Contact Your Representatives to Provide Access to Chiropractors for all Veterans

On January 19, 2011, Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) introduced H. R. 329, requiring the VA to phase-in availability of chiropractic care at all major VA medical centers within the next three years.  Specifically, the bill would require 75 VA major medical centers have a chiropractor on duty before the end of 2012 and all major health care facilities to have a chiropractor on duty before the end of 2014.
All of America’s veterans should have equal access to this important health care benefit.  Veterans want, need and deserve access to chiropractic care, and doctors of chiropractic must be fully integrated into the veterans’ health care system.  Passage of H.R. 329 is a major step in accomplishing this goal.

H.R. 329 has been referred to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.  Urge your local member of Congress to cosponsor H.R. 329 immediately!

Contact your Arkansas representatives at the links below: A sample email is provided below the email links. Feel free to copy and paste as is, or modify. Be sure to sign your name at the bottom.

Mark Pryor - http://pryor.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactForm
John Boozman - http://boozman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me
Rick Crawford - http://crawford.house.gov/Contact/
Tim Griffin - https://griffin.house.gov/contact-me/email-me
Steve Womack - http://womack.house.gov/Contact/
Mike Ross - http://ross.house.gov/Contact/

Email subject: Support Expanded Access to Chiropractic in the VA - H.R. 329

In recent years, after decades of inaction and neglect, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) finally began the long-overdue process of placing doctors of chiropractic (DCs) on staff at VA hospitals, in order to provide veterans with access to chiropractic care. The process of integrating chiropractic care in the VA system was initiated after Congress enacted a series of statutes, that included specific directives to hire doctors of chiropractic and place them at VA health care facilities. Although a chiropractic benefit has theoretically been available within the VA system for many years, Congress took action in this policy area when it became apparent that VA had failed to take any reasonable action to actually provide veterans with chiropractic care. 

As a result of the above referenced congressional directives, including recommendations issued by a congressionally-mandated advisory committee, the VA currently provides chiropractic care at 32 major VA treatment facilities within the U.S. Despite the above progress, the overwhelming majority of America’s eligible veterans continue to be denied access to chiropractic care, because the VA has failed to take any action to provide chiropractic care at approximately 120 additional major VA treatment facilities that comprise the major sites where VA care is offered. 

Shockingly, the above disparity has been allowed to continue, despite important data demonstrating a critical need within the VA for the specific type of health care doctors of chiropractic specialize in providing. Recent Department of Veterans Affairs data (Analysis of VA Health Care Utilization Among U.S. Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) Veterans, January 2009) cite “diseases of Musculoskeletal System/Connective System,” such as back pain, as the number one ailment of Iraq/Afghanistan veterans accessing VA treatment.

Recently, Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) introduced H. R. 329, requiring the VA to phase-in availability of chiropractic care at all major VA medical centers within the next three years. Specifically, the bill would require 75 VA major medical centers have a chiropractor on duty before the end of 2012 and all major health care facilities to have a chiropractor on duty before the end of 2014. 

Every eligible veteran should have unimpeded access through the VA to chiropractic care. Therefore, I am urging you to contact Congressman Filner and cosponsor this legislation, HR 329. 

Sincerely,

Government Relations Update - Veteran Access to Chiropractic Care

Veterans do not have access to chiropractic care in all VA facilities. This video addresses this issue along with some issues with healthcare reform.

What causes the “Popping” sound when your back is adjusted?

The sound you hear is caused by gas bubbles inside your joints (where two bones meet). Some say it is air rushing into the joint because of the empty space that occurs when you pull the bones apart. Most resources say it is the gas bubbles bursting. The following is an explanation about the gasses found in the fluid around the joints and the effect popping your joints has on these gasses.

You have heard your joints “pop” or “crack” at some point. You can stretch your finger to pop the knuckle. You can twist the palm of your hand upward or downward and your  wrist may pop . These movements cause the bones of the joint to pull apart and it stretches the connective tissue capsule surrounding the joint. All joints are surrounded by a fluid called synovial fluid. This fluid is normally thick and clear and contains oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide gasses. When you stretch your joints, this decreases the pressure of the fluid and the gasses form bubbles. If the joint is stretched far enough, the decreased pressure causes these bubbles to burst and this is what makes the popping sound. 

You can not re-“pop” a joint immediately because it takes about thirty minutes for the gas to redissolve into the synovial fluid. 

Arthritis and joint cracking

There is no evidence found that says cracking your knuckles or other joints leads to arthritis. There may be some signs of damage, such as a decrease in grip strength or soft tissue damage to the joint capsule. Repeated stretching of the surrounding tissue and ligaments is most likely the cause of the damage. Swimmers, tennis players, runners and baseball pitchers are likely to suffer from damage caused by repeated stretching of the joints. When I say this, I am not referring to the stretching the muscles before a run or a swim. This muscle stretching is beneficial and should always be performed. I am referring to repetitive motion, like a baseball pitcher throwing the ball repeatedly during a game.

There is, however, a positive effect of joint popping. There is some evidence of increased mobility immediately after popping. There is stimulation of tendons and the muscles around the joint relax. This is why you may feel more relaxed after you pop your neck or have your back adjusted at the chiropractor. All of our joints react the same. This includes your back, neck, fingers, hips, and other joints.

Other causes of joint noise may be the ligaments or tendons sliding across bumps on the bones. This is often the cause of the sound you hear when you crack your neck. If you joint feels like it “locks up” and you hear a noise, it may because something is caught between the joint surfaces. This is common with torn cartilage or a small piece of bone or cartilage that is loose in the joint. Arthritis also causes joint sounds, such as grinding when the joint is moved. The arthritis causes the joint surface to become rough and so grinding occurs when the arthritic joint is mobilized.

If you are having joint pain, especially with associated popping, please come by to see us for your free consultation. Just go to our website, http://www.balkmanclinic.com, and click on “Ready to get started with an appointment?”

Our legislature is about to decide on some very important health care issues. Here is a video from the American Chiropractic Association taped in early February. We want our readers to be informed about the issues. There is a proposal to cut almost 30% of medicare reimbursement. We will continue to update you on this as time goes on. Please feel free to leave your comments below.

Treating the symptom vs treating the underlying problem

Symptoms are the last thing to show up and the first thing to disappear

For most patients, this statement is true. The symptoms are why we go to the doctor. We seek some sort of help when the symptoms get bad enough we cannot stand it any longer. The symptoms that cause us to seek the help of a chiropractor may be a nagging ache, a sharp pain, a burning sensation or numbness, among many other things.

We tend to think the symptom is the problem

We think if we make the symptom go away, the underlying problem will go away. Think about this, when you have a headache, do you think, “I need to take some of my favorite pain reliever” or do you think, “I wonder why I have a headache. Is it my sinuses, is it my neck, is it stress related?” As you can see, it is important for us to try to find the underlying cause of the symptom and not just treat the symptom hoping the problem will resolve itself. Education is very important.

For Chiropractors, this symptom-treating mindset is difficult to overcome when talking to the patient. Patients need to be willing to look at a different way to treat their symptoms. Seeking the help of a chiropractor is one way. Being open minded about treatments and not always thinking taking a pill is the answer.

Readjusting the neck can get rid of that nagging headache that keeps coming back day after day. Realigning the lower spine can get rid of that pain in your right hip that has been there for months. Any sudden jolt or collision with a relatively immovable object can have an effect on the joints of the body. Symptoms may not occur until much later though so you have to be aware of this.

For many chiropractors, the practice of treating the symptoms and not the problem is hard to overcome, but with the help of blogs like this and other chiropractic promoting organizations, we will overcome it and help others live a healthier, less painful life.

Balkman Chiropractic Clinic. http://www.balkmanclinic.com

Subluxation of the Spine - What is it?

Chiropractic is at its most basic level defined as the correction and detection of vertebral subluxation.  What is a vertebral subluxation?  That’s a pseudomedical term used to describe a misaligned and malfunctioning vertebral segment.  The segment must fit certain criteria to determine it being “subluxated”.  The misaligned segment must have abnormal motion, there should be evidence of swelling or inflammation, and nerve irritation.  Understanding the complexity of this criteria requires unique training to properly locate, let alone properly correct. The spine is certainly a unique organ in many ways; its anatomy and physiology allow for the strange phenomenon that is subluxation (intervertebral disc).  There are further mechanical stressors unique to the human spine that allow for this phenomenon.  Our posture and body habits are certainly unique. One is hard pressed to name another living creature that walks on two legs and has fully usable upper extremities and not wings.  Further compound our unique build with strange activities, like sitting for hours and hours daily for years and years, throw in bizarre activities such as roller skating and football, and one can begin to understand that there just might be something to the vertebral subluxation theory.  Today’s focus, however; is to be on how a joint acquires the initial subluxation status… ie joint injury.

Chiropractic, and joint injury:

Joint injury is different from muscle injury in one major way.  Muscles have ample blood supply.  In a muscle, this blood supply brings a steady supply of necessary nutrients, and can remove waste products as needed.  Nothing special is required of the body for this to happen, in fact; this may happen better if the muscle is used less so as not to stretch or broaden the margin of injury…

Joints have a very poor blood supply.  Joints receive the vast majority of their nutrients via synovial fluid.  This fluid comes in and out of the joint via motion.  In an injured joint, normal motion is often disturbed. Should this happen, it is difficult for the joint to receive the appropriate nutrients, and to do away with waste products.  Restoring motion to an injured joint is of the utmost importance for proper healing.  Medicine has most certainly caught on to this phenomenon in recent years.  Rehabilitation for joint surgeries involves movement and use of the joint, usually within 24 hours of the procedure.  This all comes back to the idea that the joint needs motion for proper healing to take place.  This principle has been important since the inception of chiropractic.  Spinal joints are, perhaps, the most complex of joints because of the mechanics of the intervertebral disc.  The intervertebral disc is quite hearty, contrary to archaic misnomers such as slipped disc.  It functions much like a pivotal ball-bearing between each vertebra.  The vertebral “motor unit” as it is sometimes called, also has another joint in it.  The zygapophyseal or, facet joints, as they are more commonly called, are responsible for a small amount of movement, and for restricting excessive rotation.  They are less commonly implicated as problem causers in the spine; as these joints are much simpler in mechanical function and makeup, and are more similar to many other joints in the body in their structure.  The reason these spinal joints are more a focus in chiropractic than other joints in the body is because of their close relationship with the nervous system.  The spine houses the spinal cord, with a pair of nerve roots between each and every vertebral level.  If there is abnormal joint movement at a disc, or a facet the sluggish synovial fluid within the joint can lead to the release of inflammatory drainage right around a nerve root.  These noxious chemicals can irritate the nerve root and result in a variety of symptoms, most usually pain.

Locating these fixated vertebral segments, and inducing motion is the mainstay in chiropractic.  The ideal way to do this is to isolate and move the offending vertebra to a neutral position atop the segment below it.  Chiropractic is a science, so long as it is specific.  Once an appropriate adjustment to the right segment is made, the body is then able to do what it was designed to do, healing can begin.

The principle of joints requiring normal motion is applied to other joints in the body by many chiropractors, myself included.  It follows the idea that motion is required for proper health of the joint, of course, the most appropriate way to do this would again involve analysis to move the bones of the joint into a more normal/neutral positioning, setting the stage for healing.  There is nothing miraculous about the process, the healing will take time, and longstanding misalignment often will require follow-up care to encourage proper joint positioning, and maintain good joint spacing that promotes healing. Written by Dr Alan Alexander, DO.

Visit our website - http://www.balkmanclinic.com

How to set-up an ergonomically correct work area

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In this day and time, many people work from a desk for long hours with only minimal down time. They answer phones, type on computers, enter logs manually, order supplies. The list is endless and the issues arising from this are probably just as lengthy so I want to tell you about ergonomics and how it can make or break the probability of future back, neck and joint problems.

It is a new year, so let's all make an effort to do away with our old bad habits. We will begin with your work area. Since so much time is spent here, we need to make sure it is as comfortable as possible for you. Being more ergonomically correct means more comfort and less pain which should lead to a happier, more productive you.


First let's look at your seating. Do you cross your knees when you sit? Do you sit up straight? Do you use a lumbar pillow? Is your chair the right size for your body?

All of these questions are important. Crossing your knees when you sit can lead to back pain. Shoulders should be relaxed and your elbows should hang naturally and remain close to your body. A high back chair with arm rests is great support for your shoulder blades. The best choice is one that supports the lower back. If not, you should use a padded backrest designed for this purpose. Allow 1-3 inches between the edge of your chair seat and your knees.

Your thighs should not feel like the circulation to your legs is being cut off because of the lack of padding in your chair. Your hips and thighs should be well supported and should be parallel to the floor. Your knees should be at about the same height as your hips or a little lower and you should be able to place your feet fully on the floor. If not, use a foot stool. As you work, remember to put your feet slightly out in front of your knees - remember, no crossing your legs or ankles. Move your feet often.

You can lean back slightly, but be careful not to over do it. Your chair back should still support your shoulders while continuing to provide good lumbar support. Your computer screen must be at eye level so your head is level or bent forward slightly.

Once you have your workstation set up just the way you want it, you are ready to go. During the day, remember to take breaks. Stand and stretch. You should even stretch your fingers, hands, legs and arms. Stretch your fingers out as far as you can and then make a fist. Repeat this several times. Walk around periodically. This helps keep your mind fresh and your circulation flowing.

If you are experiencing discomfort or pain from your work habits, be sure to give us a call for your free consultation. 479-646-3984. Visit our website at http://www.BalkmanClinic.com.

Check out this video about choosing your desk chair