For years chiropractic has been used by college and professional teams to not only treat injuries but to keep athletes at their peak in order to prevent injuries.  The following is a list of a few athletes who use Chiropractic: all 32 NFL teams, most NBA and NHL teams, Tiger woods, Michael Jordan, Maurice Jones (video), Barry Bonds, Joe Montana, Wade Boggs, Mark McGuire, Arnold Schwartzenegger, Charles Barkley, Evander Holyfield, John Smoltz, Trevor Hoffman, Irving Fryar, Fred Funk, Jose Canseco, Dan O’Brien (video) and the U.S. Olympic Team all use chiropractic care.

Chiropractic has been shown to increase athletic performance and prevent injuries.  High school athletes face increasing demands on their bodies along with a developing skeletons, which make them more susceptible to injuries. Chiropractic can help these athletes as they develop by correcting any spinal misalignment and balancing muscle function.

We have helped a number of high school athletes with injuries they have sustained and helped them prevent injuries in the future.  We have an Athletic Trainer on staff that has worked with the majority of IU teams, to learn more about her click here.

To learn more about the sports injuries we treat at our office click here.

Our patients know that our focus is to not only help them get well, but stay well.  In order to accomplish this goal it is important to make sure our patients have the tools they need to be self sufficient once they finish with care.  Lifestyle modification, at home exercise and stretching programs are part of this process.  Katie works with our patients to determine their particular goals and develops an program that will help them accomplish their goals.  She may start with something as simple as teaching a patient to relearn how to breathe or squat correctly using an exercise ball.  These initial steps are crucial in building a good foundation for future progress. If your nice she might even let you play on the Wii Fit.

Here is a little information about Katie

Katie Culver is originally from Evansville, IN and graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Athletic Training. Her time at IU provided experience with both Bloomington high schools as well as seven of IU’s varsity sports teams. She was additionally a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. After graduating, Katie worked for two years in Ohio doing Christian ministry and moved to Indianapolis in June of 2009. She worked for one year with a not-for-profit in Indianapolis before beginning with Compass. Katie loves helping others and finds great joy in assisting in the recovery and rehabilitation of each Compass patient.

If the use of these medications to develop bone mass was our only option then I might be able to appreciate the risk/benefit argument, but there are other alternatives to these medications that should be explored before taking a medication that doubles the risk of cancer.

What is the cause of osteoporosis?

There are a number of factors that are thought to be associated with osteoporosis, but the most common is genetic.  This model is advantageous to the companies who manufacture these drugs because it promotes the notion that osteoporosis is out of your control and the only way to prevent your skeleton from disintegration is to take one of these medications.  SNL did a great parody of drug commercials for osteoporosis that you can see at Hulu.com by clicking here.

Genetics do play a role in our bone structure, but there are other factors that we can control which will prevent bone loss, namely inflammation.  When we think of inflammation we typically think of acute inflammation that we experience following an injury or a trauma.   Acute inflammation is one type of inflammation, but we can also experience chronic systemic inflammation (CSI).  CSI occurs throughout the body at a much lower level than acute inflammation and often goes unnoticed because it is not painful.

How does inflammation related to osteoporosis?

Bone is a very valuable resource to the body.  One of its functions is to decrease the acidity of the internal environment of the body.  When the body becomes inflamed, the acidity increases or lowers the pH.  The body wants to do everything it can to keep the the pH at neutral, so it pulls calcium from the bones to “cool” the systemic inflammation.

How do we prevent chronic systemic inflammation?

This is a big topic and will be discussed in the second part of this series.

The bottom line is that sitting is bad for the back and sitting with bad posture is even worse for the back.  You might be surprised to know that that there is more force on the low back discs when seating than with standing.  When we stand the muscles is our legs absorb some of the weight of our upper body.  When we sit, all of our weight is absorbed by our backs.  For more information about back pain, check out our Back Pain Page and our Spinal Decompression Page.

There is hope, which will allow you to improve the strength of your abs and low back without the risk and inconvenience of having an exercise ball in the office and it has a fun name, “the disco sit.”  This little disc allows you the benefits of the exercise with the safety and storage issues.  Whenever you’ve had enough of the disco sit you can slide it under your desk and sit like the rest of the civilized world.

There are a number of exercises that you can do on the disco sit that you can not perform on the exercise ball while seated.  It is my opinion that the disco sit is a much better companion for the cubicle than the exercise ball, but exercise ball beats the disco sit in the gym.  If you would like a copy of the exercises you can do on the Disco Sit, sent me an email from our Contact Page.

Here is a link to a website that sells the Disco Sit Fitter First.  There is a video describing how to use the disc just below the item.   I recommend the 16″ disc, which we sell at Compass for $25.

The nationwide egg recall involves more than a dozen major brands that got eggs from Wright County Egg in Galt, Iowa.

CDC and state investigators in California, Colorado, and Minnesota found clusters of salmonella food poisoning among people who ate eggs at the same restaurants. Those restaurants got eggs that came from Wright County Egg.

Investigations continue in Arizona, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. According to a CDC spokeswoman, the outbreak is “pretty much nationwide.”

Meanwhile, the FDA is conducting a thorough investigation of the Iowa firm to which the contaminated eggs were traced. The company says it already has sent all its remaining eggs to a breaker, where they will be pasteurized to kill any salmonella.

Shell eggs included in the recall were shipped since May to food wholesalers, distribution centers, and food service companies in eight states, from which they were distributed nationwide.

The brand names included in the recall are Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph’s, Boomsma’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms, and Kemps. Recalled eggs are in six, dozen, and 18-egg cartons.

Read full article

Low-back pain is the second most common reason for missed work after the common cold.  It was the fifth-most common reason for physician visits in the United States, with 26.4 percent of adults reporting low-back pain for a day or more during a three-month period in 2002. More than 80 percent of low-back pain was diagnosed as nonspecific, a category that includes lumbar strains and sprains, degenerative disk disease and spinal instability.

My take…

It has been found in study after study that patients typically fair very well with conservative treatment of low back pain.  Conservative low back pain therapies  include but not limited to chiropractic, massage and exercise.  The majority of patients that come to Compass don’t get advanced imaging unless I determine that is it completely necessary.  Because I see low back pain cases all day I feel more comfortable with treating these conditions conservatively prior to ordering an MRI.  If we’re not making progress with conservative we will pursue advanced imaging or a referral to another healthcare provider.

MRIs are a great advancement and have helped to diagnoses conditions that would have previously gone undiagnosed, but with most things you can have too much of a good thing.  Since the advent of MRIs it has been easy to rely on the technology in place of the diagnostic skills of the clinician.  It should come as no surprise that I see new people everyday that present to my office with low back pain.  Some of these patients with low back pain require advanced imaging because they’re presenting with symptoms beyond back pain such as pain that radiates along with numbness and tingling.  The majority of patients don’t require advanced imaging and a diagnosis can be rendered with0ut the additional cost and exposure associated with advanced imaging.

In order to make the correct diagnosis it often doesn’t require sexy high-tech gadgets, rather the oldest diagnostic tool known to man, listening.   Most people who know me know that I love technology, but technology is an enhancement rather than a replacement for a skilled, compassionate doctor.

For more information about low back pain, visit our Back Pain Page.

Depending on the studies that you read, 22%-50% of the population reports a fowl smelling urine after  ingesting asparagus.  What accounts for this populations production of pungent pee?

The people who have report the odor do have a special gene, but it has nothing to do with producing the odor.  The gene that this 22%-50% possesses allows them to smell the odor.  Regardless of whether or not you smell the odor, it’s there.  If you do smell the odor consider yourself  lucky…you have a special gene.

For more information about Cigna, visit their website: www.cigna.com

For general help with insurance you can visit our Help with Insurance Page

Buying organic is best, but it is also expensive.  There are some foods that hold the pesticides in more than others.  When buying these foods you should opt for the organic.  The list produced by EWG list the foods that contain the most pesticides and foods that have the least.

Happy eating

A group of very common over the counter pain medications known as NSAIDs (Nonsteriodal Anitinflammatory Drugs) have been shown to increase the risk of death due to stroke.   Typically we assume that anyone who has an adverse reaction to medications like Advil has been taking them for an extended period of time, but the researchers in this study found that many of the people who died had only been taking the drugs for a two week period. The doses that were measured in the Danish study were similar to what someone would take for treating chronic pain, about three tablets per day. “We found that most NSAIDs are associated with increased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity,” says researcher Emil Loldrup Fosbol, MD, of Gentofte University Hospital in Hellerup, Denmark.

My take…

Couple days ago I had a person call the office because he had questions about his back pain.  He told me that he spoke with his MD who told him that he could take 10 tablets of ibuprofen a day, without any limitation to the duration.  I also spoke with a friend who was told by an orthopedist to “take them (NSAIDs) like candy.”

For too long we have taken medications such as ibuprofen with disregard for the side effects associated with these medications. You can see the side effects associated with ibuprofen by clicking drugs.com.  Most people are surprised that an our the counter medication such as ibuprofen can cause such serious sides effects.

Ibuprofen has it’s place, but it is meant to be used for pain relief in the short term and not to rely on for ongoing pain relief.  Pain is a message that something is wrong with the body, much like check engine light in your car.  Ibuprofen is a way to mask the symptoms, but it doesn’t fix the underlying problem.  Use ibuprofen for acute pain relief if you have to and fix the problem that is causing the symptoms.

Chiropractic addresses the cause of the problem and eliminates the need for harmful medications.  If you’re experiencing pain, speak to a chiropractor and see if you’re a candidate for chiropractic care.  For more information about our office check out the about us page.  If you would like specific information on conditions that we treat you can click the following links: neck pain, back pain, headaches, sports injuries, auto accidents.