Sitka Chiropractic Newsletter for February 2017
Combined DC/MD Care is Beneficial
Doctors working together benefits patients. Working with a Sitka healthcare colleague to help one of our Sitka chiropractic patients is always an honor! A new study shows that when family medicine residents and chiropractors cooperatively care for older patients with back pain, everyone benefits. Patients liked it. Both types of doctors liked getting to know each other’s treatment approaches. (1) While another study demonstrates that multidisciplinary conferences connecting many types of providers lessen the use of spinal fusion for low back and improve the matching of surgical type to the proper patient type. (2) It is all good! Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka is ready to help!
Appropriate Timing for Back or Neck Surgery
Research reports that 88% of cervical radiculopathy patients and 70% of lumbar radiculopathy patients show improvement within 4 weeks of symptom onset. Therefore, prime timing for surgery for cervical radiculopathy (arm/upper extremity pain) is within 8 weeks of symptoms though 4 weeks may be contemplated and between 4 and 8 weeks for lumbar radiculopathy (leg/lower extremity pain). (3) Naturally, Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka works toward surgery necessity but knows when to refer appropriate patients for surgical care. There are times when it is. Trust Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka for your back and neck pain care needs.
Eat Healthy!
It’s not just a motto! Eating healthily reduces the risk of osteoporosis and improves bone mineral density. Eating more fruits and vegetables resulted in higher bone mineral density and less osteoporosis incidence in middle-aged and elderly persons with lower body mass indices. If you are one of those Sitka chiropractic patients who don’t like vegetables much, you are in luck! Fruit more so than vegetables seems to be better. (4) Less osteoporosis can potentially mean less back pain later in life, so enjoy some veggies and fruit today!
Vitamin D and Back Pain
Low vitamin D levels for Sitka chronic low back pain sufferers isn’t good. The good news is that vitamin D supplementation helps! An better vitamin D level helps reduce pain intensity and improve function in chronic low back pain patients. (5) Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka loves that such an easy thing as a nutritional supplement may help our Sitka chiropractic patients so much!
Everything is connected! Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka knows this to be true! Researchers suggest that tinnitus may be improved when cervical spine disorders are improved. There’s a link between the dorsal cochlear nucleus in the auditory pathway and the cervical spine. (6) Does tinnitus with a cervical spine condition upset you? A Sitka friend? Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka offers gentle chiropractic care to help them both potentially! Sitka chiropractic may help.
Obesity Increases Osteoporosis Risk
When we think about osteoporosis, we used to think of thin people as being the ones at risk. That’s what Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka would think. But not now! New research reports that obesity is a big risk factor for osteoporosis since inflammatory cytokines are used by fat to negatively control bone metabolism. (7) Now, that’s new news. All of us Sitka folks – thin and overweight – need to be mindful of osteoporosis risk and how to manage it.
If any of these topics affect you or a Sitka loved one, schedule a Sitka chiropractic appointment today with Arctic Chiropractic, Sitka. What a great first step toward relief!