Back Online

I hope to be getting some good posts up again soon.  I have been offline and moving from Utah to Florida for the past 2 weeks and a bit before that life was crazy, but I am now able to get online again and have some time.  I’m still playing catch up, but I’ll get a good post going soon.

Chiropractic Month in Utah

It is official, yesterday a group of doctors from the Utah Chiropractic Physician’s Association (UCPA) including myself met with the Governor Gary Herbert as he signed a declaration declaring October 2009 as Chiropractic Month.  He spoke with us of his support of chiropractic and mentioned his gratitude for the work that chiropractic has done for himself, his family, and for Utah.

Here is the text of the declaration:

Whereas, nine out of ten Americans suffer from headaches which can result in loss of time and money for employers and employees alike;

Whereas, chiropractic care is an effective treatment for many types of headaches;

Whereas, chiropractic care offers nearly immediate relief from headache symptoms and ofttimes has fewer side effects and provides longer-lasting relief than many commonly prescribed medications;

Whereas, Doctors of Chiropractic may counsel their patients on life changes, headache triggers, and sleep patterns, as well as offer proactive advice on exercise, stress reduction and nutrition;

Whereas Doctors of Chiropractic are preventative care providers who focus on the health of the “whole person” and have particular expertise in the prevention and care of musculoskeletal injuries; and

Whereas, National Chiropractic Month serves as a reminder about the importance of making good health decisions;

Now Therefore, I, Gary R. Herbert, Governor of the State of  Utah, do hereby proclaim October 2009, as Chiropractic Month.

Why the Delay?

I don’t usually let a week go by without posting something new.  Well there have been a few changes in my life that have caused me to miss this last week.  I try to avoid personal postings on this my professional site, but I wanted to explain, and I will bring chiropractic into it I promise.

First I’ve already mentioned our new baby.  Things are going well there.  I haven’t mentioned that my youngest brother just got married and my grandmother graduated from this life.  As if those things weren’t enough; I got an email about two weeks ago from the United States Navy. There was a contract position that they wanted be to fill.  (I have been lobbying for getting chiropractic care to our troops for over 6 years now.)  They wanted me to be in Florida in 8 days.  I was willing, but closing shop, having a baby and making a move across the country in 8 days was tough.  After some discussion the start date was changed, but I have signed the contract and will be treating our service men and women in Florida for the next few years.

I hope that I am able to do even more from the inside than I was able to from the outside.  I would like to see our troops overseas get the care they deserve and have been promised.  The gears are already in motion on that, I hope to give them a little more grease.  If any of you would like to help, please let me know.

There are some exciting things happening this month, after all it is National Chiropractic Month.  I’ll try to report on them as time permits.

National Chiropractic Month is Here Again

In case you missed the start yesterday, October is National Chiropractic Month in the United States, and this year the emphasis that has been chosen is headaches.  Nine out of ten Americans suffer from headaches. Some are occasional, some frequent, some are dull and throbbing and some cause debilitating pain and nausea. Chiropractic has been proven to be an effective treatment for several types of headaches including tension headaches and headaches that originate in the neck.

I have posted about chiropractic and how it can help headaches in the past and this is a good time to take a look at those posts.

Headache types

Migraine help

I will be focusing this blog this month on chiropractic and headaches.  So if you have a headache story, or some information you’d like to share or link feel free to leave a comment here or email me.

A New Baby

I have to pause my normal posting to announce that my wonderful wife has given birth to our 4th daughter.  There were no complications and things went well.  Both mom and baby are beautiful and healthy.  Some of the training we receive in chiropractic college I never plan to use as a chiropractor.  This is one of those things.  I never plan to deliver a baby for anyone else, but I am happy to have been able to deliver all four of my little girls.  If I didn’t feel outnumbered before this picture will show you how lopsided our family is now. 

Because this is a professional health care site I would like to include a report on an experiment that we attempted during this labor.  Many of you reading this will be familiar with E-stim or TENS.  I posted about it a few posts back (link).  I posted there that this modality was not used during pregnancy because there was no research to support or contraindicate it’s use.  There are however studies indicating possible benefits to mothers in labor.  The findings are interesting, and the application is safe and has been used successfully for over 30 years in Europe.  I have asked my wife to write up her feelings on using the TENS unit during this labor.  I’ll not bias you with my observations, but I will post her comments as soon as she gets the time to write them, though I must warn you she’s a much more engaging writer than I am.  In the meantime here is a great though dry article on the use of this modality during labor.