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Chiropractic Research

Chiropractic has been evolving for over 100 years and is now mainstream healthcare. As a Chiropractor with over 30 years experience I know it works well for a myriad of conditions over and beyond what we are known for, Neck and Back pain relief. The purpose of this section of my website is to offer you the 'provings' of Chiropractic based on current research being performed all over the globe. I love Chiropractic and holistic healthcare. All are improving day by day with the input of positive or negative outcomes post clinical trials and later university based full studies. If you or a loved one have a condition that has not been remedied by current health methods, please give us a call. We are currently performing small clinical trials with the intent of finding new solutions to common maladies that effect the health of our brethren.

Bioenergetic research and treatment is not only extremely safe, it is effective for many conditions including Allergies, Asthma, Chemical Sensitivities, peripheral neuropathies, and even chronic 'emotional' disorders." Natural health care is effective without medications for adult onset diabetes and essential hypertension. At the same time we have our limits and know when to refer to our Idiopathic Medical Doctors. My recommendation is to start with natural first, Medications second, Surgery last. Unfortunately too many people reverse the order.

Dr Cliff

MANIPULATION OR MICRODISKECTOMY FOR SCIATICA?

A PROSPECTIVE RANDOMIZED CLINICAL STUDYGordon McMorland, DC,a Esther Suter, PhD,b Steve Casha, MD, PhD, FRCSC,c Stephan J. du Plessis, MD,c andR. John Hurlbert, MD, PhD, FRCSC, FACScABSTRACTObjective: The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical efficacy of spinal manipulation againstmicrodiskectomy in patients with sciatica secondary to lumbar disk herniation (LDH). Methods: One hundred twenty patients presenting through elective referral by primary care physicians toneurosurgical spine surgeons were consecutively screened for symptoms of unilateral lumbar radiculopathy secondary to LDH at L3-4, L4-5, or L5-S1. Forty consecutive consenting patients who met inclusion criteria (patients must have failed at least 3 months of nonoperative management including treatment with analgesics, lifestyle modification, physiotherapy, massage therapy, and/or acupuncture) were randomized to either surgical microdiskectomy or standardized chiropractic spinal manipulation. Crossover to the alternate treatment was allowed after 3 months. Results: Significant improvement in both treatment groups compared to baseline scores over time was observed in alloutcome measures. After 1 year, follow-up intent-to-treat analysis did not reveal a difference in outcome based on the original treatment received. However, 3 patients crossed over from surgery to spinal manipulation and failed to gain further improvement. Eight patients crossed from spinal manipulation to surgery and improved to the same degree as their primary surgical counterparts. Conclusions: Sixty percent of patients with sciatica who had failed other medical management benefited from spinalmanipulation to the same degree as if they underwent surgical intervention. Of 40% left unsatisfied, subsequent surgical intervention confers excellent outcome. Patients with symptomatic LDH failing medical management should consider spinal manipulation followed by surgery if warranted. (J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2010;33:576-584) Key Indexing Terms: Manipulation, Spinal; Disk, Herniated; Sciatica; Diskectomy, Percutaneous; ChiropracticINTRODUCTIONThe prevalence of sciatica caused by lumbar disk herniation (LDH) has been estimated to have a lifetime incidence of between 2% and 40%.1 In a large populationsample, a diagnosis of lumbar disk herniation with sciatica was present in 5.1% of men and 3.7% of women older than 30 years.2 Physical workload factors appear related to theonset of sciatica, whereas psychosocial factors, heavy labor, and obesity seem related to adverse outcome.3,4Initial intervention for the treatment of patients with sciatica is usually nonoperative given the spontaneous recovery seen in most patients.5 Nonoperative management has beendemonstrated to be beneficial in more than 50% of patients with sciatica4,6; however, there are no established guidelinesfor appropriate medical management strategies. A variety of regimens have been recommended, but recent guidelines have failed to show that any nonoperative treatment approaches have been subjected to high-quality clinical trials.7,8 Those patients failing conservative care”are frequently recommended for surgical assessment. Elective lumbar diskectomy is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures in the United States, now exceeding 250,000 cases per year.9-13 Studies comparingsurgical management of LDH to different forms of conservative treatment tend to favor surgery with respect to short-term outcome.10-14 However, there are less strikingdifferences observed in long-term follow-up of 1 year or more.15-17 Improvement in the patient's predominantsymptom, return to work, and persisting disability tend to be similar regardless of treatment received. The role of spinal manipulation in nonoperative care of sciatica is unestablished. Most studies define conventional nonoperative care as exercise, analgesics, and/or epidural a Chiropractor, National Spine Care, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.b Senior Research and Evaluation Consultant, Health Systemsand Workforce Research Unit, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. c Spinal Neurosurgeon, University of Calgary Spine Programand Division of Neurosurgery, Foothills Hospital and Medical Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Submit requests for reprints to: Gordon McMorland, DC, National Spine Care, #300, 301 14th Street N.W., Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 2A1 (e-mail: [email protected]).Paper submitted December 30, 2009; in revised form March 17, 2010; accepted June 8, 2010. 0161-4754/$36.00 Copyright © 2010 by National University of Health Sciences. doi:10.1016/j.jmpt.2010.08.013576