Enter Chiropractic. One traveling children’s entertainment group from Australia known as The Wiggles has fully embraced Chiropractic as part of their routine. Members of the crew have been using Chiropractic going all the way back to 2004 when they enlisted the services of James Stoxen, DC.

“Nearly all of the 14 dancers on tour with The Wiggles were suffering from shin splints, sore knees and hamstring problems from their grueling tour schedule,” said Anthony Field, a founder and original member of the group. This was before they came into contact with Dr. Stoxen.

The Wiggles are famous throughout Australia and are well-known in the United States as a highly interactive and energetic group of performers. They are known for their musical and dance productions, as well as a number of playful characters used to entertain and provide an educational message to children.

“The Wiggles have about 80 people on tour, only 15 of whom are performers. Any one of them could be experiencing health problems that need attention,” said Dr. Stoxen, who is known as a chiropractor to the stars. He is regularly on call to treat any number of performers or athletes who come through his home area of Chicago.

Field went on to talk about the reasons why members of The Wiggles cast were coming down with injuries. “Many of their pains were due to lack of proper injury prevention exercises and poor dance performance footwear,” he said. Dr. Stoxen showed us exercises and the right footwear. Once the foot was right, the rest of our bodies were okay.”

Now, Dr. Stoxen is one of a number of chiropractors across the United States who has worked with The Wiggles. These performers have a great appreciation for Chiropractic and how the services of a chiropractor can help to keep them healthy and performing at the top of their ability.

Sources: The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress. “On the Road with ‘The Wiggles’ and Other Celebrities:’ Press Release. October 2007
http://www.f4cp.com/press_releases/index.htm and Dynamic Chiropractic. “A Day in the Life of a Celebrity Chiropractor, Part I.” February 2008.
http://www.chiroweb.com/archives/26/05/02.html

Here are three basic reasons why not: 1. They don’t know about Chiropractic, 2. They don’t know about the potential benefits of Chiropractic or, 3. They think that a Chiropractic adjustment might be too rough for a child and cause pain or damage.

Once a person finds out about Chiropractic and begins to understand its benefits, it is point num­ber 3 that must be understood and dispelled, as apparently, some parents think that a Chiropractic adjustment will be “too rough” for their youngster.

Chiropractors understand that all bodies are different and tailor their adjustments and the amount of pressure required based on the individual they are treating. A big football playing man in his 20s, a little old woman in her 70s and a child of 10, will all be looked at and evaluated for their individual needs.

In this way, it could be said that a Chiropractic adjustment can be as individual as a handshake. A strong man shaking hands with another strong man will give him a lot more pressure than if the same man was shaking hands with his grandmother or the child. When parents realize this and bring their child in for an adjustment, the results can be quite remarkable. Consider this case of a 7-year-old girl.

This child had been suffering from asthma since the age of 4. By the time she came to see a chiro­practor, she had been treated medically with 10 different medications. Attacks of coughs and wheez­ing were daily occurrences. Physical activity was almost out of the question. Emergency room visits sometimes reached 5 per year. A test of lung capacity revealed she was operating at about 50 percent of her lung capacity.

An exam by her chiropractor revealed subluxations (partial dislocations) in the vertebrae at the middle of her spine. An individual program was tailored to handle these restrictions. With just one adjustment, some of the tightness in her chest disappeared and her coughing was reduced. After just 4 weeks of treatment, she was able to put aside her inhaler and get back to participating in swimming and running sports. After 3 months, her lung capacity was just about normal and all medications were stopped.

Had her parents avoided taking her to a chiropractor because of a fear that an adjustment might be too rough and cause her pain, the child might well be on her way to a dozen more medications, further restrictions of activity and even worse breathing problems.

Is Chiropractic for children too? By all means. Miracles can occur each and every day in Chiropractic with the right adjustment, tailored to the individual’s size, age, shape and need.

Source: Dynamic Chiropractic. “Chiropractic: As Individual as a Handshake.” July 2008. http://www.chiroweb.com/archives/26/14112.htm1

Such is the case of a 36-year-old man whose treatment was recently documented in the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research. Very simply, this man’s life was in disarray when he arrived for his initial examination and was drastically changed by Chiropractic intervention.

The individual came to his chiropractor suffering from a variety of ailments. Physically, this included left leg pain extending to his foot which he’d experienced for 14 years. He also complained of gastritis (acute inflammation of the stomach), ulcers and eye pain. Besides that, he reported nerv­ousness, a feeling of depression, lack of ability to concentrate and a general loss of interest in daily life. Additionally, his lifestyle was less than healthy: he smoked, did not exercise and regularly had a diet considered “sub-optimal.” He also had a history of alcoholism that included bouts of heavy drinking that had resulted in falls.

Examination of the patient revealed vertebral subluxations (partial dislocations of the vertebrae) and a treatment program was begun that was to expended over a period of the next 6 months. At the beginning of treatment and then periodically thereafter, he was asked to self-rate his overall health and quality of life. As treatment progressed, toward the end of the 6 months, the patient reported a 95% physical improvement in left leg, headache and eye pain.

In addition to all of the physical improvements, the man enjoyed secondary health improvements as well, including a decrease in stress levels and reduced nervousness. He also enjoyed better con­centration, the normalization of digestive function, in addition to less irritability and apathy about life. More spontaneous changes included quitting smoking, starting a regular exercise program, mak­ing better nutritional choices and improving his ability to relax. By at the end of the 6 months, the man reported his overall health to be 100% improved!

The authors of this case study felt that it was important to note that this person was never told or encouraged to undertake these lifestyle changes. The authors noted that the initiation of Chiropractic care by itself is not “sufficient intervention to allow a person to achieve total health.” Then they went on to make this observation. “Patients under Chiropractic care tend, as their subluxations reduce, to spontaneously take up lifestyle changes or health enhancing activities.”

Source: ChiropracticResearch.Org, “Life Changed Under Chiropractic: Case Study”. October 2006 http://www.chiropracticresearch.org/NEWS_Life_changed_under_chiropractic.htm

When some billboard display or a media attack against Chiropractic occurs, a simple question to ask in determining who is behind it might be, “Who has the most to lose when people begin to seek out Chiropractors in droves?

The answer to that question comes from Terry A. Rondberg, DC, who is president of the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA). “In recent years, Chiropractic has made tremendous inroads into the American healthcare system. The increased popularity of a wellness approach that doesn’t rely on drugs and surgery is very threatening to some elements of our society. They have a huge finan­cial interest in eliminating Chiropractic.”

In 1990, the American Medical Association (AMA) was found guilty in federal court of conspir­ing with other medical organizations in a “lengthy, systematic, successful and unlawful boycott” designed to eliminate Chiropractic as a competitor, according to the WCA. Many healthcare offi­cials say that, although barred from many of the illegal practices formerly used, the drug and med­ical industry still engage in anti-Chiropractic campaigns. The general consensus is that many of the operations are being conducted using anonymous “front” organizations, such as the stroke vic­tims group, for instance.

One such advertisement, likely paid by such a “front group” in Connecticut, asks, “Have you been injured by a Chiropractor?” The ad directs readers to a website of an organization calling itself the “Chiropractic Stroke Victims Awareness Group.”

Contrary to this message, medical research has shown Chiropractic to be extremely safe, partic­ularly when compared to medical treatment. The incidence of stroke following Chiropractic adjustments has been estimated at fewer than 1 to 3 incidents per million adjustments. One 28-year study that reviewed some 110 million cases, showed conclusively that the risk of stroke from a Chiropractic adjustment is so small as to be statistically insignificant, says the WCA.

The safety of Chiropractic is made even more obvious when compared to the 100,000 deaths each year attributed to medical treatment and drug errors, according to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Source: The World Chiropractic Alliance 2007 http://www.worldchiropracticalliance.org/media/strokemyth.html

The study involved teaching students to self-administer Acupressure to a variety of body points on their legs, feet, hands and heads. Some of these points were known to cause more stimulation, others greater relaxation. A total of 39 students in a 3-day On Job/On Campus pro­gram took part in the study. The results were published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

“Our findings suggested that Acupressure can change alertness in people who are in class­room settings for a full day which could be very good news for students who have trouble stay­ing alert at school.” This comment comes from the director of the study, Dr. Richard E. Harris, Ph.D., in the Dept. of Internal Medicine and a researcher with the U-M Health System’s Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center.

The 39 students were taught to self-apply Acupressure regimens on either 5 stimulation points or 5 relaxation points. Techniques consisted of light tapping with the fingers and massag­ing with thumbs or forefingers. On day one, the first group self-administered Acupressure to the stimulation points followed by the relaxation points on days 2 and 3. The second group used relaxation points the first day and stimulation points on days 2 and 3. The Acupressure was administered mid-day during the student lunch period. Students rated their level of sleepiness in the morning, afternoon and after class using the Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS) for evaluation. (The SSS is a self-measurement tool for assessing sleepiness on an 8-point rating from wide awake to fast asleep.)

In each case, the stimulation group had significantly less fatigue than the other group and this has interesting implications for future studies, said Dr. Harris, who himself is a trained acupuncturist. “The study showed that a stimulation Acupressure regimen leads to a statistically significant reduction in sleepiness compared to an Acupressure treatment that focuses on relax­ation,” he said.

“The idea that Acupressure can have effects on human alertness needs more study, includ­ing research that can examine the scope of influence Acupressure can have on alertness and fatigue,” said Dr. Harris. That research can have an impact on performance in the classroom and in other areas of life where a high state of alertness is mandatory or desirable.

Source: University of Michigan, September 2005. http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2005/acupressure.htm

What makes table tennis a sport where competitors can benefit from Chiropractic is the enormous amount of body rotation and twisting involved in the game. The speed of the ball in competitive matches often nears 100 miles per hour, and it takes an enormous amount of rotation around the body core to create such velocity.

In addition, the game requires fast mental and physical reactions, speedy acceleration as well as dives and lunges to retrieve wildly spinning balls. All of this combines to put a great deal of stress on the body. Players have noted benefits from Chiropractic adjustments prior to and following intense matches.

Recently, some of the top players in the United States had an opportunity to experience the benefits of Chiropractic at the US National Championships held in Las Vegas, NV. Several chiropractors set up shop to provide assistance to players and to introduce them to the benefits Chiropractic could have on their overall performance.

Biljana “Biba” Golic, a former US Collegiate Women’s Champ, was one of the top ath­letes who experienced Chiropractic for the very first time. After just one adjustment she said she felt an increase in her energy level, her muscle tightness was dramatically improved and so was her overall performance. This brought her back for more adjust­ments during the course of the tournament.

Dr. Rae Kelly was one of the chiropractors who enjoyed working with the athletes and had this to say: “The amount of forceful body or truck twisting associated with this level of play is truly amazing. Repetitive twisting produces significant repetitive rotational injuries. Many players came back to us before their matches for repeat treatments because it helped reduce their pain, increase their range of motion and improve their overall per­formance.”

Teodor Gheorge is a 15-time Romanian Champ and is now the executive director of USA Table Tennis. “Players discovered that increasing the energy level and curing the pain could be accomplished within 5 to 10 minutes of Chiropractic care,” he said. “It is like magic in a real world.”

Source: The World Chiropractic Alliance 2007 http://www.worldchiropracticalliance.org/tcy2007/feb/a.htm

Following on its heals, a new survey shows that the forward thinking of this, the largest single provider network of healthcare services in the United States, is definitely justified. By a good majority, Veterans surveyed reported that they would use Chiropractic services if they were available to them in their VA hospital.

The study queried 264 veterans on their interest in using Chiropractic treatment, plus sought their input on additional types of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM).

The survey found back pain to be the most frequently reported medical problem among veterans with 62.5% indicating discomfort in the area. However, only onefourth (26%) of the patients responding had made use of Chiropractic treatments to alleviate pain.

What the study revealed in the way of current pain handling was this disturbing fact: Prescription drugs are the pain handling solution of choice for medical problems in 76.9% of the cases.

However, veteran interest in finding alternative means of pain handling was very high. Respondents said, by a 67% margin, that they would use Chiropractic and other CAM options if these were provided by the VA.

Researchers concluded that the strong interest shown in Chiropractic and alternate forms of treatment should lead the VA to provide additional types of therapies to veterans.

They urged the VA to do further assessment of veteran needs and respond accordingly.

SOURCE: http://www.chiropracticresearchreview.com/crr/article.php?id=1438&MERCURYSID=425da36e6319595715986c90f364acb3 and http://www.chiroweb.com/archives/24/14/05.html