Patient Feedback--Essential to Medicare

    As a doctor serving Medicare patients, it is incumbent upon me to make sure I have careful, complete documentation for every patient visit. This includes detailing the patient’s response to the treatment plan.

Medicare wants to know whether the treatment plan is working, or not, and they want the patient to report whether they feel better, whether their pain is less or worse or unchanged, and what daily activities of their life they can do better, or still can’t do, as treatment progresses.

At every office visit, my Medicare patients fill out a brief form reporting all this.

What is Regenerative Agriculture?

“Just transitioning 10 percent of agricultural production to best practice regenerative systems will sequester enough CO₂ to reverse climate change 

and restore the global climate.” 

 Reversing Climate Change through Regenerative Agriculture - Regeneration International

Regenerative Agriculture uses farming and grazing methods that rebuild the soil’s organic matter, restore soil biodiversity (organisms and microorganisms), sequester more carbon in soil, and increase the amount of water the soil can hold.

It’s done by:

---disturbing the soil as little as possible; aka “no-till” farming. No plowing, which disturbs healthy soil fungi & microorganisms & increases erosion,

---cover crops, composting, & crop rotations to feed nutrients into soil,

---managed grazing to stimulate plant growth & increase soil fertility. 

Learn more here:   www.regenerationinternational.org/why-regenerative-agriculture/

Nerve Impingement

Something that “impinges” a nerve is something that---usually negatively---affects the nerve. Common results of nerve impingement are numbness, tingling, pain, hyperesthesia (excessive, or pronounced, sensation), or hypesthesia (diminished sensation). 

Often nerve impingement is conceptualized as pressure on a nerve, but there are also other kinds of mechanical impingement. Abrasion, stretching, twisting are some examples. Temperature changes or chemical impingement are also possible.

In my practice, the goal of relieving pain usually involves relieving mechanical nerve impingement, accomplished by careful, gentle, precise adjustments with the Activator instrument.

Managing Scoliosis

  For scoliosis (a lateral spinal curvature), one of the best self-care techniques is a special yoga designed by Elise Miller, a Palo Alto, CA yoga teacher who herself has a severe scoliotic curve in her spine  https://yogaforscoliosis.com. Elise developed this yoga as a way to manage her own discomfort, and now teaches it, as well as training other yoga instructors how to do this work. 

Santa Cruz is fortunate to have a local teacher who is certified in Yoga for Scoliosis, Karyn Bristol at Yoga Within  www.yogawithkaryn.net 

On March 30, 2019, Elise will be at Karyn’s Aptos studio www.yogawithin.com/events  and there will be an afternoon session of Yoga for Scoliosis.

In my practice, with scoliosis patients, balancing their pelvis and spine is an important first step, and then regular, intermittent full-body balancing to encourage stabilization.  As an adjunct to my chiropractic care, I then refer these patients for Yoga for Scoliosis. 

A Twisted Tibia

The knee is a hinge joint, meant mainly to move back and forth in one geometric plane. It will accommodate only minimal medial or lateral torquing (circular, or twisting, back-and-forth movement).

Torquing, or twisting, is a common cause of injury to the knee. Twisting the lower extremity on a “planted” foot, while one’s body weight is bearing on the foot, can torque the knee past its tolerance. Pain and inability to bear weight on the knee after this kind of injury often bring patients into my office.

        Usually, the tibia is most severely affected, as well as the kneecap, but the fibula, as well as the femur may also need adjusting.

I have specific, precise, and comfortable adjustments to alleviate this problem, returning the involved knee to its normal articulation and relieving the pain.

Doorway or Corner? Which is Better?

 Patients are frequently advised by other caregivers to stretch the front of their upper body / arms / shoulders / chest by standing in a doorway, placing the hands out on the door frames on each side, and leaning forward.

This will effectively give a good stretch, but I have found that people can easily overstretch due to loosing their balance, lack of control, or over-enthusiasm, and end up hurting themselves.

Instead, I advise my patients to stand facing a corner, place their hands on the walls on both sides, and lean into the corner. I have them change the height of their hands, up and down, which effects the stretch in slightly different parts of the chest, shoulders, and arms. Changing the distance from the feet to the corner can lessen or increase the stretch.

This is a safer way to do this stretch; patients are much less likely to hurt themselves.

Bone Broths

  Nutrient-rich bone broths were traditionally prepared by our mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers as an inexpensive way to support the health of their families. 

Bone broth, rich in absorbable calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, & other trace minerals, is made by slowly boiling bones (preferably organic), for up to 12 hours in water slightly acidified by addition of vinegar.   

Including attached cartilage helps add to collagen content in the broth. The fats in bone broth contribute to the health of our intestinal tract, thus helping the absorption of minerals in the broth. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, bone broth nourishes the kidneys, supports the vital essence (chi) and builds blood.  http://nourishedkitchen.com/bone-broths-adrenals-bones-teeth/ 

Here is how to make Rich Bone Broth:

Bones, with cartilage, from organic chicken, turkey, or beef 

2 - 3 quarts filtered water, enough to generously cover the bones

2 Tablespoons cider vinegar

Bring to boil, then reduce heat & simmer, lid on, for at least 6, & up to 12 hours, adding water periodically as it cooks down

Prior to about the last hour of cooking, add, for flavor:

1 carrot

1 stalk of celery

1 onion, chopped

2 - 3 cloves of garlic, whole or chopped

Salt & pepper to taste

Seasoning herbs (your preference; you can make a bouquet garni of thyme, oregano, sage, etc.)

Cool, then strain into portions for the freezer & / or refrigerator