Archive for the 'Orthotics' Category
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.
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
ACHILLES TENDONITIS
Case Study
19 year old male
Complications
Patient complains of severe aching and burning pain felt in the back of the heel after long period of exercise.
History
No major injuries. Pain has increased with participation in new sports.
Clinical observations
Patient severely over-pronates. The patient should be fitted with custom orthotics to control the down and in movement of the talus and maintain proper alignment, relieving the stress on the Achilles tendon. Tightness in the tendon itself can be helped by an extra heel lift added to the orthotics.
Diagnosis
Achilles Tendonitis
What is it?
Achilles tendonitis is pain caused by inflammation of the Achilles tendon near its insertion at the heel. The Achilles tendon is one of the longest and strongest in the body. It is avascular – that is does not have a direct blood supply and is therefore slow to heal. In the lower leg, two muscles join to form the Achilles tendon: The Gastrocnemius, which originates at the lower back of the femur and the Soleus, which originates on the upper third of the tibia. The Achilles tendon works as an anti-pronator keeping the foot from flattening too much and rolling inward.
What are the common symptoms/complaints?
Patients complain of severe aching or burning pain in the back of the heel that often hurts more when rising on the toes.
How is it caused?
Over-pronation and overstress of the tendon. Risk factors include altered foot mechanics, malalignment deformities and recent change in activities and shoes. During a normal gait cycle, the femur and tibia rotate in unison. When a person over-pronates, the tibia is locked into the talus and continues rotating internally past the end of the contact phase as the femur begins to rotate externally. The Gastrocnemius and Soleus, instead of working in sequence, act against each other causing shearing in the Achilles tendon. This counter rotation twists the tendon at its weakest area and causes inflammation. Since the tendon is avascular, once inflammation sets in, it tends to be chronic.
How is it treated?
Relieving the stress is the first course of action. Acute treatment involves icing and rest from vigorous activity. Active stretching and strengthening exercises assist rehabilitation of the Gastrocnemius-soleus complex. You will feel immediate relief when you put on a shoe with a bit of a heel compared to runners, flats or barefeet. This condition is caused by over-pronating and if you are over-pronating, nothing is going to restore your original foot stability. You need orthotics to control the down and in movement of the foot (over-pronating) and to maintain proper alignment of the foot bones, relieving stress on the Achilles tendon. Tightness in the tendon itself can be helped by an extra heel lift added to the orthotics. You can expect a slow recovery over a period of months.
Dr. McCallum has over 20 years experience fitting Footmaxx Orthotics. Combining chiropractic musculoskeletal expertise with advanced technical systems ensures you get the best correction for your orthotic needs. Most extended medical insurance covers orthotics. If you suffer from Achilles tendonitis or any other foot, ankle, leg or back problems, contact the office for an evaluation. There’s not need to suffer any longer.
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.
The Number of People with Diabetes Worldwide is Larger Than the US and Canadian Population Combined
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.
Is it OK to exercise if I have a cold?
Mild to moderate physical activity is usually OK if you have a garden variety cold and no fever. Exercise may even help you feel better by opening your nasal passages and temporarily relieving nasal congestion.
As a general guide for exercise and illness, consider this:
- Exercise is usually OK if your signs and symptoms are all “above the neck” – symptoms you may have with a common cold, such as runny nose, nasal congestion, sneezing or minor sore throat. Consider reducing the intensity and length of your workout though, or you may feel worse. Instead of going for a run, take a walk, for example.
- Don’t exercise if your signs and symptoms are “below the neck” – such as chest congestion, hacking cough or upset stomach.
- Don’t exercise if you have a fever, fatigue or widespread muscle aches.
Exercising with a fever or flu symptoms stresses your immune system even more. Intense exercise can put you into an anaerobic exercise state and you will use the proteins in your blood for energy. Many of these proteins are part of the immune system, so you will have less ammunition to fight your illness.
Sometimes it’s okay to rest. Go to bed, drink plenty of fluids and sleep. Also, if you have the flu, make sure you stay warm – take a hot bath and climb into a nice warm bed. Viruses hate heat and this is one of the reasons your immune system and metabolism increase your temperature when you have an illness. Don’t impair this process by taking fever lowering medications. If you have joint aches and pains, a warm bath will ease your discomfort.
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.
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 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.
Chiropractic: Common Misperceptions Part 1
Why do I have to go so frequently for treatment? Is it really necessary?
The best way to answer this is to use an analogy. If you have an infection and visited your MD, there is a chance he would prescribe an antibiotic to fight the infection. That prescription might need to be taken twice a day for 14 days. In that 14 day period you received 28 treatments. It doesn’t seem like it because you only had one actual visit to the office.
In chiropractic, the treatment is given in the office, not at home and not out of a bottle. So, if you were to receive treatment three times a week for nine weeks, while it may seem like a lot of treatment, you were actually treated one time less than in the medical analogy given above.
At my office, I tailor your treatment plan to you and your condition so you have optimum results – for you. Sometimes, if the problem has been there for a long time, it can take a longer time to treat. If you have concerns about the treatment plan designed for you, please let me know so I can explain and talk about other possible treatment options.
It seems like once you start going to a chiropractor you have to go forever!
In actuality, many patients CHOOSE to receive chiropractic throughout their lives, because they see the improvements in their lifestyle and health. Let’s face it, our society is geared towards fast food, fast cars and immediate gratification. It’s no wonder that people also want fast food healthcare. Let’s give you another analogy that may help. Diabetics and those with allergies sometimes need medication every day or every week of their life!!! Nobody criticizes them or their doctor for treating their condition on an ongoing basis. In fact, we’d think they were foolish if they stopped.
In some cases patients with significant structural problems need structural support for long periods of time and perhaps the rest of their life. While these types of problems are not an everyday occurrence in my office, they do happen. Also, as you’ll see in Part 2, sometimes, even the problem you think is a small, new problem, may have a more serious root cause and require more care than you anticipate.
Most people who come to my office for care for longer periods of time simply like the way they feel and choose to utilize chiropractic treatment more thoroughly than others.
Chiropractic is not accepted by the medical profession. My doctor doesn’t want me to utilize chiropractic.
While this situation was very common when I first started practicing over 20 years ago, there are occasionally patients who tell me this even today. It is unfortunate that this occurs. I personally don’t believe that any doctor has all the answers. That is why I refer to most other types of doctors when the need arises. In most cases, the medical doctor who has this attitude may still carry the prejudices of years past or has a total misunderstanding of what chiropractic treatment consists of and what our goals of treatment are. I have found that if this ever occurs, a telephone call can help alleviate any concerns your medical doctor has with treatment. In some cases, after discussing the patient’s additional health issues with the medical doctor, I may alter my approach of treatment because of a patient’s health history. A smart doctor is one who listens to their patient and to the other health professionals the patient may have seen.
Next week, we’ll continue with some of the commonly held misconceptions about Chiropractic. If you have any questions, please let me know. I’d be happy to answer them for you.
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.
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