Functional Impairment

     How is your condition affecting your ability to function in your life activities? 

     This is now the standard criterion used to determine a course of care, and how long that care will be covered by health insurance. 

     Doctors, Physical Therapists, and other caregivers are expected to measure patient status and effectiveness of their treatment plan by “Outcome Measures”----tools that reflect how well the patient is returning to normal life functioning.

Posture - Induced Headache

     “Craning” the neck to look upward toward a TV or computer monitor, or tilting the head backward to see a monitor through the near-focus part of bifocals, is a common cause of headache. 

     This posture causes the occiput (the bone across the back of the head, just above the spine) to be stressed inferiorly. This inferiority may be more on one side or the other (unilateral) or global (bilateral). 

     When I see this in patients in my office, it  is often in combination with a superiority of the back part of the second cervical vertebra, which makes the headache even worse.

     My Activator Chiropractic Method has focused, precise adjustments that correct the problems without discomfort to the patient, and I offer ergonomic counseling to keep it from happening again.   

New Medicare Allowances

Medicare has increased allowances for Chiropractic care of the spine for 2018. This good news means smaller copays, or more money back from Medicare if patients pay at time of service.

In my office, all patients pay at the time of visit, including Medicare patients. I report the diagnoses and services to Medicare, and Medicare then reimburses the patient directly.   

Homeless Garden, Santa Cruz

Now in its 28th year of providing “job training, transitional employment, and support services” to homeless people in an organic urban farm setting, the Santa Cruz Homeless Garden Project is a successful, inspirational prototype for helping people lift themselves out of homelessness.

New work skills develop in the healing process of growing organic foods, social relationships are built with other workers & volunteers, and self esteem is nurtured by producing and sharing healthy foods.

Workers and volunteers enjoy 4 hot meals a week together from the garden. Customers can shop the Garden’s bounty at the Farmstand, which is open Tuesday - Sunday, 10 - 4, or sign up to get regular food boxes from the Garden. 

     To learn more, volunteer, or find out how to visit the Garden, go to: http://www.homelessgardenproject.org/index.php   

Kinematic Chain

      The shoulder, arm, wrist and hand function as what is known as a “kinematic chain.” 

     Think of this as an anatomical “connected movement” chain. Functioning of each part is connected to, symbiotic with, and consequential with, the other parts.

     In-other-words, what's happening at the shoulder may reverberate down and affect the elbow, wrist, and hand. Or in the reverse, dysfunction or injury at the hand, wrist, or elbow can affect the functioning of the shoulder.

      This is why, as an Activator Chiropractor, my precise adjustments to correct a problem anywhere in the upper extremity often include adjustments all the way up or down the arm to include all the component parts.