The Dilemma of Spine Patients with Cardiac Conditions- by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Most primary care physicians are utilizing one of three different "treatment" options for patients with spine complaints.  They are treating in-house (aka- giving medication), referring to physical therapy, or referring to an orthopedist.  The catch is that millions of Americans are currently taking medications for various cardiac conditions.  

Did you know that patients who are taking cardiac medications are unable to take NSAID's?  

While even the patients without contraindications generally should not be prescribed NSAID's (according to many guidelines) , the patients who are unable to take NSAID's most certainly should be a target of our outreach efforts.  By taking care of these patients we provide value to the primary care office (they are unable to treat these patients themselves) while also offering a option (chiropractic care) which is recommended by numerous back pain guidelines and publications.  

JOIN US BY THE END OF THE MONTH AND RECEIVE ZIP CODE EXCLUSIVITY AND A 30 MINUTE IMPLEMENTATION CALL IN ADDITION TO IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO OUR MEMBERS VAULT AND YOUR CUSTOMIZED MONTHLY MD RESEARCH BRIEFS.  MEMBERSHIPS STARTS AT $25 WITH NO CONTRACT!

-The Evidence Based Chiropractor is the leading DC/MD marketing and outreach group in the world.  Our service is dedicated to increasing chiropractic utilization by showcasing research.  Marketing to medical doctors through research is efficient, cost effective, and can dramatically improve your incoming referrals.  Join us.  Lets grow chiropractic together.

iBook Available Soon - "Marketing Chiropractic to Medical Doctors" by Jeff Langmaid, DC

I am extremely excited to announce that "Marketing Chiropractic to Medical Doctors" will be released in over a dozen countries shortly.  I could not have completed the book without the help of many friends.  Below you will find an early pre-release review of the book.

"This guide provides a step by step instructions on how to become integrated in your local healthcare community and organically tap into the enormous amount of referrals that can come with those relationships.  This is something every Chiropractor should do for their practice, it will elevate your practice, but on a grand scale the profession" - Chris Holloway, DC

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Spine Devices Perhaps More Dangerous Than Surgery Itself- by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Medtronic is a medical device company which produced BMP-2 (bone morphogenetic protein-2) for use in lumbar spinal fusions.  The thought was when a patient needs a single level anterior approach fusion of the lumbar spine, the surgeon can use a cage filled with BMP-2 to stimulate bone growth (fusion).  This would eliminate the need to gather bone from the hip which can be painful and leads to a secondary surgical site.  In a laboratory, BMP-2 performed wonderfully and bone grew extremely well.

However, as many patients unfortunately found out, this was too good to be true.  Up to 85% of the surgeries involving BMP-2 in 2007 (which is over 85,000 surgeries) were done by using the compound off-label.  Surgeons began using it in the cervical spine and with both anterior and posterior fusions.   In some cases, bone grew so fast that patients began suffering blocked airways and an inability to swallow as bone literally grew out of control from the cervical spine.  

Perhaps the most damning part of this is that the US Senate Committee of Finance determined that Medtronic executives secretly drafted favorable journal articles when BMP-2 was found to perform no better than traditional bone grafting techniques.  

Circumstances like this undermine public confidence, produce harm, and in some cases permanently impact a patients quality of life.  A patient going for surgery is placing full trust in a surgeon; and when that trust is intentionally broken the patient deserves full compensation while the doctor deserves the most severe penalties available by law.  

As chiropractors, we must consistently promote the use of conservative care.  Many patients who do not fully exhaust conservative care options end up going to have surgical intervention. Perhaps they went for a few physical therapy visits or maybe even had an injection.  Barring red flags, progressive neurological deficits, or an emergency situation; patients should be encouraged to fully explore all conservative measures prior to surgery.  

JOIN US BY THE END OF THE MONTH AND RECEIVE ZIP CODE EXCLUSIVITY AND A 30 MINUTE IMPLEMENTATION CALL IN ADDITION TO IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO OUR MEMBERS VAULT AND YOUR CUSTOMIZED MONTHLY MD RESEARCH BRIEFS.  MEMBERSHIPS STARTS AT $25 WITH NO CONTRACT!

-The Evidence Based Chiropractor is the leading DC/MD marketing and outreach group in the world.  Our service is dedicated to increasing chiropractic utilization by showcasing research.  Marketing to medical doctors through research is efficient, cost effective, and can dramatically improve your incoming referrals.  Join us.  Lets grow chiropractic together.

Spine Fusion For Low Back Pain Remains Controversial- by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

"Overall, limited evidence suggests that spinal fusion compared with physical therapy improves pain and function for adults undergoing fusion for low back pain due to disc degeneration.  The evidence was insufficient to draw evidence-based conclusions for the benefits and harms of spinal fusion for patients with degenerative stenosis." - John Bartleson, MD

This quote was taken from a talk at the American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting in late April 2014 in Philadelphia.  Later, he cited a 10% - 20% complication rate in the surgical candidates for these surgeries.  It is important to note that he links low back pain with degenerative stenosis and does not singularly identify the claudication associated stenosis.  Research regarding chiropractic flexion-distraction and stenosis has proven to be fruitful, however, many MD's are still unaware at how much of an impact flexion-distraction technique can have on patients suffering from stenosis. Additionally,  I have no seen a chiropractic complication rate (for flexion-distraction) even approach 1%; which is far superior for a surgical complication rate of 10 -20%.  

JOIN US BY THE END OF THE MONTH AND RECEIVE ZIP CODE EXCLUSIVITY AND A 30 MINUTE IMPLEMENTATION CALL IN ADDITION TO IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO OUR MEMBERS VAULT AND YOUR CUSTOMIZED MONTHLY MD RESEARCH BRIEFS.  MEMBERSHIPS STARTS AT $25 WITH NO CONTRACT!

-The Evidence Based Chiropractor is the leading DC/MD marketing and outreach group in the world.  Our service is dedicated to increasing chiropractic utilization by showcasing research.  Marketing to medical doctors through research is efficient, cost effective, and can dramatically improve your incoming referrals.  Join us.  Lets grow chiropractic together.

MRI Findings Correlated with Pain Levels? - by The Evidence Based Chiropractor

Exciting new research is examining an algorithmic relationship between "% MRI Index" and Pain Levels in Chronic Low Back Pain.  This research was recently released by SPINE Journal and highlighted for our members as a part of their April 2014 Monthly MD Research Brief.

JOIN US BY THE END OF THE MONTH AND RECEIVE ZIP CODE EXCLUSIVITY AND A 30 MINUTE IMPLEMENTATION CALL IN ADDITION TO IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO OUR MEMBERS VAULT AND YOUR CUSTOMIZED MONTHLY MD RESEARCH BRIEFS.  MEMBERSHIPS STARTS AT $25 WITH NO CONTRACT!

-The Evidence Based Chiropractor is the leading DC/MD marketing and outreach group in the world.  Our service is dedicated to increasing chiropractic utilization by showcasing research.  Marketing to medical doctors through research is efficient, cost effective, and can dramatically improve your incoming referrals.  Join us.  Lets grow chiropractic together.