Low Back Pain (…or is it?)

Have you ever had leg pain and immediately blamed your low back? Me too! Many patients (and unfortunately, many doctors) conclude this to be “sciatica” or a “pinched nerve.” When this diagnosis is wrong, it can lead to an inappropriate type of treatment, delaying appropriate care, or worse, it may result in death due to a missed diagnosis of a blood clot. There is currently a government campaign seeking to warn the public about this hard-to-diagnose 'silent killer.'



Here’s the news flash that was recently released (updated 8:28 a.m. CT, Mon., Sept. 15, 2008): “WASHINGTON - Far too many Americans are dying of dangerous blood clots that can masquerade as simple leg pain, says a major new government effort to get both patients and their doctors to recognize the emergency in time.”

"It's a silent killer. It's hard to diagnose," said acting Surgeon General Dr. Steven Galson, who announced the new campaign Monday. "I don't think most people understand that this is a serious medical problem or what can be done to prevent it."


Blood clots make headlines when seemingly healthy people collapse after prolonged sitting, such as long airplane flights or being in similarly cramped quarters. Vice President Cheney suffered one after a long trip last year. NBC correspondent David Bloom died of one in 2003 after spending days inside a tank while covering the Iraq invasion.

According to the Surgeon General’s new campaign, there are about 100,000 deaths associated with blood clots each year. Risk factors include increasing age (especially over 65), recent surgery or fracture, falls, car crashes, prolonged bed rest, smokers, obesity, pregnancy, and hormone replacement drugs including birth control pills. Other less controllable causes can include genetic conditions so it is important to tell your doctor if a relative has ever suffered a blood clot.

People with these factors should have "a very low threshold" for calling a doctor or even going to the emergency room if they have symptoms of a clot, said Galson, who issued a "call to action" for better education of both consumers and doctors, plus more research.

Symptoms include swelling; pain, especially in the calf; or a warm spot or red or discolored skin on the leg; shortness of breath or pain when breathing deeply. Unfortunately, studies suggest only a third of patients who need protective blood thinners for major surgery get them. And patients can even be turned away despite telltale symptoms, like what happened to Le Keisha Ruffin just weeks after the birth of her daughter, Caitlyn. In her case, after being turned down by several visits to the doctor and ER, only after a very hot bath did her leg swell to 3-4 times its normal size, tipping off the doctors to make the right diagnosis.

Don’t wait for your medical doctor or our office to make the diagnosis if you’re suspicious of a blood clot. Ask us if it’s a possibility. Rest assured that we have been properly trained to diagnose this condition and we work with other health care providers when needed.

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Eating Right For Optimum Health

If you read the last blog post you learned there are 5 things you must do to achieve your best health and also maintain it: 1) Eat right 2) Exercise 3) manage their stress level 4) Get proper rest 5) maximize their nervous system potential by getting their spine checked.


Today we are going to expand on Eating Right...

Let’s clear up something right now, I’m not a big fan of any serious diet plans out there. Especially one’s that starve you and one’s that advertise still eating a dessert after every meal or a chocolate shake for breakfast. First, everything in moderation. It’s fine to drink a glass of soda once in a while, just not every night. Same goes for other sweets – make them a treat. Also, if you want a glass of wine with dinner at night that’s ok too, just don’t drink till you are hammered night after night. If you drink a cup of coffee every morning ok, just hold back when going for that 2nd, 3rd, and 4th or more cups; I know who you are. I also see some awfully big cups out there. There is actually some benefits of some of these things, in moderation of course. Second, if you actually believe a no-fat or low fat diet is good, get with the times. Use common sense with what you are eating. They chemically alter these foods to remove the fat or remove something else. And think about it, ever since this low fat diet fad started, people have only gotten fatter. The same goes for unnatural soy, that stuff is chemically engineered from the get go, just so humans can eat it.

Let’s go back to the basics. When we were put on this earth, what did we eat? Did we eat hostess snack cakes, or pilsberry rolls, or in other words all of these complex carbs and sugars – No. We ate fruits and vegetables and meats and all the other good stuff that comes from these plants and trees and animals - natural, unaltered foods, with normal ingredients.

There really is so much to go over on this one subject alone of eating right we will come back to it again soon. I want to stay on track and cover all 5 bases of how to achieve and maintain optimum health 1st.

So keep your eyes open for the next blog on how exercise is another component and why so many out there are just lost when it comes to what to do, when to do it, and how to get started!

...And remember we must do all of these things to stay healthy. Most importantly we have to keep our nervous system healthy because it runs the show! For the body to even absorb all the nutrients it needs, and for each body reaction that takes place, the nervous system needs to be at its best. Chiropractic treatment keeps that nervous system doing it's job. And now with DRX9000 spinal decompression we take natural treatments for the spine and chiropractic to the next level.