A Note From Dr. Nic

2023 Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act

Help! Since 1972, Medicare has only covered the adjustment provided by a chiropractor. However, as you may know, we can provide so much more to our patients!

A new bill proposed in the House of Representatives and Senate would expand coverage to all services within our scope of practice and would include exams, xrays, therapies and exercise programs. It would be a great win for Medicare patients and our federal budget, and would allow chiropractors to provide a much less expensive and less invasive approach to care for muscle and joint ailments!

Please contact your Senators using this link…it does almost all of the work for you!

https://www.votervoice.net/ChiroCongress/Campaigns/103860/Respond

Please contact your Representative using this link…same process! 

https://www.votervoice.net/ChiroCongress/Campaigns/103848/Respond

Chiropractic and Acute Low Back Pain

Acute or sudden onset back pain can be due to a number of causes. It’s easier than one thinks to sprain or strain the tendons, muscles and ligaments that support the spine, especially if we are out of shape.

While sports injuries are common, sudden onset back pain may also be a result of just bending over to pick something up off the floor. Weakened muscles may suddenly go into spasm from performing the simplest movements. If you have a sedentary lifestyle or are carrying a few extra pounds, that can weaken the structures supporting the back, which can lead to acute back pain. If your spinal discs, muscles and ligaments are chronically unbalanced, it can lead to a misalignment in your spine and create the perfect conditions for sudden onset back pain. Another common cause of acute back pain is a vertebral compression fracture due to osteoporosis. This type of fracture can happen at any time, even simply from sneezing, coughing or rolling over in bed, if the osteoporosis is sufficiently advanced. Acute back pain usually follows a vertebral compression fracture, which happens when the front part of the vertebrae collapse, making the vertebrae wedge-shaped. The acute pain from this type of fracture usually lasts for 4 to 6 weeks, when it becomes a more chronic type of aching pain.

Chiropractic therapy has been proven to be an effective tool in treating and reducing acute back pain, and does so in a safe and cost-effective manner. Conventional medical treatment for acute back pain has not been as successful. In fact, the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, which is a research organization sponsored by the federal government, recommended that adults with acute lower back pain first seek treatment using spinal manipulation, as it is safe, effective and doesn’t require drugs. A study published in The Spine Journal found that patients who were suffering from acute lower back pain had positive results after treatment with chiropractic manipulation, as opposed to no improvement in the control group who were treated with pain medication and physical therapy.

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Lose Weight with Cooler Room Temperatures

Do Cooler Temperatures Really Help With Weight Loss?

Last week I finally broke down and turned on the heat at the office. I suppose...it's almost November and may be time to switch over the central air from cooling to heating. Maybe. I'm still holding out hope for more wonderful days. And, as you'll read, perhaps keeping my office at a lower temperature will have another health benefit!

Those who are a bit overweight and are trying to lose a few pounds are generally aware of many of the factors that make it harder to lose weight: the prevalence of high-fat, high-sugar junk foods everywhere we go, inactivity dictated by jobs that keep us at our desk all day, driving as opposed to walking—the list goes on and on. You can add one more item to the list of things that might be contributing to keeping you fat—your home’s central heating system.



Yes, as odd as it sounds, a couple of recent studies have suggested that lack of exposure to cold or chilly temperatures may be contributing to keeping us fat. Most of us spend 90% of our time indoors, which means during the winter we are in homes and offices that are heated to temperatures between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, with the nationwide average being about 72 degrees. In contrast to previous eras, "central heating" also means that we tend to keep all rooms in the house at the same temperature, which reduces exposure to what researchers call "ambient temperatures." We tend to feel temperature differences only when we go outside.

Researchers in Britain and the Netherlands began to wonder about the long-term effects of this, because our bodies have built-in mechanisms to normalize temperature when it gets cold, which are no longer being used. When our bodies are exposed to cold, we shiver—this is the body's mechanism for warming itself up and shivering expends calories. Even when it isn't cold enough to actually shiver—for example in rooms heated to 60 degrees—our bodies generate more heat internally via a process called “non-shivering thermogenesis.” This process burns additional calories, but also tends to trick the body into producing more brown fat (technically called brown adipose tissue or BAT). Unlike normal (white) fat, which stores energy and calories, brown fat acts more like an internal furnace, consuming calories to expend warming energy. The mechanism that triggers brown fat into doing this is—yes, you guessed it —cold.

These were the theoretical ideas that researchers in Britain and the Netherlands used when designing their studies. They suspected that people who are more exposed to ambient temperatures—and in particular colder rooms—might burn more calories and thus lose more weight. The first paper suggesting this was published in 2011 in the journal Obesity Reviews, and found that the time we spend in well-heated buildings did indeed seem to affect the level of brown fat we carry. Regarding this important brown fat, it’s kind of 'use it or lose it.' If you’re not exposed to cold, you’re going to lose your brown fat, and your ability to burn energy will be affected. But you can get it back. When the researchers exposed people to 60-degree rooms, their energy expenditures increased by 100-200 calories a day.

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Meet Deb

It was suggested to Deb (by her daughter) that perhaps Chiropractic would be able to help her knee. She had undergone surgery on her knee, and since then she had been suffering from swelling, pain, and stiffness in her knee.

By working not only with her knee, but also with her low back, hip, and foot, she has found relief! Sometimes the underlying PROBLEM is not necessarily where the PAIN is located! All she needed was to give us a try...thanks for the opportunity, Deb!