The Healthy Back

PAIN IN THE BUTT

Piriformis Syndrome

“Pain in the butt” is not an uncommon description made by patients that are suffering from Piriformis Syndrome.

You feel a deep aching right in the middle of your butt cheek that sometimes refers down your leg.  The piriformis muscle originates on the bottom of the sacrum – the large triangular bone at the bottom of the spine and attaches on the greater trochanter of femur, or the outside of the leg just below the hip.  Because the piriformis muscle has an intimate relationship (no, not that kind!) with the sciatic nerve which can pass over the top, through the middle of or a combination of these patterns, any tension in the muscle will irritate the sciatic nerve and be felt in distant locations – like your thigh, knee, etc, or running down the leg like a deep ache.  In fact, piriformis syndrome is often diagnosed as “sciatica” as if the nerve is to blame.

The piriformis muscle has a number of functions, the main one being pelvic stability.  Along with the psoas muscle, which originates just below the diaphragm and runs along the spine attaching on each spinal vertebra from L1 down and ending on the lesser trochanter of femur on the inside of the leg just below the hip in the groin area, the piriformis helps keep the pelvis level and stable so you can balance and move.

If for some reason the pelvis is torqued or twisted, then these two muscles will try to straighten things out and one side will often become tighter than the other.  This can actually make the twisting worse and is why everyone needs a chiropractor.  Once distortion starts, you can’t correct it yourself. This pelvic distortion most often occurs because of postural habits – you like to stand on one leg and hang on your pelvis – you all do it!  Doing this isn’t evil, but we always have a favorite side, so we spend more time on one leg than the other and that’s where the problem occurs.  Your body is smart and quickly learns that this is what you do and adapts to it to make it more efficient, so this one sided habit becomes even more ingrained!  The other things we do are cross our legs when we are sitting, men put their wallets in their back pockets, and we drive cars where we usually only use one leg on the pedals.

Prolonged postures like these shorten the piriformis on one side and can cause rotation through the hip and excessive pronation in the foot on that side.  These are the kinds of mechanical alterations in the spine that eventually lead to arthritic changes in the spine, hips, knees, ankles and contribute to developing flat feet.

Generally, piriformis syndrome doesn’t require invasive treatment.  Of course, prevention is always best – learn how to do things as symetrically as possible – don’t cross your legs, put your wallet in your front pocket, stand on both your legs, visit your chiropractor regularly for straightening up – it’s really the only kind of prevention there is.  Here are some exercises that will help.

Another thing to consider is getting orthotics.  The correction that custom orthotics provide help to “untwist” the pelvis and take pressure off the knees and hips.  What works best, however, it to see your chiropractor, get yourself straightened out as much as possible and then get custom corrective orthotics to support your correction.

If you do this, your back, your hips, your knees and your feet will all thank you and keep you going for years longer.

Visit the office for an evaluation.  Contact the office for more information about the evaluation procedure and costs and visit our website at www.mccallumchiroabbotsford.com .

Dr. Dorothea McCallum, Abbotsford orthotics custom provider uses the advanced Footmaxx computer system to analyze your gait.  Custom orthotics are manufactured to correct your particular walking patterns.  Not based solely on the shape of your dysfunctional foot, Footmaxx orthotics actually correct over-pronation and other gait irregularities. Wearing Footmaxx orthotics and can lead to healthier, functional feet.  Plus, no more foot pain!  Visit McCallum Chiropractic for a gait analysis.

The BC Chiropractic Association has put together some chiropractic information on youtube.  Go here to see a complete list of interesting information regarding chiropractic from a reliable source: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCBEBF2785B515156&feature=plcp

Dr. McCallum’s office is located upstairs in the Bay SevenOaks,32900 South Fraser Way,Abbotsford,BC.  Call 604-864-8232 to book an appointment.  We love helping people regain and maintain their good health.

Shake, Rattle and OOOps, Don’t Roll!

Vibration, Bone Density and Strength in the Elderly

If you’re getting along in years and worried about your bones and falling and breaking something you may have looked into a number of things to help keep yourself healthy.  Researchers are interested in this too, because osteoporosis, and the resulting pain and fractures, especially of the hip joints causes a lot of suffering and costs the health system a lot of money.

One surefire way of promoting bone mass and decreasing the risk of falling is physical exercise.  The problem here is that exercise not performed properly can increase the risk of falling.  Because of this, researchers and other health practitioners have sought new ways to help seniors stay on their feet and stay active. One of the strategies that’s been investigated is whole body vibration. Something that’s available in many gyms are vibration platforms.

Whole body vibration is most often delivered to the body through a vibrating platform that a person stands on.  Exercise can be performed while on the platform.  The science behind this is based on the neurophysiological theory that exercising on the platform activates muscle spindles (sensory receptors in muscles), which in turn cause a reflexive muscle contraction.  In theory, this should cause an increase in muscle strength.

This idea also theorizes that this kind of exercise will promote bone growth.  We know that the tension that muscles exert on bones causes the bones to maintain or increase their strength.  At the same time, muscle strength is highly related to bone mineral density.

Let’s look at what a recent study says about exercising on a vibration platform before you get too excited about an easy way to prevent osteoporosis and falls.  The study I’m looking at is called The Effects of Whole Body Vibration Therapy on Bone Mineral Density and leg Muscle Strength in Older Adults; A Systemic Review and Meta-analysis, by Lau RWK, Lin Rong L & Yu F et al. published in clinical Rehabilitation 2011; 25(11):975-988.

When compared to sham vibration, whole body vibration has no significant effect on hip bone mineral density unless the person exercising is 86% or more compliant in doing their exercises.

In fact the study showed that vibration platform exercise generally was no better than active exercise (the usual kind) for increasing bone density.  Interestingly, where the vibration exercise showed significant benefit was for functional tests and increased muscle strength -  things like straightening your leg to resistance, getting up out of a chair, jumping higher.  So, vibration platform exercise is beneficial for helping older people carry on doing their daily activities – staying active and flexible and strong.  It would be interesting to see a comparison study between vibration platform exercising and weight training, since weight training has been shown to be more beneficial for older people than aerobic exercising.  Apparently the stress of lifting and moving weights against resistence is good for the heart and cardiovascular system, it has more of an effect on muscle strength than other exercise and requires bending, twisting and other flexibility movements.

The review that I read about this study basically said that more and better research needs to be done on vibration platform exercise.  One of the things that I thought might be involved with the platforms was an increase in proprioceptive input, which is always a good thing for balance. This wasn’t mentioned in the study, but would be something that could be investigated.

Otherwise, the conclusions from this study is that you don’t actually need to go out and buy an expensive vibration platform, or a costly gym membership where they have vibration platforms in order to get and stays strong when you get old.  Just get moving.

When you need chiropractic adjustments Abbotsford is the place to be.  Dr. Dorothea McCallum provides General Chiropractic Care for people of all ages, Pre and Perinatal care for Moms and babies – Webster Technique Certified, Wellness Care and Coaching – Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner (CCWP), Custom Corrective Orthotics.

Visit our office on-line by seeing our video on CanPages!  New Patients always welcome www.canpages.ca/page/BC/abbotsford/mccallum-chiropractic-at-the-bay/4270514.html

Dr. McCallum’s office is located upstairs in the Bay SevenOaks,32900 South Fraser Way,Abbotsford,BC.  Call 604-864-8232 to book an appointment.  We love helping people regain and maintain their good health.

FEAR AVOIDANCE BELIEFS AND PAIN AVOIDANCE IN LOW BACK PAIN part 2

Last week we began our discussion about how you think about pain and movement affects how well you heal and how well you feel.  This week, I show you how smart health providers figure out which one you are so they can help you get better faster.

The following information is from a paper in The Spine Journal 2011;11:895-903, titled Fear-avoidance beliefs and pain avoidance in low back pain – translating research into clinical practice, authored by Rainville J, Smeets RJEM, Bendix T et al.

Problematic Fear Avoidance Beliefs can be classified into 3 categories:

1. Misinformed avoiders:  Most people fall into this category, and hold the belief that certain movements and activities will cause re-injury and/or increase pain.  They then avoid these activities. In general, they do not report high distress, low self-efficacy or profound disability.  Their beliefs are based on reasoning and are likely to change with new information and new experiences.  Recommended Interventions: Educational interventions that explain the causes and process of low back pain.  These should be delivered by a recognized spine expert in a compelling format.
2. Learned Avoiders: Patients in this category do not express fear of re-injury, and do not have explicit beliefs about physical activities causing re-injury or increased pain.  They view activities as painful and avoid these activities in order to avoid pain.  Recommended Interventions: No approach has been established, but quota-based exercise has been suggested.
3. Affective Avoiders: considered the most challenging patients, they are profoundly distressed by back pain, exhibit excessive pain inhibitions during physical examination, and are strongly committed to their disabilities.  They exhibit persistent, irrational fear of physical activities due to its perceived likelihood of producing back pain.  This group would benefit from treatments that address dysfunctional cognitions and catastrophic thinking. Recommended Interventions: “exposure in vivo” technique that addressed phobias (gradually expose patient to feared physical activities); “functional restoration” treatment that integrates quota-based exercise and counseling.

These categories of patients with problematic fear-avoidance beliefs allows health providers a way to tailor treatment plans according to the patient to improve low back outcome.

As mentioned, most patients are misinformed avoiders; These patients believe pain is harmful based on past experiences and multiple information sources.  They are generally unwilling to perform activities that (may) cause pain.  New information and experience (exercise) will reduce their fear avoidance beliefs.

Learned pain avoiders believe that pain should be avoided, and will choose to stop activities that are painful

Lastly affective avoiders have distorted beliefs about pain and spine conditions that are based on emotionally charged misinterpretation of past experiences and distortion of medical information.  They will not attempt activities that might be painful, and display profound pain inhibition for movement.  Their dysfunctional cognitions and catastrophic thinking needs to be addressed, and fears decreased through gradual exposure to feared activities.

As I heard a pain specialist once say, there is a difference between hurt and harm.  Many things may hurt, but are not harmful.  Sometimes, not moving, which does not hurt, causes the most harm.  I always advise people to move as much as possible, and most find that they feel a lot better when they do.  In fact, if reasonable movement does not improve symptoms, that is a reason to look deeper for something else going on.

Movement is life, and if you don’t keep moving, you soon won’t be able to.  If you ever hear a health provider tell you to stop moving or to rest until you feel better, I think you should probably look around for a second opinion, they could be making you worse instead of better.

CMCC Run/Walk for Chiropractic Education and Research

Dr. McCallum is again walking in the Annual CMCC Run/Walk for Chiropractic Education and Research in Toronto on April 29th.

Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College is considered the top chiropractic college in the world and is renowned for rigour and innovation.  It is a private institution and receives no government funding, but relies on membership, tuition and donations.  If you’ve been helped by Chiropractic, or know someone who has, please give generously. Just go to www.cmcc.ca/dorotheamccallum and follow the steps to donate online.

We are as close as the CanPages online. Please feel free to refer your family and friends using this link:

 www.canpages.ca/page/BC/abbotsford/mccallum-chiropractic-at-the-bay/4270514.html

Dr. Dorothea McCallum is an Abbotsford back painrelief doctor who looks at so much more.  Your back is connected to every organ, cell and tissue in your body by the nervous system. Find out how chiropractic can help you live a longer, fuller life.

Dr. McCallum’s office is located upstairs in the Bay SevenOaks, 32900 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC.  Call 604-864-8232 to book an appointment.  We love helping people regain and maintain their good health.

Notice:

Dr. McCallum is in Toronto this weekend for CMCC Board Meetings and the Run Walk for Chiropractic Education and Research.  See my donation plea below!

FEAR AVOIDANCE BELIEFS AND PAIN AVOIDANCE IN LOW BACK PAIN

Over the next two weeks, I’m going to be exploring  – just a little bit – about how you think about your back pain affects how well you heal and how you feel.

The following information is from a paper in The Spine Journal 2011;11:895-903, titled Fear-avoidance beliefs and pain avoidance in low back pain – translating research into clinical practice, authored by Rainville J, Smeets RJEM, Bendix T et al.

Fear avoidance beliefs (FABs) are the avoidance of movement and/or activities due to fear of pain.  This fear may be based on emotion or reason, or both. To date, most research has investigated FABs in chronic low back pain (LBP) patients, while very few studies have been conducted on fear avoidance beliefs in acute low back patients. These factors are very important for determining how disabled a person becomes and how different people handle the situations they find themselves in regarding pain.  They are particularly important because they show how beliefs can affect actual physical symptoms – how much control a person has over how they feel.

Responses to the fear of pain – note, I didn’t say to pain, but the fear of pain – run in a continuum from “confrontation” to “avoidance” as the two extremes.  A person with confrontational behaviour will attempt to return to normal activity despite the pain, and eventually will have reduced fear of pain.  A person with avoidance behaviour will avoid activity that they associate with pain, and eventually will have increased fear of pain.

The paper I cited above describes the impact of fear avoidance beliefs of the patient and the health provider on low back pain outcomes, as well as a classification system of problematic fear avoidance beliefs.  You’ll note that the health provider’s beliefs about pain are just as important as the patient’s!

Fear Avoidance Beliefs

Your health provider’s behaviour and communication methods about pain greatly influence your experience and outcome.  A good explanation of low back pain can help relieve fears and avoidance beliefs by emphasizing the mechanical basis for the pain and the body’s many resources for healing and handling pain itself.

As a health provider who tends to be more confrontational in my approach – as many chiropractors are – I need to be mindful that fear avoidance beliefs exist quite strongly throughout the general population, for many things, not just back pain.  All you have to do is watch TV for a couple of hours and count the number of ads there are for pain relief medications, or look at the addiction problems created by prescription drugs like oxicontin in the people it has been prescribed to.

It’s natural to experience an increase in fear avoidance beliefs when you experience an episode of low back pain.  This increase is usually temporary and returns to normal once your symptoms subside.  In some people, though, the FABs persist or even escalate.

In chronic low back pain cases, the consequences of fear avoidance beliefs are more significant because they are strongly associated with disability and do not often decrease as symptoms subside.

Persistent fear avoidance beliefs in chronic pain reduce the effectiveness of treatments for reducing disability.

Health Care Providers & FABs

Health care providers are typically moderate fear avoidant overall, and their fear avoidance behaviour are minimally associated with education, spine expertise, or practice experience.  Arguably, chiropractors are the least fear avoidant of the providers, since our entire schooling and education is based on movement and function and these only occur with use.

However, I work in a clinic that is multi-disciplinary and have watched other providers and disability programs and had to deal with the consequences of their FABs.  Health care providers with strong fear avoidance beliefs leads to patients with higher fear avoidance beliefs and more disability.  Health providers with low fear avoidance beliefs leads to patients with lower fear avoidance beliefs and  lower disability.
Next week, I’ll show you how we spot how well people will do with their care.

CMCC Run/Walk for Chiropractic Education and Research

Dr. McCallum is again walking in the Annual CMCC Run/Walk for Chiropractic Education and Research in Toronto on April 29th.

Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College is considered the top chiropractic college in the world and is renowned for rigour and innovation.  It is a private institution and receives no government funding, but relies on membership, tuition and donations.  If you’ve been helped by Chiropractic, or know someone who has, please give generously. Just go to www.cmcc.ca/dorotheamccallum and follow the steps to donate online.

We are as close as the CanPages online. Please feel free to refer your family and friends using this link:

 www.canpages.ca/page/BC/abbotsford/mccallum-chiropractic-at-the-bay/4270514.html

Dr. Dorothea McCallum is an Abbotsford back painrelief doctor who looks at so much more.  Your back is connected to every organ, cell and tissue in your body by the nervous system. Find out how chiropractic can help you live a longer, fuller life.

Dr. McCallum’s office is located upstairs in the Bay SevenOaks, 32900 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC.  Call 604-864-8232 to book an appointment.  We love helping people regain and maintain their good health.

Dr. McCallum is raising money for Chiropractic Education and Research on April 29th.  The 27th Backs in Motion, Run/Walk for Chiropractic Education and Research is taking place in Toronto and Dr. McCallum needs your help!

Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College is considered the top chiropractic colleges in the World and is renowned for rigour and innovation.  It is a private institution and receives no Government funding, but relies on membership, tuition and donations.  If you’ve been helped by Chiropractic, or know someone who has, please give generously.  Just go to:  www.cmcc.ca/dorotheamccallum and follow the steps to donate online.

MOVE YOUR WAY TO BETTER HEALTH

Staying active can stave off illness.  Actually this is a ridiculous thing to say because it sounds like we are predisposed to illness and only by really working at it can we ever hope to be healthy.  The truth is the exact opposite.  Our bodies are predisposed toward health, and it is only by neglect in not providing the best materials to build a good body and keeping its environment pure that we get sick.

That being said, one of the key requirements for excellent health is movement.  And now the scientists are proving what chiropractors have been saying for 117 years!!

Researchers at the University of Missouri recently persuaded a group of healthy, active young adults (I bet they were students) to stop moving around so much so they could see how inactivity affects disease risk.  Scientists have known for some time that sedentary people are at risk for developing heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.  But they haven’t fully understood why, in part because studying the effects of sedentary behavior isn’t easy.  People who are inactive may also be obese, eat poorly or face other lifestyle or metabolic issues that make it impossible to tease out the specific role that inactivity, on its own, plays in ill health.

In a recent study in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, scientists created a fairly realistic version of inactivity by having volunteers cut the number of steps they took each day by at least half.

They wanted to determine whether this physical languor would affect the body’s ability to control blood sugar levels.  “It’s increasingly clear that blood sugar spikes, especially after a meal, are bad for you,” says John P. Thyfault, an associate professor of nutrition and exercise physiology at the University of Missouri, who conducted the study.  “Spikes and swings in blood sugar after meals have been linked to the development of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.”

The scientists fitted their volunteers with sophisticated glucose monitoring devices, which checked their blood sugar levels continuously throughout the day.  They also gave the subjects pedometers and activity – measuring armbands, to track how many steps they took. Finally, they asked the volunteers to keep detailed food diaries.

Then they told them to just live normally for three days, walking and exercising as usual.

Exercise guidelines from the AHA and other groups recommend that people accumulate 10,000 steps or more a day, the equivalent of about 5 miles of walking (our genetic requirement is actually closer to 10 miles per day for optimum health, but the American Heart Association is only interested in preventing heart attacks, not optimum health.)  Few people get even close to 10,000 steps.  Repeated studies of American adults have shown that a majority take fewer than 5,000 steps per day.  The volunteers in the study were atypical in that on average they exercised 30 minutes or so most days and easily completed more than 10,000 daily steps during the first three days of the experiment.  The average was almost 13,000 steps.

During these three days, according to the data from their glucose monitors, the volunteers’ blood sugar did not spike after they ate.

That certainly changed during the second portion of the experiment, when the volunteers were told to cut back on activity so that their step counts would fall below 5,000 a day for the next three days.  The volunteers stopped exercising and at every opportunity, took the elevator, not the stairs, or had lunch delivered instead of strolling to a café.  They became, essentially, typical American adults.

Their average step counts fell to barely 4,300 during the three days and the volunteers reported that they now “exercised” on average, about three minutes per day.

Meanwhile, they ate exactly the same meals and snacks as they had in the preceding three days, so that any changes in blood sugar levels would not be a result of eating fattier or sweeter meals than before.

The changes were profound.  During the three days of inactivity, volunteers’ blood sugar levels spiked significantly after meals, with the peaks increasing by about 26 percent compared with when the volunteers were exercising and moving more.  What’s more, the peaks grew slightly with each successive day.

This change in blood sugar control after meals “occurred well before we could see any changes in fitness or adiposity,” (fat buildup), due to the reduced activity, Dr. Thyfault says.  So the blood sugar swings would seem to be a result, directly, of the volunteers not moving much.

This is both distressing and encouraging news.  “People immediately think, ‘So what happens if I get hurt or really busy, or for some other reason just can’t work out for awhile?”  Dr. Thyfault says.  “The answer seems to be that it shouldn’t be a big problem.” Studies in both humans and animals have found that blood sugar regulation quickly returns to normal once activity resumes.

The spikes during inactivity are natural after all, even inevitable, given that unused muscles need less fuel and so draw less sugar from the blood.

The condition becomes a serious concern, Dr. Thyfault says, only when inactivity is lingering, when it becomes the body’s default condition.  “We hypothesize that, over time, inactivity creates the physiological conditions that produce chronic disease,” like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, regardless of a person’s weight or diet.

To avoid that fate, he says, keep moving, even if in small doses.  “When I’m really busy, I make sure to get up and walk around the office or jog in place every hour or so,” he says wear a pedometer if it will nudge you to move more.

Then, when you’re not so busy, get back into your routine and keep moving!  Remember, activities that use the large muscles of our legs use the most blood sugar and burn the most calories, so even taking the steps instead of the elevator has a HUGE benefit.

From this study, you can see how adaptable your body is, and how easy it is to go wrong in our modern society where we sit all the time.  So, get up and move around.  If your job requires you to sit a lot, stand up every time the phone rings and walk around your chair.  Your body will thank you!

CMCC Run/Walk for Chiropractic Education and Research

Dr. McCallum is again walking in the Annual CMCC Run/Walk for Chiropractic Education and Research in Toronto on April 29th.

Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College is considered the top chiropractic college in the world and is renowned for rigour and innovation.  It is a private institution and receives no government funding, but relies on membership, tuition and donations.  If you’ve been helped by Chiropractic, or know someone who has, please give generously. Just go to www.cmcc.ca/dorotheamccallum and follow the steps to donate online.

We are as close as the CanPages online. Please feel free to refer your family and friends using this link:

 www.canpages.ca/page/BC/abbotsford/mccallum-chiropractic-at-the-bay/4270514.html

Dr. Dorothea McCallum is an Abbotsford back painrelief doctor who looks at so much more.  Your back is connected to every organ, cell and tissue in your body by the nervous system. Find out how chiropractic can help you live a longer, fuller life.

Dr. McCallum’s office is located upstairs in the Bay SevenOaks, 32900 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC.  Call 604-864-8232 to book an appointment.  We love helping people regain and maintain their good health.

If any of

The Number of People with Diabetes Worldwide is Larger Than the US and Canadian Population Combined

The Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance which is comprised of many international health councils reported to the United Nations in September 2011 that more than 366 million people in the world have diabetes.  That’s more than the population of the United States and Canada combined.

The problems that diabetic patients face are enormous – heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and eye damage are just a few.  Diabetes also can have severe effects on the feet, including:

• Diabetic neuropathy, which damages nerves in the feet, will cause patients to not feel heat, cold or pain.  If a foot suffers a cut, it could become infected.
• Peripheral vascular disease, which slows blood flow to the feet, will delay healing in a sore or cut.  That, too, can lead to infections.
• Common foot problems – such as athlete’s foot, calluses, bunions and blisters – are only made worse by diabetes.

Infections can lead to gangrene, which is death of tissue due to a lack of blood flow.  This may lead to the removal of a toe, foot or even part of a leg.  The Cleveland Clinic reports that diabetes is the most common, non-traumatic cause of leg amputations.

It is important for diabetic patients to take care of their feet before serious complications develop.  Measures that can be taken include:

• Wash feet in warm water, but do not soak them.  Dry well, especially between toes.
• Check feet every day for sores, blisters, redness or calluses.
• Wear socks that are comfortable along with properly fitted shoes.
• Wear orthotics, which can be designed to reduce the peak pressure areas on the foot, reducing the chances of ulcerations or tissue damage.  Orthotics also correct biomechanical problems in the gait.

While the number of cases of diabetes continues to soar, non-insulin dependent (Type II Diabetes) is an almost completely preventable disease, and if you develop it can be reversed with easy life-style changes in diet and exercise.  Dr. McCallum is a Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner who can help you make these easy changes.  As well, with over 15 years experience fitting Footmaxx Orthotics, she can help you with finding the right fit for you.

It’s Almost Run Time Again!

April 29th and the CMCC Run for Chiropractic Research and Education is nearly here.  Please visit my donation website to contribute to this great cause and support me as I support Chiropractic!

CMCC is a Not for Profit Educational Institue and receives no Government Funding, so we rely on people like you who have been helped by Chiropractic to help us continue to educate excellent Chiropractors.

To Donate:  www.cmcc.ca/dorotheamccallum and just follow the instructions.  Tax Receipts wil be issued by CMCC for next year.

Dr. Dorothea McCallum, Abbotsford orthotics custom provider uses the advanced Footmaxx computer system to analyze your gait.  Custom orthotics are manufactured to correct your particular walking patterns.  Not based solely on the shape of your dysfunctional foot, Footmaxx orthotics actually correct over-pronation and other gait irregularities. Wearing Footmaxx orthotics and can lead to healthier, functional feet.  Plus, no more foot pain!  Visit McCallum Chiropractic for a gait analysis.

Visit our office on-line by seeing our video on CanPages!  New Patients always welcome www.canpages.ca/page/BC/abbotsford/mccallum-chiropractic-at-the-bay/4270514.html

Dr. McCallum’s office is located upstairs in the Bay SevenOaks, 32900 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC.  Call 604-864-8232 to book an appointment.  We love helping people regain and maintain their good health.

NOTICE:  Beginning in February, I will be publishing this blog/newsletter twice a month on the 1st and 3rd Thursday.

CHILDBIRTH:  EVERY WEEK IN UTERO COUNTS, STUDY SAYS

I just love it when I run across articles that agree with me!  Although you don’t learn anything if that is always the case, but since very often what I write and talk about is not the common wisdom, it is refreshing when non-health and even the mainstream health literature seems to catch up to me.  (I know I’m patting myself on the back here.)

A study carried out by researchers at the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration (in the States) and the March of Dimes, analyzed data about more than 46 million infants born in the United States from 1995 to 2006.  In that period, the proportion of infants born before 39 weeks of gestation increased to nearly one in three births from more than one in five.

Although this data is from the US, the same trend is seen in Canada and I have noticed a huge increase in induced labour and C-sections over the last 10 years.  Babies who are born before 39 weeks are not being born because they are ready sooner or because they are signaling naturally that they want to be born.  The medical criteria for when it is appropriate to intervene and induce labor or do a C-section has changed.

The study showed the following sobering result.  Pregnancies lasting at least 37 weeks are regarded as safely full-term, but this research finds that babies born in the 37^th to 38^th week of pregnancy have a higher risk of dying before their first birthdays than those born after 39 weeks gestation.

The new analysis, published online on May 23 from the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, is among the first to examine differences between so-called early term births and later births.  In 2006, infants born at 37 weeks were twice as likely to die in the first year of life, with 3.9 deaths per 1,000 births, as those born at 40 weeks, with 1.9 deaths per 1,000 births. (emphasis mine)

The lead author of this study, Dr. Uma M. Reddy is a medical officer with the pregnancy and perinatology branch at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.  She stresses that women need to know that not all “term” pregnancies are alike and that if a pregnancy is uncomplicated, babies should not be delivered before 39 weeks.

I think that many women who opt for an earlier delivery do it based on incomplete information.  Certainly no woman wants to endanger their child with an increased possibility of death in the first year of life. But if the information regarding induced “term” and C-sections deliveries doesn’t include these kinds of statistics, the safety issue is being grossly downplayed and people are not able to make properly informed decisions.

This is where a mid-wife comes in handy with a wealth of information about all your choices throughout your pari-natal care.

Also, don’t forget that regular adjustments throughout your pregnancy help keep your spine and nervous system functioning at optimum so you can build a better baby, have less lowback pain and a smoother delivery.  I have training in a special chiropractic technique called the Webster Technique.  This technique ensures that your pelvis is in proper alignment and reduces that chance of in-utero constraint, where the baby can’t move as freely and can present in a breech position at delivery time.  Many babies will turn on their own after this technique is performed, but the technique works best if used as functional prevention throughout the pregnancy.

Healthy babies are the future of the Human Race. 

 If any of your friends have questions about chiropractic or our office, refer them to our CanPages (Yellow pages online) site for more information about us. www.canpages.ca/page/BC/abbotsford/mccallum-chiropractic-at-the-bay/4270514.html

Dr. McCallum’s office is located upstairs in the Bay SevenOaks, 32900 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC.  Call 604-864-8232 to book an appointment.  We love helping people regain and maintain their good health.

When you need chiropractic adjustments Abbotsford is the place to be.  Dr. Dorothea McCallum provides General Chiropractic Care for people of all ages, Pre and Perinatal care for Moms and babies – Webster Technique Certified, Wellness Care and Coaching – Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner (CCWP), Custom Corrective Orthotics.

When Doing Nothing is the Best Treatment

“Don’t just do something; stand there!”

Sound clever?  It’s the kind of thing that teaching clinicians of every discipline spout off at their students. A good clinician does their best to do their best for their patient and sometimes – that’s nothing.

Here are some medical examples:

Sore throat?  Get an antibiotic.

New headache?  Get a CT scan.

Backache?  Get an X-ray.

Still got a backache?  Get an MRI.

PSA at the upper limit of “normal”?  Get a biopsy.

Blood pressure still high?  Add another medication.

Doctors tend to want to ”do something” whenever they note something amiss.  And patients, by and large, want something done when they have a symptom.  Few people like being told just to watch and wait.

Of course, every “thing” a medical doctor does also has side effects – rampant bacterial resistance from antibiotic overuse; major increases in radiation exposure from unnecessary CT scans; incontinence or impotence from prostate cancer treatments that may do nothing to prolong life; toxic drug interactions from multiple medications, particularly in the elderly.

The admonishment “don’t just do something; stand there!” reminds us that we should stop and think before we act, that there are many instances in which doing nothing is greatly preferable to doing something.

In fact, there are some doctors for whom “doing nothing” is the dominant way of thinking, who are not reflex “do-ers.”  They tend to lean to toward the status quo:  If the patient is doing fine right now, why rock the boat?

There’s a term for this in the medical literature – clinical inertia – a term with a distinctly negative connotation.  It describes the doctor who, for instance, sees a patient with cholesterol levels that are not optimum but who does not prescribe a statin.  Or the doctor who notices that a diabetic patient’s blood sugar levels are still not normal but refrains from increasing the patient’s medication.  Of course, this is not black and white:  there is a continuum of practice styles, just as there is a continuum of personalities in general.  At one end are doctors who jump on the merest hint of a borderline lab value; at the other are doctors who avoid making changes unless absolutely necessary.

An essay in the Journal of the American Medical Association called “Clinical Inertia as a Clinical Safeguard” postulated that doctors who tend toward inertia might actually benefit their patients by protecting them from overzealous medical intervention.  Keep in mind that what follows is based on U.S. information.  Here in Canada, because of our more socialized medical approach, we are often inadvertently protected from overzealousness.

The study focused on three common medical conditions – diabetes, elevated cholesterol and hypertension (high blood pressure) – for which there are established clinical guidelines for doctors to follow and “quality measures” that evaluate medical care.  For all three illnesses, “lower is better” is the dominant mantra.

Yet, while “lower is better” is probably true for large populations, that is not always the case for individual patients.  In fact, there are some clinical trials in which aggressively lowered blood sugar or blood pressure have been association with higher rates of dying. (This doesn’t surprise me because the condition is stressful on the body and the treatment just increases the stress.)

The authors weren’t saying that medical conditions shouldn’t be actively treated, but they did caution that standard clinical guidelines tend to favor overaggressive treatment in pursuit of “good numbers.”  In the stampede toward good numbers, individual patients can be harmed by the side effects of these treatments.  Clinical inertia might actually act as a safeguard for such patients.

No one wants doctors who fail to act when action is necessary. Medical emergencies are a different story altogether.  Most chronic illnesses are not emergencies, so there is room for deliberation before action.  I think many people could be saved by inertia.

As a chiropractor I’ve seen so many people, especially older people coming in with lists that exceed two or three and can reach up to 14 and 15 different medications.  Often patients don’t know what each one is for and can’t keep straight when they are supposed to take each one.  I just remember the Doctor from Sunnybrook who taught us pharmacology saying that taking more than 3 medications at one time meant that the doctors were treating the side-effects of medications with other medications and that the patient would become so toxic that it was dangerous.  And the more medications a person was on, the more confusing the symptoms would become.

I feel fortunate to be a chiropractor.  Even if I for some reason decided to overtreat somebody for a period of time (and they went along with it) the worst that could happen is some joint hypermobility that can be resolved with rest and muscular strengthening exercises. Chiropractic is not inherently dangerous or toxic.  Since most people who go to chiropractors are undertreated because of scheduling, monetary, and other considerations, they never actually attain optimum spinal function and over treatment is almost never a danger.

As a Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner I still think that the best treatment for chronic conditions like diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure is prevention and life style modification.  If you already have these conditions, it’s not too late to change some of your behaviours and help your body heal and function better.  Talk to me about alternatives.

Start the New Year out right and get a check up.

Dr. McCallum’s office is located upstairs in the Bay SevenOaks, 32900 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC.  Call 604-864-8232 to book an appointment.  We love helping people regain and maintain their good health.

When you need chiropractic adjustments Abbotsford is the place to be.  Dr. Dorothea McCallum provides General Chiropractic Care for people of all ages, Pre and Perinatal care for Moms and babies – Webster Technique Certified, Wellness Care and Coaching – Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner (CCWP), Custom Corrective Orthotics.

Our office (inside the Bay) can be viewed on our CanPages site: www.canpages.ca/page/BC/abbotsford/mccallum-chiropractic-at-the-bay/4270514.html

Happy New Year! 

HOW DOES MY BODY WORK?

An analogy will help start this explanation. The power company supplies energy to run our homes and offices. That energy travels to our homes by way of wires and cables.  Once that energy gets to our location, it allows our appliances to run the way they were designed.  If, for some reason, there is an interruption or lessening of the energy coming to us, our lights would be less bright, or perhaps our appliances would fail to operate.  The same is true of our bodies.

Let’s use a similar analogy.  Let’s say you have a dimmer switch (rheostat) installed in your dining room.  As long as the dimmer switch is set all the way up, the lights burn very brightly.  Now, let’s turn the dimmer switch as low as it can go and still see a light bit of light.  If at that time, you replace all the bulbs with the absolute best, state of the arty, light bulbs, would the bulbs be any brighter than the previous set?  Of course not!  The reason is the electrical energy travelling through the wires of your home is being stopped by the dimmer switch.  Now if you slowly start increasing the switch to allow the energy to increase, the bulbs will increase in brightness.  The light is a metaphor or analogy for how our body expresses it health.  The better the flow of energy to the vital organs and tissues of our bodies the better our bodies can perform.  Therefore, better health!

Now, let’s take this one step further.  There are 31 pairs of spinal nerves in our spinal cord.  These nerves travel from every organ, cell and tissue to the brain and then back down from the brain and exit the spinal cord at very specific areas.  For example, the nerves that control your small and large intestines, kidneys, sex organs, as well as the nerves that control your lower back and legs exit the spinal cord in the lower back region.  That is shy many patients who enter our office for lower back pain also tell us that they have constipation or diarrheal problems, or perhaps menstrual difficulties.  This is very common. Another example is a patient who has neck pain, but often complains of headaches or sinus difficulty.  That would make sense because the nerves of the neck innervate those specific areas.    When nerves are interfered with or irritated, you can expect symptoms in the areas they supply.  This is why good spinal health is so important.  It’s not just about back or neck pain – it’s about your body’s well being and function.

Think about this.  Would you expect your teeth to operate properly if you never brushed or flossed them, or never visited a dentist to clean or correct them?  Why is the spine so different? 

Well, our spine is covered by skin and muscles so we can’t see it.  If patients could see their spine to the same degree they see their teeth, many patients would be horrified by how badly they have allowed their spines to deteriorate.

In chiropractic offices the first thing you can expect is to have your spine evaluated.  This is an important step in evaluating your health level and in fact is what differentiates chiropractors from other types of physicians.

Accidents, falls, tension, stress, overuse and other factors can prevent the spine from working within its normal range of motion. This can cause minor displacements of the segments of your spine.  If this displacement irritates spinal nerves, various malfunctions can occur in your body.  These displacements are called subluxations.  Various studies have shown that subluxations can cause improper function of the organs and tissues of the body, leading to increased susceptibility to various conditions, including chronic disease.  Logically, this should make sense.  If for example, the brain cannot control the stomach or intestines because of nerve compression or interference, would it be hard to imagine the body having less ability to digest and absorb nutrients from the foods you eat?  And, if you are getting fewer nutrients would a lower level of heath be that farfetched?  Think about each organ of your body.  Let your mind ponder what would happen if each vital organ or tissue was working at only 50%.  What impact would that have on your health over the short or long term?  It is this observation that leads many people to begin giving their spine the attention it deserves.  Ask your chiropractor.  Open up your potential to a whole new level of health awareness for you, your family and friends.

 Happy New Year!

Start the year out right – get a spinal tune-up!  Just phone the office and set up a check-up.  Remember, when your spine’s in line, you feel fine!

The Office reopens for regular hours on January 3, 2012.  If you reach the answering machine, please leave a message – it’s a lot easier for us to call you back!

Dr. Dorothea

Our office (inside the Bay) can be viewed on our CanPages site: www.canpages.ca/page/BC/abbotsford/mccallum-chiropractic-at-the-bay/4270514.html

If you’re looking for a holistic chiropractor Abbotsford is the place to look!  Dr. Dorothea McCallum has been practicing drug free, surgery free, hands on chiropractic for over 20 years. Dr. Dorothea McCallum provides General Chiropractic Care for people of all ages, Pre and Perinatal care for Moms and babies – Webster Technique Certified, Wellness Care and Coaching – Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner (CCWP) and Custom Corrective Orthotics.

Dr. McCallum’s office is located upstairs in the Bay SevenOaks, 32900 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC.  Call 604-864-8232 to book an appointment.  We love helping people regain and maintain their good health.

Merry Christmas!  Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.  When you focus on the Reason for the  Season you can leave your stress behind and rejoice in the greatest gift given to all humankind.  Blessings to everyone on Jesus’ Birthday.

The History of Chiropractic

From the beginning of history, man has always been searching for the Fountain of Youth.  In medicine, people have been searching for the magic bullet, a drug that would literally take care of all our health needs.  Unfortunately, as we all know that magic bullet does not exist.  The question then follows, what can be done to help our health needs throughout our lives.

Dorland’s Medical Dictionary describes health as a state of wellness, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.  Another way of looking at this is that the absence of pain does not give us a good indication of the patient’s health level.

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.”

 Thomas Edison

Health is an ongoing process; one that evolves as we age.  If you look around at our society, you can see a rampant crisis of health problems.  People are looking for answers and in many cases are not getting them. It’s my opinion that the main cause of these issues is that prevention of disease and illness is scoffed at by society.  If someone feels well -no problem – nothing to worry about.  We are now realizing that health maintenance is the key to good health.  Rather than wait for the health crisis, let’s attempt to prevent the crisis from occurring.

Chiropractic health care focuses primarily on the examination and treatment of the spine and pelvis to determine if some part of the body’s structure is malfunctioning.  And, if so, what can be done to correct the structure to return the body to the best possible physiologically sound state?

Think back how many times you’ve received treatment for an illness and after feeling a bit better, you stopped treatment.  But is feeling well the same as being well?  Short-term treatment may only help to temporarily alleviate symptoms, a part of the condition, but never really address the cause of the problem.  There can be long term consequences to symptoms relief only – the condition can return, or can develop into something even more serious. 

Chiropractic can be used in several ways.  As prevention, chiropractic helps keep your spine and nervous system working at optimum so disease and injury are less likely to occur.  As treatment, chiropractic addresses the cause of your condition and restores normal function.  As rehabilitation, chiropractic assists your body in attaining optimum function after an injury and as maintenance chiropractic helps you retain all the good healing and function you’ve achieved through your care.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

Need to find the Perfect Present for someone special?  Give the gift of health!  Gift Certificates are available in the office. 

Holiday Hours are:

Christmas Eve, Dec 24 – Open til Noon

Closed from Noon Saturday, December 24 until Tuesday, January 3, 2012.  Book your New Year Adjustment for the first week in January and start the year right!

When you need chiropractic adjustments Abbotsford is the place to be.  Dr. Dorothea McCallum provides General Chiropractic Care for people of all ages, Pre and Perinatal care for Moms and babies – Webster Technique Certified, Wellness Care and Coaching – Certified Chiropractic Wellness Practitioner (CCWP), Custom Corrective Orthotics.

 Our office (inside the Bay) can be viewed on our CanPages site: www.canpages.ca/page/BC/abbotsford/mccallum-chiropractic-at-the-bay/4270514.html

Dr. McCallum’s office is located upstairs in the Bay SevenOaks, 32900 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC.  Call 604-864-8232 to book an appointment.  We love helping people regain and maintain their good health.