervicogenic headache.” This is a syndrome characterized by chronic pain around the head that is associated with either the bony structures of the head or the muscles of the neck. This has also been associated with migraine headaches as 64% of migraine sufferers have reported associated neck pain/stiffness with their migraine attack; 31% experienced neck symptoms before and 93% during the headache phase and 31% during the recovery phase.

Therefore cervicogenic headaches are also a component of the migraine headaches and can be treated.

One of the hallmarks of determining if there is a cervicogenic component of any headache is to change the position of your head and if you increase, activate or alter the pain pattern, there is a component.

According to M. Haas, ET. Al. in 2010, spinal manipulative care (chiropractic adjustments) showed significant reduction in cervicogenic headaches of over 50% of the research group that lasted for 24 weeks, or the length of the study. The researchers used the 50% mark to determine validity and they reached their milestone and it lasted for 24 weeks, the length of the study. They also noted a decrease in over the counter medication during the 24 weeks of the study.

Haas also reported in 2010 that at 12 weeks 85% showed improvement with varying degrees of improvement ranging from 25% to 100% with similar findings at 24 weeks.

Chiropractic has been proven to reduce and in many instances totally eradicate headaches. The financial cost to headache sufferers for drugs is staggering along with loss of paychecks when unable to work, the disability costs to insurers and loss of production of workers to industry when their employees cannot perform their jobs on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.

“Reprinted with permission from the US Chiropractic Directory (www.USChiroDirectory.com.)

I like this article because it is a good reminder that chiropractic is not just for those in pain. Most professional sports’ have a team chiropractor to keep their athletes performing at their peak. Also, many people who do see a chiropractor initially for a particular symptom often choose to return periodically to maintain spinal alignment and proper joint function even when they have little to no symptoms.

Chiropractic used by all 32 NFL teams

The Professional Football Chiropractic Society (PFCS) takes pride in announcing that all 32 teams in the National Football League offer their players and personnel chiropractic physician services as part of the triage in managing and preventing injuries. According to the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, this distinction is a benchmark for the profession and documents the important role that chiropractic care plays in optimizing athletic performance.

“The robust need for chiropractic care in the NFL has been deeply driven by the players’ desire for peak physical conditioning and not simply for injuries,” states Spencer H. Baron, D.C., DACBSP, immediate past President of the PFCS and Miami Dolphins team chiropractor for the past 14 years. “From the earliest years of full contact football, their bodies are subject to structural stress that doctors of chiropractic (DCs) are specially trained to care for. ”

Saints 2006 first round pick, Reggie Bush, has been receiving regular chiropractic care since playing football in high school and during his collegiate years. “I look at chiropractic care as important to keeping me healthy and at the top of my game.”

In fact, many professional athletes are outspoken about their experiences with chiropractic care. Most notably, 2010 NFL Hall Of Fame inductee Jerry Rice, who is a spokesperson for the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to educating the public of the many benefits associated with chiropractic care.

“I did a lot of things to stay in the game, but regular visits to my chiropractor made all the difference,” Rice asserts.

To see the full article click here… http://newsblaze.com/story/2010021607372200001.bw/topstory.html

When my son was only a few weeks old, he had a real difficult night…and so did his parents. He was having trouble getting to sleep and then staying asleep. By 2am, my wife was completely exhausted and sleep deprived…so she tagged me and said it’s your turn. After a few hours of doing all the things that normally put him asleep, I thought to myself, “something just doesn’t seem right.” I remembered back to my grad school classes  of pediatric chiropractic and the topic of colic. The instructors related their clinical experience with babies with colic to small kinks or misalignments in the baby’s neck that was causing neck discomfort and the resulting baby’s only line of defense…uneasiness and crying.

With that thought in mind…and my own sense of fatigue and passionate desire for sleep, I decided to check the joints of my son’s neck. Sure enough, one side was more restricted and seemed to be irritated when turning that direction. With an extremely gentle adjustment, the joint restriction was relieved and my son was asleep in less then five minutes…and he slept the rest of the night without waking. Needless to say, that was one instance where I was extremely thankful to be a chiropractor. As I joke with my wife, sleep is one of my favorite things to do.

Many people think that back and neck problems are only for adults, but children and even babies can have joints that get irritated and jammed up. For infants, one common cause of this joint misalignment is sustained periods of poor neck posture that commonly occurs when they sleep in their car seat with their neck twisted to one side.

With two children now, I have found out first hand that one of the most common reasons for colic is literally a “kink” in the neck.

Article Highlights:

“Research is revealing that minor disturbances to spinal alignment and function may be a factor in a number of disorders. These disturbances lead to nerve interference and can result in a host of disorders such as colic, constipation and sleep disorders” stated Dr. Sean Batte the author of the study. Other chiropractic researchers have reported on similar results and reviews of the scientific research reveal numerous other studies that have shown a similar connection.

“It makes a lot of sense when you think about it” stated Dr. Matthew McCoy a chiropractor, public health researcher and editor of the journal that published the study, “If you damage or compress the neurological structures in the spine this can have far reaching implications on the functioning of the body… correcting the misalignments or abnormal motion associated with these spinal problems reduces the nerve compression and people improve. In this study it was an infant suffering from colic, constipation, sleep disturbance and excessive crying.”

History and examination of the child revealed that he had a difficult birth, cried regularly, was not sleeping during the day, and if he wasn’t eating or sleeping, he was crying. At night, his sleep was sporadic and irregular and his parents were not able to sleep or catch up on sleep during the day as he wasn’t napping at all. The mother’s general practitioner recommended anti-depressants and tranquilizers for the child. The infant was evaluated and cared for using chiropractic protocols to reduce vertebral subluxations in the child’s spine. Within five visits his mother reported his bowel movements had started to become more regular, he was belching normally after meals, started to sleep better and the crying abated.

To read the full article, click here…

http://www.chiroeco.com/chiropractic/news/9003/861/Journal:-Chiropractic-helpful-in-common-infant-complaints/

Diagnostic Results: The following link is a copy of the stress x-ray digital analysis produced by a 3rd party independent evaluation according to AMA guidelines.

MVA- 7yr old 1st page of ligament injury diagnosis report

Upon finding that the boy in fact did have ligamentous injury and spinal joint dysfunction, I began treating him with conservative chiropractic care for the subluxations or spinal misalignments that were causing the spinal joint dysfunction. Within a few treatments the mother noticed positive behavioral changes. Specifically, he was less irritable and moody and he was able to concentrate and focus more at home and with school work. As she thought back, she reported that his irritability and difficulties were not present before the accident, but that she never thought that those symptoms were the result of spinal joint injury from the accident. The mother fought back tears as she thanked me and thought of those injuries becoming permanent damages for her son.

This specific case illustrates that the nervous system is very complex and can manifest symptoms in many different ways and in differing levels of intensity for different individuals. As I tell my patients, pain is not the only indicator of injury or dysfunction. For this reason, I believe that it is so important to correct spinal subluxations or misalignments to allow for proper joint function and the least amount of nerve system interference. Not only is this one of the most conservative treatment options, but it routinely gets to the root cause of  the problem so that other more invasive and costly treatments can be avoided.

– Matthew C. Ferris is a chiropractic physician and clinical accident director at Health Connections in Fishers, Indiana. Dr. Ferris has a Diplomat with the American Academy of Medical Legal Professionals and has also completed certification in Whiplash and Brain Traumatology from the Spine Research Institute of San Diego.

Matthew C. Ferris, DC, DAAMLP

317-585-9111

Health Connections, Inc. provides treatment of Auto Accident related Injuries

Fishers, Ind. – Matthew Ferris, a chiropractic physician practicing at Health Connections, accepts Diplomat with the American Academy of Medical Legal Professionals (AAMLP).  The requirements for attaining this diplomat included prior certification in Whiplash as well as passing a written test and certification process.

This certification is designed to give a doctor the training needed to help injured people not only get the treatment they need, but reduce the fears that cause them to not follow recommended treatment plans or just plain avoid finding out if they are injured.

Spinal joint and ligament injury are common in auto related accidents. Each year 500,000 people will have chronic problems and up to 300,000 will have some degree of disability due to an auto accident.

“Many patients have expressed to us just how thankful they are to have a doctor that they can trust to get them the care they need. I am pleased to have the training and confidence to put these patients at ease,” says Dr. Matthew Ferris.

– Matthew C. Ferris, DC, DAAMLP is the clinical accident director at Health Connections. He has completed certification in Whiplash and Brain Traumatology from the Spine Research Institute of San Diego.

–Founded in 2004, Hoosier Chiropractor (DBA Health Connections) was started by two brothers, Dr. Jeremy and Matthew Ferris, who were raised in Hamilton County. Health Connections services include: chiropractic, whiplash treatment, golf related performance and injury treatment, massage therapy, and disc decompression therapy.

For more information visit www.hcfishers.com.

• Date Time Location
• Describe ALL Injuries of each person in your car:
• Describe the collision:

Other Involved Motorists: Obtain the following information for each vehicle involved.

• Name
• Phone
• Address
• Drivers License # And State
• Vehicle Make / Model / Year / License Plate #
• Insurance Co. Policy#

– Matthew C. Ferris is a chiropractic physician and clinical accident director at Health Connections in Fishers, Indiana. Dr. Ferris has a Diplomat with the American Academy of Medical Legal Professionals and has also completed certification in Whiplash and Brain Traumatology from the Spine Research Institute of San Diego. If you have a question or would like a no charge consultation in relation to an auto accident, you can call 317-585-9111 or visit www.hcfishers.com.

Fishers, IN, January-2010 – Did you know that over three million whiplash injuries occur each year resulting from motor vehicle crashes? Of these whiplash injuries, 500,000 people will have chronic problems and up to 300,000 will have some degree of disability. Apart from the effect on health, there’s a significant cost to society. Approximately $43 billion of total annual HARM is attributable to whiplash and related injuries. (HARM is a metric for quantifying the total societal cost of road trauma.)

Dr. Matthew C. Ferris of Health Connections says individuals need to be educated about the issues surrounding whiplash. He reports, “Many times ligament damage and injury goes undetected. Either the person does not have significant symptoms and does not get any medical check or they go to a hospital and get released with pain medication. At the hospital, the primary priority is to discover if there are any major medical issues, like fractures or internal bleeding.”

Therefore, Dr. Ferris explains, “after the hospital or critical care facility has ruled out major medical injury, it is important to go to a physician trained in whiplash diagnosis and treatment to find out for sure the extent of any injuries. In most cases, the diagnosis and treatment of injuries will be covered by either the at fault vehicle or one’s own auto insurance policy if no other vehicle is involved.”

So what are some warning signs? Dr. Ferris commented that, “headaches, neck pain, muscle spasm, back pain, and numbness and tingling are all potential signs that muscles, ligaments, and spinal joints may be injured.” He also notes that, “when ligaments are injured their function of keeping the spinal joints aligned and working properly is changed. If ligaments heal with spinal joints misaligned, it will lock them into a dysfunctional position and set the stage for spinal degeneration and chronic pain.”

– Matthew C. Ferris is a chiropractic physician and clinical accident director at Health Connections in Fishers, Indiana. Dr. Ferris has completed post doctorate certification in Whiplash and Brain Traumatology from the Spine Research Institute of San Diego. He has recently completed a Diplomat with the American Academy of Medical Legal Professionals. If you have a question or would like a no charge consultation in relation to an auto accident, you can call 317-585-9111 or visit www.hcfishers.com.

Dr. Arnold Milstein is one of the world’s foremost experts on clinical and cost effectiveness in health care, and the Mercer Reports, written by him and his team, are considered the gold standard among medical establishments, third party payers and legislators. In essence, if Dr. Milstein says it’s so, it’s accepted as unchallengeable, based on his reputation for objectivity and scientific reason.

Dr. Milstein’s curiosity with chiropractic connected him with the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress who commissioned him to study the effectiveness of chiropractic care compared to medicine and physical therapy, concentrating on neck and low back patients to begin with.

The results were startling. Chiropractic care was found to be more effective than either medicine or physical therapy – in fact, up to twenty-five times more cost-effective than a program of physical therapy exercises.

Dr. Milstein concluded, “Using data from high quality randomized controlled EU trials and contemporary US based average unit prices payable by commercial insurers, we project that insurance coverage for chiropractic physician care for low back and neck pain for conditions other than fracture and malignancy is likely to drive improved cost-effectiveness of US care. In combination with the existing US-based literature, our findings support the value of health insurance coverage of chiropractic care for low back and neck pain at average fees payable by US commercial insurers.”

Results of study:

• Chiropractic care is more effective than other modalities for treating  low back and neck pain
• Chiropractic physician care for low back and neck pain is highly cost effective, represents a good value in comparison to medical physician care and to widely accepted cost-effectiveness thresholds.

If you are experiencing a musculoskeletal condition,  such as neck or back pain, do some online searching for a chiropractor in your area to get a consultation and exam.

—

- Dr. Matthew C. Ferris is a chiropractic physician practicing at Health Connections in Fishers, Indiana. Dr. Ferris has completed post doctorate certification in Whiplash and Brain Traumatology from the Spine Research Institute of San Diego. If you or someone you know is experiencing neck or back pain, call for a complimentary consultation and exam to see if you are a candidate for our services. 317-585-9111.

Many people think of and use head restraints according to their other known name, head rest. This leads them to think that everyday comfort is reason for this device. However, a properly positioned restraint is one of the most important safety features to prevent injury to the neck due to the whiplash effect of accidents. If the top of the restraint is even with the middle or bottom of your head, the neck will bend over the top of the restraint allowing the restraint to act as a fulcrum to create an even greater force of whiplash and more potential ligamentous damage to the neck.

Tip #2- Use Your Seat Belt… Always

It is still the most important device to prevent injury in an accident. Don’t count on your airbag to keep you safe. Clinically, patients who come to our office rarely report that their airbag deployed even in major accidents where their car was totaled.

Tip #3- Get Examined for Ligament Damage if You Are in an Accident

Many times ligament damage goes undetected. Either the person does not have significant symptoms and does not get any medical check or they go to a hospital and get released with just pain medication. At the hospital, the primary priority is to discover if there are any major medical issues, like fractures or internal bleeding. So many times the proper x-rays and examination for ligament damage is not done. Therefore, it is important to go to a chiropractic physician trained in whiplash diagnosis and treatment.

- Dr. Matthew C. Ferris is a chiropractic physician practicing at Health Connections in Fishers, Indiana. Dr. Ferris has completed post doctorate certification in Whiplash and Brain Traumatology from the Spine Research Institute of San Diego. If you or someone you know has been in an auto accident of any magnitude,  call for a complimentary consultation and exam to find potential underlying injury see if you are a candidate for our services. 317-585-9111.