Welcome to our health newsletter. It is meant to entertain, inform, and even inspire you to better health. Help others by sharing your thoughts and experience. They will thank you profusely.
One grandmother is worth two MDs. - Robert Mendelsohn, MD"
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Oh, Those Poor Feet!
- Medication Errors Causing Deaths?
- Disc Surgery - Wait?
- Doctor's Corner - Cash/Wellness Plans
Oh, Those Poor Feet! More and more people are complaining of sore
feet. Unfortunately, as we get older and trying to get our exercise by walking, our feet change, get tired faster and
break down, resulting in flat feet or pain on the underside of the heel (plantar fasciitis). One example is my wife and
patient, Sherree'. Here is her story:
About a year ago I started suffering burning pain around my heel and shooting up my leg over the ankle bone. Within a
couple of weeks pain was in both feet. It got so bad I was literally crying when I got out of bed in the mornings. My
Chiropractor/husband said, “I need to fit you with Step Forward
Orthotics”, they will really help!
Sometimes though, we wives THINK we know best and since the pain was so bad I opted to go to the Podiatrist. He gave
me cortisone shots in my heels and had me walk across a computerized screen (to take super precise images of my feet), fitted
me with orthotics, showed me some stretches, and sent me home. My new orthotics came in. I wore them faithfully! BUT I STILL
HURT! I went back to the Podiatrist who gave me more shots and told me I may have to have surgery.
Being deathly afraid of the “S” word, plus having spent $560.00, I decided to suffer through it. However, my
chiropractic doctor/husband said to me in a stern voice - “I AM FITTING YOU WITH MY ORTHOTICS AND YOU NEED TO WEAR THEM!”
I said, “OK". And they just cost $170.00, which was a lot less than I had already spent. Initially they were a little
hard to use (like walking on a golf ball), but after being in pain for several months I gave it a chance.
Within four days I had no pain! IT WAS A MIRACLE! Initially I had to wear the orthotics in my shoes all the
time, just switching them from one pair of shoes to the another. Now I wear sandals again (with no orthotics) and switch back
to shoes with the orthotics and still no pain! If this story could possibly help anyone out there who is suffering
then I will have done my good deed for the day! (Update - recently two more patients had
similar stories with the younger one adapting fast and loving the orthotics while the older one needing ultrasound treatments to help reduce
the inflammation/pain before she could walk comfortably again.)
Medication Errors Causing Deaths? According to Science Daily, January 6, 2005, deaths attributed to medication errors rise by as much as 25 percent above normal in the first few days of every month. This study is the first to document a beginning-of-the-month boost in deaths associated with mistakes in prescription drugs. The primary culprit behind these death rates = Beginning-of-the-month increase in pharmacy workloads resulting in increased errors. To offer a further explanation of this occurrence, one sociologist stated, "Government assistance payments to the old, sick and the poor are typically received at the beginning of each month. Because of this, there is a beginning-of-the-month spike in purchases of prescription medications." However, further findings show that a small number (3%) of the deaths were from adverse effects of the right drug taken at the right dose, while the majority of deaths (97 percent) resulted from wrong dose given/taken, accidental overdose, or drug taken inadvertently. It was also discovered that the beginning-of-the-month spike in deaths was apparent in the young and well as in the elderly and poor, indicating the problem is partially due to pharmacy error. (Suggest everyone check accuracy of their prescriptions at beginning of each month or have it filled mid-month.)
Disc Surgery? Wait? - This study published a few years ago is worth presenting again due to it's importance. According to the respected medical journal, Spine 21(245):45s-56s, over 90% of people with disc herniations will get better without surgery by using "conservative" care, such as chiropractic. Plus MRI (magnetic resonance image) scans showed disc herniations in approximately 20% of people with no symptoms at all! For those with symptoms they were told they must get back surgery. However, the paper stated: "Over time, most patients with disc herniations recover with or without surgery, so that outcomes after five years are similar when surgical and non-surgical approaches are compared..." In other words disc surgery could be refused by nearly all patients with disc herniations and the ultimate outcome would be no different. But there's more: The failure of back surgery in so many cases is now called by a special name: Failed Back Surgery Syndrome (FBSS). There are approximately 600,000 back surgeries performed per year with about a 50% failure rate. (Suggestion, do not wait until a disc becomes swollen, painful, and deteriorated before exploring chiropractic care. One needs to prevent deterioration and herniation. Chiropractic Doctors have even helped people relieve the pain and frustration of failed back surgery (yes, you can receive gentle chiropractic care here even after spinal surgery) and even prevent future operations due to added stress to discs above and below the surgical area. If you know anyone, including yourself, facing spinal surgery please have them call us to discuss the low-force chiropractic approach.)
DOCTOR’S
CORNER: Cash/Wellness Plans - How you noticed how high medical insurance is,
how much less they cover, and the high deductibles necessary to be somewhat
affordable? I have. Here is the solution - head off illnesses from
starting by doing a prevention program. Yes, that does mean to get spinal
checkups before hurting. Since this has become popular over the many years my practice
now is mostly cash paying patients for their chronic conditions in the hope to prevent acute
debilitating ones. To help and encourage this my office offers a 20-30% (50% for buddies) cash discount
by passing the minimal accounting and staff savings to those who want it.
Doesn't this sound better than developing pain/disease just before or during a
vacation or an important job? (Call us today.)
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22762 Aspan St, Suite 200, Lake Forest, CA 92630-1604 : 949-770-6922
Email: drburdi@pacbell.net; Website:
http://burdichiro.com
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