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.  I’m so glad you’re spending your time with us learning together.   Chiropractors – I’m hiring at my personal clinic. I need talent, ambition, drive, smart, and easy to get along with associates. If this is you and Amarillo, TX is your speed, send me an email at creekstonecare@gmail.com   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 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 com

  You have found yourself smack dab in the middle of Episode #263   Now if you missed last week’s episode, we talked about physical and psychological factors in low back pain and we talked about the prevalence of long-term low back pain after symptomatic lumbar disc herniation. Make sure you don’t miss that info. Keep up with the class.  

On the personal end of things…..

Let’s talk about employees and my situation shall we? After I get through this short story, if you thought you were in a crappy spot, you may change your mind and feel blessed while feeling sorry for your Ol’ Uncle Jeffro here in Amarillo, TX.   So, many of you know, this has been a challenging time for me. We started slowing down here in the clinic in September and not intentionally, by the way. Then lost my mother in law at the end of September. Then got a subpoena to testify in a court case that a family member is involved in. That added to our general level of stress for sure. Then started having some staffing issues.  

My office manager decided to leave to open her own day care. About the same time, my second most important office member got a job offer to run a urgent care type facility. All the while, my numbers have been down from about 185 appointments per week down to about 135 or so per week. 50 less per week means 200 fewer per month. It’s a hit man. Especially when you carry that through for an entire quarter; September through December.  

Especially when you consider I’m also funding starting a nurse practitioner from scratch.   Then during this time we opened our second short term rental Airbnb house and fully furnished that sucker and worked on it day in and day out. Throw Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s in on all that and you’re starting to get the picture of what it’s been like around here.  

So, we got one replacement hired and so far, she’s out-freaking-standing! The second replacement, after we hired her a little over 2 weeks ago, decided she just wouldn’t show up for her first day of work today. So, back to the drawing board while the girl that would be training her…..well her last day is in 4 days so, yeah.   Oh, and I almost forgot, one of my best staff members on my spa side of the business has been having marital problems and had to take a 2-week vacation to work that out.  

Then I have two others that I had to give hefty raises to in order to keep them. It’s been a time folks, a real real time.   I do not understand employees right now. Especially the ones that get hired and don’t show up for work on Day 1. That’s TWICE in the last month that we hired someone that did not show up for their first day. What is wrong with people right now?   I hope you’re having more luck with employees right now than I am.   Here’s the thing though, screw it! We’re still getting up and showing up for our staff, for each other, and for our patients. Pain doesn’t disappear because we’re having problems in our personal and/or professional lives. Surgeons are still doing unnecessary surgery that we can prevent regardless of our problems.  

If I have to go down to one employee for a while, we’ll figure it out. My wife will answer the phones and set appointments and I’ll bust my tail in the back office until we find another game-changing team that’s ready to make a difference for our patients. The mission is stead and unchanged. We will provide world class care to the population of my area. Period.   I promise, I’m not going to gripe on every episode because you won’t stick around but part of my point in sharing with you is:

1. To let you know that if you’re having issues, you’re not alone. A lot of business owners are having staffing issues.
2. If I’m going through it and find the way out, you can copy that. Or at least copy my attitude and stay strong through the valleys so you can enjoy the peaks when they come back around.

Item #1

The first on today is called, “The role of spinal surgery in the treatment of low back pain”by Lachlan Evans and published in Medical Journal of Australia on 12 December 2022. Dayum. That’s hot.

Why They Did It   Low back pain (LBP) is common, increasingly prevalent and the leading cause of lost productivity worldwide. Most LBP is generated by non‐specific degenerative changes affecting the bone and soft tissue of the spine, with congenital and acquired deformity, infection, malignancy and trauma comprising a much smaller cohort.  

How They Did It  

• This narrative review focused on studies of any design involving adult patients (aged ≥ 18 years) with axial pain affecting the region of the lumbar spine. We acknowledge the myriad aetiologies of axial LBP and the corollary that treatment strategies must address the underlying cause and, as such, are similarly diverse.

• Studies on neurogenic claudication or radiculopathy treated with surgery were excluded as were those evaluating patients with significant structural abnormalities such as spondylolisthesis and fractures.

• Studies reporting spinal cord stimulation, radiofrequency ablation or percutaneous administration of epidural analgesia were also considered beyond the scope of our discussion.

• They performed an electronic search of the MEDLINE database for articles published from 1 January 1991 to 31 December 2021, without restriction of language. Theyemployed the following search strategy: “lower back pain OR lumbar back pain” AND “surg* OR operati*”. Articles were not excluded based on study design. The study quality was assessed according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria.

What They Found  

• Acute LBP is frequently self‐resolving, but recurrence is common, and a significant proportion of patients will develop chronic pain. This transition is perpetuated by anatomical, biological, psychological and social factors.

• Chronic LBP should be managed with a holistic biopsychosocial approach of generally non‐surgical measures.

• Spinal surgery has a role in alleviating radicular pain and disability resulting from neural compression, or where back pain relates to cancer, infection, or gross instability.

• Spinal surgery for all other forms of back pain is unsupported by clinical data, and the broader evidence base for spinal surgery in the management of LBP is poor and suggests it is ineffective. Emerging areas of interest include selection of a minority of patients who may benefit from surgery based on spinal sagittal alignment and/or nuclear medicine scans, but an evidence base is absent.

      Wrap It Up

• The increasing burden of LBP presents a significant challenge to health care systems throughout the world. Its management should be overseen by primary care physicians and centred upon a holistic biopsychosocial approach of generally non‐surgical interventions.
• Even though spinal surgery does have a role in alleviating symptoms of radiculopathy or neurogenic claudication, or in circumstances where back pain is related to cancer, infection or gross instability, its role in the management of degenerative LBP is not supported by the studies currently available.

Before getting to the next one,   Next thing, go to https://www.tecnobody.com/en/products That’s Tecnobody as in T-E-C-nobody. They literally have the most impressive clinical equipment I’ve ever seen. I own the ISO Free and am looking to add more to my office this year or next. The equipment you’re going to find over there can be marketed in your community like crazy because you’ll be the only one with something that damn cool in your office.   When you decide you can’t live without those products, send me an email and I’ll give you the hookup. They will 100% differentiate your clinic from your competitors.    

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   Our last one this week is called, “White rice and pasta are just as bad for your heart as candy” by Caitlin Tilley and published in Dailymail on October 3rd, 2022. Hot potato!    

Why They Did It  

They examined the risk of heart disease among people whose diets were high in refined grains compared to whole grains.    

How They Did It  

• The study looked at 1,168 healthy patients and compared them to 1,369 patients with coronary artery disease.

• Participants answered a food frequency questionnaire to determine how often they ate whole and refined grains.

What They Found  

• They found those who ate refined grains – processed to give them a finer texture and longer shelf life – were more likely to develop coronary artery disease in middle-age.
• They found that a diet that includes consuming high amount of unhealthy and refined grains can be considered similar to consuming a diet containing a lot of unhealthy sugars and oils

Wrap It Up  

As more studies demonstrate an increase in refined grains consumption globally, as well as the impact on overall health, it is important that we find ways to encourage and educate people on the benefits of whole grain consumption.     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.   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.  

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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

Lachlan Evans, T. O. D., Andrew Morokoff and Katharine Drummond, (2022). “The role of spinal surgery in the treatment of low back pain.” Med J Aust II.  

Tilley C (2022). “White rice and pasta are just as bad for your heart as CANDY, study suggests.” DailyMail.