CF 245: Upregulated Central Nervous System & Shared Decision Making With The Patient Today we’re going to talk about Upregulated Central Nervous System & Shared Decision Making With The Patient. But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music
Purchase Dr. Williams’s book, a perfect educational tool and chiropractic research reference for the daily practitioner, from the Amazon store TODAY!
OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are making evidence-based chiropractic fun, profitable, and accessible while we make you and your patients better all the way around. We’re the fun kind of research. Not the stuffy, high-brow, look down your nose at people kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers. I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast. If you haven’t yet I have a few things you should do.
Go to Amazon and check our my book called The Remarkable Truth About Chiropractic: A Unique Journey Into The Research. It’s an excellent educational resource for you AND your patients. It saves you time putting talks together or just staying current on research. It’s categorized into sections so the information is easy to find and written in a way that is easy to understand for everyone. It’s on Amazon. That’s the Remarkable Truth About Chiropractic by Jeff Williams.
Then go Like our Chiropractic Forward Facebook page,
Join our private Chiropractic Forward Facebook group, and then
Review our podcast on whatever platform you’re listening to
Last thing real quick, we also have an evidence-based brochure and poster store at chiropracticforward.com
You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #245 Now if you missed last week’s episode , we talked about Recognizing Cervical Artery Dissection. Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class.
On the personal end of things…..
Things are clicking along pretty normally for a chaotic clinic. Today, let’s talk a little about your relationships with your employees before we get to the research. Everyone has different styles of owning or managing their clinics and staff. Mine has always been to treat them like family. Honestly, we spend more time with our staff than we do with our own families. So why not have friendly and almost family-like relationships with them? Why the hell not? I don’t want awkward forced relationships with the people I’m with every day all day. I want fun, happy, and friendly relationships. With people I look forward to seeing every day.
My staff is hilarious and we have a lot of fun together.
I’ll give you a little story as an example. My office manager is getting married in September. Probably about the time this episode goes live. She had her wedding shower on August 13th at her mother’s house. It wasn’t the regular boring old wedding shower. They had drinks, men and women, cornhole, and beer pong in the back yard…..you get the picture. Pretty much my entire staff of 12 or 13 was there. Which is nice. They feel like family to an extent. That’ll warm your heart, right? Well, I’m of the age that beer pong wasn’t ‘a thing’ in my college years. We played simple games like quarters or something like that. Anyway, I went to the wedding shower. My wife actually helped host it and run it all. She made a huge table full of charcuterie items and it was just all very well done.
So that’s point #1; she felt close enough to us to not only want us at her wedding shower but to have my wife help host it. Then, after gifts were opened and a few filtered out, everyone moved to the backyard and played cornhole and beer pong. My office manager made me be her teammate for a game of beer pong. Now, I told her I can’t play with drinks because I was driving so I just sipped on one beer while we played. Turns out, I actually have a little talent for beer pong. We won the first game against her fiancee and Boom! Instant respectability amongst the kiddos.
So, point #2; when your staff likes you and wants you to participate in aspects of their personal life, I say you just do it. You build friendship, loyalty, camaraderie, and trust the more you just say, “Yes.” Play beer pong. Even when you don’t want to or don’t know how to play it. It’ll pay off in the long run. If you feel differently, let me know. Send me an email at dr.williams@chiropracticforward.com I want your opinion so I can share with the collective.
OK, on to the research.
Item #1
Our first one is called “Does shared decision making results in better health related outcomes for individuals with painful musculoskeletal disorders? A systematic review” by Christopher et. al. (Yannick Tousignant-Laflamme 2017) published in the Journal of Manual and Manipulative Therapy in 2017.
Why They Did It
Shared Decision-Making (SDM) is a dynamic process by which the health care professional and the patient influence each other in making health-related choices or decisions. SDM is strongly embedded in today’s health care approaches and is advocated as an ideal model since it renders individuals more control over the health care they choose to receive, and has been shown to improve patient outcomes. The goal of this systematic review was to investigate the added value of SDM on clinical health-related outcomes in patients with a variety of musculoskeletal conditions.
How They Did It
PubMed and CINAHL. To be considered for review, the study had to meet all the following criteria: (1) prospective studies that involved treatment decision-making; (2) randomized controlled trial design; (3) involving patients faced with having to make a treatment decision; (4) comparing SDM with a control intervention and (5) including one or more of the following outcome measures: well-being, costs, health-related pain or disability measures, or quality of life.
What They Found
We did not find a single study that looked at the true effect of SDM on patient-reported outcomes in a population with musculoskeletal pain.
Wrap It Up
For the management of painful musculoskeletal conditions, in the light of the current evidence (none), we estimate that it would be wise to explore the effectiveness of SDM before forcing its large-scale implementation in rehabilitation. Before getting to the next one, I have to tell you, Dr. Chris Howson, the inventor of the Drop Release tool re-activated the code! Use the code HOTSTUFF upon purchase at droprelease.com & get $50 off your purchase. Would you like to spend 5-10 minutes doing pin and stretch and all of that? Or would you rather use a drop release to get the same or similar results in just a handful of seconds. I love it, my patients love it, and I know yours will too. droprelease.com and the discount code is HOTSTUFF. Go do it.
Item #2
The last one is called, “Mechanisms of chronic pain – key considerations for appropriate physical therapy management” by Courtney et. al. (Carol A. Courtney 2017) and published in the Journal of Manual and Manipulative Therapy in March of 2017. Rather than a full-blown research project, this one is more of an informational article with some future direction.
They say the following: “In the last decades, knowledge of nociceptive pain mechanisms has expanded rapidly. The use of quantitative sensory testing has provided evidence that peripheral and central sensitization mechanisms play a relevant role in localized and widespread chronic pain syndromes. In fact, almost any patient suffering from a chronic pain condition will demonstrate impairments in the central nervous system. In addition, it is accepted that pain is associated with different types of trigger factors including social, physiological, and psychological. This rationale has provoked a change in the understanding of potential mechanisms of manual therapies, changing from a biomechanical/medical viewpoint, to a neurophysiological/nociceptive viewpoint.
Therefore, interventions for patients with chronic pain should be applied based on current knowledge of nociceptive mechanisms since determining potential drivers of the sensitization process is critical for effective management. The current paper reviews mechanisms of chronic pain from a clinical and neurophysiological point of view and summarizes key messages for clinicians for proper management of individuals with chronic pain.”
Now, I don’t know exactly where you’ve been hearing this since 2019. Oh, wait, yes I do. Here!
You’ve been hearing it here and research is catching up. I didn’t invent this stuff, of course. And I’m no smarter than everyone else. I just happened to take the course for the Diplomate of the International Academy of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine and was taught by Drs. Anthony Nicholson and Matthew Long in that course and THEY are on the cutting edge. They are the reason I’ve been preaching this stuff for so long now. They’re the reason my patients get better at the rate they do.
Alright, that’s it. Keep on keepin’ on. Keep changing our profession from your corner of the world. The world needs evidence-based, patient-centered practitioners driving the bus. The profession needs us in the ACA and involved in leadership of state associations. So quit griping about the profession if you’re doing nothing to make it better. Get active, get involved, and make it happen. Let’s get to the message. Same as it is every week.
Purchase Dr. Williams’s book, a perfect educational tool and chiropractic research reference for the daily practitioner, from the Amazon store TODAY!
The Message
I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots. When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few. It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient. And, if the patient treats preventatively after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health!
Key Point:
At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints…. That’s Chiropractic!
Contact
Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes. Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms. We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference.
Connect
We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward.
Website https://www.chiropracticforward.com
Social Media Links https://www.facebook.com/chiropracticforward/
Chiropractic Forward Podcast Facebook GROUP https://www.facebook.com/groups/1938461399501889/
About the Author & Host Dr. Jeff Williams – Fellow of the International Academy of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine (FIANM) and Board Certified Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Professionals (DABFP) – Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger
Bibliography
Carol A. Courtney, C. F.-d.-l.-P. S. B. (2017). “Mechanisms of chronic pain – key considerations for appropriate physical therapy management.” Journal of Manual & Manipulative Therapy 25(3): 118-127.
Yannick Tousignant-Laflamme, S. C., Derek Clewley, Leila Ledbetter, Christian Jaeger Cook & Chad E Cook, (2017). “Does shared decision making results in better health related outcomes for individuals with painful musculoskeletal disorders? A systematic review.” Journal of Manual & Manipulative Therapy 25(3): 144-150.
CF 190: Obesity In Youths With Chronic Pain, The Healing Journey of Pain, and Fibromyalgia Treatment
Today we’re going to talk about obesity in youth and chronic pain, we’ll talk about fibromyalgia and hyperbaric oxygen chambers, and we’ll talk about chronic pain and the healing journey. But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music
Purchase Dr. Williams’s book, a perfect educational tool and chiropractic research reference for the daily practitioner, from the Amazon store TODAY!
OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are making evidence-based chiropractic fun, profitable, and accessible while we make you and your patients better all the way around. We’re the fun kind of research. Not the stuffy, high-brow kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers.
I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast. If you haven’t yet I have a few things you should do.
Go to Amazon and check our my book called The Remarkable Truth About Chiropractic: A Unique Journey Into The Research. It’s an invaluable resource for your patient education and for you. It can save you time in putting talks together or just staying current on research. It’s categorized into sections so that the information is easy to find and it’s written in a way that is easy to understand for practitioner as well as patient. You have to check it out. Just search for it on Amazon. That’s the Remarkable Truth About Chiropractic by Jeff Williams.
Then go Like our Facebook page,
Join our private Facebook group and interact, and then
go review our podcast on iTunes and other podcast platforms.
While you’re there, join our weekly email newsletter.
You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #190
Now if you missed last week’s episode , we were joined by the amazing Dr. Brett Winchester from the St. Louis area. This doctor is just phenomenal in everything he does and says and we are all fortunate to have him in this profession. Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class.On the personal end of things….. Day 1 of our nurse practitioner starting is today. This morning has, of course, had its hiccups. We have the EHR where we have him set up but he has to have his own login and password and all that good stuff so that’s been one challenge so far. Just getting oriented with where all of the stuff is, lidocaine, lab tubes, swabs, blah blah blah. Still waiting on the autoclave and still getting the malpractice policy in place this morning. What a process that’s been. But we knew there’d be hiccups, and we’re getting them addressed. Then I have my regular life to contend with. I have patients to treat and a podcast to write so here we go. Short and sweet on this one because my cup is running over this morning.Item #1 Our first item today is called “Obesity in Youth with Chronic Pain: Giving It the Seriousness It Deserves” by Hainsworth et. al. (Keri R Hainsworth 2021) and published in Pain Medicine in June of 2021 and day-um…..that’s hot! Why They Did It The aim of this commentary is to review the current science on co-occurring chronic pain and obesity in children and adolescents. In so doing, we also highlight some of the current gaps in knowledge. It is our hope that this commentary will draw attention to an overlooked area of research and clinical endeavors within the field of pediatric pain.
The authors note that it is becoming increasingly clear that we should be familiar with this research. Both chronic pain and obesity have been rising in children for some time and studies are showing that obesity exacerbates the negative outcomes associated with chronic pain. In addition, accumulating research exists on all facets of the co-occurrence of chronic pain and obesity in adults. Given all this, the paucity of research in this area of pediatric chronic pain and obesity is at a minimum, disheartening, and at a maximum, unconscionable.
Ooooweee! That’s like putting a white glove on and smacking some clown around the room a little bit, isn’t it? I like it. It give me a little tickle. Here are their main points:
On average, it can take 2 years longer for youth with obesity to be referred to a pediatric pain clinic than it does for youth with a normal weight
Pediatric patients with CPO have health-related quality of life that is more impaired in every domain than patients with chronic pain and a healthy body mass index percentile
Although systemic inflammation is commonly elevated in youth with obesity, patients with CPO have significantly higher levels of systemic inflammation than those with chronic pain alone or obesity alone
Children with CPO are at increased risk of being treated as though they bear more responsibility for their health (and by extension, their pain) than youth without obesity and are at increased risk of pain dismissal and biased medical care
CPO in children and adolescents is associated with more impaired physical functioning and lower levels of physical activity than youth with chronic pain alone or obesity alone Further, parents report that their children with CPO (particularly girls) have greater functional disability (one of the most important outcomes in our field) than parents of youth with chronic pain and a normal body mass index
While multidisciplinary pain management programs work well for patients with a healthy weight, this is not true for those with comorbid obesity. Patients with a healthy weight improve in functional disability within 3 months of intake, whereas patients with CPO stagnate
First, even though we as clinicians and researchers need to address obesity in the context of chronic pain, we must be extremely thoughtful about how we move forward. Weight is a very sensitive subject, therefore, the call for more research in this area must strongly consider the need for sensitivity. CPO is the co-occurrence of a typically “invisible,” debilitating condition coupled with a condition so visible that it is sadly associated with victimization from important people in the child’s life, including peers, parents, and teachers
Second, we would do well to closely follow the admonitions and advice of our colleagues whose primary clinical and research focus is on obesity and stigma. Suggestions from these experts include first recognizing that weight bias exists even among pediatric health care providers [20]. Additionally, language must be very carefully considered. Puhl et al. [20] offer the practical and sensitive suggestion to ask the patient and family about preferred words or terms in discussions about weight-related health Third, like other health care professionals, we would benefit from a greater understanding of the complexity of obesity and the “potential benefits and disadvantages of introducing weight-management discussions with patients” [14](p865). Certainly, there will be times when weight-related discussions would be contraindicated by the patient’s and/or family’s psychological or emotional state. However, when weight needs to be raised in relation to a child’s chronic pain, it may be best received in the context of health implications. Obesity is a multifactorial disease with strong genetic contributions. It is also associated with systemic inflammation, metabolic syndrome, and increased risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, as well as chronic pain. In fact, most are unaware that obesity is a risk factor for migraines in pediatric populations. That said, weight-related health or weight-related pain discussions cannot focus entirely on losing weight. For many, it is a struggle to change their weight status, and even if it is possible, this process takes time. We must not ignore managing pain while we wait for possible weight reduction.
CHIROUP ADVERTISEMENT Item #2 Our second one today is called “Evaluation of a Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Intervention in Individuals with Fibromyalgia” by Curtis et. al.(K Curtis 2021)and published in Pain Medicine in June of 2021…….pork chops and apple sauce.Why They Did It To evaluate the feasibility and safety of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in patients with fibromyalgia (FM). How They Did It
A total of 17 patients completed the study
A cohort study with a delayed treatment arm used as a comparator.
Hyperbaric Medicine Unit, Toronto General Hospital, Ontario, Canada.
Eighteen patients diagnosed with FM according to the American College of Rheumatology and a score ≥60 on the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire.
Participants were randomized to receive immediate HBOT intervention (n = 9) or HBOT after a 12-week waiting period
HBOT was delivered at 100% oxygen at 2.0 atmospheres per session, 5 days per week, for 8 weeks
Both groups were assessed at baseline, after HBOT intervention, and at 3 months’ follow-up.
What They Found
HBOT-related adverse events included mild middle-ear barotrauma in three patients and new-onset myopia in four patients
The efficacy of HBOT was evident in most of the outcomes in both groups
This improvement was sustained at 3-month follow-up assessment.
Wrap It Up HBOT appears to be feasible and safe for individuals with FM. It is also associated with improved global functioning, reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression, and improved quality of sleep that was sustained at 3-month follow-up assessment.
I don’ tank about you but I’m not going to go out and buy an oxygen chamber this afternoon but, it’s interesting and I’ve always heard positive things about them so this one peaked my interest a bit. I figured it would with you as well.Item #3 The last one is called “A Healing Journey with Chronic Pain: A Meta-Ethnography Synthesizing 195 Qualitative Studies” by Toye et. al. and also published in Pain Medicine in June of 2021….Smoke show!!
You know, it’s almost like I got an email from Pain Medicine last week highlighting some of their newest research in their June edition. Weird how all of these articles were all in the same month and in the same episode here. Right? Why They Did It There is a large body of research exploring what it means for a person to live with chronic pain. However, existing research does not help us understand what it means to recover. We aimed to identify qualitative research that explored the experience of living with chronic pain published since 2012 and to understand the process of recovery. How They Did It
A synthesis of qualitative research using meta-ethnography.
We used the seven stages of meta-ethnography.
We systematically searched for qualitative research, published since 2012, that explored adults’ experiences of living with, and being treated for, chronic pain.
We used constant comparison to distill the essence of ideas into themes and developed a conceptual model.
We screened 1,328 titles and included 195 studies.
Wrap It Up The innovation of our study is to conceptualize healing as an ongoing and iterating journey rather than a destination. Health interventions for chronic pain would usefully focus on validating pain through meaningful and acceptable explanations; validating patients by listening to and valuing their stories; encouraging patients to connect with a meaningful sense of self, to be kind to themselves, and to explore new possibilities for the future; and facilitating safe reconnection with the social world. This could make a real difference to people living with chronic pain who are on their own healing journeys.
Alright, that’s it. Keep on keepin’ on. Keep changing our profession from your corner of the world. The world needs evidence-based, patient-centered practitioners driving the bus so get active, get involved, and make it happen.
Let’s get to the message. Same as it is every week.Store Remember the evidence-informed brochures and posters at chiropracticforward.com.
Purchase Dr. Williams’s book, a perfect educational tool and chiropractic research reference for the daily practitioner, from the Amazon store TODAY!
The Message I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots.
When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few.
It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient.
And, if the patient treats preventatively after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health! Key Point: At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints….
That’s Chiropractic! Contact Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes. Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms. We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference.Connect We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward. Website
Social Media Links https://www.facebook.com/chiropracticforward/ Chiropractic Forward Podcast Facebook GROUP https://www.facebook.com/groups/1938461399501889/ TwitterTweets by Chiro_ForwardYouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtc-IrhlK19hWlhaOGld76Q iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/chiropractic-forward-podcast-chiropractors-practicing/id1331554445?mt=2 Player FM Link https://player.fm/series/2291021 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-chiropractic-forward-podcast-chiropractors-practicing-through TuneIn https://tunein.com/podcasts/Health–Wellness-Podcasts/The-Chiropractic-Forward-Podcast-Chiropractors-Pr-p1089415/ About the Author & Host Dr. Jeff Williams – Fellow of the International Academy of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine – Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger Bibliography
K Curtis, P., J Katz, PhD, C Djaiani, BSc, G O’Leary, MD, FRCPC, J Uehling, MS, CCRP, J Carroll, BHA, D Santa Mina, PhD, H Clarke, MD, PhD, FRCPC, M Gofeld, MD, PhD, FRCPC, R Katznelson, MD, FRCPC, (2021). “Evaluation of a Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Intervention in Individuals with Fibromyalgia.” Pain Med 22(6): 1324-1332.
Keri R Hainsworth, P., Monica L Gremillion, PhD, W Hobart Davies, PhD, Stacy C Stolzman, PT, MPT, PhD, Steven J Weisman, MD, (2021). “Obesity in Youth with Chronic Pain: Giving It the Seriousness It Deserves.” Pain Med 22(6): 1243-1245.
CF 188: w/ Dr. Rob Pape – Quadrant Analysis & Practice Mechanics Today we’re going to be joined by Dr. Rob Pape.
I’ll get into his bio a bit deeper in the interview and introduction but Dr. Pape is the creator of Quadrant Analysis improving patient assessment by breaking down the evaluation process. He is also a co-creator of Practice Mechanics. Along with one of our previous podcast guests, Dr. Michael Massey, they have created Practice Mechanics to help their doctors hit that next level. We’ll get into it here shortly. But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music
Purchase Dr. Williams’s book, a perfect educational tool and chiropractic research reference for the daily practitioner, from the Amazon store TODAY!
OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are making evidence-based chiropractic fun, profitable, and accessible while we make you and your patients better all the way around. We’re the fun kind of research. Not the stuffy, high-brow kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers. I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast. If you haven’t yet I have a few things you should do.
Go to Amazon and check our my book called The Remarkable Truth About Chiropractic: A Unique Journey Into The Research. It’s an invaluable resource for your patient education and for you. It can save you time in putting talks together or just staying current on research. It’s categorized into sections so that the information is easy to find and it’s written in a way that is easy to understand for practitioner as well as patient. You have to check it out. Just search for it on Amazon. That’s the Remarkable Truth About Chiropractic by Jeff Williams.
Then go Like our Facebook page,
Join our private Facebook group and interact, and then
go review our podcast on iTunes and other podcast platforms.
While you’re there, join our weekly email newsletter.
You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #188 Now if you missed last week’s episode, we talked about hypermobile patients, sports-related concussions, and obesity’s pain connection. Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class.
On the personal end of things…..
Still in the middle of medical integration. Our nurse practitioner starts on August 2nd so, we’re pretty close at this point. I just ordered the centrifuge for the PRP therapy. I have heard of PRP for a little while now but mostly for hair loss. I have a close family member that has a little hair loss going on so he and his mother were asking me about PRP for hair loss. I didn’t know much about it. In case you aren’t familiar, PRP stands for plasma-rich platelets. They draw your blood, spin it down in the centrifuge, extract the platelets, and then inject it into the problem. I literally spent 2 hours this weekend going through research on PRP therapy.
I filtered PubMed to only show me randomized controlled trials. I don’t need a lot of BS. Let’s just go further up the research pyramid for the good stuff, right? So what I found was actually surprising as hell. While I could find 2, 3, maybe 4 papers tops that showed equal effectiveness to cortisone or something like that…..the large majority of the papers were clear that PRP is showing impressive effectiveness for just about damn near anything they try it on including ACL surgery recovery, hair loss, plantar fasciitis, general osteoarthritis, shoulders, knees, hips, ankles, carpal tunnel, and the list goes on. I have me a big ol’ file on my computer full of them all now. I can really get behind things like this that I can find a ton of positive research on. Just like everything else in my practice.
If I can find support in the literature, I have no problem encouraging it. Notice I didn’t say, “Sell it.” I’m a healthcare provider. Not a salesman. We should always be honest and tell our patients about the cool research behind something you think will truly help them but then we should shut up and be there for them however they want to use us. Plain and simple. So, again, I have no problem encouraging and educating on something that has shown such effectiveness. It’s pretty amazing actually so I’ll keep you updated on that. If you’re integrating or considering doing it, it’ll come in handy for you. If you’re not, it might give you some direction on what to do with those patients that have some stubborn conditions. More to come on that. OK, let’s get to today’s guest so we don’t go too long here. I want him to have plenty of time. Before we do that though, let’s hear a word from our sponsors, shall we?
CHIROUP ADVERTISEMENT
Dr. Rob Pape is our guest today. He is a long-time innovator in clinical evaluation and treatment instruction. He created Quadrant Analysis, which combines a sub-classification system with practical biomechanics. Quadrant Analysis improves and simplifies patient assessment, breaking the body down into traceable patterns which chiropractors can utilize to get better and faster patient results.
The Practice Mechanics resources include detailed information about Quadrant Analysis and specific techniques so you can help your patients get the results you want for them. Rob graduated from Life Chiropractic College West in 1996 and has been in successful practice ever since. His clinical approach is full body and generally combines joint and soft tissue work with movement therapy.
Welcome welcome Rob. Tell me where you are living these days, tell me about your family, and how long you’ve been in the trenches. What’s your story? Why are you a chiropractor today? What does your regular workday look like these days? You went to Life, a school that is notorious for being very philosophy-heavy, shall we say? With that as your initial base of knowledge and influence, what pointed you down the evidence-based/evidence-informed path? What’s your take on the profession today? What are we getting better at? Where are we losing ground? Where can we improve? If you could wave a wand and change one thing about the profession forever, what would you change? What would other chiropractors say is your best attribute? And what would the ones that know you really well say is your worst? What is the goal for Practice Mechanics? Outside of the obvious, which is building business, what do you hope to achieve by growing it?
How can doctors that are interested get in contact with you for more information? Alright, that’s it. Keep on keepin’ on. Keep changing our profession from your corner of the world. The world needs evidence-based, patient-centered practitioners driving the bus so get active, get involved, and make it happen. Let’s get to the message. Same as it is every week.Store Remember the evidence-informed brochures and posters at chiropracticforward.com.
Purchase Dr. Williams’s book, a perfect educational tool and chiropractic research reference for the daily practitioner, from the Amazon store TODAY!
The Message
I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots. When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few. It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient. And, if the patient treats preventatively after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health!
Key Point:
At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints…. That’s Chiropractic!
Contact
Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes. Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms. We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference.
Connect
We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward.
Dr. Jeff Williams – Fellow of the International Academy of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine – Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger
Today we’re going to talk about Evidence-Based Chiropractic, We talk about the primary spine care model integrated into a primary care setting. What happens when that’s the mode of treatment? Then we’re going to talk about some Frozen Shoulder (adhesive capsulitis) research in JAMA recently. But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music
OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are making evidence-based chiropractic fun, profitable, and accessible while we make you and your patients better all the way around. We’re the fun kind of research. Not the stuffy, high-brow kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers. I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast. If you haven’t yet I have a few things you should do.
Like our Facebook page,
Join our private Facebook group and interact, and then
go review our podcast on iTunes and other podcast platforms.
While you’re there, join our weekly email newsletter.
You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #158 Now if you missed last week’s episode, we talked about chiropractors that spread misinformation, we talked about patients needing movement, and we talked about love. I’m a softy at heart believe it or not. Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class. Evidence-Based Chiropractic is catching on!
On the personal end of things….. We are sitting here on a Monday 12/21 as of the typing up of this episode. Christmas is upon us. Nothing crazy special going on beyond that. There are a couple of things I’ll mention. The first is that I got the Mirror gym you hang on a wall. It’s basically like having a trainer in your living room. Lots of you are already used to this sort of a deal with products like Peloton but it’s new to me and it’s pretty awesome. I’m doing stuff like Tai Chi, yoga, boxing, kickboxing, and stuff like that.
Stuff I’d never do otherwise and it’s pretty darn cool. We turned what used to basically be a dog room into a small gym and it’s been pretty cool so far. I’m enjoying it. I’ve always been a skinny dude stuck in a big dude’s body. So, now that I’m down 33 lbs on weight watchers, and I’ve added the home gym to the mix, I feel like I’m on the way to realizing the skinny dude. Eventually. Lots of work left to do first though.
Secondly, I’m getting the vaccine in a day or two if everything works out. I have mentioned several times on the podcast that I have very positive relationships with a lot of folks in my local medical community. Through that network, my wife and I will be getting ours this week. I’m ready to get that dude and start moving on with life.
No, I’m not worried about it. Understanding I have some level of influence and some level of leadership with my friends, family, and patients, I feel it’s important to get out front and set an example on this deal. Especially being a chiropractor. When you see so many of us disenfranchised because of the vitalists in our profession out there preaching the harms of vaccines when they wouldn’t know how to make it through a research paper on the vaccine to save their lives…..well, wouldn’t it be refreshing to see evidence-based chiropractors stepping up and leading the way on this vaccine? Here’s my stance on it. Maybe it helps you if you’re on the fence. Maybe it doesn’t but here it is anyway. I’m not an epidemiologist or a maker of vaccines. I have researched masks, COVID, the transmission of Covid, and things like that. Not as much on the vaccine on the vaccine itself though.
Scientists understand so much more about that sort of research than I’ll ever know. A Fox Poll says 61% of Americans will get the shots while only 23% are strictly against taking it. There were 16% unsure. Probably the ones waiting to see if everyone does OK with it before they step up. And I don’t think that’s unreasonable. The point is, those getting it like me…..I’m not the minority on it. For me, it’s not only about life or death. I have a 20-something-year-old patient that can’t go back to work because she’s still positive 6 weeks later. I know a nurse that was positive for over nine weeks. I know Patients that had to go to physical therapy for weeks. Long haulers is a real deal. In the end, it’s an easy decision for me. I’m not worried at all really.
There’s risk crossing the road. If I get sick, I have to close my office for at least 2 weeks if not more. That means I lose a lot of money, there will be patients drop off of the schedule, we’ll miss new patients, and I’ll be sick AND anxious the entire time. If COVID doesn’t make me nauseous, the destruction of my business while I’m out sick will. Besides myself, I have 13 or so other employees and their families depending on my presence. My business depends on my presence and does not run when I’m not there. That’s a little different than a lot of other folks. I’m not doing that if I can prevent it. If a vaccine allows me to prevent it, well then, a vaccine it is.
We chiropractors work within inches of people’s faces and in close contact with them. That puts us at more risk than the average Joe and, if we have it, puts our patients at serious risk of getting it from us. If you’re like me, we work with a lot of elderly and immunocompromised patients. I’m not willing to put them at risk like that when all I had to do was trust in science and just get the damn vaccine. They ran human trials on 35000-45000 or so people with no unacceptable issues. That’s a huge sample size. I’ve seen this thought on the FTCA group before. It’s probably a Bobby Maybee special quote but, back before Facebook, people would have just taken the vaccine.
They weren’t worried about this stuff back before Facebook told them to worry about it. No matter what’s out there these days, you have people casting doubt on it for zero reasons. Maybe it’s a call for attention at all costs. Who knows? But it’s to the point now where science and experts are constantly doubted and discounted. And that’s about as dumb and dangerous as can be. It was OK to cure smallpox and polio but COVID……nah bruh.
If there were real questions, would basically the entire medical complex be in line taking it? My guess is that they wouldn’t. What if someone can afford to be out of work or out of their office for 2-4-6 weeks and they want to wait to get it? I think it’s reasonable if someone wants to wait to see if anyone has adverse effects before they take it. I don’t think that’s unreasonable at all. But I think that it’s just delaying the fact that almost everyone is going to do fine with it and most people are going to end up getting it.
They started it in England two weeks ago. Nothing has happened. Because they already did the test trials to make sure nothing would happen. Considering the success of the testing, I think the people not getting it are at far more risk than the people that are getting it. Besides all that, I’m ready to get back in my life. Traveling, doing fun stuff, having a life…..important stuff. Like seeing my mom and step pops and being able to visit my dad in the nursing home for the first time since March.
More power to those that have been doing those things all along but for the above-mentioned reasons, we have not.
So that’s where I’m at. We are all on our own walk and we all need to do what we think is best. Staying healthy, staying open and available, and continuing to provide for my family, my staff, and my patients are what I think is best. So, I’m out front on this. It’ll be good for my patients and family to see a picture of me getting my vaccine on social media. It’ll be good for my patients to see it.
And it’ll be good for those in the medical community that is friends with me to see it. It’ll reaffirm that no….I’m not one of THOSE chiropractors. I encourage you to be out front with it if you get one. Be a leader and blaze the trail. And Merry Christmas, Dammit.
Item #1 The first one today is called “Implementation of the Primary Spine Care Model in a Multi-Clinician Primary Care Setting: An Observational Cohort Study” by Whedon, et. al. (Whedon JM 2020) and published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics on September 1, of 2020. And that’s a blistering blast of hotness. If you don’t recognize the Whedon name, he is very prolific in chiropractic research.
Why They Did It
The objective of this investigation was to compare the value of primary spine care with usual care for the management of patients with spine-related disorders within a primary care setting.
How They Did It
They retrospectively examined existing patient encounter data at 3 primary care sites within a multi-clinic health system
Designated clinicians serve in the role as primary spinal care as the initial point of contact for spine patients, they coordinated the care, and they followed up for the duration of the episode of care
A primary spinal care doctor may be a chiropractor, PT, or medical or osteopathic physician trained in primary spinal care for spine-related disorders
They had sites where the primary spinal care was implemented as well as control sites where they just stuck with the usual care model
They examined clinical encounters occurring over a 2 year period from February 2016 to March 2018.
What They Found
Primary spine care was associated with reduced total expenditures compared with usual care for spine-related disorders
At site one, the average per-patient cost was $162 in a year and $186 in year two.
That is compared to site II, a control site, where the cost in year one was $332 and $306 in year two. And in site three, also a control site offering only usual care, where the cost in year one was $467 and year two was $323
Wrap It Up
Among patients with SRDs included in this study, implementation of the PSC model within a conventional primary care setting was associated with a trend toward reduced total expenditures for spine care compared with usual primary care. Implementation of PSC may lead to reduced costs and resource utilization but may be no more effective than usual care regarding clinical outcomes.
CHIROUP ADVERTISEMENT
Item #2
Our second item today is called “Comparison of Treatments for Frozen Shoulder: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis” by Challoumas, et. al. (Challoumas D 2020) and published in JAMA Open on December 16, of 2020 and it does not get one degree hotter than that people!
Why They Did It
The authors here wanted to know the answer to the question, “Are any treatment modalities for frozen shoulder associated with better outcomes than other treatments?”
How They Did It
It was a meta-analysis of 65 studies with 4097 participants
They searched Medline, EMBASE, Scopus, and CINHAL in February 2020.
Studies with a randomized design of any type that compared treatment modalities for frozen shoulder with other modalities, placebo, or no treatment were included.
Data were independently extracted by 2 individuals
Pain and function were the primary outcomes, and external rotation range of movement (ER ROM) was the secondary outcome
Length of follow-up was divided into short-term (≤12 weeks), mid-term (>12 weeks to ≤12 months), and long-term (>12 months) follow-up.
What They Found
Despite several statistically significant results, only the administration of intra-articular (IA) corticosteroid was associated with statistical and clinical superiority compared with other interventions in the short-term for pain
Subgroup analyses and the network meta-analysis demonstrated that the addition of a home exercise program with simple exercises and stretches and physiotherapy (electrotherapy and/or mobilizations) to the intra-articular corticosteroid may be associated with added benefits in the mid-term
Wrap It Up
The findings of this study suggest that the early use of intra-articular corticosteroid in patients with frozen shoulder of less than 1-year duration is associated with better outcomes. This treatment should be accompanied by a home exercise program to maximize the chance of recovery.
Item #3
Now, on to Evidence-Based Chiropractic. Our third and final one this week is called “Cost comparison of two approaches to chiropractic care for patients with acute and sub-acute low Back pain care episodes: a cohort study” by Whedon et. al. (Whedon JM 2020) and published in the Chiropractic and Manual Therapies on December 14, 2020. Get your red hots right here, get ‘em hot right here. I told you Whedon was prolific. That’s two papers in this one episode that he’s the lead author on and I did not do that on purpose. I didn’t realize who the authors of the papers were until I started typing. He’s on his A-game.
Why They Did It
The abstract for our Evidence-Based Chiropractic talk leads off by saying, “Low back pain (LBP) imposes a costly burden upon patients, healthcare insurers, and society overall. Spinal manipulation as practiced by chiropractors has been found to be cost-effective for the treatment of LBP, but there is wide variation among chiropractors in their approach to clinical care, and the most cost-effective approach to chiropractic care is uncertain. To date, little has been published regarding the cost-effectiveness of different approaches to chiropractic care. Thus, the current study presents a cost comparison between chiropractic approaches for patients with acute or subacute care episodes for low back pain.” How They Did It
It was a retrospective cohort design to examine the costs of chiropractic care among patients diagnosed with acute or subacute low back pain.
The study time period ranged between 07/01/2016 and 12/22/2017
They compared cost outcomes for patients of two cohorts of chiropractors within the health care system: Cohort 1) a general network of providers, and Cohort 2) a network providing conservative evidence-based care for rapid resolution of pain.
They used generalized linear regression modeling to estimate the comparative influence of demographic and clinical factors on expenditures.
A total of 25,621 unique patients were included in the analyses
What They Found
The average cost per patient for Cohort 2 (mean allowed amount $252) was lower compared to Cohort 1 (mean allowed amount $326
Patient and clinician related factors such as health plan, provider region, and sex also significantly influenced costs.
Wrap It Up In general, providers in Cohort 2 were found to be significantly associated with lower costs for patient care as compared to Cohort 1. Utilization of a clinical model characterized by a patient-centered clinic approach and standardized, best-practice clinical protocols may offer lower cost when compared to non-standardized clinical approaches to chiropractic care.
So….just who the hell do you all know that’s been preaching this until his face is about to explode? That’s right, listeners of this podcast. One word, two syllables…..Day-um. Evidence-based and patient-centered care is the future of chiropractic. It is first and foremost, treating our patients with respect and the best care and that’s what they deserve. Secondly, it’s speaking the language of the medical community. Which is the language of research. When you’re using their language, you’re starting to communicate more effectively. I think it’s time for superhero sound effects….boom, pow, snap, kawachow!
Alright, that’s it. Y’all be safe. Keep changing our profession from your little corner of the world. Keep taking care of yourselves and everyone around you. Tough times are upon us but, the sun will shine again. Trust it, believe it, count on it. Let’s get to the message. Same as it is every week.
The Message I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots. When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few. It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient. And, if the patient treats preventatively after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health!
Key Point:
At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints…. That’s Chiropractic!
Contact Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes. Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms. We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference.
Connect We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward. Website https://www.chiropracticforward.com
Social Media Links https://www.facebook.com/chiropracticforward/
Chiropractic Forward Podcast Facebook GROUP https://www.facebook.com/groups/1938461399501889/
About the Author & Host Dr. Jeff Williams – Fellow of the International Academy of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine – Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger
Bibliography
Challoumas D, B. M., McLean M, (2020). “Comparison Of Treatments For Frozen Shoulder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” JAMA Open 3(12): e2029581.
Whedon JM, B. S., Dennis P, Fischer VA, Russel R, (2020). “Cost comparison of two approaches to chiropractic care for patients with acute and sub-acute low Back pain care episodes: a cohort study.” Chiropr Man Therap 28(68).
Whedon JM, T. A., Bezdijan S, (2020). “Implementation of the Primary Spine Care Model in a Multi-Clinician Primary Care Setting: An Observational Cohort Study.” J Man Physiol Ther 43(7): P667-674.
CF 149: Preventable Disease And the Impact & Whole Body Vibration For Function and Bone Density Today we’re going to talk about the costs of preventable disease and then we’ll talk about whole body vibration for function and bone mineral density in postmenopausal, osteoporotic women. But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music
OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are making evidence-based chiropractic fun, profitable, and accessible while we make you and your patients better all the way around. We’re the fun kind of research. Not the stuffy, high-brow kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers.
I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast. If you haven’t yet I have a few things you should do.
Like our Facebook page,
Join our private Facebook group and interact, and then
go review our podcast on iTunes and other podcast platforms.
While you’re there, join our weekly email newsletter. No spam, just a reminder when the newest episodes go live. Nothing special so don’t worry about signing up. Just one a week friends. Check your JUNK folder!!
Do it do it do it. You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #149
Now if you missed last week’s episode , we talked about manipulation for concussion, sleep and cognitive decline, and we talked aobut demential predictors and prevention. Super interesting stuff. Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class. While we’re on the topic of being smart, did you know that you can use our website as a resource? Quick and easy, you can go to chiropracticforward.com, click on Episodes, and use the search function On the personal end of things….. We were busier last week. If you’ve listened for very long, I’ve tried to be open and honest about my numbers each week so that listeners will know where they stand. They’re either doing better or they’re doing about the same. Some will be doing worse. Either way, maybe I can be a measuring stick of some sort. The best I have done since COVID reared it’s stupid face is 145 visits in one week. That’s down from an average of 182 per week in 2019. So, that’s quite a difference. I keep immacualte stats so I know that in 2020, I have averaged 117 per week but that includes when we were closed and then when we were emergency only. Since we finally got up and running full steam back in May, I have averaged 136 per week. That puts me at about 75% of my pre-COVID point. So, I just need to average about 46 more visits per week to get back to 100%. No big deal right? Lol. That’s a solid jump but I’m a do-er and I have positive energy and a healthy amount of confidence. And, we got a good start last week. Last week for the first time, I beat the 145 mark that I had been limited to and saw 158. Just in time for the Rona to start surging back and freaking people out again. Lol. Such is my luck. We shall keep trudging, keep being smart, and keep doing what we can to stay healthy. If it all works out, we should be back to 100% by the end of the year. That’s my goal at least. As I type this out, we have 48 on the books today which is about 10-12 more than we’ve been seeing on Mondays. So things are looking up. Be safe folks, we’re not out of the crap yet. In fact, as of the time I’m typing this, it’s worse than it has been for a while. Just keep being safe, keep working, and do what you can to take care or yourself and those around you.Item #1 The first one we’re going to talk about today is called, “The cost of preventable disease in the USA” by Galea, et. al(Galea S 2020). published in The Lancet on October 1, 2020. Aye chiuaua. es too mucho caliente.https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(20)30204-8/fulltext?fbclid=IwAR3VMx1p1cZZTdT9o3_b6GkgSzfbImiOPPKLJFElqMKaHN5Vi-3OpkqwDTg This is more article and discussion so as usual when we cover stuff like this, we’ll just hit the high points and summarize it for you. They start by stating that a substantial proportion of poor health in populations is preventable and cite the Global Burden of Diseases, INjuries, and Risk FActors Study that suggests nearly half of all health burdern in the US is attributable to a list of 84 modifiable risk factors. They say that globally, up to half of all deaths fall into the category of preventable deaths. They estimate that more than 1/4 of health-care spending was due to these preventable illnesses. Not only that but the US heatlhcare spending is notoriously expensive spending 16.9% of its GDP on healthcare which is TWICE as much as the average of other similar countries. In fact, our spending is mroe than the 2019 GDP of 171 coutnries in the world. All but the 19 wealthiest. They ask a wonderful question, “Why do we continue to accept such a high burden of preventable disease, even when the cost of it is known?” Great question. Especially when you’re looking at it from a chiropractor’s point of view. Fusion surgeries run around $50,000 each, are basically useless, and put the patient at signficant risk of additional, expensive surgery. Epidural injections are useless as well. We have plenty of studies showing how we save money and cost much less than traditional medical care for back pain. We have surveys and research showing that our patient outcomes and satisfaction are superior to PT and general practitoners. We have the American College of Physicians, The Joint Commission, and The Lancet recommending spinal manipulation and exercise as first-line treatments. Yet, we are not inundated with referrals for chronic and acute low back pain. We should be absolutely flooded with referrals. We should be emptying out lobbies of furniture so we have more room in the corner to put a new referral. But nope. Hell no. My opinion is because we have vitalist chiropractors trying to convince patients they have to see them every week for the rest of ever…..as long as ye shall live….forever and ever amen. Taking x-rays and convincing them they’re going to die if they don’t fix that decreased curvature. Telling patients they’re going to pop their back and fix their gall bladder issue. THAT’S why we can’t have nice things. You have these evidence-based, patient-centered chiropractors over here going, “What they hell? We can help these people so much!” But we’ll never get the chance because vitalists don’t know how to stay in their lane. To be fair, they were taught their lane was much larger than research suggests it is. We do what we’re taught. The difference is, some of us are better at smelling BS than others. Too many chiropractors have a stopped up nose and can’t seem to smell very well. Which is unfortunate. Back to the article, they say, “The high burden and cost of preventable disease should push us to think differently about health at a foundational level.” And to that I say, “Indeed, Sir.”
They also say that we should embrace the notion that no amoutn of preventable death or illness is acceptable and that about $730 billion could be repurposed. Like to pay our debt…..just a suggestion. They conclude by saying, “high body-mass index, high systolic blood pressure, high fasting plasma glucose, dietary risks, and tobacco smoke exposure account for most of the spending on preventable illness.Preventing these risk factors would require an engagement with subsidising the availability of nutritious foods, disincentivising the commercial production of harmful products, investing in early childhood education that leads to healthy exercise and dietary habits, and creating cities that encourage healthy behaviours.”
For example, why does healthy food cost more than garbage food? That’s exactly reverse of what it should be. If we really care about lower socioeconomic folks and you want to fight for universal healthcare and things of that sort, wouldn’t it make sense to protest stuff like that?
Why aren’t we seeing picket lines outside of Tyson food factories or in front of grocery stores. They could be carrying signs that say, “Stop keeping our poor fat” or “make healthy affordable” or stuff like that. I’ll keep watching the TV. I’m not holding my breath though. Making healthy food affordable isn’t quite as sexy as all of the other reasons people are finding to stay outraged these days. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not making light of peaceful and respectful protest. That’s what Amercia is built on. I’m less understanding of the destruction, riots, and death that have come with so many of the more recent activities. Anyway, it’s a great article and I’ve linked it in the show notes at chiropracticforward.com if you’d like to go a little further in depth in the thing. Chiropractors can help this issue though. The research is there. They just have to start giving it a try. I think they’d be surprised with the results. Unless they referred to a vitalist. Then, when the patient reported back to the MD, the MD would probably never make another referral to a chiropractor as long as they lived once they realize that their referral made them look like an idiot. Just a guess. CHIROUP ADVERTISEMENT Item #2 This one is called “Effect of Whole-Body Vibration Exercise on Power Profile and Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women With Osteoporosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial” by ElDeeb, et. al(ElDeeb A 2020). published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics in May of 2020…..eh….it’s not fresh from the fire but it’s still steaming out of the microwave.https://www.jmptonline.org/article/S0161-4754(20)30044-0/fulltextWhy They Did It To investigate the effect of whole-body vibration (WBV) on muscle work and bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar vertebrae and femur in postmenopausal women. How They Did It
43 postmenopausal women with low bone mineral density
randomly assigned to WBV and control groups
Both groups got calcium and Vit D supplementation once per day
The WBV group additionally got WBV exercises 2x/week for 24 weeks
Hip power generation and absorption, knee power absorption and generation, ankle power generation adn absoprtion were all measured.
Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to measure bone mineral density of the lumbar spine and femor before and after intervention
What They Found
There were significant increases in the hip muscle work, knee muscle work, ankle musle work during gait in the WBV group.
Bone mineral densityof the lumbar spine and femur were significantly increased in the WBV group.
However, there were no significant changes in teh control group
The posttreatment values of the hip, knee, and ankle muscle work and the bone mineral density of the WBV group were significantly higher htan the posttreatment values of the control group.
Wrap It Up The conclusion states, “Whole-body vibration training improved the leg muscle work and lumbar and femoral bone mineral density in postmenopausal women with low bone mineral density.”
Pretty interesting stuff, folks. Is this definitive proof? No. The sample size is small but it is randomized which is good. Would I advertise that I’m going to increase osteoporotic BMC? Nope. If my mom had osteoporosis, would I have her on the WBV? You bet your sweet bippy I would. Alright, that’s it. Y’all be safe. Keep changing our profession from your little corner of the world. Keep taking care of yourselves and everyone around you. Tough times are upon us but, the sun will shine again. Trust it, believe it, count on it.
Let’s get to the message. Same as it is every week.Store Remember the evidence-informed brochures and posters at chiropracticforward.com.
The Message I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots.
When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few.
It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient.
And, if the patient treats preventativly after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health! Key Point: At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints….
That’s Chiropractic! Contact Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes. Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms. We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference.Connect We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward. Website
Social Media Links https://www.facebook.com/chiropracticforward/ Chiropractic Forward Podcast Facebook GROUP https://www.facebook.com/groups/1938461399501889/ TwitterTweets by Chiro_ForwardYouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtc-IrhlK19hWlhaOGld76Q iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/chiropractic-forward-podcast-chiropractors-practicing/id1331554445?mt=2 Player FM Link https://player.fm/series/2291021 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-chiropractic-forward-podcast-chiropractors-practicing-through TuneIn https://tunein.com/podcasts/Health–Wellness-Podcasts/The-Chiropractic-Forward-Podcast-Chiropractors-Pr-p1089415/ About the Author & Host Dr. Jeff Williams – Fellow of the International Academy of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine – Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger Bibliography
ElDeeb A, A.-A. A. (2020). “Effect of Whole-Body Vibration Exercise on Power Profile and Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women With Osteoporosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.” J Manipulative Physiol Ther 43(4): P384-393.
Galea S, M. N. (2020). “The cost of preventable disease in the USA.” The Lancet 5(10): E513-E514.
CF 143: New Paper: Spinal Manipulation Has No Effect On Chronic Pain – Our Experts Rebuttal
Today we’re going to talk about a new paper in JAMA saying that spinal manipulative therapy has not effect. Yeah…..BIG topic today so keep your seat, buckle up, I got some stuff to say.
But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music
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OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are making evidence-based chiropractic fun, profitable, and accessible while we make you and your patients better all the way around.
We’re the fun kind of research. Not the stuffy, high-brow kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers.
I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast.
If you haven’t yet I have a few things you should do.
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Do it do it do it.
You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #143
Now if you missed last week’s episode , we talked about nonoperative disc treatment, Vitamin D3 for depression, and the biopsychosocial part of chronic pain. I used big words on this one folks. Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class.
While we’re on the topic of being smart, did you know that you can use our website as a resource? Quick and easy, you can go to chiropracticforward.com, click on Episodes, and use the search function to find whatever you want quickly and easily. With over 100 episodes in the tank and an average of 2-3 papers covered per episode, we have somewhere between 250 and 300 papers that can be quickly referenced along with their talking points.
Just so you know, all of the research we talk about in each episode is cited in the show notes for each episode if you’re looking to dive in a little deeper.
On the personal end of things…..
First thing is, my website is jacking up in the last few weeks and it’s about to make me lose every marble I ever had in my noggin. So if you prefer reading the transcript on the website or listening via the website, I apologize if you’ve had issues doing so lately. Trust me, I am working diligently with people that know how to do this stuff to get it lined out and working properly and dependably
Next, my kid is coming home for the weekend from college. Pretty excited to see the knucklehead.
My practice was busier this week. Not necessarily in the total numbers of visits. We ended up somewhere back around 140 last week. Which was about where we started when we came back from COVID full time.
We were at about 140-145 or so per week and then fell off to about 125. That was mad Jeff time. Pouty Jeff time there. But, it was also back to school time and that’s traditionally the slower part of the year for me.
Last week, we ended up with about 22 new patients in one week. Hell yeah I’ll take it. Bet you’re sweet bippy….pass me some more of that deep dish of deliciousness.
That 22 should boost next week’s totals and that makes for content Jeff. Not happy…..no….I’m still down from Pre-Rona and still don’t have an associate so….not happy Jeff but definitely more content Jeff. Not only did I have the 22 new patients but a heaping spoonful of re-exams on patients that haven’t been in since the Rona began ruining crap.
So, all in all, we’re moving the right direction.
I was listening to an episode of mine from a couple of weeks ago. Kind of like game tape. Like the coaches go back and watch the game tape so they can learn about what they want and don’t want. My wife just says I like to hear myself talk and to her I say….you are fake news.
But anyway, I predicted that by now, more schools would be closing down. At the moment, I stand corrected. More schools have not yet shut down. I also said that I hope I am wrong. And I’m saying right now that I’m glad I was wrong. I’m a big enough man to say it out loud and proclaim mine own idiocy!!
Or am I an idiot. Today, which is 9/4, happy birthday to my wife Meg BTW, today I took note that Lubbock has reported 849 new cases in the last 3 days. Three days, y’all.
They’re averaging 283 new cases every single day. And it’s because of that college. A little birdy in the Texas Tech healthcare system told me they got an internal email saying basically that things are getting out of control on the campus already because people living off-campus are being dumb and spreading it on campus. They say it’s expected to get a lot worse after this weekend.
So, maybe I’m not an idiot after all. We know the incubation on this thing is about 2 weeks and they went to school right at 2 weeks ago. And now here we are.
I do still believe it’s only a matter of time but for now, I was sort of wrong and I’m sort of OK with it.
Let’s get on with it shall we?
Before we get to the next paper, I want to tell you a little about this new tool on the market called Drop Release. I love new toys! If you’re into soft tissue work, then it’s your new best friend. Heck if you’re just into getting more range of motion in your patients, then it’s your new best friend.
Drop Release uses fast stretch to stimulate the Golgi Tendon Organ reflex. Which causes instant and dramatic muscle relaxation and can restore full ROM to restricted joints like shoulders and hips in seconds.
Picture a T bar with a built-in drop piece. This greatly reduces the time needed for soft tissue treatment, leaving more time for other treatments per visit, or more patients per day. Drop Release is like nothing else out there, and you almost gotta see it to understand, so check out the videos on the website.
It’s inventor, Dr. Chris Howson, from the great state of North Dakota, is a listener and friend. He offered our listeners a great discount on his product. When you order, if you put in the code ‘HOTSTUFF’ all one word….as in hot stuff….coming up!! If you enter HOTSTUFF in the coupon code area, Dr. Howson will give you $50 off of your purchase.
Go check Drop Release at droprelease.com and tell Dr. Howson I sent you.
Item #1
Alright, let’s get to this POS paper. I say that because it doesn’t confirm my bias. Lol. It’s called “Effect of Spinal Manipulative and Mobilization Therapies in Young Adults With Mild to Moderate Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial” by Thomas et. al(Thomas J 2020). published in JAMA on August 5, 2020. Hot steamy pile of dog crap here…big plate of shooey.
Why They Did It
To evaluate the comparative effectiveness of spinal manipulation and spinal mobilization at reducing pain and disability compared with a placebo control group (sham cold laser) in a cohort of young adults with chronic LBP. As if this question has not already been answered a million jillion times.
How They Did It
The study was single-blinded
placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial
3 treatment groups
Conducted at the Ohio Musculoskeletal and Neurological Institute at Ohio University from June 2013 to August 2017
4903 subjects eligible
4741 did not meet inclusion criteria
162 patients with Chronic Low Back Pain qualified for randomization
Participants received 6 treatment sessions of
spinal manipulation
spinal mobilization
sham cold laser therapy – placebo – during a 3-week period.
Outcome measures were the change from baseline in Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) score over the last 7 days and the change in disability assessed with the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire 48 to 72 hours after completion of the 6 treatments.
What They Found
There were no significant group differences for sex, age, body mass index, duration of LBP symptoms, depression, fear-avoidance, current pain, average pain over the last 7 days, and self-reported disability.
At the primary endpoint, there was no significant difference in change in pain scores between spinal manipulation and spinal mobilization, spinal manipulation, and placebo, or spinal mobilization and placebo
There was no significant difference in change in self-reported disability scores between spinal manipulation and spinal mobilization, spinal manipulation, and placebo, or spinal mobilization and placebo
So it appears from this paper that spinal manipulation and spinal mobilization has absolutely NO utility NO use and makes NO sense for anything. Basically. This….when so many other papers have shown incredible utility, incredible effectiveness, and incredible cost-effectiveness. It makes very little to zero sense at all.
Wrap It Up
Their conclusions was as follows, “In this randomized clinical trial, neither spinal manipulation nor spinal mobilization appeared to be effective treatments for mild to moderate chronic LBP.”
OK, I had to consult with those much smarter than I to really get a full picture of what’s going on here. Because I feel like someone’s picking on us a little here. You cannot have so many papers supporting spinal manipulative therapy and then this say there’s no use whatsoever. You simply can’t. Something smells awry in the land of Denmark, up in here, up in here.
I’ll start with Dr. James Lehman. Dr. Lehman is an Associate Professor of Clinical Sciences at the University of Bridgeport/College of Chiropractic and Director of Health Sciences Postgraduate Education. Dr. James Lehman is a board-certified, chiropractic orthopedist. He teaches orthopedic and neurological examination and differential diagnosis of neuromusculoskeletal conditions. In addition, he provides clinical rotations for fourth-year chiropractic students and chiropractic residents in the community health center and a sports medicine rotation in the training facility of the local professional baseball team. He’s the driving force behind the Diplomate program for Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine.
As Director, Dr. James Lehman developed the three-year, full-time resident training program in chiropractic orthopedics and neuromusculoskeletal medicine. The program offers training within primary care facilities of a Federally Qualified Health Center and Patient-Centered Medical Home. While practicing in New Mexico, he mentored fourth-year, UNM medical students. He has been generous with advice and mentorship for yours truly as well. We could go on and on.
I sent this paper to Dr. Lehman and asked for his opinion on it.
Dr. Lehman said, “I am not favorably impressed with the study for several reasons. It is my opinion that this study was simplistic and non-specific. When studies base the effort on determining the outcomes of a specific modality without a specific diagnosis, I question the outcomes.
As a chiropractic specialist, I use the definition promulgated by the National Pain Strategy. Chronic pain occurs more than 50% of the days for six months or longer. This study mentioned that pain occurred only greater than 3 months with no mention of the number of days that pain was experienced. In addition, this study used only mild and moderate chronic pain. It is my opinion that these patients may be experiencing mild symptoms for several reasons that are not relieved by manual medicine interventions. For example, poor posture and distress with resultant myofascial pain without joint dysfunction. Another example would be a patient with a true chronic pain condition that has centralized in the CNS. These patients normally experience only a reduction in pain for a short period of time.
This study offers a simplistic diagnosis and not one that indicates the need for manual medicine interventions.
I always question studies that base the need of spinal manipulation on the finding of reduced joint motion. Although chiropractic programs teach motion palpation, the evidence demonstrates the examination procedure to be less than dependable.
“Regardless of the degree of standardization, interrater reliability of motion palpation of the thoracic spine for identifying pain and motion restriction performed by experienced examiners was poor and often not better than chance. These findings question the continued use of motion palpation as part of the clinical assessment as an isolated tool to detect loss of intersegmental joint play.” Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4480941/
As we know, patients that present for chiropractic care for chronic low back pain demonstrate pain scale findings higher than 2/10 but more likely 5-10/10. Less than 5/10 indicates that the pain does not interfere with the patient’s activities of daily living. Hence, I believe the study was poorly designed. Why study the effectiveness of a manual medicine for an insignificant condition?
Thank you Dr. Lehman for such a thorough response and for laying out his thoughts so effectively on this. He really is a gem of this profession.
I exchanged emails with Dr. Christine Goertz. Her resume is again, so long and impressive that we can’t do it right here but, in short, she is the Chief Operating Officer of the Spine Institute for Quality. She is also an Adjunct Associate at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health at the University of Iowa. She has received nearly $32M in federal funding as either principal investigator or co-principal investigator, primarily from NIH and the Department of Defense, and has authored or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers.
I almost hated to ask Dr. Goertz because I know how busy she is, but honestly, who better to ask, right? And, at the end of the day, I followed an old saying I’ve kept in mind my whole life. And that saying is, “No asky, no getty”
And, as expected, she did not have the chance to dive into it headfirst but did offer this, “Although I can’t comment on the details of the methods Without a deeper dive, one thing that strikes me is the decreased utility of studying spinal manipulation in isolation, as it is generally delivered in the larger context of chiropractic care.”
Which alludes to something I’ve said on this podcast so many times. Chiropractic according to every chiropractor outside of strictly subluxation slayers, is not a modality. It is a profession with A LOT of tools under its umbrella. Still, there’s something smelly about a paper claiming absolutely zero effectiveness of SMT. Really? None?
I emailed one of the smartest dynamic duos I have ever experienced in my entire chiropractic career, Dr. Anthony Nicholson and Dr. Matthew Long. They’re like the batman and robin of chiropractic geniuses. Honestly, good luck finding more intelligent and more thoughtful chiropractors anywhere. They are the creators of all online education curriculum through the CDI courses which are what is used by the Diplomate of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine. Dr. Nicholson is a Diplomate of Orthopedics as well as a Diplomate in Neurology.
Dr. Nicholson shared this with me. He said, “In relation to the article, firstly, I’d say that I don’t have researcher-level credentials in critiquing study design, validity, statistical methods etc.
I do obviously read a fair bit of research and integrate that with teaching and clinical experience.
This study seems pretty light to me in several respects and I’m not surprised by the conclusions.The number of participants was pretty low (162), which lowers the power of the study to draw accurate conclusions.Overwhelmingly though, here is the dilemma: there is obviously a strong desire to test certain clinical interventions and compare them.
This means reducing the number of variables and attempting to isolate the specific effect of each intervention to the greatest degree possible.The problem is that these interventions aren’t meant to be delivered in such a sterile way.This omits the extremely important context effect and ritualistic aspect of a clinical encounter.It doesn’t take into account the words, concepts, explanations, and empathy of the doctor that creates a certain context in which the specific intervention is delivered.The same goes for any intervention, be it drugs or surgery.Pain is all about meaning.We are priming a patient’s brain to receive a certain sensory input in terms of what that means.
The bottom line is that a clinical interaction is so much more than the sum of its parts, and each individual part is very tricky (I won’t say impossible, but you could say it’s pretty close) to evaluate in isolation.Where does that leave us?I don’t know!
But, what I do know (like all clinicians I suspect) is that I see meaningful changes to people’s lives every day with these interventions when they’re wrapped in the right clinical context (a successful therapeutic alliance with the patient that is built upon trust and rapport).It’s difficult to study that!”
I don’t know how one could say it any better than Dr. Nicholson. He has such a way with words, I swear. Are all Australians as eloquent? I’m not sure. I’m a Texan, I’m pretty gruff and rough around the edges I’m afraid. I don’t speak his language but luckily I understand it. Lol.
His partner in CDI and in fighting chiro crime….remember the batman and robin reference….anyway, Dr. Matthew Long wrote an outstanding article on this type of study that I’ll link in the show notes. Please go check it out.
He says, “For many chiropractors the realities of clinical practice and the supposed truths of scientific research often seem irreconcilable. This is particularly apparent when reviewing research that investigates the effects of spinal manipulation upon a specific condition.
Often there is little, if any, the difference in outcome between the placebo (sham) intervention and the ‘real’ procedure. In both cases, the patient is seen to improve, often quite substantially. However, the study is unable to show conclusively that active treatment is better than the sham. This phenomenon is especially prevalent when the intervention is being tested for its capacity to reduce pain, which carries a large emotional connotation into the experimental setting. We can see this in a recent migraine study by Chaibi and colleagues (1), who concluded that the significant beneficial effect obtained by sufferers was “probably a placebo response”.
To most clinicians this is deeply unsatisfying. While it is true that the science of placebo has undergone a reappraisal and a softening of opinion in recent years, the average hard working chiropractor probably feels that there is more to their daily practice than simply putting on a good show.
While many experiments are based upon our ability to modulate pain, others seek to determine how manipulation might influence the biomechanics of a patient’s spine. After all, the dominant model by which spinal manipulation has been justified for over 100 years is largely mechanical in nature (whilst acknowledging the desire to reduce some sort of neural distress that resulted).
Unfortunately, these biomechanical experiments are sometimes even less impressive in their outcomes, and there is little difference between the active treatment and the control. However, before we become too jaded I think that we should pause for a moment and ask ourselves two important questions:
Are we posing research questions based upon a legacy model of spinal manipulation?
Can the design of these studies preclude us from finding any meaningful answers?
It is my contention that the science of neuromusculoskeletal health has evolved considerably, and yet we are perhaps still looking at the world through an outdated lens.
This dynamic duo is the future of this profession. I’m including the link to the article in the show notes at this point in the show so go there to episode 143, scroll down and click on it. Stop arguing like a damn teenager and just do it or you go to bed with no supper. Don’t you roll your eyes at me, Give me your phone, you’re grounded.”
Another very relevant though from Dr. Long in the article is this:
“Some of the things we know about spinal manipulation include:
1. It is not a mechanical realignment.
2. It does not help relieve pain by increasing range of motion.
3. It can produce changes in smoothness and quality of movement, which are critical for stability and control.
4. It influences the brain’s perception of the spine, and how it can (and should) move.”
It goes on and, as with anything from Dr. Nicholson and Dr. Long, it is eloquent, easy to understand, and basically amazing. This is why you always hear the Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine Diplomates talk about the outstanding education you get in the program. It’s largely due to these two amazing doctors and educators.
Now, last but absolutely not least is one of my new favorite research superstars in our profession. We are going to have her on a future episode so keep watching for that. Dr. Katie Pohlman from Parker University was kind enough to send me her thoughts on the paper.
Dr. Pohlman is Director of Research at Parker University and an inaugural fellow of the Chiropractic Academy of Research and Leadership (CARL) program. She received Researcher of the Year in 2020 from the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), is the current Vice President of the ACA’s Council on Women’s Health, and has served as Vice President of the ACA’s Council on Chiropractic Pediatrics. Dr. Pohlman received her Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree and M.S. in Clinical Research from Palmer College of Chiropractic and her Ph.D. in Pediatrics from the University of Alberta. We could keep going but I think you get the point.
She’s one of the most impressive ‘newer’ researchers in our profession. I say newer in quotes because I only found out about Dr. Pohlman in the last few years. But trust me here, you’re going to be hearing and seeing A LOT more out of her in the future.
Dr. Pohlman said this, “This was a well-designed study of manipulation and mobilization with a strong placebo arm. The population was young, non-obese individuals with chronic back pain.
As stated in the discussion, the sample population baseline pain level on a 0-11 scale was ~4.3, which I feel left little room the clinical meaningful 2 points decrease. The study also used characteristics from a clinical prediction rule for the inclusion of patients.
The characteristic list that they use included patients having pain for less than 16 days. Since this study was looking at chronic pain this characteristic was not included.
I support the idea of pre-identifying responders versus non-responders; however, the characteristics used in this study may not have been most useful for chronic pain patients.
A more useful model at this time is the Andres Eklund ‘s psychological subgroups (which also have not be validated… watch for more studies in the near future).
(NOTE: this study was published after the start of the RCT being discussed.)
Another consideration for this study was the 3 weeks of care and the manipulation/mobilization techniques that were used. I will leave these concerns for clinicians to discuss.”
Katie is wonderful for taking time out of her day to offer us some insight on this.
Now, I want to address the F4CP. The Foundation For Chiropractic Progress. They came out shortly after this paper with a press release in support of this paper. Saying it’s correct, they support it, and it is further proof that a D.O. or any other practitioner outside of a Doctor of Chiropractic is clearly ineffective.
The insinuation is that no other practitioner can deliver an adjustment as well and as effectively as a chiropractor and that had the study included spinal manipulative therapy delivered by chiropractors, it would have shown clear effectiveness.
Because you know….chiropractors are evidently the ONLY practitioners that can adjust I guess.
Let me get this straight upfront; I love the F4CP. I support them. I love what they’ve done for our profession and are doing for our profession. I would say that I believe there are some TICs and some TORs in there and that’s not necessarily helpful for the evidence-based side of the profession but overall, it’s a great group and does a good job of being well-rounded and representing the profession as a whole.
With that being said, in this paper, I think the F4CP is just wrong to support the paper like this. For me, it’s lazy and almost comes off like the way a politician would slide around something. You know what I mean? Avoid the elephant in the room and say, “See there, had they used chiropractors, it’d been a different dealio all together because we’re the superstars’ nobody else can be. I don’t know…..I guess if the other spinal manipulative therapy people would maybe….I don’t ….try not to suck so much….that’d be great and all”
It’s BS and I don’t like their handling of it. I like their handling of just about everything else but whoever pulled the trigger on this, I just can’t agree with. There are holes to be poked in it. There are too many papers showing the effectiveness to sit around and let 3 PhDs set the tone for spinal manipulative therapy going forward.
You think insurance companies, chiro haters, and trolls aren’t going to grab this and run like they stole something with this thing? Of course, they will. And are. Hell, I’ve seen where chiropractors themselves are now saying the manipulation isn’t all that effective. Chiropractors y’all. Then you have the Airrosti folks who don’t adjust. We all have to do what we do and what we feel but come on man. I always say chiropractic isn’t an adjustment, it’s a profession. But let’s have some real talk here. The adjustment is still damn well the cornerstone of the profession. Don’t any of you kid yourselves on this? It is and it is for a reason.
So for me, on this deal, the F4CP is wrong. Sorry to any of you that may be in the F4CP. I’m aware you didn’t ask my opinion first but I’m giving it second. Lol.
I do support you overall. Just not here.
The study isn’t an indictment of chiropractic in general but I’d say that this paper doesn’t take any of the other things a chiropractor does into account at all. When the pain is centralized and the CNS is upregulated, simple manipulation is a start but is only a tiny piece of the puzzle.
Alright, that’s it. Y’all be safe. Keep changing the world and our profession from your little corner of the world. Continue taking care of yourselves and taking care of your neighbors. Tough times are upon us but, the sun will shine again. Trust it, believe it, count on it.
Let’s get to the message. Same as it is every week.
I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots.
When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few.
It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient.
And, if the patient treats preventatively after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health!
Key Point:
At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints….
That’s Chiropractic!
Contact
Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes.
Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms.
We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference.
Connect
We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward.
Dr. Jeff Williams – Fellow of the International Academy of Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine – Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger
Bibliography
Thomas J, C. B., Russ D, (2020). “Effect of Spinal Manipulative and Mobilization Therapies in Young Adults With Mild to Moderate Chronic Low Back Pain
CF 137: w/ Dr. Aric Frisina-Deyo – Chiropractors In An FQHC Setting & Setting The Bar High Early On
Today we’re going to be joined by Aric Frisina-Deyo. We’re going to discuss the ins and outs of working in an FQHC. You’ve heard us talk about it before with Dr. James Lehman. How do you do it, what can you expect out of it, and what does it look like? But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music
OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are making evidence-based chiropractic fun, profitable, and accessible while we make you and your patients better all the way around. We’re the fun kind of research. Not the stuffy, high-brow kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers. I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast. If you haven’t yet I have a few things you should do.
Like our Facebook page,
Join our private Facebook group and interact, and then
go review our podcast on iTunes and other podcast platforms.
While you’re there, join our weekly email newsletter. No spam, just a reminder when the newest episodes go live. Nothing special so don’t worry about signing up. Just one a week friends. Check your JUNK folder!!
Do it do it do it.
You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #137
Now if you missed last week’s episode, we talked about adjustments making a person stronger, providing more endurance, and providing improved balance. We talked about new evidence on muscle relaxers, and we talked about the best recovery posture after some intense training. Find out if it’s better to recover having your hands on your knees or standing up with your hands behind your head like we’ve been taught over the years. Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class.
While we’re on the topic of being smart, did you know that you can use our website as a resource? Quick and easy, you can go to chiropracticforward.com, click on Episodes, and use the search function to find whatever you want quickly and easily. With over 100 episodes in the tank and an average of 2-3 papers covered per episode, we have somewhere between 250 and 300 papers that can be quickly referenced along with their talking points. Just so you know, all of the research we talk about in each episode is cited in the show notes for each episode if you’re looking to dive in a little deeper.
On the personal end of things….. So far, so good. Staying steady, healthy, and strong. No big drop-offs in business but no big growth beyond our 80% mark either. Like I said last week, 80% is my new normal for now and, if that’s my new cap, then it’s time to simply start comparing my weekly numbers to the 80% mark and just continue growing and comparing to that. Basically, my 80% is what I’m now accepting as my new 100% if that makes sense. That’s my roof or my ceiling. I have stopped comparing my numbers currently to the numbers of last year or the numbers of pre-COVID.
It’s not fair to me or my employees. Like it or hate it, there is a new normal for now and for the foreseeable future and I’m living and operating in that world for now. That just makes more sense to me. Otherwise, I’m trying to reach a bar that is very difficult to reach and I think I’ll be perpetually frustrated and nobody’s got time for that.
So, I’m comparing my numbers to last week’s numbers and last month’s numbers. It just makes more sense. I have a new assistant taking care of the Chiropractic Forward website. You’ll have to go check it out here and there. She’s in the process of updating the Store link where we have evidence-based patient education brochures and brand new posters for your offices. Just go to chiropracticforward.com and click on the Store link while you’re there. Maybe sign up for our weekly email newsletter while you’re at it. No spam, just a weekly reminder on Thursdays when the new episodes go live. That’s it.
Introduction Alright, let’s get on with the show and introduce our guest today. Today we’re joined by Dr. Aric Frisina-Deyo. Being in only his second year of practice, Aric was wondering why I’d be interested in his story. Well, it’s simple, he is integrated into and working for an FQHC. Meaning, he’s already functioning at the top of the game and I want to know about it.
I’m guessing if I want to know about it, many of you would like to know about it. First, you may think your area doesn’t have an FQHC and for the most part, you’re probably wrong. Just pull out your Google machine and type in ‘FQHC and the area you live in’. See what it pulls up. Dr. James Lehman pulled that one on me when I told him I didn’t think my area had any.
Well, turns out we had two of them and I had no idea. One more in the win column for Dr. Lehman. What is an FQHC, you might ask? It stands for Federally Qualified Health Center. If you have listened to either of the episodes we have had with Dr. James Lehman from the Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine Diplomate of the University of Bridgeport.to start the second year of the three year Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine Residency through the University of Bridgeport. Very active while a student holding numerous positions in clubs and student government, Aric was able to take MDT and MPI which, along with this schooling, has helped to shape his practice style.
He is currently providing care to underserved populations in New Britain, Danbury and Clinton, CT in Federally Qualified Health Centers in a multidisciplinary setting alongside MDs, DOs, APRNs, PAs, Podiatrists, Dentists, Dieticians, other Allied Health Professionals. Aric is also working toward his diplomate in Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine and has had the privilege to assist in instruction for the orthopedic and neurological examination labs at UBSC. When not treating patients, studying or moderating FTCA, Aric can be found spending time with his wife and two children. He has already co-authored 6 research publications.
So let’s welcome Aric to the show thank you for joining us today.
Tell us where you are located and a little about the area if you don’t mind.
Before we get to the FQHC’s, tell me a bit about your journey to becoming a chiropractor. I always say that it’s not the first thing that comes to mind when most kids are deciding what they want to be when they grow up.
Tell me about where you attended college and your unique experience there that has led to your position and the current practice environment.
Is there an advantage to being a resident in an FQHC? Explain the pros and cons of your experience.
Do you evaluate or see many chronic pain patients?
Do your patients tend to present with many co-morbidities or are they usually just spinal pain.
If so, how do you manage the co-morbidities?
Do you care for many high-impact chronic patients with disabilities? And…..for our audience, can you explain the difference between high-impact chronic pain and run-of-the-mill chronic pain?
Tell us about your experience working with and interacting with your medical field counterparts there at the FQHC.
Do you see the FQHC being your preferred practice setting going forward or is a private practice in your future?
Before we wrap up here, I met you through Dr. Kris Anderson up in North Dakota. He’s been a previous guest on our podcast. He has suggested you have something working with dry needling research. Can you share some of that information with us?
Alright, that’s it. Y’all be safe. Keep changing the world and our profession from your little corner of the world. Continue taking care of yourselves and taking care of your neighbors. Tough times are upon us but, the sun will shine again. Trust it, believe it, count on it. Let’s get to the message. Same as it is every week.Store Remember the evidence-informed brochures and posters at chiropracticforward.com.
The Message I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots. When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few. It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient. And, if the patient treats preventativly after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health!
Key Point: At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints…. That’s Chiropractic!
Contact Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes. Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms. We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference.
Connect We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward.
Website https://www.chiropracticforward.com
Social Media Links https://www.facebook.com/chiropracticforward/
Chiropractic Forward Podcast Facebook GROUP https://www.facebook.com/groups/1938461399501889/ Twitter https://twitter.com/Chiro_Forward
About the Author & Host Dr. Jeff Williams – Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger
Today we’re going to talk about Adjusting Disc Herniations and Bulges. Is this a good idea or a bad idea and what does the research have to say about it? But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music
OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are making evidence-based chiropractic fun, profitable, and accessible while we make you and your patients better all the way around.
We’re the fun kind of research. Not the stuffy, high-brow kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers.
I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast.
If you haven’t yet I have a few things you should do.
Like our Facebook page,
Join our private Facebook group and interact, and then
go review our podcast on iTunes and other podcast platforms.
While you’re there, join our weekly email newsletter. No spam, just a reminder when the newest episodes go live. Nothing special so don’t worry about signing up. Just one a week friends. Check your JUNK folder!!
Do it do it do it.
You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #135
Now if you missed last week’s episode , we talked about the impact sleep can have on cardiovascular issues and we talked about what the profession of chiropractic can learn from the podiatry profession. There was a great discussion there I believe and great lessons we can learn. Why did podiatrists start at about the same time as chirorpactic but they’re so much more recognized, respected, and integrated compared to the chirorpactic profession? We talked about it. Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class.
Just so you know, all of the research we talk about in each episode is cited in the show notes for each episode if you’re looking to dive in a little deeper.
On the personal end of things…..
Keepin on keepin on folks. That’s it. Staying in business. One day at a time. So far so good. I hope you found some use out of our discussion a couple episodes back about tactics myself and others are using to get those patients returning back to your office. I think I was able to share some valuable info in that regard.
Dr. Blake Bennett posted in our private Facebook group saying, “We mailed a thousand letters to patients who were in in the past couple years and a couple weeks later we mailed another 500 postcards to patients who haven’t been in longer than that. Email every 2-3 weeks to those on the list. He says the response was great and June was a good month.”
Providing value and giving back. Thank you Dr. Bennett. I know others in need appreciate your advice as do I.
Let’s get on with the reason for the topic today. I saw a post not long ago in the Forward Thinking Chiropractic Alliance where a colleague was asking if it’s OK to adjust segments where there is a confirmed disc herniation or bulge. It was refreshing to see a resounding YES from all of my colleagues.
My answer was “Yes” as well. I’ve been through this from the back end though and I’ll share some of that story with you. It’s a story I’m not happy about, I’m not proud of, and I’m not happy revisiting. It was a hard time in my life to be honest. But, it’s part of my story regardless so here goes.
Many moons ago I treated A LOT of personal injury cases. We all know some of those patients are better than others. This was not one of the great patients but she was fine. No big issues. She had a disc injury and I diagnosed it appropriately I’ll have you know.
Now something to know about me; I’m all about gentle motion. I don’t like it when someone cranks my noggin around just looking for that crack sound. I’m not interested in that and I treat people the way I want to be treated. I’m very gentle, non-agressive, use little to zero rotation in the cervical area, and just won’t be rough with it.
Same went for this lady. And, like so many other patients, she responded well. I tracked her from the beginning where she was having pain 75% of the time down to a much lower rating on the numeric rating scale and only about 25% of the time. She was happy, I was happy and all was gleeful in the land of daily practice.
Until…..until her daughter attended an appointment with her one day. She came in with her just up in arms and actually screaming at me because I had the audacity to work on her mother when she had a disc herniation and clear mention of the disc herniation on her MRI report.
I asked her if she’d ever been to a chiropractor before or knew anything about chiropractic. She had not. She knew nothing about what we do or why we do it. So, I tried to explain briefly and tell her how her mother was doing so much better and how she had improved, blah, blah, blah. Didn’t matter. She didn’t know anything but she knew enough to be straight up pissed the hell off that I’d ever work with her mother with that disc herniation.
It made for an interesting day for sure. But not as interesting as the day I received notice from my state’s governing board that they had received a complaint on me from this patient. While it had this patient’s name on the complaint, it should have had the daughter’s name on it because the patient and I had a good relationship.
So, no matter how good the notes were, no matter how well I tracked the improvement, guess what? I STILL had to hire an attorney to defend me to my own Board. Now, it’s important to understand that the Board isn’t here for us. They’re stated goal is to protect the interest of the public when it comes to chiropractors. Let’s be fair, they see the worst of the worst. Literally. They can, after some time, become a bit jaded and maybe even start to actually EXPECT the worst when they get a complaint.
I literally could not believe I had to take two days off of work, fly to Austin, TX, get a hotel, and defend myself against something that was so black and white. But again, let’s be fair, the folks at the TBCE weren’t there. They didn’t witness what I saw. They didn’t see the happiness of the patient with her improvement. They weren’t there when we just did manual mobilization rather than agressive adjustments. I can’t blame them. It was the process and I had to go through it. Right or wrong. And trust me, if you’ve listened to this podcast long enough honesty is big with me. This was wrong. It should have never gotten beyond the initial complaint. But whatever. I went to Austin.
Now, one of my colleagues and friends was on the enforcement committee and she asked me some straight forward questions with the attorney sitting there. I don’t know why the hell he was even there other than to collect a check because he didn’t say a damn thing or do a damn thing.
This was before I went through a diplomate but after going through Croft’s Whiplash Biomechanics and Traumatology course. What I’m saying is I’m better today than I was back then but I was far from being a slacker back then. I answered all of the questions, walked out, and the attorney told me what a great job I did and then we waited.
I ended up getting a warning but nothing on my record. No action taken against me. I was pissed then and am still pissed that I’d get a warning for anything at all. I didn’t deserve a warning. It wasn’t warranted because I didn’t do anything wrong.
Now, the reason for that story for a couple of reasons. First, I want you to understand the value of documentation. Had I not had the documentation showing the improvement of this patient over her treatment, I would have been absolute toast based solely on the word of a patient’s daughter. A person that has never been to a chiropractor and knows nothing about the profession. That’s number one. So documentation people; don’t just document to remember what you did. Document to protect yourself and your staff. It sucks but you have to do it.
The second reason I told that story is that this experience led me to start looking up research on discs and adjusting. Was I actually wrong and I just didn’t know it? I went searching for the answers because if I were to keep adjusting people, you damn well better believe that I’m going to be adjusting people with discs that many times are herniated or bulging. That’s either knowingly doing it and most times unknowingly doing it.
Hell, we know that 60% of patients between the ages of 40 and 50 years old have disc findings that are completely asymptomatic. No pain at all. Still, when you’re adjusting a 40 – 50 year old, you have a 60% chance of adjusting someone with a bulge or herniation. So it made sense to me to protect myself from ever running into this crap again down the road.
If I had those paper in front of me when I went in there to defend myself, maybe I don’t even get a warning. But, if someone is sitting on the enforcement and questioning concerning adjusting areas with disc issues, they need to be on top of that research as well. And they might have been. I don’t know. All of the folks at the TBCE have become well thought of friends and colleagues now that I’ve been active in the Texas Chiropractic Association for so many years. Not the case at the time though. I only knew one of them back then. Even though there’s been a turnover since this happened many moons ago, I’m still friends with even the new TBCE crew and they’re all highly respected and thought of by me. Good good people just trying to do a good job.
Anyway, We’re going to go through some papers here for you so you can get a clear picture on this topic.
Item #1
OK, Item #1 this week is called “Manipulation or microdiskectomy for sciatica? A prospective randomized clinical study” by McMorland, et. al. publshed in the Journal of Manipulative Physiological Therapeutics in October of 2010(McMorland G 2010).
Why They Did It
The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical efficacy of spinal manipulation against microdiskectomy in patients with sciatica secondary to lumbar disk herniation (LDH).
How They Did It
121 patients were in the study
Patients had to have failed at least 3 months of nonoperative management like analgesics, lifestyle modification, physiotherapy, massage, or acupuncture.
They were randomized to either surgical microdiskectomy or standardized chiropractic spinal manipulation
Patients could opt to crossover to the other treatment after 3 months
What They Found
Significant improvement in both treatment groups compared to baseline scores over time was observed in all outcome measures. After 1 year, follow-up intent-to-treat analysis did not reveal a difference in outcome based on the original treatment received
Wrap It Up
“Sixty percent of patients with sciatica who had failed other medical management benefited from spinal manipulation to the same degree as if they underwent surgical intervention. Of 40% left unsatisfied, subsequent surgical intervention confers excellent outcome. Patients with symptomatic LDH failing medical management should consider spinal manipulation followed by surgery if warranted.”
Who does this not make perfect sense to? Well….besides my patient’s daughter that is? Oh, and just about any medical physician you can find. I just don’t know how they haven’t latched onto this research yet. Honestly.
Before we get to the next paper, I want to tell you a little about this new tool on the market called Drop Release. If you’re into IASTM also known as instrument assisted soft tissue manipulation, then it’s your new best friend. Heck if you’re just into getting more range of motion in your patients, then it’s your new best friend.
Drop Release is a revolutionary tool that harnesses the body’s built-in protective systems to make muscles relax quickly and effectively. This greatly reduces time needed for soft tissue treatment, leaving more time for other treatments per visit, or more patients per day.
It’s inventor, Dr. Chris Howson, from the great state state of North Dakota has is a listener and friend. He offered our listeners a great discount on his product. When you order, if you put in the code ‘HOTSTUFF’ all one word….as in hot stuff….coming up!! If you enter HOTSTUFF in the coupon code area, Dr. Howson will give you $50 off of your purchase.
Go check Drop Release at droprelease.com and tell Dr. Howson I sent you.
Item #2
This is a great one here called “Outcomes From Magnetic Resonance Imaging–Confirmed Symptomatic Cervical Disk Herniation Patients Treated With High-Velocity, Low-Amplitude Spinal Manipulative Therapy: A Prospective Cohort Study With 3-Month Follow-Up” by Peterson et. al. published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics in August of 2013(Peterson C 2013).
Why They Did It
The purpose of this study was to investigate outcomes of patients with cervical radiculopathy from cervical disk herniation (CDH) who are treated with spinal manipulative therapy.
How They Did It
50 Adult Swiss patients with neck pain and dermatomal arm pain; sensory, motor, or reflex changes corresponding to the involved nerve root; and at least 1 positive orthopaedic test for cervical radiculopathy were included.
Magnetic resonance imaging–confirmed CDH linked with symptoms was required.
Baseline data included 2 pain numeric rating scales (NRSs), for neck and arm, and the Neck Disability Index (NDI). At 2 weeks, 1 month, and 3 months after initial consultation, patients were contacted by telephone, and the NDI, NRSs, and patient’s global impression of change data were collected
High-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulations were administered by experienced doctors of chiropractic.
Acute vs subacute/chronic patients’ NRSs and NDIs were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test.
What They Found
At 2 weeks, 55.3% were “improved,” 68.9% at 1 month and 85.7% at 3 months.
Statistically significant decreases in neck pain, arm pain, and NDI scores were noted at 1 and 3 months compared with baseline scores
Of the subacute/chronic patients, 76.2% were improved at 3 months.
Wrap It Up
Most patients in this study, including subacute/chronic patients, with symptomatic magnetic resonance imaging–confirmed CDH treated with spinal manipulative therapy, reported significant improvement with no adverse events.
Item #3
This one is from Bergmann, et. al. and published in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics in 1998 called “Manipulative therapy in lower back pain with leg pain and neurological deficit.(Bergmann TF 1998)”
Why They Did It
To discuss a case of sciatica associated with lower back pain that originates in a disc. We discuss the use of manipulative therapy as a conservative approach and compare it with other conservative methods and with surgery.
How They Did It
The patient suffered from lower back and left leg pain that had increased in severity over a 6-day period. There was decreased sensation in the dorsum of the left foot and toes. Computed tomography demonstrated the presence of a small, contained disc herniation.
The patient was initially treated with ice followed by flexion-distraction therapy. This was used over the course of her first three visits. Once she was in less pain, side posture manipulation was added to her care. Nine treatments were required before she was released from care.
Wrap It Up
“We need a nonsurgical, conservative approach to treat lower back pain with sciatica as an alternative to and before beginning the more aggressive, and potentially hazardous, surgical treatment. There is some support for the idea that lumbar disc herniation with neurological deficit and radicular pain does not contraindicate the judicious use of manipulation. there is ample evidence to suggest that a course of conservative care, including spinal manipulation, should be completed before surgical consult is considered.”
Item #4
The last one we’ll cover here is called “Spinal manipulation in the treatment of patients with MRI-confirmed lumbar disc herniation and sacroiliac joint hypomobility: a quasi-experimental study” by Shokri et. al and published in Chiropractic and Manual Therapies in May of 2018(Shokri E 2018).
Why They Did It
To investigate the effect of lumbar and sacroiliac joint (SIJ) manipulation on pain and functional disability in patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) concomitant with SIJ hypomobility.
How They Did It
Twenty patients aged between 20 and 50 years with MRI-confirmed LDH who also had SIJ hypomobility participated in the trial in 2010.
Patients who had sequestrated disc herniation were excluded
All patients received five sessions of spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) for the SIJ and lumbar spine during a 2-week period.
back and leg pain intensity and functional disability level were measured with a numerical rating scale (NRS) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) at baseline, immediately after the 5th session, and 1 month after baseline.
What They Found
A significantly greater mean improvement in back and leg pain was observed in the 5th sessions and 1 month after SMT
Wrap It Up
Five sessions of lumbar and SIJ manipulation can potentially improve pain and functional disability in patients with MRI-confirmed LDH and concomitant SIJ hypomobility.
There are more but I don’t want this episode to be an hour long. If I have a patient with a hot disc, I don’t typically adjust on day one. We focus on getting the patient moving. We sit them on a theraball and have them move their hips in circles, front to back, side to side, figure eights, and whatever other way we can think of. Most have a direction of preference that is in trunk extenstion. If this is right for the patient, we will do extension bias exercises.
We make sure they are keeping their low back nice and stiff, neutral, and strong in every movement they make. We make sure they know what position to sleep in. We stress the importance of not laying down and hoping it goes away. Rather than that, they really need to be walking and doing the exercises. If they have people that just underwent surgery walking the next day, then doesn’t that same concept make sense for discs? Well of course it does. They typically come back the next day with the pain reduced enough to be able to do some light mobilization on the low back. I am careful to not be agressive and to not put an extreme amount of rotation into the spine. We want movement but we also want the spine as straight, strong, and neurtal as possible.
Make sure you have schooled them on this concept. Tell them to make sure they behave like they have a long flourescent light bulb taped to their back and their job is to not break it. If you can remove the triggers that caused the pain, it’ll go a long way toward their recovery.
Alright, that’s it. Y’all be safe. Keep changing the world and our profession from your little corner of the world. Continue taking care of yourselves and taking care of your neighbors. Tough times are upon us but, the sun will shine again. Trust it, believe it, count on it.
Let’s get to the message. Same as it is every week.
I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots.
When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few.
It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient.
And, if the patient treats preventativly after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health!
Key Point:
At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints….
That’s Chiropractic!
Contact
Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes.
Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms.
We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference.
Connect
We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward.
Dr. Jeff Williams – Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger
Bibliography
Bergmann TF, J. B. (1998). “Manipulative therapy in lower back pain with leg pain and neurological deficit.” J Manipulative Physiol Ther 21(4): 288-294.
McMorland G (2010). “Manipulation or microdiskectomy for sciatica? A prospective randomized clinical study.” J Manipulative Physiol Ther 33(8): 576-584.
Peterson C, e. a. (2013). “Outcomes from magnetic resonance imaging — confirmed symptomatic cervical disk protrusion patients treated with high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulative therapy: a prospective cohort study with 3-month follow-up.” J Manipulative Physiol Ther 36(8): 461-467.
Shokri E, K. F., Sinaei E, Ghafarinejad F, (2018). “Spinal manipulation in the treatment of patients with MRI-confirmed lumbar disc herniation and sacroiliac joint hypomobility: a quasi-experimental study.” Chiropr Man Therap 26(16).
CF 132: Giving, Maintenance Care, Dry Needling, and Vitalism Today we’re going to talk about Giving, Maintenance Care, Dry Needling, and Vitalism
But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music
OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are making evidence-based chiropractic fun, profitable, and accessible while we make you and your patients better all the way around.
We’re the fun kind of research. Not the stuffy, high-brow kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers.
I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast.
If you haven’t yet I have a few things you should do.
Like our Facebook page,
Join our private Facebook group and interact, and then
go review our podcast on iTunes and other podcast platforms.
While you’re there, join our weekly email newsletter. No spam, just a reminder when the newest episodes go live. Nothing special so don’t worry about signing up. Just one a week friends. Check your JUNK folder!!
Do it do it do it.
You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #132
Now if you missed last week’s episode , we talked about 5 principles to change clinical practice. There was some great information in that one all based on a recent paper that came out. Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class.
While we’re on the topic of being smart, did you know that you can use our website as a resource? Quick and easy, you can go to chiropracticforward.com, click on Episodes, and use the search function to find whatever you want quickly and easily. With over 100 episodes in the tank and an average of 2-3 papers covered per episode, we have somewhere between 250 and 300 papers that can be quickly referenced along with their talking points.
Just so you know, all of the research we talk about in each episode is cited in the show notes for each episode if you’re looking to dive in a little deeper.
On the personal end of things…..
One foot in front of the other. I’ve been thinking a lot lately. I know this concept but I don’t do it intentionally. Still….I definitely do it. I give away stuff and help others when I like them, their product, or service. I promote them without expecting anything in return. Because I don’t expect anything in return. I do it because of the reasons stated.
Then, what happens is that through giving to others, things come back around and are given to you. That’s the way it works. Again, I don’t give to get something back.To me, that’s just not how it works. You have to give because you have a giving heart. Not a greedy heart just giving to get.
I talk about people that I believe in and things that I use because I like them and I think they’d be useful to you. I talk about other people’s stuff more than I talk about my own stuff. I have some awesome evidence based patient education brochures and posters on our website but I talk more about Forward Thinking Chiropractic Alliance than you hear me talk about my stuff.
If you’re evidence-based, I firmly believe you need to be a part of the FTCA. It’s that simple. We had Kevin Christie with Modern Chiropractic Marketing Podcast on a couple weeks ago. He does it right. That’s why he was on. I believe in Dr. Christie, I like Dr. Christie, and I support him.
ChiroUp, not only do I really like the co-owners personally, but I don’t know what I ever did without the product. Honestly, I have no idea. I was less than before I had ChiroUp in my office.
It’s why you always hear me speak about the diplomate/fellowship through the international academy of neuromusculoskeletal medicine. I’m not sure I’ve ever professionally believed in anything more than the education you get through them.
It’s why I talk often about involvement with the Texas Chiropractic Association. It’s because I hope you’ll see the value in being active and involved in your own associations. Doing so was one of the key gamechangers in my professional life. You can count on that.
Same goes for philanthropy. If you’re not giving back to your local non-profits monthly, you really should consider doing so. It’s easy and it’s fun. We’ve made it a cornerstone of my personal business.
This isn’t a ‘oh look at me and how awesome I am’ thing here. It’s just an honest conversation about something I was thinking the other day. Does any of this come back to benefit me financially? I don’t know. I really don’t have a clue. And honestly, I don’t care. Once again, that’s not why we give. We give because we have a giver’s heart. Not only do I like and believe in the people and the products or the causes, but I also think that our listeners will find value in it. If I’m providing you value, then you know you’ll get the best, most valuable information through this podcast.
So, maybe, even if others aren’t necessarily talking us up or pumping our tires, it still comes back, huh? Either way, there’s nothing better than giving. At least for me. I came across a quote that made some sense recently. Pablo Picasso said that the meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” That’s a giver’s heart. Exactly what I’m talking about. Seems like it worked out for Pablo.
I think about give vs. take and I think of people that are takers. Taking money from patients when they don’t need the treatment. But a doctor scared them into a ton of extra visits because it’s good for stats and the bottom line. That’s a taker.
Being in a position to help but deciding to never do anything to help anyone unless it benefits them personally or financially. That’s a taker.
Just being in the world to see what you can get out of it instead of what you can contribute. That’s a taker. What can you do to make your space better? How can you spread a little love and kindness?
Just some random thoughts today. Hope it meant something to you.
Item #1
Let’s get started with this one called “The Nordic maintenance care program: maintenance care reduces the number of days with pain in acute episodes and increases the length of pain free periods for dysfunctional patients with recurrent and persistent low back pain – a secondary analysis of a pragmatic randomized controlled trial” by andreas Eklund et al(Eklund A 2020) and published in Chirorpactic and Manual Therapies in April 2020. Hot cakes coming up, hot cakes people.
Why They Did It
Eklund has shown in two previous papers the benefit of treating preventatively but thae benefit varied across psychological subgroups.
The aims of this study were to investigate
pain trajectories around treatments,
recurrence of new episodes of LBP, and
length of consecutive pain-free periods and total number of pain-free weeks, for all study participants as well as for each psychological subgroup.
How They Did It
A secondary analysis of data from a randomized controlled trial of patients seeking chiropractic care for recurrent or persistent LBP used 52 weekly estimates of days with low back pain that limited activity.
What They Found
Patients receiving maintenance care had flat pain trajectories around each new treatment period and reported fewer days with pain compared to patients receiving the control intervention.
The entire effect was attributed to the dysfunctional subgroup who reported fewer days with activity limiting pain within each new LBP episode as well as longer total pain-free periods between episodes with a difference of 9.8 weeks compared to the control group.
There were no differences in the time to/risk of a new episode of LBP in either of the subgroups.
Wrap It Up
Data support the use of MC in a stratified care model targeting dysfunctional patients for MC. For a carefully selected group of patients with recurrent and persistent LBP the clinical course becomes more stable and the number of pain-free weeks between episodes increases when receiving MC.
Item #2
Item 2 is called ‘Dry needling for spine related disorders: a scoping review’ by Funk et. al(Funk MF 2020). published in Chiropractic and Manual Therapiesin May of 2020…..bringin’ the heat people! Bringing the heat!
Why They Did It
The depth and breadth of research on dry needling (DN) has not been evaluated specifically for symptomatic spine related disorders (SRD) from myofascial trigger points (TrP), disc, nerve and articular structures not due to serious pathologies. Current literature appears to support dry needling for treatment of trigger points. Goals of this review include identifying research published on dry needling treatment for spine related disorders, sites of treatment and outcomes studied.
How They Did It
A scoping review was conducted following Levac et al.’s five part methodological framework to determine the current state of the literature regarding dry needling for patients with spine related disorders.
That sound fine and freaking dandy but what the hell is a scoping review vs. a systematic review? Well, I did the work for you and here’s what we have. Within the framework of research methods, a well- done scoping review is considered at a higher level than a straightforward review of literature or an integrative review, but not as in depth as a Cochrane or Johanna Briggs model systematic review
Researchers may conduct scoping reviews instead of systematic reviews where the purpose of the review is to identify knowledge gaps, scope a body of literature, clarify concepts or to investigate research conduct. While useful in their own right, scoping reviews may also be helpful precursors to systematic reviews and can be used to confirm the relevance of inclusion criteria and potential questions.
Although conducted for different purposes compared to systematic reviews, scoping reviews still require rigorous and transparent methods in their conduct to ensure that the results are trustworthy.
And now we’ve both learned something so that’s awesome.
Wrap It Up
Back to the paper here; I’m not even going to get into the meat and taters here on this paper because you’ll zone off and might even tune out. I have it cited in the show notes if you really want to find it and dive in. Getting straight to the conclusion, the authors say, “For spine related disorders, dry needling was primarily applied to myofascial structures for pain or TrP diagnoses. Many outcomes were improved regardless of diagnosis or treatment parameters. Most studies applied just one treatment which may not reflect common clinical practice. Further research is warranted to determine optimal treatment duration and frequency. Most studies looked at dry needling as the sole intervention. It is unclear whether dry needling alone or in addition to other treatment procedures would provide superior outcomes.”
We covered a paper on dry needling last year that suggested it had little use. It appears it does indeed have some use. They just don’t know how to best use it yet. If that makes sense.
Item #3
Our last one today is called ‘Vitalism in contemporary chiropractic:a help or a hinderance?” by J. Keith Simpson and Kenneth J. Young(Simpson J 2020) and published in Chiropractic and Manual Therapies June 11, 2020. See the sizzle on that stacks of steaming sizzlers.
Why They Did It
Chiropractic emerged in 1895 and was promoted as a viable health care substitute in direct competition with the medical profession. This was an era when there was a belief that one cause and one cure for all disease would be discovered. The chiropractic version was a theory that most diseases were caused by subluxated (slightly displaced) vertebrae interfering with “nerve vibrations” (a supernatural, vital force) and could be cured by adjusting (repositioning) vertebrae, thereby removing the interference with the body’s inherent capacity to heal. DD Palmer, the originator of chiropractic, established chiropractic based on vitalistic principles. Anecdotally, the authors have observed that many chiropractors who overtly claim to be “vitalists” cannot define the term. Therefore, we sought the origins of vitalism and to examine its effects on chiropractic today.
Discussion
Vitalism arose out of human curiosity around the biggest questions: Where do we come from? What is life? For some, life was derived from an unknown and unknowable vital force. For others, a vital force was a placeholder, a piece of knowledge not yet grasped but attainable. Developments in science have demonstrated there is no longer a need to invoke vitalistic entities as either explanations or hypotheses for biological phenomena. Nevertheless, vitalism remains within chiropractic. In this examination of vitalism within chiropractic we explore the history of vitalism, vitalism within chiropractic and whether a vitalistic ideology is compatible with the legal and ethical requirements for registered health care professionals such as chiropractors.
They say that despite the obstacle of vitalism, chiropractic has made extraordinary inroads into the health care system worldwide. Having emerged from the pre-scientific health care era in the United States of America (USA) in the early twentieth century it now has a global footprint with representation in approximately 100 countries. It is the third largest regulated primary contact health care profession in the western world
Conclusion
Vitalism has had many meanings throughout the centuries of recorded history. Though only vaguely defined by chiropractors, vitalism, as a representation of supernatural force and therefore an untestable hypothesis, sits at the heart of the divisions within chiropractic and acts as an impediment to chiropractic legitimacy, cultural authority and integration into mainstream health care.
Y’all know by now how I feel about it. When you have someone following current research, updating their procedures and thought process as the knowledge base expands, and taking care of their patients and running their businesses in an ethical way with the highest of morals and love, then you’re my kind of person. I respect you and I’m proud of you. Most of our listeners are that kind of practitioner.
If you’re scaring people into a bunch of visits based on stuff research says is no big deal, if you’re convincing people they depend on seeing you consistently, if you’re engaging in vaccine discussions when you’ve read a book or two but never been proper educated to do so, when you’re stats and your profits come before the true needs of the patient, then I don’t respect you and I wonder how you sleep at night with the knowledge of how you are screwing and stealing from patients coming to you for your help weighing heavily on your conscience. They come to you for your help. Not to buy you a big house. Not to be lied to. Not to have false, fake, or outdated ideas shoved up their poop shoot and to be taken advantage of.
Stop it dammit. It’s gross and you give everyone that truly works their asses off a bad name. You’re the reason someone that gets a diplomate or some other significant continueing education ro certification…..you’re the reason they still get laughed at behind their backs. You should be ashamed of what you do to yourselves, your colleagues, and your profession.
I’m really not a bitchy guy. I’m a fun-loving ‘let’s have a beer’ kind of guy. But very few things grind my geears worse than this stuff. Honestly. It’s the wrench in my gears, the salt in my wound if you will. I think about it and I start breaking out in hives and get all rashy. My eyes about roll out of my damn head onto the floor.
I’ll be in a better mood next week. I hope.
Alright, that’s it. Y’all be safe. Continue taking care of yourselves and taking care of your neighbors. Tough times are upon us but, the sun will shine again. Trust it, believe it, count on it.
Let’s get to the message. Same as it is every week.
The Message
I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots.
When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few.
It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient.
And, if the patient treats preventativly after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health!
Key Point:
At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints….
That’s Chiropractic!
Contact
Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes.
Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms.
We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference.
Connect
We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward.
Dr. Jeff Williams – Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger
Bibliography
Eklund A, H. J., Jensen I, Leboeuf-Yde C, (2020). “The Nordic maintenance care program: maintenance care reduces the number of days with pain in acute episodes and increases the length of pain free periods for dysfunctional patients with recurrent and persistent low back pain – a secondary analysis of a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.” Chiropr Man Therap 28(19).
Funk MF, F.-D. A. (2020). “Dry needling for spine related disorders: a scoping review.” Chiropr Man Therap 28(23).
Simpson J, Y. K. (2020). “Vitalism in contemporary chiropractic: a help or a hinderance?” Chiropr Man Therap 28(35).
Today we’re going to talk about some of the things I would tell myself about chiropractic success if I were just starting out. How would I mentor myself at this point in my life? How would I counsel and mentor ANY doctor? I believe old dogs certainly can learn new tricks because 22 years into practice and I’m learning new tricks. Better believe it.
But first, here’s that sweet sweet bumper music
OK, we are back and you have found the Chiropractic Forward Podcast where we are making evidence-based chiropractic fun, profitable, and accessible while we make you and your patients better all the way around.
We’re the fun kind of research. Not the stuffy, high-brow kind of research. We’re research talk over a couple of beers.
I’m Dr. Jeff Williams and I’m your host for the Chiropractic Forward podcast.
If you haven’t yet I have a few things you should do.
Like our facebook page,
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While you’re there, join our weekly email newsletter. No spam, just a reminder when the newest episodes go live. Nothing special so don’t worry about signing up. Just one a week friends. Check your JUNK folder!!
Do it do it do it.
You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #114
Now if you missed last week’s episode, we were joined by Dr. William Lawson of Austin, TX and we talked about a paper he participated in that was concerned with setting treatment guidelines for neck pain. Newer paper and newer information so make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class.
While we’re on the topic of being smart, did you know that you can use our website as a resource? Quick and easy, you can go to chiropracticforward.com, click on Episodes, and use the search function to find whatever you want quickly and easily. With over 100 episodes in the tank and an average of 2-3 papers covered per episode, we have somewhere between 250 and 300 papers that can be quickly referenced along with their talking points.
On the personal end of things…..
Alright, nothing blew up this week. We had some snow last week so that was nice. Kids stayed home from school and I stayed home in the morning but made it to work that afternoon. It was a nice change in the schedule.
I’m actually headed to the Florida Keys on Thursday morning. I’ve never been and that’s exciting! My wife has massages and facials booked and when I put an s on the end of those words, I’m serious. Every day starts with either a massage or a facial and that’s the stuff that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Count me in.
Here at the office, I have 5-6 massage therapists. I pay for my own massages. I don’t take advantage of them. But I try to get at least one per month and more when time allows. I’m a junkie. So it should be a great long weekend there in Florida. Plus it’s not too hot this time of year. I’d probably meltdown there in the Summer.
I got the news last week that the legendary Stu McGill will be joining us on the show in March. That’s some cool news right there. How do you ask someone like Stu questions that he doesn’t normally get that are still thoughtful and insightful?
The short answer is I don’t know but I’m listening to some past interviews and trying to be prepared for the back Jedi. The ninja, if you will.
I’ve been a little lazy about getting guests lately but I really enjoyed having Bill Lawson last week, I’m looking forward to Stu, and I think more guests are in order! I’m sure you get tired of hearing me ramble on so I’m making a resolution here and now more guests!
This week, I’ll be recording a podcast with Dr. Jerry Kennedy of Rocket Chiro, previously called BlackSheepDC. He has been kind enough to invite me to speak with him on his podcast about marketing and promoting chiropractic through research. Using research to communicate what we do and why and what to expect in the results according to research. I’m looking forward to that so be looking for it. I’ve only been a guest once before on a podcast called Health Nuts but it was fun. This one should be too. Dr. Kennedy and I line up very well in how we see things.
Before we dive into the reason we’re here, it’s good to support the people that support evidence-informed practitioners. Well, ChiroUp certainly does just that.
If you don’t take advantage of the deal I’m about to offer you, I think you just might be crazy.
Regular listeners know I’ve used ChiroUp for well over a year now. I’m going to tell you whant it is and then share a way to do a FREE TRIAL and, if you sign up, only pay $99/month for the first six months. So listen up!
ChiroUp is changing the way we practice by simplifying patient education and here’s what I mean:
In a matter of seconds, you can send condition-specific reports to your patients with recommendations for treatment, activities of daily living, & for their exercises.
This saves you so much time – no more explaining & re-explaining your patient’s care because they have access to it right there at their fingertips.
You can be confident that your patients are getting the best possible care because the reports and exercises are populated based on what the literature recommends and isn’t that reassuring? All of that work has been done FOR you by people that are deep into the research.
There are more than 1000 providers worldwide using ChiroUp to empower their treatments, patients, & practice.
If you don’t know what it’s all about or you’d like to check it out, do yourself a favor and go to Chiroup.com today to get started with your FREE TRIAL and, to sweeten the deal, you can use code Williams99 to pay only $99/month for your first 6 months
That’s ChiroUp.com and super saver code is Williams99.
Ten Keys To Chiropractic Success
For today, I want to cover something outside if our norm here. This is more of a mentor post if I may be so bold. If you’re new to the podcast listenership, we typically cover some personal points over the previous week and then jump right into covering 2-4 research papers having to do with the activities we are involved in every day in our offices.
I happened to see a post by Dr. Kevin Christie with The Modern Chiropractic Marketing Facebook group last week. He asked the group, “What is your one piece of advice to the younger Docs that you wish you knew or followed in the earlier years of practice?”
This one post of Kevin’s demanded over 90 comments the last I checked. Some of the recommendations were goofy of course. It’s a fun group. You expect so of that. Some serious, some were fairly irrelevant and off-target.
It got me to thinking; if I have done this for over 22 years and I been successful at it, are there any words of wisdom I could share that you would find valuable? I hope I’ve not been sampling my own brew too much but, I have to say I think I can pass on some nuggets to you.
First thing is, you can learn something from ANYONE. Even if it’s learning what NOT to do. Lol. Sometimes you can learn both of those from the same person and I think I certainly fit that bill. I’ve made mistakes, people. Mistakes that are hard to admit.
Next, I don’t own multiple clinics. I haven’t franchised. Hell, I don’t even have an associate; even though I should have had one year ago. So, let’s keep it in context and let’s be honest about it. I hate people that inflate their numbers. It’s obnoxious and gross. If I’m anything, I’m honest. Sometimes to a fault. My wife calls me a damn boy scout. She means it to tease but I’m kind of OK with that. I am not comfortable with lying and have alway liked ethics and high morals so in that spirit, here we go.
This is purely meant to demonstrate why I probably have some good stuff to share. Although January and February always bring a bit of a slowdown, on average I see about 18-23 new patients per week. Over the course of 2019, I averaged 73.4 new patients per month and 726 visits per month. My PVA was about 9.8 visits. And then you have to understand that I have massage and acupuncture thrown in on top of that stuff.
We’re doing alright. It’s a BIG overhead and super busy office. I’m one of those guys. Not necessarily on purpose either. It’s by necessity. I know some docs that can see 6 patients in a day, command and outstanding fee, and do just as well. All I can say to that is…..freaking teach me. Please. Lol. I’m busy as hell at almost all points during the day and it can be exhausting. But that’ll be covered a little more later.
Now, standing where I now stand, what would I tell new docs? What advice would I pass down to myself if I were just starting out in business? Here we go, let’s work through it:
#1 – Value Yourself & Value What You Do
What is the #1 reason you are a chiropractor? Maybe it’s to help people. A very noble reason and I would guess the reason most of us got into the business. But let’s not make any mistakes, it’s called a business for a reason. You didn’t getting into the business to help people and starve. If you did, you’re a knucklehead. Straight up.
Now, I have issues with money. I didn’t come from a lot of money so I guess on some level, I’ve always felt guilty about making it or prospering in a big way. I’ve traditionally had a hard time giving recommendations for treatment. Even when I know for a damn fact that they are going to help address long-standing pain. I’m telling you, it’s a mental game.
Because I struggled with money early in the game, I automatically allow my experiences to paint my handling of others when it comes to money or finances.
Not as much 22 years into the game but I still struggle to an extent if I’m being honest. But I came to really begin to value my service, my office, my employees, my family, and I began to value my patients. This was a profound turnaround for me that happened when I started really immersing myself in the available research.
How in the hell can you sell something you’re not sure the value of to start with? Look, it’s different now but, when I came out of Parker in ’98, it was a philosophy mill and I never fit that mold. From day #1. I was not a chiropractic philosophy guy. I didn’t fit anywhere and felt I had probably made a big mistake.
It wasn’t until I started to seek out and find chiropractors like me and started paying attention to all of the high-level research that I started to see firm value in what I did and how I could help others. THAT’s when things started to click for me.
OK, I finally see a clear path that makes sense, I start walking that path and I’m rocking and rolling. In fact, I start killing it. Conviction in your words really does matter it turns out. Now, what’s the most important thing?
#2 – Take Care Of Business
Remember I said it’s a business so that means you must take care of business. I saw the value and started killing it but I wasn’t trained in matters of the office. I did a lot of PI in the early days. A LOT of PI. If you’ve done it before then you know that you have to settle with the attorneys all the damn time. Frustrating, yes….indeed. But part of the game.
Anyway, because of settling all of the time, Accounts Receivable was not necessarily an accurate stat. I kept an insane amount of stats but I was missing ONE KEY stat. It was the one that tells you your profit per appointment. Man oh, man. Missing that one stat taught me a very very expensive lesson several years ago.
You’ve probably heard me say in previous episodes that I lost almost a million dollars over the course of about 3 years. This happened for several reasons. It makes a guy feel like an idiot to admit it but, it happened. It’s part of my life. I had an employee that I trusted, that I trained, and then trained, and then got trained more, and then provided resources for so she could ask any questions. I even got the training to come here to my office and work with her.
I want to be clear, nobody was stealing. She just wasn’t disputing denials, re-billing, some of the billing just wasn’t done at all but she never said a word, even though I’d made it clear to tell me if she needed help or had questions, etc. Well…..she didn’t so I was dumb enough to think it was all taking care of itself. Once the timely filing deadlines have passed, that’s it. Done deal. That money is bye by.
Hell, my stats showed me that I was seeing a ton of folks and getting a ton of folks better. I was killing it! So I thought. You could fall prey to the same mistake. That’s why I’m sharing my sheer stupidity with you. I’m not a proud man.
I knew things weren’t jiving so I brought in an internal auditor to sort the mess and oh hell what a mess it was. I had no idea. One month, for example, I lost $40.00 per visit and another month I lost $21.00 per visit. LOST.
So, my fault was in buying into my employees and rooting too hard for them. Getting personally invested in their success and fighting for them. That’s just who I am and that’s how it came about. I’m still that person today. I’m just a hell of a lot smarter about what I will and will not tolerate. That’s the difference now.
I’m not a smart man but I know when my bank account is getting closer and closer to zero. Lol.
At the end of the day, when I say take care of business, I mean that your business ultimately depends on the billing and collections. If you’re not billing or collecting, you’re not in business. Period. Either make damn sure your billing/collections person is a rockstar or outsource it to a professional and experienced company.
Without question. Just do it and don’t second guess it. And never pay an outsourced business a flat fee. They should be on a percentage of collections. That way they have the motivation to get your AR to zero.
You can use the profit per visit stat to help you determine where you are as far as collections. It’s the one stat out of all of them that could have saved me at least half a million dollars. That’s important enough to cover it real quick.
You find your Profit Per Visit (PPV) by subtracting your Cost Per Visit (CosPV) from your Collected Per Visit (ColPV.
ColPV – CosPV = PPV
I’m going to tell you how to find those right quick so get out your pens and pencils ladies and gentlemen.
Let’s start with the Collected Per Visit number. Find that by dividing your Total Collection Amount (TCA) by your Total Number of Visits (TNV).
TCA / TNV = ColPV
So let’s say we’re doing last January for example. I want my collected per visit number so I’m going to look and divide my total collections in January by the number of visits I saw in January. Bam, there you go. One number down.
Now we need to find our Cost Per Visit number. For that one, we just divide our Overhead (OH) in January by our Total Number of Visits. You should see how it all revolves around your Total Number of Visits right? Because it does.
OH / TNV = CosPV
Anyway, it’s simple, you just have to be told how to do it. Now, subtract Cost Per Visit from Collected Per Visit and you will have your Profit Per Visit number. That number tells you whether you’re knocking it out of the park or sucking the dirt of all of those others that really are knocking it out of the park.
I’d say if you’re Profit Per Visit is around $40-$60, you’re where you want to be. Some are more and some are less but that will all come down to where you are as far as your overhead. KEEP AN EYE ON IT.
These equations are illustrated a little clearer for you in the show notes at chiropracticforward.com so go there and check it out.
#3 – Chiropractic Statistics
The easiest way you can say it is like this; how can you know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been? Honestly, it wasn’t until I joined a practice consulting group that I learned the value of keeping stats. Unfortunately, that group didn’t keep the profit per visit stat. Ugh. Anyway, moving on…..
It’s vital to be able to compare your current situation from past performance. Have you ever had a month where you were in the dumps because you thought your practice was slower than normal? And maybe you were ready to just go ahead and jump off the cliff or drive your car into a tree? Or something equally self-harming?
Well, I have too. But, because I keep stats so thoroughly, I’m able to pull them up and compare now to last year at this time. Not only that but I can compare to the 10 years prior to that and see the growth and then I don’t panic and I don’t feel like all hope is gone. It’s really nice to know where I’ve been. Plus, it can help you plan where you want to go and set realistic, reachable goals.
Outside of valuing my services, keeping stats has probably been the most important change I’ve made over the years. It’s that big of a deal.
#4 – Chiropractic Marketing
If you’ve listened to my podcast any time at all, then you know what I think of marketing. And it can be summed up in these words, “You must be a marketer of what you do. Not just a do-er of what you do.
The names you most associate with a particular industry aren’t usually the best. They were just better at telling people how good they are. Put it this way, do you really think McDonald’s makes the best hamburger? Hell no they don’t. Yet, there they are. Around the world, absolutely killing the burger industry.
Also, a Dan Kennedy classic you’ve heard from me before. It’s YCDBSOYA which stands for You can’t do business sitting on your ass. You better be someone that becomes a mover and a shaker because the success will not belong fo the meek and the mild in this story. It will belong to the ones that aren’t afraid to tell people what they do in an honest and ethical way.
If you’d like some great thoughts and ideas on marketing an evidence-based practice, check out the two-part series we did on it. They were episodes 98 and 99 and are linked in the show notes. They were called Big Ideas On Marketing Evidence-Based Practices and published on October 31st of 2019 and part two was published on November 8 of 2019 so go find them and get to work.
Here’s the honest truth, I suck at this one. I like toys and I like having extra hands to help. Here’s the deal, when you have an office of employees, none of them…..NONE OF THEM cares about your business as much as you do. Even my most valued employee doesn’t value it as I do and she’s amazing.
They find reasons to be gone. They wake up with a cough, their belly hurts, blah blah blah. I’ve heard them all. And on a side note, I do it as schools do it. If you have a fever, keep your butt at home. If you do not have a fever, get your butt in gear. If you miss work, you better have a doctor’s note. Plain and simple. Remember it’s a business and you have to take care of business.
Anyway, I am usually one person over-staffed because I got tired of being short-handed all the damn time. I saw someone on Dr. Christie’s post say that people need to remember that overhead walks on two legs. Meaning, employees are the biggest aspect of your overhead. And it can get out of hand fast. I used to think a $42,000 per month overhead was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard of. A colleague of mine told me that was his overhead and I was about half of that at the time. Now, I’m around $5k-$10,000 beyond that on average every month.
It sneaks up on you so keep an eye on it. Protect it. When a salesperson calls me, I tell them straight up, “I’m not just out looking for more reasons to raise my overhead so if it doesn’t blow my shorts off, it’s a no from me.” Pretty simple.
#6 – Background Checks
Speaking of employees, I about pulled a dummy a year or two ago. I hired a girl with front office healthcare experience. Hell, she worked at a cardiologist’s office for quite a while! I was so excited. I hired her and she was just killing it at the front desk. I mean killing it when we’d been through several that were just awful. i was so excited. Then, one of my other employees told me she’s pretty sure this new girl has a mugshot out there somewhere so she went looking.
Dammit if she didn’t find a damn mugshot. So, I called up one of my besties who happens to be a copper copper crime stopper and guess what? This girl working my front desk for the last two or three weeks….turns out she was just in jail for stealing from a cardiologist’s office. At about the same time, a friend of mine that works at that cardiologist’s office called me to see if I’d hired their ex-employee….Lol. I felt like an idiot but, we caught it in time and we went ahead and let her go before she could do any damage.
But the lesson was learned. Do background checks. They may be so good and capable and smart so that they can figure out how to manipulate your system to steal from you. Just a thought.
#7 Never Stop Learning
We never know it all, folks. If we ever get to a point that we can stop learning, then we should be traveling the world lecturing and teaching other doctors to be clinical ninjas.
I’m not there and I’m betting only about .05% of chiropractors are there. Always learn. I just finished the ortho diplomate and now I’m on to Stu McGill, Donald Murphy, and the latest research that is continually coming out.
I can’t remember where I heard this quote but, “be a learn it all, not a know it all.” This also means to always be taking advice. Be quick to take advice! Seek it out. I remember when I was growing up and my Dad saying, “Son, just remember, no matter how big and bad and strong you get, there’s always someone out there that can beat your ass to a pulp.” This is true. Lol.
But what else is true is that no matter how smart any of us think we are, there is always someone smarter and more capable. The best part about that is that we can learn from them! Without them beating our asses to a pulp, by the way. Lol
Dr. Greg Kawchuk says we should consume at least one science per day. Meaning, find the papers and consume them. If you have the time to go beyond the abstract, please do. But consume at least one science per day. It’s good for your brain, your soul, your profession, and your patients.
I just told my wife the other night….I’m going through Stu McGill’s ‘Back Mechanic’ book right now. I told her it’s amazing that I’ve been through Murphy’s CRISP protocol book and I’ve been the through the ortho diplomate program and it’s amazing and so cool that even in the first 30 pages of Dr. McGill’s book, I’m learning even more stuff to stick in the toolbox.
It’s exhilarating. Keep the foot on the gas pedal folks. Never stop soaking up material at the quickest pace possible.
#8 – Chiropractic Mentorship
I waited for 11 years or so. I tried to do it on my own. Hell, I didn’t have the money to get a mentor in the first place anyway. But, if I were advising my new doc self, I’d say get a mentor…..as in yesterday.
I can tell you that I don’t see the value in long-term contracts with them though. There is really only so much you can learn from a mentor so why would we pay thousands more when we exhaust the learning potential. Our chiropractic success is not typically going to lie in the hands of one person and, even if it does, you’ll learn what you need from them in a year or two. Anything beyond that is probably a waste.
At some point, you cease being the student and the group starts learning from you. This is the point that you should graduate into being a member at no charge because you are contributing as much or more than you are extracting. If that makes sense.
I have had about 2 and a half mentors. One was outstanding and I damn sure paid a high price financially for it. The other was very philosophy minded and we just didn’t jive. I didn’t know how philosophy minded in the beginning but I got out once I figured it out.
That doesn’t mean I didn’t learn from him though. I got a great hiring process out of that group. I got some great marketing techniques that I could tailor to my own evidence-based means.
I always treated mentors or practice management groups like buffets. I took what looked good to me and worked for me and I left what I didn’t like and what didn’t fit me.
I think buying into one person or one system and diving in 100% usually isn’t the best way to do things. Hell, I’m a Christian and I think that way about preachers too. People rallying around one personality and devoting everything and all energy to it……yeah….not my style.
Just treat them like a buffet and you’ll be fine. I like the idea of a mentor or practice management group that lines up with your way of practicing and I like them mostly because they can keep you focused and keep you accountable for your stats and your practice goals.
I’m in a great spot in practice and I’ve still considered jumping into a new one just to see if I can get some new, fresh ideas. You should too. Just don’t make an egomaniac more and more rick while they are actively in the process of propagating garbage and ruining our chances of getting this profession where it belongs. Please.
Good ways to get started for an evidence-based chiropractor would be joining the Chiropractic Success Academy, joining the Chiropractic Forward Facebook group, joining the Forward Thinking Chiropractic Alliance Facebook page, and joining the Evidence-Based Chiropractor Facebook page.
Look, I get that this next one isn’t a popular topic but hear me out before you tune me out.
#9 – Join Your Associations
What you get out of your involvement is directly equal to what you put into it. By sitting on the Board of Directors for the Texas Chiropractic Association, I made more connections and friends than I could ever count for you or explain to you. It was a dramatic turning point for me personally and professionally.
These doctors I was on the Board with became life-long friends to me. They’ve helped me solve countless problems over the years when I needed them the most. When I had the billing debacle I mentioned earlier, guess who gave me the way out? A Board member that I called asking for suggestions on billing/collections companies.
If I’m thinking about ideas for my business, for expanding, for integrating or making any sort of changes, who do you think I ask?I have a network of about 15-20 high level, successful doctors here in Texas and we help each other. We pass advice and information back and forth.
It was never that way before I became a TCA member and got active. I was by myself making it up by myself with poor information to go on.
My involvement in the TCA got me into getting a Diplomate. Connections through the TCA is what setting me up for the next 5 years.
Yes, your association needs you and your talents but more importantly, YOU need your state association. In ways you don’t realize or ever thought of. I thought it would be a time suck and a money suck. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Something on this point that I can promise is that if you just join and continue to sit in your office and do nothing, you’ll be helping your association but you’ll get little out of it. At least in regard to what I just described.
BUT, if you hop in and volunteer, you’ll be exposed to a whole slew of other chiros that will eventually become your comrades in the battle. Your connections will be deep. It’ll happen. Trust me. And you’ll appreciate it.
Besides all of the things I just mentioned, our state and national associations NEED to have more and more evidence-based practitioners helping steer and advise this profession as we proceed into the next 10, 20, 30 years and beyond.
Just do it. It’s worth it.
#10 Don’t Forget About YOU
It’s easy to get caught up in practice. It’s easy to feel like your practice owns you rather than you owning your practice. Hell, I feel that way right now. It happens to everyone. But what I’m trying to do these days is to learn to set aside more time for me and my family.
Burnout is very real and it doesn’t do you, your family, your employees, or your patients any favors at all. I’ve been burned out at various times so many times. It’s miserable. And it can get to the point that even a long weekend doesn’t make any damn difference. Because all the stuff piles up and you have to wade through it when you get back. It sucks.
To battle back, I try to have a trip planned at least once per quarter. That way, there is always something to look forward to and plan for. Something on the horizon.
Now, there is a big difference between taking some time for yourself and being a lazy ass bum. Nobody likes a lazy ass. Everyone respects a worker and a giver so don’t take this one to the extreme. It just means to fit yourself in some time too. That’s all.
Remember that nobody will be on the death bed and will be thinking, “You know, I really wish I had spent more time at work.” It’s the truth.
Some trips are big and you can write off as your yearly shareholder’s meeting. Some are just 5-6 hour drives to Dallas or up into Colorado Springs or the New Mexico mountains. The point is, get out of your office. See no patients.
See your family. That’s the point.
Certainly, there are more things an old wolf like me can share. There are a lot of things I have yet to learn but I’m seeking. I’m searching it out and soaking it all up. Every single damn day.
If you have anything to add to the conversation, hop into the private group called the Chiropractic Forward Facebook group and share with the group. We’d love to hear from you. What would you tell a new doc going into practice?
I asked this question in the Chiropractic Forward group and asked the docs to share some of their recommendations:
Dr. Kenneth Chillson over in Cologne Germany says, “The number one cause of failure is the fear of failure. So, stop focusing on fear and start focusing on what you think needs to be done right now. Believe in yourself, because you are the only one that will.
Dr. Craig Benton in Lampasas, TX says, “Have no fear we can help a ton of people that don’t even know it yet. Get your message out there.” I would add….but be responsible about what you’re putting out there as you message. Remember to be the doctor that you are and what you say and do reflects on the rest of us. Don’t make me or any of the rest of us look bad. We don’t deserve it. Be cool.
Dr. Don White down in Ft. Worth says, “Never be afraid to say no to a “Good deal” for a contract as an associate if it isn’t a good deal. Better yet ask for more when you get the first offer. Have other people that know more than you do look at any and all contracts before you agree and sign anything. (Contracts for employment, a buildout, a lease, management group, etc)” He also said having a business plan is key for him.
That’s it. That’s my top 10. I hope you enjoyed the show this week as much as I enjoyed the brain dump you go through when you start pulling out all of the old files in your noggin and searching through them.
I hope you found value in it and found some things you can use to help you better, make your family better, make your practice better, and make your patients better.
The best news is that there’s never been a better time to be a chiropractor in the last 30 years. You’re where you are for a reason and chiropractic success is more a certainty than it was 5-10 years ago. Just go out, grab it, knock it out, and take it back home! Lol.
I want you to know with absolute certainty that when Chiropractic is at its best, you can’t beat the risk vs reward ratio because spinal pain is primarily a movement-related pain and typically responds better to movement-related treatment rather than chemical treatments like pills and shots.
When compared to the traditional medical model, research and clinical experience show us patients can get good to excellent results for headaches, neck pain, back pain, and joint pain to name just a few.
It’s safe and cost-effective can decrease surgeries & disability and we do it through conservative, non-surgical means with minimal hassle to the patient.
And, if the patient treats preventatively after initial recovery, we can usually keep it that way while raising the overall level of health!
Key Point:
At the end of the day, patients should have the guarantee of having the best treatment that offers the least harm. When it comes to non-complicated musculoskeletal complaints….
That’s Chiropractic!
Contact
Send us an email at dr dot williams at chiropracticforward.com and let us know what you think of our show and tell us your suggestions for future episodes.
Feedback and constructive criticism is a blessing and so are subscribes and excellent reviews on podcast platforms.
We know how this works by now. If you value something, you have to share it, interact with it, review it, talk about it from time to time, and actively hit a few buttons to support it here and there when asked. It really does make a big difference.
Connect
We can’t wait to connect with you again next week. From the Chiropractic Forward Podcast flight deck, this is Dr. Jeff Williams saying upward, onward, and forward.
Dr. Jeff Williams – Chiropractor in Amarillo, TX, Chiropractic Advocate, Author, Entrepreneur, Educator, Businessman, Marketer, and Healthcare Blogger & Vlogger
