Interactive Chiropractic Websites

Posted on February 3, 2011 by rodcampbell

As usual, we have something really cool in store for our clients:

ChiroHosting is about to launch the a groundbreaking 3D Interactive Spine which will include extensive interactivity, educational content, and cutting-edge graphics. The new 3D anatomy simulator will be available to all of our clients at no extra cost and will rival modeling tools that usually cost several thousand dollars. Best of all, the 3D simulator will be available directly off our chiropractic websites! We’ve streamlined the software so much that it streams beautifully off the web and works on every major web browser and computer system. The 3D Interactive Spine is undergoing a final round of polish and should be available in the next 30-60 days!

Posted in chiropractic website | Tagged | 4 Comments

Chiropractic Website Quality

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Michael Melton

A high quality chiropractic website doesn’t get caught up on all the bells and whistles- the spinning 3D spines, the endless links to generic content, or the cheesy intro videos. It’s easy for chiropractors to lose sight of their target audience: people who are suffering. Imagine you’re dealing with debilitating sciatica pain and you’ve just read an article about how chiropractic can be an effective treatment. Your first move will be to go to Google and search for a chiropractic website in your area. You’ll probably click on the first three websites and you’ll choose the doctor who appears most professional, personable, and affordable. If you go to a chiropractic website and can’t this core information because of all the spinning junk and random articles, you’ll leave that site and try the next chiropractor.

Well designed chiropractic websites contain clear, concise information about what the clinic has to offer and what differentiates them from their competitors. Extremely successful chiropractic websites tell a compelling story about who they are, why they care, and what differentiates them. Being remarkable is the best way to increase conversion rates on your website and drive more patients to your office.

Your website should have lots of white space, zero unnecessary text, easily identifiable images, and clean design with no more than 3 primary colors. The #1 goal of website design is to clearly convey important information – if your website isn’t conveying that information because of glitzy design elements, then you have a bad website and you’re losing business. You should also pay close attention to the text on your site. Avoid long paragraphs, orphan/widow words, and overly complex language. These mistakes will make the pages look cluttered and will decrease readability. You should also avoid highlighting or bolding keywords – some “SEO Experts” claim that this imparts a quantifiable search engine benefit but this has never been reliably tested and it’s not worth losing clients over.

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Spinal Fractures Often Overlooked

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Michael Melton

As the baby boomer generation ages, older patients are becoming a larger portion of the patient mix at chiropractic offices. But chiropractors who treat older patients with back pain need to be vigilant about the additional risks posed by osteoporosis. Patients over 50 with osteoporosis are at a higher risk of incurring spinal fractures, and as a report released this month by the International Osteoporosis Foundation indicates, these serious fractures go undiagnosed in as many as 65% of cases worldwide. Often, the pain symptoms associated with the fracture are mistaken for arthritis, or other types of back pain, but if undetected they can lead to serious complications down the road, and increase the risk of additional fractures.

Chiropractors should be aware of the symptoms of spinal fractures, which include a stooped back, height reduction, and sudden, severe back pain. The report “The Breaking Spine” was written by researchers from the University of California and Harvard Medical School.

Posted in Back Pain | 6 Comments

Too Many CT Scans for Headache Patients?

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Michael Melton

A new study published online this week in The American Journal of Medicine contends that headache patients are undergoing too many CT scans. Researchers from Canada’s Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences reviewed the circumstances of nearly 4,000 CT scans ordered in Ontario in a single year, and found that a quarter of all scans were requested to evaluate patients with headaches. However, of those 623 scans, only 2% revealed anything that was helpful in determining the cause of the patient’s symptoms.

This reliance on a service that is often ineffective for diagnosis is worrisome, because other research has raised questions about the health risks posed by radiation exposure during CT scans. The investigators in this study noted that 28% of the patients had undergone multiple CT scans, many ordered by doctors other than their primary physician, and some within short time periods.

The researchers raise the question of whether overuse of CT scans for headache is unnecessarily exposing patients to an increased risk of cancer, and they conclude that health professions should avoid the use of CT scans in most headache cases.

Spinal manipulation and chiropractic has been found to be effective for treating certain types of headache. Dr. Kari Keller, a chiropractor in Mascoutah, Il, has some helpful information on her site for those who want to learn more.

Posted in Headaches | 2 Comments

Sweet Solution for Pain

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Michael Melton

Chiropractors treating patients with chronic pain know there often is no simple solution to these often complicated conditions. Figuring out just what combination of therapies is effective has become an issue of much debate. The Wall Street Journal ran an article this week looking into the science and medical opinions surrounding prolotherapy, a treatment that involves injecting a syringe-worth of sugar water (or other liquid) into pain areas to prompt the body’s healing mechanism. As the article explains:

The idea is, paradoxically, to create a minor injury to stimulate a healing response. Some doctors scoff at prolotherapy and many insurers won’t cover it. But the procedure is being performed by a growing number of physicians, and has even gained adherents at institutions such as the Mayo Clinic and Harvard Medical School.

Many practitioners of prolotherapy combine that treatment with chiropractic, and results have been shown to improve when used in conjunction with spinal manipulation. This customized approach, however, complicates the picture when researchers try to gauge the treatment’s effectiveness. Like many complementary medical practices, it can be difficult to isolate prolotherapy into the format of a proper randomized clinical trial, and without this the treatment cannot gain credibility in the wider medical community, despite anecdotal evidence of its effectiveness.

For more information on the chiropractic approach to chronic pain treatment, check out this round of articles from our archives on the site of Dr. David Cook who practices in Richland, WA.

Posted in Back Pain, Elbow Pain, Shoulder Pain | 2 Comments

Fibromyalgia Linked to Restless Leg Syndrome

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Michael Melton

For people suffering from fibromyalgia, the symptoms associated with the condition are often exacerbated by chronic insomnia. A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine sheds some light on a second condition that could be contributing to sleep difficulties, and the findings could help to untangle the knot of symptoms that plague patients with fibromyalgia.

Restless leg syndrome is a neurological disorder that causes uncontrollable throbbing sensations in the legs that is temporarily relieved by moving the legs. The symptoms often intensify at night, and patients with RLS may have difficulty sleeping. Researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle looked into the prevalence of RLS in patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia and compared the rates with an otherwise healthy control group.  They found that fibromyalgia patients were 11 times more likely to also experience RLS than their peers.

As we noted in a previous post, researchers are only beginning to understand the neurological issues underlying fibromyalgia. The results suggest that chiropractors who treat patients with fibromyalgia may need to consider whether RLS is also contributing to their patient’s discomfort. By addressing the symptoms of RLS, fibromyalgia patients may be better able to sleep, and see more success with other areas of treatment.

Posted in Chiropractic Studies, Fibromyalgia, Restless Leg Syndrome | Leave a comment

Understanding the Mechanics of Neck Pain

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Michael Melton

Neck pain affects millions of people a year, and it is a leading reason why patients visit a chiropractor. Whether the symptoms are caused by a traumatic injury, from a car crash or other accident, or whether it is chronic pain from another source can influence the course of treatment chosen by the chiropractor.  However, our understanding of the way neck movement cause pain is still incomplete, as is seen in a study we cover this week in a new article.

Researchers in Sweden looked into the relationship between rapid neck movements and impacts on sensorimotor functions in patients with chronic neck pain. The study has some intriguing findings that could be useful for shaping treatment plans. Take a look at the complete article on the website of chiropractor Dr. Bruce Watson in Campbell, CA.

Posted in Chiropractic Studies, Neck Pain | 2 Comments

Memo From Your Chair: Get Up!

Posted on October 8, 2010 by Michael Melton

Those of us who spend long days working on computers (blogging about chiropractic studies, for example) tend to have an overdependent relationship with our office chairs. Sure, we know we should get up and walk around, and change our posture regularly to avoid strain and back pain, but it’s easy to let hours go by, slouched at an angle that makes chiropractors cringe.

Thankfully, a new office chair from Germany is poised to help us help ourselves. The Intelli Chair, developed by inventors at Bielefeld University, is embedded with touch-sensitive sensors that detect how the worker is sitting and how long she has been in that position. If the sitter gets out of line, a noise from the chair  alerts her that it is time to straighten up or go for a walk.

Even if you don’t have a chair to order you around, you can still make an effort to get out of your seat once in a while. Here is a link to some of our simple exercise and stretching videos, courtesy of January Chiropractic in Oklahoma City, OK.

Posted in Back Pain, Occupational pain, Products | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Study Clarifies the Neurological Symptoms of Fibromyalgia

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Michael Melton

Although awareness about the chronic pain syndrome fibromyalgia is increasing, a lack of knowledge about its root causes, and a lack of clarity about what defines the condition, means patients too often struggle for years before realizing that the range of health issues they have experienced are linked under a single umbrella. Because of the variety of symptoms that present in cases of fibromyalgia–including headaches, fatigue, joint pain, and more–it can take up to five years before a patient is properly diagnosed. A data analysis presented at meeting this year of the American Pain Society attempted to draw out the association between fibromyalgia and various neurological issues.

The study drew on data collected by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer from over 2,000 patients with chronic fibromyalgia involved four double-blind clinical trials during the development of the fibromyalgia drug pregabalin. The researchers found that the patients experienced a range of overlapping neurological and other health issues:

  • 45% reported some kind of neurological condition, including headache, dizziness, vertigo, paresthesis, restless leg syndrome, or muscle spasms
  • 37% experience severe headaches–migraine, cluster, tension, or vascular
  • 37% reported allergies or drug sensitivities
  • 26% experience acid reflux
  • 25% suffer from insomnia
  • 23% reported depression
  • 20% reported irritable bowel syndrome
  • 12% also suffer from asthma

By linking the frequency of certain neurological issues in patients with fibromyalgia, the findings might be helpful to primary care providers and other health providers, including chiropractors, who may be approached by a patient with undiagnosed fibromyalgia for help dealing with one or more of these symptoms. Understanding how frequently these ailments are grouped will hopefully reduce the amount of time before diagnoses.

For more information on this topic, Dr. Steven Shapiro in Scarsdale, NY has some helpful information on his site about how chiropractors treat fibromyalgia.

Posted in Fibromyalgia | Tagged | 1 Comment

Carrying Items on Your Head Leads to Neck Pain

Posted on October 5, 2010 by Michael Melton

Given recent reports on the strain caused by heavy backpacks, you might be looking for an alternate way to schlep your belongings around. One time-honored option used in many cultures is to carry items on the head.

But despite what they may have told you in finishing school, carrying items on your head may not be the most efficient mode of transport, according to a new study. A team of scientists working in South Africa and Scotland set out to test whether a small previous study that seemed to recommend head-loading could be replicated with a larger sample. Carrying heavy loads on your head certainly frees up your arms for other uses, but as the researchers discovered, it no more efficient than carrying weight on your back and can lead to neck pain.

In South Africa, the team analyzed the movement and weight-bearing of 24 Xhosa women–13 of whom had over 10 years of experience carrying loads on their heads and 11 of whom had no previous experience. The women walked on a treadmill while carrying either no weight, weight on their back, or weight on their heads. They compared these results with those observed in 9 British women serving with the British Territorial Army who were experienced in carrying heavy loads in backpacks.

All of the women used roughly the same amount of energy, regardless of which transport mode they tried. Carrying items on the head was considered the most difficult option by the participants, and did not seem to get any easier with experience. In addition, the more experienced head-carriers reported experiencing neck pain related to the weight. Head-carrying was a preferred mode of transport over carrying things by hand only in areas where the terrain was especially difficult.

The research team is currently studying whether head-carrying may lead to long-term damage to the neck. For more information about how a chiropractor can help your posture without making you carry anything on your head, check out this article from our archives on the site of Dr. Patrick Laubach in Chino Hills, CA.

Posted in Neck Pain | 1 Comment