Frank M. Painter

Perceived Benefit of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for Back Pain

By Frank M. Painter|May 31, 2010|News, Research|

Perceived Benefit of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for Back Pain

SOURCE: J Am Board of Family Medicine 2010 (May); 23 (3): 354-362

Kanodia AK, Legedza AT, Davis RB, Eisenberg DM, Phillips RS.

Division for Research and Education in Complementary and Integrative Medical Therapies, Harvard Medical School Osher Research Center, Boston

A new article, published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine [1] reports on interviews with 31,044 individuals who used CAM for low back pain. The results are quite fascinating:

The top 6 CAM therapies for LBP, starting with the most-used approaches are: chiropractic, massage, herbal therapy, acupuncture, yoga/tai chi/qi gong, and relaxation techniques.

Chiropractic use (76% of respondents) was larger than all the other 5 therapies combined (see Figure 1)

Chiropractic users scored their satisfaction (and clinical benefits) the highest of all 6 approaches (see Table 2).This reconfirms earlier findings from the Archives of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation 2005, which reported that:SMT provided the greatest pain relief [7.33], scoring higher than:nerve blocks (6.75),
Opioid analgesics (6.37),
muscle relaxants (5.78),
Acupuncture (5.29), or
NSAIDs (5.22) . [2]

(more…)

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House Passes Bill to Expand Chiropractic Care to All Major VA Medical Centers

By Frank M. Painter|May 27, 2010|News|

SOURCE: American Chiropractic Association ~ May 24, 2010

The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1017, the ‘‘Chiropractic Care Available to All Veterans Act,’’ tonight, putting America’s veterans one step closer to gaining access to chiropractic care at all major Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers. The bill was approved 365:6.

H.R. 1017 requires the VA to have doctors of chiropractic on staff at no fewer than 75 major VA medical centers before the end of 2011 and for all major VA medical centers to have a doctor of chiropractic on staff before the end of 2013. There are nearly 160 VA treatment facilities nationwide. Currently, the VA provides chiropractic care at 32 treatment facilities across the country. (more…)

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Chiropractic IS “Alternative Medicine” (An alternative to medicine)

By Frank M. Painter|May 22, 2010|Editorial|

Chiropractors had always been considered a “fringe” provider (or worse) by conventional medicine.

David M. Eisenberg’s article, Unconventional Medicine in the United States: Prevalence, Costs, and Patterns of Use, published in the January 28, 1993 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine generated a rapid shift in that opinion. This article was a rude awakening, and a genuine “eye–opener” for organized medicine, since it described an amazing shift in public opinion.

During this same period, while Managed Care DRASTICALLY reduced medical incomes, Dr. Eisenberg revealed that “in 1990 Americans made an estimated 425 million visits to providers of unconventional therapy. That number far exceeds the number of visits to all U.S. primary care physicians (only 388 million)”. And Chiropractic Care was one of the most–utilized of these “unconventional” treatments. (more…)

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5 Things You’re Not Supposed To Know About Chiropractors

By Frank M. Painter|May 20, 2010|News|

5 Things You’re Not Supposed To Know About Chiropractors

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: PH&W Magazine ~ December 2008

By Dennis Bertoli

PH&W HEALTH: Top Secret

There are a few things that you may not know about D.C.’s, which surprised us, included the mounting research.

1. Their education is equal to their medical colleagues …
and might be better in some areas. [1]This might be difficult to accept, but chiropractic students spend markedly more hours in the classroom than medical students, especially in the areas of anatomy, physiology, orthopedics, and x-ray. [2] Of course, their training is different since “Chiros” concentrate on muscles, bones, joints, and nerves. Their education only touches on medication, emergency situations, etc. Many are beginning to think this gives them a better background in physical rehab. (more…)

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How Will Research Determine the Future Role of Chiropractic?

By Frank M. Painter|May 19, 2010|Editorial, Health Care Reform|

How Will Research Determine the Future Role of Chiropractic?

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: Clinical Chiropractic 2010 (Mar); 13 (1): 44–45

By Scott Haldeman DC, MD, PhD, FRCP(C)

Department of Neurology,
University of California, Irvine, United States and the
Department of Epidemiology,
School of Public Health,
University of California,
Los Angeles, United States

The past 20 years has seen a marked increase in the amount of research into the epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of disorders associated with the spine, especially back and neck pain. The therapeutic benefit of spinal manipulation for back and neck pain is no longer seriously questioned and there are growing research efforts to look into the impact of this treatment approach on other conditions, especially certain types of headache. At the same time, we are in a serious healthcare debate that is, amongst other issues, focusing more attention on cost containment and preventative heath care.

The research support for spinal manipulation has resulted in the situation where chiropractors are generally accepted as valuable members of the healthcare team. The acceptance of chiropractic has resulted in a debate within the profession concerning the future role it wishes to play within this team. There are three roles that chiropractors could potentially fulfill in the future and each requires consideration. (more…)

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Which Plants Do You Choose To Water?

By Frank M. Painter|May 18, 2010|Philosophy|

Which Plants Do You Choose To Water?

The Chiro.Org Blog

Here’s a Deep Thought for the Day
Thanks to Moyra Gorski, R.N., B.S.N. for sharing this with us all

skeptic, who had heard of the Buddha’s propensity to always return good for evil, and love those who would abuse him, did not believe this could be possible, so he set out to find, and then test the Buddha.

Finding him, he began hurling insults and spewing criticism at the master. When the accuser finally stopped, he was perplexed and asked the Buddha how he could sit so serenely amidst such abuse, and continue to offer peace and love in the face of such invectives being thrown his way. The Buddha answered his question with a question of his own: (more…)

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About Frank M. Painter

Perceived Benefit of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for Back Pain

Perceived Benefit of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for Back Pain

House Passes Bill to Expand Chiropractic Care to All Major VA Medical Centers

Chiropractic IS “Alternative Medicine” (An alternative to medicine)

5 Things You’re Not Supposed To Know About Chiropractors

5 Things You’re Not Supposed To Know About Chiropractors

How Will Research Determine the Future Role of Chiropractic?

How Will Research Determine the Future Role of Chiropractic?

Which Plants Do You Choose To Water?

Which Plants Do You Choose To Water?