Therapeutic laser for pain relief and tissue healing has become a ‘go-to’ alternative treatment modality for chronic pain syndromes in our chiropractic clinic in Lakewood.

In fact, it’s hard to imagine practicing without it. I’ve used it with great success for the treatment of acute injuries such as recently sprained ankles, as well as chronic conditions like low back disc herniations and carpal tunnel syndrome.

As a chiropractor and complimentary and alternative practitioner, I’m always to willing to research and? explore new natural healing methods. Nothing is stopping medical doctors from doing the same but it’s peculiar how many just don’t.

So, while most of mainstream medicine remains on the sidelines, there are some practitioners of sports medicine, who are highly motivated to find new ways to heal soft-tissue injuries by using such treatments as laser therapy.

Here’s an interesting story I found that flew under the radar regarding sports injuries and laser therapy…

In the week before the Super Bowl, Boston based registered nurse Ellen Spicuzza treated more than 10 Patriot players with laser therapy for soft tissue injuries.

“A couple of days prior to the Super Bowl weekend, I treated Patriot wide receiver David Givens, who had a ‘locked-up’ hamstring,” she said. She applied laser therapy over?the “belly” of his hamstring muscle for about five minutes, she said.

“The laser released it.” Spicuzza, an independent nurse/physical therapist in Boston, usually treats Patriot players’ injuries with medical massage. For the Super Bowl, she, for the first time, used low level laser therapy on the athletes’ most troublesome pain spots.

Spicuzza was skeptical before being introduced to laser therapy, “I am not into gimmicks,” she said.?“I didn’t think it would help.” She changed her mind after seeing how fast the laser therapy expedited healing of some of the players’ pain and soreness. “I don’t think the improved ?recoveries were a coincidence,” Spicuzza said. “It did help. I used it on a flared-up sciatic nerve, and the player had relief soon after treatment.”

What will really catch on, whether it’s in the NFL or the local PTA, is the fact that therapeutic laser not only relieves pain but speeds up healing time in a number of tough to treat conditions…naturally.

Looking for a natural treatment for insomnia? You’re not alone. As many as 15% of Americans suffer from chronic insomnia. A cure for sleeplessness is one goal worth pursuing when it comes to wellness.

When obtained, a remedy for restful sleep can be a magical form of holistic medicine.

Sleeping well is key to living with less pain and having a better life.

In my clinic we use neurotransmitter therapy to help with chronic insomnia. It can be remarkably effective. It’s natural (it must be for me to use it ) and it addresses one of the true causes of insomnia- depletion of normal neurotransmitter levels. The key is to help the body obtain healthy levels of two very important master hormones- serotonin and dopamine.

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Chiropractic and ear infections? Here’s a small collection of interesting research on ear infections (Otitis media).

From a Postgraduate Medicine, Oct. ’87, review article by Moshe Frenkel, M.D., Acute Otitis Media; Does Therapy Alter its Course?:

Eichenwald (1985): no bacterial cause can be identified in 1/3 of cases; spontaneous resolution in 60% within ten days of onset

Fry (1958): 85% of those not receiving antibiotics had complete resolution; no differences in recurrence or hearing loss.

Townsend (1980): study showed that a placebo-treated group had no greater incidence of recurrence, or of middle-ear effusion than an antibiotic-treated group.

Van Buchem (1981):  children with symptomatic treatment alone did as well as those treated with antibiotics and/or myringotomy (ear tubes); no differences were noted in effectiveness of pain reduction, hearing levels, or incidence of complications.

Van Buchem (1985):  in a large-scale study of 4,860 children, 90% recovered with “minimal” treatment (nose drops and analgesics)

OTHER SOURCES:

Dr. E. Cantekin did a study of amoxicillin treatment of otitis media and fund that it was not effective for secretory otitis media (fluid behind the eardrum.)  He also found that the antibiotics Pediazole and ceflaclor were not effective.  (JAMA, Dec.  1991)

A number of recent studies have shown that for earaches, 2, 4, 5, and 7-day courses of treatment with antibiotics were just as effective as the usual 10-day course, when effective at all. (Schmidt, Beyond Antibiotics, 1993, p. 29)

A 1974 study showed that children with acute otitis media receiving antibiotics within the first few days of the illness had up to 2.9 times more recurrence that those in whom antibiotic use was delayed or avoided.  (Diamant, Arch Otolayrngol, 1974)

A 1991 article in the AMA Journal stated that children with chronic earaches who received antibiotics experienced two to six times more recurrent middle ear fluid that those receiving placebo.  (Cantekin et al, JAMA, 1991, 266(23)

A two-year study of myringotomy (surgical incision of the tympanum) and tymapanostomy (ear tubes) found that they did not alter the long-term course of otitis media; eardrum scars and tympanum thickening were 3X more frequent in the group receiving tubes. (J Laryngol. Otol. 86:881-888, 1972)

Many chiropractors and natural health doctors experts feel that recurrent upper respiratory infections, including otitis media, may be the result of allergies, including food allergies and intolerance.  Cow’s milk is the most frequently-mentioned allergen.  An ENT specialist in Florida who exclusively does tympanostomies (ear tubes) first puts all patients referred to him on a diet free of dairy products.  As a result, he claims three-fourths of them never need the tubes.  (cited in Schmidt, Beyond Antibiotics,  1993, p. 76)

Below are some great books to help you understand more about your options in helping childhood ear infections.

As a natural doctor and chiropractor, an important theory I adhere to holds that the nervous system is the ultimate controller of the human immune system, as it is of all body systems.

How does that apply to holistic chiropractic treatment?

The disruption of the nervous system by subluxation complex (involving joints, muscles and nerves which surround nervous system tissue) diminishes the body’s ability to react at peak efficiency to the presence of microbes or other physiological, emotional and/or chemical stresses, which can then weaken the body’s resistance, making it more susceptible to infection.

This is referred to as the neurodystrophic (loss of ‘fine tuning’ of the nervous system) hypothesis.

The conventional wisdom of most deems this “alternative health.” To me it should be called “common sense.”

Germs are not dumb, they go where there are ‘easy pickings’ to survive.

A weakened ‘host’ is the perfect place to set up camp.

As a wellness chiropractor and an alternative health doctor I’m aware that many other things influence human resistance, including nutrition, emotional stress, genetic factors, activity levels, even personal hygiene.

These things shouldn’t just be illogically dismissed by the chiropractor, alternative doctors, the physician or any other health professionals.

To pretend they aren’t important is folly. Inquiring about these factors and partnering with the patient to help ‘cover all bases’ is truly holistic care.

If I hypothetically asked you to list the 3 most important things in your life, what would they be?

Wait, this shouldn’t be hypothetical, let’s play for real. What are they?

Write them down before you read on…

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