I don't know how some doctors do it. Most oncologists have never had cancer. Most orthopedic surgeons have never gone under the knife. Few therapists have ever fought overseas and experienced post traumatic stress disorder. It must be hard to have empathy if you've never experienced the condition for yourself.
Steroid injections are a very commonly used tool in the medical community for dealing with lower back pain, but does this seemingly safe practice have a downside? Well, according to a recent study, steroid injections may pose an increased risk of vertebral fracture in older adults. In other words, a broken back.
Stain drugs are some of the most popular (and profitable) drugs of the modern world. They net $19 billion annually in the United States alone. The misguided notion that blood cholesterol levels are the end-all be-all predictor of heart disease has been pushed on the American people for decades. I will not address this issue in this post (although there are many great resources on this topic). Instead, I would like to cover a “not-so-rare” side effect statin drug users encounter that is commonly seen in a chiropractor’s practice: muscle pain.
Norton Shores Michigan Chiropractor - By now, just about everybody has heard about the outbreak of a rare form of fungal meningitis that was caused by a “bad batch” of steroid injections. These injections are commonly used in patients for the treatment of back pain. This outbreak occurred back in September of 2012 and resulted in more than 400 cases of meningitis nationwide, 32 of which died from the illness. Michigan led the way with more than 230 cases and 10 deaths.
Norton Shores Michigan Chiropractor - A 43 year old female came in with severe lower back pain. She had been experiencing “tolerable” back pain for years but it got much more debilitating recently. She was totally unable to work or sleep. The lack of both had her very frustrated, irritated, and depressed. She was flying off the handle at loved ones for no reason at all and had completely lost her ambition for the things she previously held dear. And although her situation got more dire, her medical doctor’s treatment for her dysfunctional back never changed: painkillers and muscle relaxers.After two weeks of misery, she had finally had enough and came into Zehr Chiropractic for treatment. After getting her Atlas and pelvis adjusted over the the past two weeks, she is doing much better. She’s sleeping better, her mood is better, and she is easing herself back into her work activities. This morning she asked me if she could get a copy of her x-rays to show her MD. She said,“I just want to show him the x-rays of my spine and ask him how the pills he kept prescribing me was supposed to fix this!”