May 2001 Feature Articles:
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• Conservative Care Encouraged Over Back Surgery •
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Back specialists are discouraging the use of surgery as a therapeutic technique for patients with back pain.
At the American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) 17th annual meeting held in February, speakers called for a moratorium on surgery. Lynn Johnson, MD, a moderator for the AAPM session, titled "Failed Back Syndrome," said that failed back syndrome can occur in as many as 10 to 40 percent of patients who get some type of lumbar spine surgery. He said that in some cases doctors fail to appropriately apply conservative measures, such as chiropractic, physical therapy, injection therapy, and minimally invasive surgical techniques, before suggesting surgery. "Just about any approach is better than having surgery because all the studies have shown that, if you take a surgical population and non-surgical population, they all seem do the same in five years," he said. "So if you can avoid surgery and the expense of surgery, obviously, you might do as well as the [patient] that gets [the surgery]."
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| SOURCE: American Academy of Pain Medicine (AAPM) 17th Annual Meeting. |
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• May is Correct Posture Month •
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Correct Posture Month, sponsored by the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), encourages you to talk to your local doctor of chiropractic about ways to alleviate the problems poor posture can cause children. Your chiropractor can tell you if your child's slouching is a bad habit or a warning signal, or if a heavy backpack is going to be the source of future spinal problems.
To help encourage your child's healthy spine, the ACA recommends these tips:
- When you lift your baby, always support his or her back and neck with your hands.
- Use an approved car seat that supports your baby's head and neck.
- Provide a firm bed for your child.
- Make sure the straps of your child's backpack are padded and worn over both shoulders, not just one.
- Be sure your child's workstation is ergonomically correct for his or her size.
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| SOURCE: American Chiropractic Association, www.acatoday.com |
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• Combination of Exercise and Adjustments Help Neck Pain •
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A study recently published in the journal, Spine, compared the relative efficacy of rehabilitative neck exercises and spinal adjustments for the management of patients with chronic neck pain. 191 patients with chronic mechanical neck pain received 20 sessions of spinal adjustments with neck exercises; high technology, machine-assisted, rehabilitative neck exercises; or spinal adjustments alone. Range of motion, muscle strength, and muscle endurance were assessed. The use of strengthening exercise, whether in combination with spinal adjustments or in the form of a high-technology neck exercise program, appears to be more beneficial to patients with chronic neck pain than the use of spinal adjustments alone.
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| SOURCE: SPINE 2001;26:788-799 |
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• Chiropractic Plays Key Role in Treating TMD •
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Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMD) can be effectively treated with chiropractic care. Severe injuries from macro-trauma as well as micro-trauma to the jaw are leading causes of TMD. A hit in the jaw during a sporting activity or overuse syndromes, such as chewing gum excessively or chewing on one side of the mouth too often, can cause TMD. The treatment of TMD may include manual manipulation, massage of soft tissue, heat/ice, exercises, and patient education. "Chiropractic can play a key role in TMD when there are adhesions between the disc and the joint itself or the temporal bone," explains Jason Flanagan, DC, dean of Academic Affairs at Texas Chiropractic College. "Micro-adhesions restrict normal positioning of that disc in the joint. Manual manipulation allows for the proper forces to be applied, which gaps open that joint."
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| SOURCE: American Chiropractic Association (ACA) Journal, April 2001 |
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