The Health Care Reform Debate

I'm going to take a moment in this blog to give you my 'take' on the health care reform debate that is going on in this country. As you know by now, there is a massive and heated debate going on in the U.S. over health care reform. Costs have been spiraling out of control for quite some time - and most agree that something must be done. But that's where the agreement ends. A very common argument is that everyone should be covered, and have access to the health care system for 'free'. This is a misnomer because we all know there is no such thing as 'free'. Someone has to pay for it. And with a price tag estimated at approximately 1 Trillion dollars, someone must pay dearly. But, what if the biggest problem with our health care system is not the amount of people covered? What if it was something else altogether? Sound crazy? Hear me out. For example - the medical system in the U.S. is exceptionally good at emergency and crisis care. If you have a heart attack, our system is amazing at saving your life. The same is true if you are in a car accident and many other emergencies. But, there is a big difference between emergency crisis care, and prevention and wellness care. Unfortunately, our medical system fails miserably when it comes to prevention and wellness.

Many doctors agree and research proves, that many, if not most conditions, can be prevented or significantly reduced with lifestyle changes. Yet, the practice of traditional medicine is not about prevention. It is about treatment once you are injured or sick, and that is where the root of the real health care crisis lies. Everyone Needs To Take Personal Responsibility For Their Health!

You see, the solution is not getting everyone covered by a system that waits until you are sick, and then to administer expensive treatments. That is the problem!

The solution is what Chiropractors and other alternative health care professionals have been teaching for over 100 years. Chiropractic founders had a theory of 'dis-ease'. And dis-ease is very different from modern medicine's 'disease'. In a nutshell, dis-ease is when your body is not functioning properly, but you do not have any noticeable signs and symptoms. You can also be in a state of 'dis-ease' and not have anything show up on medical examinations or tests. Here's a great example: Heart disease starts years and years before you have a heart attack. In the very beginning, it is undetectable to doctors' tests. This is the 'dis-ease' stage. As time goes on, it progresses to the stage where doctors can detect indicators and/or risk factors of heart disease such as high LDL cholesterol, etc... As time goes on, and the heart disease gets worse, you get a physical symptom (chest tightness, pain, shortness of breath, altered sensation in your left arm). This is called a heart attack. Now, what makes more sense: Making the appropriate lifestyle changes when you are in the 'dis-ease' state and never having a heart attack, or waiting until your cholesterol is high and taking drugs (that may or may not work and have side effects), or waiting for the heart attack? Which approach would be more cost effective? Heart disease is the number one killer in the U.S. Open-heart surgery and drug treatments are extremely expensive. Can you imagine the savings if just 50% of Americans made simple lifestyle modifications, like eating right and exercising, and drastically reducing the need for drugs and surgery as crisis care?

That is the REAL issue. Unless you have a genetic predisposition, most real health care is already very inexpensive. It's called prevention and wellness, and that's the best insurance you can ever have.

Chiropractic Found To Be #1 Option For Low Back Pain Sufferers

Great News!! A new Consumer Reports study found chiropractic adjustments to be the #1 treatment option for patients suffering from lower back pain. I've included a summary of the study below:

Chiropractic Manipulation Best Option for Low Back Pain, According to Patient Survey

ARLINGTON, Va., April 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In light of a new survey showing that chiropractic spinal manipulation (chiropractic adjustment) is the top-rated treatment for people suffering with back pain, patients should consider a consultation with a doctor of chiropractic, says the American Chiropractic Association.

The Consumer Reports Health Rating Center released the survey results of more than 14,000 Americans on April 6.

The survey rated doctors of chiropractic as the top practitioner, with survey respondents noting that they were more likely to be 'highly satisfied' with the care received from their doctor of chiropractic (59 percent) than their primary care physician (34 percent).

'For the treatment of back pain, few options are better that chiropractic,' says ACA President Glenn Manceaux, DC. 'As shown in this latest survey, chiropractic spinal manipulation is an evidence-based and effective treatment for low-back pain and other musculoskeletal injuries. Coupled with the high-levels of patient satisfaction, patients should turn to chiropractic as their first choice.'

To compare which treatments helped most, Consumer Reports asked its subscribers to rate a comprehensive list of potential remedies along with their satisfaction with the health-care professionals they visited. Most survey respondents had tried five or six different treatments on average, and many found that their back pain interfered with their daily activities, including sleep and their sex life.

Doctors of chiropractic provide drug-free, non-invasive treatment options for many types of pain and inflammation. For example, chronic back pain, neck pain, joint pain and headaches can often be reduced with the appropriate combination of chiropractic manipulation, rehabilitative exercises and lifestyle counseling - all of which are offered by doctors of chiropractic in a patient's personalized treatment plan. A significant amount of evidence has shown that the use of chiropractic care for certain conditions can be more effective than traditional medical care, with many patients feeling improvement shortly after their first chiropractic visit.

More information regarding chiropractic can be found at my website: www.DrGordonOnline.net or at the Florida Chiropractic Association website: www.fcachiro.org.

Chiropractic vs. Spinal Decompression for acute lower back pain.

Many patients present to my office with acute lower back pain. Acute lower back pain can have a variety of causes. These causes include:

1. Disc injuries (bulging, protruding, or herniated discs)
2. Facet joint injuries
3. Sacroiliac joint injuries
4. Muscle spasm/strain
5. Nerve impingement
6. Ligament sprain
7. Gait abnormalities (foot, ankle, knee, hip issues)

The cause of the injury and the tissues involved will direct the course of treatment. All patients suffering from acute lower back pain should have a thorough consultation, complete medical history, orthopedic and neurologic examination, and any diagnostic studies (i.e. - x-rays, MRI, nerve conduction, etc...) necessary for proper diagnosis. These examination procedures should be sufficient to accurately diagnose the patient's condition.

I have personally found that chiropractic is a very effective drug-free, non-surgical tool for most acute lower back injuries. I will usually reserve the use of the DRX 9000 Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression System for bulging, protruding, or herniated discs. Any patients interested in the DRX 9000 for treatment of their disc injuries will require an MRI of the lumbar spine to assess the severity of their condition. It is also important to rule out any contraindications to treatment with the DRX 9000 such as instability in the spine, prior fusion surgery in the region being treated, and cancer. More information regarding the DRX 9000 can be found at:

• www.DrGordonOnline.net
• www.AxiomWorldwide.com
• www.MyDiscPainReport.com
  

Is Back Surgery Your Best Option?

Many patients suffer from back pain of a variety of causes. Frequently, they are encouraged to rush to back surgery in order to eliminate their pain as soon as possible. Unfortunately for many patients, they find out too late that invasive back surgery is not the answer to their prayers.

Despite the progress and improvements in surgical techniques, surgical outcomes have not improved significantly. Back surgery has some of the poorest outcomes among all surgical interventions. In fact, in a 7 to 20 year follow up study to document the outcomes of disc surgery in the medical journal Spine the conclusion was that “the long term results of standard lumbar discectomy are not very satisfying. More than one-third of patients had unsatisfactory results and more than one quarter complained of significant residual pain.” (Spine. 1999 Nov 15;24(22):2313-7). Another recent survey of back surgery patients revealed that they only have a 53% satisfaction rate following their back surgery. These numbers are not very promising. Orthopedic surgeons have even coined a name for a new condition related to the poor outcomes of back surgery and the residual pain and disability following back surgery - "Failed Back Surgery Syndrome".

So you may be asking yourself, when is back surgery warranted and absolutely necessary. Most physicians agree that at best, spinal surgery should only be used for those patients who have altered bowel and/or bladder function (severe constipation, inability to empty the bladder, or loss of bladder control), those who have tried everything else, have excruciating leg pain, or something called neurological deficits or progressive motor weakness (like foot drop).

In our next blog I will be discussing non-surgical alternatives for back pain relief. These options will include chiropractic, spinal decompression, acupuncture, physical therapy, and rehabilitation.

If you'd like to access more information regarding these treatment options, go to www.DrGordonOnline.net or www.MyDiscPainReport.com.

Medical vs. Holistic Approach to Back Pain

Today, I'm going to discuss the traditional medical approach to back pain versus the holistic, non-medical approach to back pain. When a patient suffering from back pain first sees his/her medical doctor, there is a standard medical treatment protocol that the patient will get from their physician.

1. Pain killers, anti-inflammatory drugs, and muscle relaxers
   
2. Cortisone shot (usually a series of three shots)
   
3. Order x-rays
   
4. Referral for physical therapy (usually three times per week for 6-8 weeks)
5. Referral to orthopedic surgeon
6. Referral to pain management (more pain killers, anti-inflammatory drugs)
7. Epidural spinal injections (usually a series of three)
   
8. Order an MRI
9. Referral for back surgery.
   

There is a major drawback to this approach. Most of the focus of this series of treatments is designed to eliminate symptoms (pain and inflammation), rather than to properly diagnose and correct the underlying cause of the problem. This is contradictory to common sense, and is often questioned and objected to by the patient.

On the other hand, the holistic, "non-traditional" approach to health care is quite different. The goal for most holistic physicians is to accurately and quickly diagnose the correct cause of the patient's pain (through a past medical history, orthopedic & neurologic examination, and diagnostic studies including x-rays, MRI, CT scan, nerve conduction and EMG), design a treatment plan to eliminate or properly manage the cause of the injury, and to teach the patient various ways to prevent re-injury. These health care options include:

1. Chiropractic
2. Acupuncture
3. Massage Therapy
4. Spinal Decompression
5. Low-Level Laser Therapy (Cold Laser Therapy)
6. Exercise / Strength Training
7. Nutritional Counseling

My recommendation for any patient suffering from an injury is the following:

1. Treat the cause of your problem, not the symptoms.
2. Determine your treatment options
3. Make an informed decision based on the knowledge that you have gathered.

For more information, go to www.DrGordonOnline.net.