Why Chiropractic help?

Why chiropractic help has come about because after forty-years in the profession I have learnt a few things about wellness; stuff that I can share with you.

I started this website for my own patients when I began to realise that treatment sometimes failed, not because of inadequate care, but because they did not understand what was going on.

This page was written by Dr Barrie Lewis, DC.

That was really my fault. It takes half an hour to explain fully the ramifications of your problem, and what it is going to take to fix it. Time I thought I didn't have, or never made, foolishly.

Perhaps your DC too has not made the effort either, and you have unanswered thoughts; this website is for you. Take a few minutes to grasp what's causing that tingling in arms and hands, for example, and you will better understand what is to be done; and be able to ask the right questions at your next consultation.

Yesterday an elderly man came to me with lower back pain. I had treated him previously for tingling in his hand, which also included the pinkie. Thus it could not have been carpal tunnel syndrome but I did not properly explain that to him. He has a very degenerate neck and nothing is going to completely cure the paresthesias.

He was not satisfied with the fifty percent improvement in my care, and went for a carpal tunnel operation. There was of course zero further improvement, and that he confirmed. If the tingling affects the little finger then it cannot be a median nerve condition.

Why Chiropractic help?

Why chiropractic help was started because my many years of practice have taught me that treatment sometimes fails not due to inadequate care but because the patient doesn't understand what is going on.

You may not be interested in the vertebral subluxation complex; it's the early theories about inflammation and dysfunction in the joints.

But chiropractic alternative medicine is here to stay with grudgingly given medical approval; manipulation is the best initial treatment for lower back pain.

If you still have questions, then what is chiropractic may answer them.

He was furious with the surgeon as it cost him a lot of money, but really the fault was mine. Had I explained to him that it could not possibly be carpal tunnel syndrome, and that at 86 years of age he must accept that 50 percent improvement was perhaps all that he could expect, none of this would have happened.

At chiropractic conditions you can read more about the pain syndromes that we commonly treat and give advice on. Your problem may be among them. The list is obviously not totally inclusive; far from it.

Each will be described, as will the manner in which your DC may manage it. Do understand though that all doctors work a little differently.

However there are varied techniques used and it is not impossible that the management of your problem may be quite different to that described at chiropractic help.

However be warned; no two DCs are alike. At Why Chiropractic Help we describe why many conditions of the spine are so complex and individual; different forms of treatment have evolved, some of which may be more effective for your problem than others.

The roots of chiropractic are strongly tied up with naturopathic medicine; you may well find that your DC takes a strong interest in what you are eating and, even more important, what you are not consuming. We have so many patients who seem to ache from top to toe; the cause is often not a pinched nerve but generalised inflammation in the body. Despite decades of low cholesterol diets and statins, a veteran cardiac surgeon stated recently that the lumen of blood vessels seem to be redder than ever.

It is interesting that a recent meta analysis of all the cholesterol research found there is absolutely no convincing scientific evidence for benefit in changing from animal fat to margarine and sunflower oil. Type "butter is back" into the search engine in the navigation bar above at chiropractic help.

Whilst Chiropractic Help takes a strong stance towards more fibre, vegetables and fruit, our mutton stew is a favourite. Of course it's full of leeks, carrots and eggplant; parsley and other healthy vegetables too. Don't miss it; it will probably lower your cholesterol, despite the fat.

• Mutton stew

In any case, researchers now are favouring refined carbohydrate as the cause of damage and inflammation to inner linings of the arteries. The amount of animal fat you consume has little effect on your blood cholesterol surprisingly.

Why Chiropractic Help?

This page will endeavour to explain how this site may be of help to you.

• COMMON CHIROPRACTIC CONDITIONS
  
• Common Medical Conditions treated by chiropractors.
  
• Healthy Living tips
  

• Secondly, why Chiropractic help? This site will help you understand your condition. You the patient can do much to help the course your condition will take. How not to spoil that outcome is also important, obviously, so some simple dos and don'ts are in order. Empowering your own progress and averting relapses is what it is about.
  
• Knowledge is the key. Understanding your own condition will help you to work more efficiently with your doctor, benefiting you both. Discuss with her/him anything you have read on this site that is pertinent to your problem and, obviously take their advice before anything you read on the internet. There is absolutely no benefit getting into an argument with him or her; the net says this, my GP wants that, my old chiropractor did something different; be adult, and hope that he or she is too.
• Chiropractic-help.com will include, in general terms, suggestions concerning what you should do, what you ought not to do; and other things which may be beneficial. However musculoskeletal injuries tend to be unique, so it is well nigh impossible to make totally inclusive recommendations. One person has fallen off a horse, another had three car accidents, one from the side, another patient had a fall while skiing. As stated above, with Low Back Pain it is generally better to sit less, but some people find relief in the chair. As a general rule, learn to listen to your body, use common sense, and work honestly with your DC.
• I asked a young woman this week why it had taken her so long to get to a Chiropractor. I was curious, because I know that she has long known about our profession. Her husband is a patient. She has had low back pain and headaches for over two years. Shamefaced, she said she had heard that manipulation could be dangerous, might injure your spine, could give you a stroke and she was just plain afraid. Finally, when she could bear it no longer, and realised the danger of all the anti-inflammatory drugs she was swallowing, she plucked up courage and made an appointment. Happily her cervical spine responded immediately, though her low back is being a challenge. She has an anomaly; an unusually shaped facet in her back, and after six weeks her lumbago is only about 50% better. The purpose of this site is to contribute to your understanding of the problem.
  
• I hope that having browsed this site you will realise that visiting a Chiropractor is really quite a normal thing to do. Of course there are potential side-effects; there are with every form of treatment. Do you have any idea how many people DIE EVERY YEAR from swallowing anti-inflammatory drugs?

• ANTICHOLINERGIC SIDE EFFECTS ....
• STROKE CHIROPRACTIC ...

Chiropractic iatrogenic illness

Chiropractic iatrogenic illness does occur; doctor-caused disease. However the reality is that serious injury to patients is rare; why else are our insurance premiums so low?

Please don't ever kid yourself that going to a Chiropractor is too dangerous, so you'll just swallow pills instead. Read more about DOCTOR-CAUSED or IATROGENIC DISEASE.

• MEDICAL IATROGENIC ILLNESS
  
• CHIROPRACTIC IATROGENIC ILLNESS
  
  

FROM THE COAL FACE

Having said that, I have recently been in conversation with a patient in the UK who is being treated by an inexperienced, young chiropractor. The treatment it appears has been very effective, and he immediately responds positively, but he has been told not to lie down, rather to sit; he has a slipped disc in the low back. So he has been sitting all day, and soon relapses back into what I call the SIGN OF PISA.

Should you find suggestions at Why Chiropractic Help and other pages at this site that are contrary to what your DC or doctor may be telling you, discuss it freely with him.

The days of I am the doctor and you are the patient; do exactly as I tell you, and don't argue are long over! Fortunately, as, when it comes to health, the more we doctors find out, the more we realise how little we know!

Your chiropractor isn't God, nor is this website the Bible. You are an intelligent, thinking person and are free to discuss things with your doctor. However, recognise your experience is limited, and he/she has probably treated hundreds of people with your condition.

WHY CHIROPRACTIC HELP RULE NUMBER 1.

If things are not going well with your problem, and you know it is because you have not followed your chiropractor's instructions, or something unforeseen or unavoidable has happened (like a sneeze, for example), do not try to deceive him. It will serve only to confuse him, to YOUR detriment.

As in all of life, be honest.

Inspirational Stories Every chiropractor sees miracles happening at his own particular coalface. For more from mine ...

• Read more from INSPIRATIONAL STORIES
  
  

Common Chiropractic Conditions

Two suggestions:

1. This is a big site. Start by going to Pain Syndromes aka Chiropractic conditions and see if there is anything pertinent concerning your problem. Then at a later date, when you have the time, come back and browse the site at your leisure. There is oodles of information, and you won't consume it all in a sitting! Not in a month of Sundays either! There are over 500 pages at Chiropractic-Help.com
   
2. Search this site. In the Navigation Bar above you will find a facility to help you find something you are looking for quickly and easily.

Yours in Chiropractic, in less pain and disability.

LEG LENGTH INEQUALITY is a frequent cause of back pain.

KIDS NEED CHIROPRACTIC TOO

Whilst we obviously do not expect you to bring Pooh Bear in for an examination, seriously, we at Why Chiropractic Help find that many adult conditions go back to a fall in childhood.

Did you know that consumer research in the UK found that, in a sample of 1000 teenagers, 62% have already experienced back pain?

If you think chiropractic is important for you as an adult, then is not it doubly important for your children. The treatment is very gentle, you need not be concerned on that score.

And, it's not totally stupid to bring Pooh along at the same time. WHY CHIROPRACTIC HELP recommends checking him out first and, by giving him a light adjustment, we can often put anxious children at rest.

Take a look at this page for our treatment of Colic Chiropractic ... is your baby miserable?

COMPLIMENTS ... always welcome!

Dear Dr B,

What a huge and extensive website you have. It has taken several reads to discovers there is still more to unearth. The things I find most pleasing are your approach to a healthier life-style and your little snippets dotted about - for example: I have learnt a new word: "proprioception" and the meaning. Now to put the balancing act into practice regularly and make sure it does become possible to walk heel to toe with closed eyes. It is a stimulating read.

You must have spent countless hours setting up your site; thank you so much for doing and working positively towards the well-being of others. It makes such a refreshing change from the usual approach of the medical profession. You also extend beyond chiropractic care which is great. Few doctors today can do it and are unable as they tend to have a little knowledge in such matters, their training is far too stereotyped; it's all about curing, and little to nothing on preventing.

I am attempting to educate my family on the benefits of better eating, so I'm sending your website address around the globe! We have a little grand-daughter and I would be happy knowing she will not become another statistic when older. None of us can turn back the clock but we can move forwards and improved on bad habits or prior ignorance.

Well done, it's been a very enlightening and stimulating read to date. One can approach the years beyond 60 with more confidence.

Many thanks,

RS.

Healthy Living Tips

You will likely find that your DC is also interested in your whole lifestyle; sparkling wellness is as much determined by exercise and a nutritious, varied diet; our healthy living tips will help you understand inflammation in the joint and how to prevent it, a vital part of the question why chiropractic help.

I try to keep this chiropractic help site research based, rather than simply my opinion; that is often difficult and scientists may disagree.

For example, you may have recently read that "Butter is Back." After decades of emphasis on polyunsaturate oil and statins, a recent meta analysis of 80 major research projects on the subject has declared that there is no scientific basis for changing from dairy to margarine. There is as much data pro as against. So some aspects of why chiropractic help, of necessity, remain controversial; is bedrest necessary for severe back pain, or does it hinder progress?

Nevertheless, at our Living Tips page you will find we encourage plenty of fruits and salads along with your bread and butter.

Common Medical Conditions

Common medical conditions sometimes respond astonishingly well in answer to the question why chiropractic help; and also not at all. Only very rarely do they get worse.

There are plenty of "medical" conditions that respond to chiropractic help, but much of it is unresearched and unpredictable. We discussed infantile colic higher up; now for the other end of the event.

I am currently treating two women who had given up all hope of falling pregnant. Both had been thoroughly examined medically, and there was no apparent reason for their infertility.

It's such a common experience at the chiropractic coalface that I dedicated a chapter to the subject in my first book of chiropractic anecdotes, Frog in my Throat.

In all does your chiropractor have a professional code of ethics?

Yet no chiropractor would claim he could get an infertile woman pregnant; and to my knowledge it's never been researched.

And so it is that boundary between what is medical and what is strictly the chiropractic domain has become blurred.

I myself have experienced a "sequestered" disc in the lumbar spine. Normally it's considered a surgical emergency, yet my partner completely fixed it; yes, I did have to stop for a month and be careful for several more. Even now, I do our lower back exercises very faithfully every morning before arising from bed. I never miss; the pain was excruciating. You can read more about it at femoral nerve damage if interested.

For the person interested in the science and philosophy behind our care, this chiropractic therapy page will be interesting.

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS @ Why Chiropractic Help

• Probably the most common condition treated in the Chiropractic Clinic. The Lumbar facet syndrome ...
• And the most common neck condition: THE CERVICAL FACET SYNDROME ...
• The most commonly seen mid-back condition: RIB PAIN TREATMENT ...
• Hip and side of leg pain: ILIOTIBIAL BAND STRETCH ...
• Kneecap pain: PATELLO FEMORAL PAIN SYNDROME ...
• FOOT: PLANTAR MYOFASCITIS ...
• The single MOST IMPORTANT PAGE at Chiropractic Help ... CAUSES OF OSTEOPOROSIS ...