Back Pain: Second Most Reason People Visit a Doctor « Back To Action Chiropractic’s Blog

Tips to healthy living…

Can You Guess…
What is the Second Most Common Reason
People Visit a Physician?

Here’s the recent statistics: One third of American’s will suffer back pain this year. Back pain is now cited as the second most common reason people go to a Physician. Want to know what else is interesting? The majority of back pain is diagnosed with the advice to start taking various pain killing medication. This acts to disguise the pain temporarily which has the risk of causing further injury because it gives false confidence that you’re better… causing you to move and exert in certain ways that normally your body is telling you NOT to!

What the Research Tells Us

A study appeared recently in the journal Spine which took a look at different forms of treatment for back and neck pain. The national telephone survey of over 2,000 randomly selected Americans asked a series of questions on whether or not each respondent suffered from any forms of back or neck pain the previous year, and if so, what type of treatment he or she sought.

We were excited to see that chiropractic was the most-used complementary therapy in this study, with 20% of back or neck pain sufferers seeking chiropractic care. Overall, complementary medicine was used more than conventional medicine (54% vs. 37%, respectively). Perhaps more importantly, chiropractic was considered more helpful than conventional medicine. Over 60% of sufferers considered chiropractic “very helpful” for treating back and neck pain, compared to 27% for conventional providers.

629 Million Visits!

The authors of this study estimate that 628 million visits were made to complementary therapy providers in 1997, a number that increases every year. A multitude of studies have shown that chiropractic and other alternative therapies, such as massage, can be highly effective for musculoskeletal pain. Chiropractic care is safe & effective. A healthy spine allows you to be and do your best by protecting the vital nervous systems link between your brain and your body! If you’ve been experiencing pain for 48 hours or longer, I suggest calling us immediately at (425) 670-2600 or schedule an appointment here, so we can take a look at your changed condition.

Dr. Jerry Dreessen and Dr. Jason Gilmore

Back To Action Chiropractic

Fitness: Is cleaning the house considered exercise?

“I cleaned the house. That’s exercise, right?”

Ah, those New Year’s Resolutions are here! Estimates speculate that losing weight tops the list. I often joke with my significant other that cleaning the house counts as exercise. But you might be surprised to discover… it’s partially true. (Yeah!)
All body movement counts as exercise. That includes the simple and sublime activities of everyday life that we all do. Like cleaning, mowing the grass, and giving the kids a piggyback ride.
The good news is so many of us spend untold hours outside working around the house, both inside and out! If you’re like me, you automatically discount those activities because they don’t fall into the traditional “exercise” mold that was ingrained into our heads when we were kids in gym class. But stop and think for a minute: How do you feel after a day in the yard? Tired? Maybe a few muscle aches?
Now ask yourself how you feel after running, working out or playing a game of hoops. I bet it’s not much different.

A few fascinating facts about burning calories from everyday chores: Scrubbing floors burns 6.2 calories a minute! Washing clothes burns around 4 calories a minute! Even grocery shopping counts at 3.8 calories for every minute behind a shopping cart.

Good nutrition doesn’t have to cost a lot!

Investing in good health (which includes chiropractic care) is cheap compared to being sick and unwell. Just ask anyone in the hospital. You have the power to make it happen. Right now. If you’d like some help achieving vibrant health and energy, please call our office (425) 670-2600 to schedule an appointment. Quite bluntly, smart patients know the value of investing in themselves and by that I mean a WELLNESS APPROACH to care. Now is the perfect time to begin! If not now, then when??

If you’d like to learn more about proper nutrition, please call us!
Dr. Jerry Dreessen and Dr. Jason Gilmore

Mattresses: How Important Is The Mattress You Use When It Comes To Back Problems?

I’m proud to say that because our patients at Back To Action get “educated” on how to keep back pain at bay, that many of them lift carefully… they exercise… and most visit either Dr. Dreessen or Dr. Gilmore regularly. Yet for some they discover that their mattress is a frequent culprit in triggering back pain. You might be thinking, “what next doc??!”

Why Your Mattress Can Have a Negative Impact on Back Health:

No, I do not own stock in a mattress company! But I’ve seen how a 20-year old mattress can wreak havoc on a person’s back. If you think about it, we spend 8 hours a day on our mattress. You can imagine the negative impact of a truly inferior mattress and how it can make you feel!

Let me tell you about a case history: I have a patient who I’d gotten to know quite well. Working together we’ve made great progress and he is pain-free most of the time… but… a while ago he told me his back had started to bother him again. The culprit? By a process of elimination we discovered it was…
His Mattress!

He had purchased his mattress more than 15 years earlier. As he describes it, “He was poor as a church mouse at that time.” Translation: He bought an inexpensive bed. For many years Paul’s bed served him fine but at a certain point it developed a sway in the middle and when he sat on the edge he slid off. Time for a new bed!

The trick is to find a quality mattress and box spring that molds to the spine. Fortunately, there are more choices than ever and many companies manufacture bedding expressly designed for people with bad backs. Shop around and sample as many beds as you can. Check the phone book for local companies that manufacture custom bedding. It may be worth the investment. Or ask our opinion and we can direct you to an effective mattress!

Chiropractic care is safe & effective. A healthy spine allows you to be and do your best by protecting the vital nervous systems link between your brain and your body! If you’ve been experiencing pain for 48 hours or longer, I suggest calling us to schedule an appointment immediately so we can take a look at your changed condition.

Dr. Jerry Dreessen and Dr. Jason Gilmore