San Jose Chiropractor, A Chiropractic Blog

The Journal of American Medical Association performed a systemic review of 26 RCT or randomized clinical trials and found the spinal manipulative treatment was statistically significant in improving acute low back pain for up to 6 weeks.  This is also compared to sham treatments or other "alternative" treatments.  Alternative in this case means "analgesics, muscle relaxants, exercises, physical therapy." The results were comparable to "analgesics, muscle relaxants, exercises, physical therapy" in efficacy and "modest." These studies did include "blind" studies which means that the experiment tried to eliminated experimenter or patient subject bias in removing labels while the experiment is performed. Key Points Question   Is the use of spinal manipulative therapy in the management of acute (≤6 weeks) low back pain associated with improvements in pain or function? Findings...

On April 4, 2017, the journal, Annals of Internal Medicine, a group of medical doctors, Amir Qaseem, MD, PhD, MHA; Timothy J. Wilt, MD, MPH; Robert M. McLean, MD; Mary Ann Forciea, MD, made a recommendation for the Clinical Guidelines Committee of the American College of Physicians regarding the treatment of low back pain which affects one quarter of the US.  The committee gave three recommendations as guidelines for typical low back pain. Two of the strongest recommendations involved therapies including chiropractic. This is based on systematic review of the evidence in an established peer-review journal based on a community of medical doctors who specialize in internal medicine for the American College of Physicians. Target Audience and Patient Population: The target audience for this guideline includes all clinicians, and the target patient population includes adults with acute, subacute, or chronic low back pain. Recommendation 1: Given that most patients with acute or...

Source: youcaring.com  L.A. County Coroner recently ruled that model, Katie May, died as a result of a “neck manipulation by chiropractor" due to a brain infarction or stroke. It was deem an accident as result of a carotid artery blockage. Chiropractic adjustments to the upper cervical can move the vertebral artery so I am not sure how the carotid artery was affected. I am guessing the news articles are reporting the wrong artery being dissected. Ms. May fell during a photoshoot hurting her neck resulting in her seeking help from a LA chiropractor. She had more than one chiropractic adjustment before going to the hospital with symptoms of a stroke before dying. Is the fall to blame for the stroke or only the neck adjustment? Did they both contribute to the stoke?  The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) Provides the Following Statement in Response to Media Inquiries Regarding Katie May Our sympathy goes out to the family of ...

October is both Breast Cancer Awareness month (with link)  and National Chiropractic Health month . They should make it a health awareness month and have people post at least one health awareness tip on social media. Some infographics about chiropractic: Putting Neck Pain Treatment Risks into Perspective Risk of death from spine surgery: 1,800 per 1 million 1 Risk of serious side effects/death from cervical spine (neck) surgery: 500 in 1 million 2 Risk of death from combined use of NSAIDS/aspirin: 153 per 1 million 3 Risk of death from aspirin: 25 per 1 million 4 Association between neck manipulation and stroke: about 1 in 5.85 million adjustments 5 (or     Feel free to look at some NCHM brochures: Conservative Care Brochure Back Pain Brochure Neck Pain Brochure Visiting a Chiropractor Brochure More articles regarding health: TV news interview for NCHM Why are you looking at my back when I have foot pain? Opioid prescriptions led to 92,...

 I tend to stay away from issues that claim chiropractic has any benefit besides simple musculoskeletal issues outside what is commonly accepted by the medical community. I am fascinated by intellectual issues, because I am always trying to learn new things and go beyond what is understood out there. There would be no progress made if no one questioned the mainstream ideology or thought outside the box. One has to choose carefully with so many health fads and myths out there. Here is a case that looks at chiropractic adjustments and exercise which is musculoskeletally related. It contradicts some "questionable" chiropractic research which I could not find. The research is not anti-chiropractic but it seems unbiased. Abstract: This was a single-blinded, randomized, controlled trial of the immediate impact mid-lumbar spine CMT had on exercise science measures during a Bruce treadmill test at Texas Chiropractic College. Translated, it means that the subject did not know whet...