Support Chiropractic Research!
FacebookX

John Wiens DC

About John Wiens DC

Dr Wiens created the very first chiropractic information page on the web in Nov 1994. In 1995 he joined chiro.org as chief designer. He lives in Canada.

The sacroiliac joint is the most likely source of low back pain after lumbar fusion

By |September 18, 2013|Research|

Etiology of Chronic Low Back Pain in Patients Having Undergone Lumbar Fusion

Pain Medicine Volume 12, Issue 5, pages 732–739, May 2011

Michael J. DePalma MD , Jessica M. Ketchum PhD, Thomas R. Saullo MD

Abstract

Objective.  To estimate the prevalence of lumbar internal disc disruption, zygapohyseal joint pain, sacroiliac joint pain, and soft tissue irritation by fusion hardware in post-fusion low back pain patients compared with non-fused patients utilizing diagnostic spinal procedures.

Design.  Retrospective chart review.

Setting.  University spine center.

Patient Sample.  Patients presenting to a community-based, multidisciplinary, academic spine center (65.9% female, mean age 54.4 years, median pain duration 12 months).

Interventions.  Charts of consecutive low back pain cases completing diagnostic spinal procedures including provocation discography and zygapohyseal joint, sacroiliac joint, and fusion hardware blockade were retrospectively reviewed.

Outcome Measures.  Based on the results of discography and/or diagnostic blockades, subjects were classified with internal disc disruption, zygapohyseal joint pain, sacroiliac joint pain, or fusion hardware related pain.

Results.  The diagnoses of 28 fusion cases identified from 170 low back pain patients undergoing diagnostic procedures included 12 with sacroiliac joint pain, seven with internal disc disruption, five with zygapohyseal joint pain, and four due to soft tissue irritation from fusion hardware. No significant differences were noted in zygapohyseal joint mediated pain with and without fusion history. Mean ages of patients were similar with and without fusion history for cases diagnosed as internal disc disruption.

Conclusion.  In patients’ recalcitrant to non-interventional care, the sacroiliac joint is the most likely source of low back pain after lumbar fusion followed by internal disc disruption, zygapohyseal joint pain, and soft tissue irritation due to fusion hardware. Sacroiliac joint pain is more common after fusion, while internal disc disruption is more common in non-fusion patients.

 

 

Read More
 1

Perspectives of older adults on co-management of low back pain by doctors of chiropractic and family medicine physicians: a focus group study

By |September 16, 2013|Research|

Kevin J Lyons, Stacie A Salsbury, Maria A Hondras, Mark E Jones, Andrew A Andresen and Christine M Goertz

BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2013, 13:225

Provisional Abstract

Background

While older adults may seek care for low back pain (LBP) from both medical doctors (MDs) and doctors of chiropractic (DCs), co-management between these providers is uncommon. The purposes of this study were to describe the preferences of older adults for LBP co-management by MDs and DCs and to identify their concerns for receiving care under such a treatment model.

Methods

We conducted 10 focus groups with 48 older adults who received LBP care in the past year. Interviews explored participants’ care seeking experiences, co-management preferences, and perceived challenges to successful implementation of a MD-DC co-management model. We analyzed the qualitative data using thematic content analysis.

Results

Older adults considered LBP co-management by MDs and DCs a positive approach as the professions have complementary strengths. Participants wanted providers who worked in a co-management model to talk openly and honestly about LBP, offer clear and consistent recommendations about treatment, and provide individualized care. Facilitators of MD-DC co-management included collegial relationships between providers, arrangements between doctors to support interdisciplinary referral, computer systems that allowed exchange of health information between clinics, and practice settings where providers worked in one location. Perceived barriers to the co-management of LBP included the financial costs associated with receiving care from multiple providers concurrently, duplication of tests or imaging, scheduling and transportation problems, and potential side effects of medication and chiropractic care. A few participants expressed concern that some providers would not support a patient-preferred co-managed care model.

Conclusions

Older adults are interested in receiving LBP treatment co-managed by MDs and DCs. Older adults considered patient-centered communication, collegial interdisciplinary interactions between these providers, and administrative supports such as scheduling systems and health record sharing as key components for successful LBP co-management.

The complete article is available as a provisional PDF. The fully formatted PDF and HTML versions are in production.

 

Read More
 0

Hockey player scores with chiropractic

By |September 13, 2013|Sports|

Source The Toronto Star

After almost a decade playing in the National Hockey League, Gary Roberts feared that his days as a professional athlete were finished.

Thirty years old at the time and a left winger for the Calgary Flames, Roberts suffered a neck injury that left him with severe nerve damage and numbness in his arms. Repeated surgeries and rehab had little effect.

“I couldn’t hold a steak knife to cut my food,” he recalls. “My career was over. I was a pretty lost soul.”

But then, after a visit to a sports chiropractor in 1996 to relieve stress and reduce scar tissue in his upper spine and neck, Roberts regained his strength and mobility. He returned to the ice to play professional hockey for another 13 years.

“It saved my life,” says Roberts, who eventually retired from the NHL four years ago. He is now an advocate of chiropractic treatment as a complement to proper nutrition and training techniques — a program offered in his eponymously named Gary Roberts High Performance Centre at the Fitness Institute in North York. His highly regarded fitness and nutrition regimen is customized to his clients, be they elite and junior hockey players or business executives who want to be physically active.

“[Whether] you’re a professional athlete or a weekend warrior, the results are the same — your body gets beaten up,” says Roberts. “Chiropractors have taken sports to a new level.”

(more…)
Read More
 1

Comment glitch fixed

By |September 4, 2013|News|

An apology to our readers.

After activating our new server, a switch for publishing comments inadvertently got pushed requiring a login to post. That switch has been turned off and posting comments should now return to normal.

However, the server may have reset to where you will get a message that says:

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

even though you have successfully posted before. Once approved you will again be able to post as normal.

Again, sorry for the inconvenience.

If anyone has any further problems please contact the manager.  (manager@chiro.org)

Read More
 3

Ohio chiropractors could make call on concussions

By |June 4, 2013|News|

Source The Plain Dealer

By Brandon Blackwell, The Plain Dealer

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Some Ohio physicians are upset over a budget provision that would allow chiropractors to make the calls on putting student athletes with head injuries back in the game.

Senate lawmakers on Thursday are likely to pass a version of the budget, House Bill 59, that gives chiropractors the authority to clear the return of young athletes who are taken off the field for symptoms of a concussion or head injury. The move has upset those who say chiropractors do not have the proper training to handle the responsibility.

“I think that when we’re talking about serious head injuries to children, a physician’s training and scope of expertise is broader and more comprehensive than a chiropractor,” said Tim Maglione, senior director of the Ohio State Medical Association. “Chiropractors have a role in the continuum of care for athletes. We just don’t think it should go as far as assessing head injuries for young children.”

Supporters of the provision, however, say chiropractors receive rigorous training in neurology and are well qualified to make the assessments.

Current law gives doctors of medicine or osteopathic medicine the authority to clear a young athlete for a return to sports. The amendment would extend that authority to chiropractors.

Maglione sent a letter last month to the Senate asking lawmakers to toss the provision.

“The simple fact is that physicians are granted ultimate oversight…because they are best equipped in terms of education and training to act in that role,” Maglione said in the letter. “Those without adequate education and training should not be making return to play decisions independently.

“The training and education of a physician is vastly different and indeed more rigorous than that required for a chiropractor.”

The letter included signatures from officials with the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Ohio Children’s Hospital Association, Ohio Athletic Trainers Association, Ohio Hospital Association and the Ohio Osteopathic Association. (more…)

Read More
 2

How Austerity Kills

By |May 21, 2013|Health|

Source NY Times

Fiscal Policy can be a Matter of Life or Death

In their new book, “The Body Economic: Why Austerity Kills,” economist David Stuckler and physician Sanjay Basu examine the health impacts of austerity across the globe. The authors estimate there have been more than 10,000 additional suicides and up to a million extra cases of depression across Europe and the United States since governments started introducing austerity programs in the aftermath of the economic crisis. For example, in Greece, where spending on public health has been slashed by 40 percent, HIV rates have jumped 200 percent, and the country has seen its first malaria outbreak since the 1970s. An economist and public health specialist, Stuckler is a senior research leader at Oxford University. Dr. Basu is a physician and epidemiologist who teaches at The authors estimate there have been more than 10,000 additional suicides and up to a million extra cases of depression across Europe and the United States since governments started introducing austerity programs in the aftermath of the economic crisis.

If suicides were an unavoidable consequence of economic downturns, this would just be another story about the human toll of the Great Recession. But it isn’t so. Countries that slashed health and social protection budgets, like Greece, Italy and Spain, have seen starkly worse health outcomes than nations like Germany, Iceland and Sweden, which maintained their social safety nets and opted for stimulus over austerity.

(more…)

Read More
 0
Copyright 1995 - Chiropractic Resource Organization | All Rights Reserved | Powered by Chirowebs.net | Disclaimer
FacebookX