The Journey Continues

Yesterday was the second of our 6 race 5k series with the Capital District YMCA.  It was a gorgeous Saturday morning in sleepy Scotia, N.Y., tucked in between the banks of the Mohawk River and the green and chirping of beautiful Collins Park. 

We exceeded 100 runners, and for a first time race, and one taking place the day before the famed Boilermaker, this was a great success.

The goal for the YMCA–to get more people active, family oriented and enjoying the beauties around us.  The goal for Structural Management–to raise the awareness of sports biomechanics, and to let everyone know that their life will be influenced by the biomechanical work they do, or don’t do.  Not only the injuries they will deal with today, but the speed of the degeneration in their bodies in years to come.

I then went to the Induction ceremonies yesterday afternoon of 3 new inductees into the Road Racing Hall of Fame.  As an introduction, Larry Rausen called up on stage Nina Kuscik and Katherine Switzer.  These 2 women, through persistence and passion, were instrumental in forcing the IOC to ultimately include women’s racing into the Olympics, starting with the 1984 women’s marathon.

This gives me hope that the mission of Structural Management, as slow as it seems to be moving at times, will one day make sports biomechanics as readily available as pharmaceuticals and surgeries are. 

We carry on.

Biomechanical X-Ray Saga Continues

Just as I’m informed by a local insurance company that I should dramatically reduce the frequency of x-rays that we take on patients, I come across 2 magazine articles suggesting just the opposite.  Of course, I have such strong feelings on this issue that I don’t need the support of these articles, but to hear others endorse my position merely keeps the naysayers off balance.

My position; the industry wants me, and all others, to follow the guidelines of The American Academy of Radiology, which governs what and when to x-ray.  The major flaw in this situation is that we, all Drs., are only supposed to take x-rays when we suspect disease.  As in pathology.  As in bone tumors. 

This narrowed vision eliminates all possibilities for x-raying and understanding biomechanical issues.  Now, for those who haven’t read my work or listened to my message, I’m once again loudly saying, each and every human being has a unique set of biomechanics, and the standing x-ray is the number one tool to determine what those findings are.  These findings will allow the trained eye to develop a corrective program, which will then reduce the likelihood of injuries and defer, to some degree, the onset of osteoarthritis.

This would save society billions of dollars.  Every year.  Not to mention the quality of life.  So, you may ask, why isn’t it being done?  We live with a medical model health care industry, which waits for you to break, only treats the site of injury, and only sets as it’s goal the elimination of symptoms.  This is like sweeping the dirt under the carpet.  Eventually, the floor underneath rots out, and the future is defined.

So, these two other articles talk about why chiropractors are preferred when examinations are done for low back pain, as we look for all kinds of things, and the only way we can look for these all kinds of things is with x-rays.  On every patient.  The next article writes about a chiropractor who was negligent in the care of a young man, as he never took the necessary x-rays to determine the details of his injury.  The case settled for $125,000. prior to the trial.

And these are the two latest endorsements for my proclamation; everyone would do well to be fully examined, including at least 4 standing biomechanical x-rays, at some point in their lifetime.  Especially if they want a clearer understanding of what to do to preserve their structure over the course of their future.

That usually includes just about everyone.  Thanks.

The YMCA 2008 Race Series

Today, Bill Rodgers and I traveled to 5 YMCA’s in Upstate New York to sign autographs (Bill signed) and promote the 5k race series that is coming up.  It was great.  People loved seeing him, he was as gracious as ever, and everyone had fun.  This 5k race series will be a huge success, no doubt.

While Bill was here, visiting from Boston, I’d hoped he could meet my dad, Will Maggs, who continues to work full time at the age of 84.  Yes, Bill Rodgers is a legend in this country and has won Boston 4 times and New York 4 times, but I wanted Bill to meet my father more than I wanted my father to meet Bill.

Values, respect, discipline, caring.  This is what my father has taught me.  Bill, although successful by everyone’s standards, has not yet reached the success level of my father.  So, it didn’t happen this time, but hopefully will happen next time.  Bill will be a better person if he gets to know my dad.

And, I’m blessed to call Will my dad.  May I do half as much good in my life as he has in his.  But, Bill, thanks so much for coming.  In time, you, too, will be the best.  But, it’s because of your love for your daughters in addition to your running.  Once they reach a certain age, they, too, will realize what a great dad you’ve been. 

And, once you turn 84, you’ll have the priviledge of being the best dad in the world.  I’m sure your daughters will agree.

Live Intenet Radio

Well, week # 1 is in the bank.  This show was used more as a test than anything else.  We let very few people know we were doing it, just so we could make sure the technical side of it was all working.  And, the good news is, it worked.

So, now our goal is to notify as many people as possible about this show, as Structural Management should also be known as “the solution”.  There is a total void out there in the sportsmedicine world with regard to good answers for athlete’s problems, and we offer much better solutions.

Join in on the show, via e mail or (soon to have) telephone call-in- capability to discuss, question, challenge or whatever moves you.  But, regardless of what moves you, join us on Thursdays from 3-4 pm EST, and join in on the movement that is going to transform sportsmedicine world into a new way of doing business.

Stay on the roads, stay in the gyms, stay active, and life will be good.  The key is, stay uninjured.  With that being said, we know how difficult this can be with our current system. 

And, that’s why Structural Management is the solution for the future.

Good Job Carl

We have a newspaper columnist in our city who sheriff’s everything.  As a community member, I know I don’t have to worry about a thing, as Carl will keep an eye on teachers, Drs., police, politicians and anyone else who dares to stray from “legitimate”.  He just seems to catch everyone.

For years now, Carl has focused on the psychotherapy business.  He’s convinced that new psychological disorders are named for the sole purpose of creating some new (magical) medication to enhance bottom line profits.  I’m not a psychotherapist, nor am I familiar with these medications, but I do believe patients are medicated first and talked to only as a last resort.  This poor guy gets all kinds of letters blasting him, with justifications being thrown all over the place by those who are in on the take.  There are days I really feel for the guy.

So, yesterday, he writes this new article on psychotherapy, a subject he hasn’t touched in months with all the police and politician material that’s always in abundance.  He interviews this woman psychotherapist who opposes the standard protocols of medicating first.  She believes in talking to patients.  But, the interesting thing is, she describes the current, accepted, traditional system as being “medical model”.  Yes, this is the standard of care in the medical industry today.

So, I put somewhere on my “to do” list, call Carl.  Tell him the psychotherapy industry is not the only profit oriented, ignorant department in medicine.  Musculo-skeletal may even be worse.  The so-called experts, the medics, and more specifically, the orthopedists, don’t really know a whole lot about musculo-skeletal (from a biomechanically diagnostic and rehabilitative perspective).  They are great surgeons (most of them), and they sure know how to inject cortisone, but beyond that, they’re not much help.  Yet, the public believes they are the wise men at the top of the mount.

Next, we have our primaries, who know next to nothing about musculo-skeletal.  It’s sometimes embarassing when a patient comes in and tells me they went to their primary, and the tests that were(n’t) done and the treatment that was recommended.  Pills for pain and “stop doing what you’re doing” is all too common.  Our final players in the game are physical therapists and chiropractors.  For the most part, they do very few tests and use the elimination of symptoms as their goal, attempting to get the person feeling better asap…..”Quit whining and get back to work”.

No one FIXES the person.  In psychotherapy or the musculo-skeletal world.  I move “Call Carl” higher on my list.  Tell him.  Let him know our industry is also a profit center (at the expense of humanity) for the pharmaceutical and surgical companies. 

As Dr. Bob Arnott says in his book, Wear and Tear, “Our medical profession would have nothing to offer for my sore hip until I needed a hip replacement”.  And, as the deceased Dr. George Sheehan, famous cardiologist in the running world said, “If you’re injured, you’d be better off in the hands of a mechanic than a medical Dr.  At least your problem would not be complicated by drugs, that in the end will do no good.”

Yes, the medical model probably exists in other departments of medicine.  But, being a reader of Carl Strock’s column, and living in the biomechanics world, I know there are at least 2 departments in health care that need to burn the current rule book.  We need to put the health of the patient back as our number one goal, not the health of some bottom line at the expense of the patient. 

Life’s Lessons

Dr. Robert Jarvik, inventor of the artificial heart, has been removed as pitchman for Lipitor, the best selling medication on the market.  According to the report, Pfizer, the manufacturer of Lipitor, felt pressured to make this move as Dr. Jarvik’s credentials have recently come under fire.

House Democrats said the ads could be misleading to consumers because Jarvik appeared to be giving medical advice, even though he is not licensed to practice medicine. While Jarvik holds a medical degree, he did not complete the certification requirements to practice medicine.
Democratic Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak said Monday the company made the right decision. “When consumers see and hear a doctor endorsing a medication, they expect the doctor is a credible individual with requisite knowledge of the drug,” Stupak said.

Too frequently I read articles and get word back from patients how their therapist or health care provider warned them against some of the pro-active efforts we endorse, like flexible custom orthotics, proteolytic enzymes, chiropractic adjustments, cold laser therapy, etc. 

I would like to ask Bart Stupak to tell the public that when a Dr., or any other healthcare authority voices an opinion on a possible course of action a patient is going to take, keep in mind this Dr. may not be intimately knowledgable about what they are saying.  In fact, more often than not, they have little to no first hand experience regarding what they are saying. 

And, as Norman Cousins said in his book, Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient, “Be careful who you let make a proclamation of doom on you, as that may be the beginning of the end.”

May all experts remain experts only in what they are experts at.

Shortcomings of Traditional Sportsmedicine

There are 4 basic flaws with today’s sportsmedicine industry.

1) We wait until an athlete is injured before we do anything.

2) We only look at the site of injury.

3) Our treatment goals are “to eliminate symptoms”.

4) We allow insurance guidelines to dictate what care is provided.

As athletes, we have much greater, more demanding and continual needs that should never be based only on symptoms nor governed by the insurance industry.  Structural Management guidelines are much more suited to the needs of athletes;

1) Examine biomechanics prior to season and make corrective recommendations.

2) Begin taking corrective measures immediately.

3) Never let symptoms be the call to action.  The ultimate goal is maximum biomechanical improvements, and once that has been achieved, structural management and maintenance becomes a lifetime mission.

Today’s message.  Sleep well.

High School Athletes and Scoliosis

This past week, a female high school runner who is a patient of ours came into our office rather upset.  She needed to talk.  Evidently, the school nurse suggested the possibility of scoliosis, and the very thought of some deformity in her back was overwhelming to her.

Six months ago, when her mother brought her in to go through our Structural Fingerprint Exam to uncover any structural imbalances or weaknesses, we looked at her in extreme detail to see how she faired.  Look at the homepage under “Structural Fingerprint Exam”, and you’ll see all the tests we put her through.  This was one of those great cases where the mother “gets it”, and wanted to have her daughter begin her running career safely, to see if there were any “structural issues” we should know about before she began. 

For the past 6 months, we’ve been treating her accordingly, along with monitoring some of the other recommendations we made for her, and she has succeeded beautifully.  She went to Disney in January and ran her first big race, and has continued running since.  The joy her mom feels, being a marathoner herself, is, as they say, “priceless”.

But, all of these successes became irrelevant, meaningless, as the school nurse examined her and said she might have scoliosis.  Tears streamed down her face, and quickly, someone had to try and make sense of it all to her.  “The school nurse is using very few tools to examine you, and can only screen you.  When seeing so many kids, I’m sure one athlete just blends into the next, and any suggestion is only precautionary”.

Within 5 minutes, we had her smiling again, because we pulled out her x-rays, and her spine was as straight as an arrow.  “There is no scoliosis”, I told her.  I also told her I’d be happy to call the nurse and speak with her, which I did.

So, after all that, what is the moral of the story?  First of all, from a structural point of view, our healthcare industry grades people as either having scoliosis or not having scoliosis.  Black or white.  Yet structural biomechanics is hardly black and white.  There are unlimited shades of gray, but our medical model healthcare providers are thoroughly unfamiliar with the grays. 

They are familiar with hearts and lungs and pancreas’, but the percentage of high school kids with issues in these organs pales in comparison to the percentage of kids who have biomechanical issues at this age.  The thought that so many kids have braces on their teeth, but their musculo-skeletal system is perfectly balanced is insane.

The second moral of the story is that all high school athletes are examined medically (eyes, ears, nose and throat) while their biomechanics are grossly ignored.  This has to change.  We know too much now to let these young kids fly without a net in life, when they could easily go through a full exam and begin to make corrections before breakdowns occur.

Like our young runner friend, who clearly can’t appreciate how good she really has it.  She’s paying now so she can pay considerably less later.  And, someday, hopefully, she’ll appropriately thank her mother.

This Week’s “New Pill”

We recently had an article in our local newspaper about a chiropractor using manipulation under anesthesia.  He works hand in hand with a radiologist and anesthesiologist in a local hospital, and this was a grand story of patients being “put under” before being aggressively adjusted.  All to relieve pain.

As I read the article, I could just feel the enthusiasm in the writer’s tone, looking at this as yet another breakthrough in modern medicine.  And, the thought that these medical professionals would allow a chiropractor into their sanctuary and work side-by-side with them, almost more than one could bear.  Wow, chiropractic must really be excited with such acceptance.

What the story fails to recognize is the lack of foresight and efficiency in our neuro-musculo-skeletal care that is provided to members of our communities.  Once again, why does someone get to the point of such chronic, severe pain?  The answer is simple; we encourage nothing and provide nothing in the area of management and maintenance of people’s structures.  Anything proactive, like chiropractic adjustments, massage therapy, physical therapy, custom orthotics, weight management, etc., is only recommended after the fact, never before.

There is a general assumption that everyone is “okay”.  Their structures are “okay”.  Ask any M.D. who has x-rays taken on patients backs, and they’ll tell you most of them are “negative”, meaning, the patient is “okay”.  But, looking closer, you’ll learn the x-ray is negative for pathology, or disease, not biomechanics.  Because the truth is, everyone is not okay.  In fact, no one is okay.  Everyone has biomechanical imbalances and issues. and these issues are the very precursors to structural breakdowns that lead to pain and disability.

So what’s the moral of the story?  Well, let’s first congratulate the chiropractor who is working hand in hand with the medical community.  For me, I never want to work in a hospital, as the very thought of that makes me quiver.  The moral of the story is that acute, crisis care will always get headlines, as there is no excitement or newsworthiness in maintenance or health.  How exciting is someone who doesn’t hurt and lives a normal life?

Absence the glory and spotlight, I’ll continue my mission to spread the word on Structural Management, because the more people stay proactive and follow what we’re teaching, the less they’ll need to hire the “A” team who’ll inject, x-ray and manipulate them. 

This week’s pill.

Void in our System

I had a young high school athlete come into our office yesterday, his mother being an RN, and he was referred by another family we’ve worked with for years.  He had a severe strain/sprain injury of his shoulder, and had been to his pediatrician just the day before.  His season is down to 3 games, and he needs to get back asap.

No real tests had been done by the pediatrician, and the recommendations were “rest and ice”.  Not horrible recommendations, but not “cutting edge” either.  After all, no x-rays or other biomechanical tests were performed.  So the mom asked me, “What are you going to do?”.  I told her we’ll start by taking some x-rays of his mid-back and neck, to see if there are any underlying causes. 

She then wanted to tell me that the pediatricians wouldn’t give her a referral to our office and said absolutely don’t let her son be adjusted by a chiropractor. 

The pediatricians have minimal knowledge of musculo-skeletal injuries,  what influencing factors contribute to them, and what corrective therapies, treatments and recommendations are needed to accelerate this athlete back to “game ready” (proven by their exam and recommendations).  Yet, they actually believe they’re doing right for the patient to make proclamations as they do. And, so many patients accept this.

I’m now working with the Director of all Wellness Programs for the state of New York’s state employees.  She is an employee of the Department of Health.  The DOH has no category for musculo-skeletal.  It’s not even considered on their list of diseases, conditions, etc.  This possilby provides us with the reasons why traditional healthcare only recommends ice and rest.  Surely, it doesn’t take 12 years of higher education to learn that recommendation.  This category has been neglected by main stream medicine, and we’re now bringing it to the forefront.

The director and I are now in the process of developing a pilot program, using state employees and Structural Management, to address this crisis that both industry and sports suffers with (the breakdown of the musculo-skeletal system with no intervening testing or care until after-the-fact). The interest level and acceptance level by all employees, so far, has been extraordinary.  Everyone is excited with the possibilities.  This void can be filled.

And, if it is filled with a program like Structural Management, a newsletter will have to be sent out, Express Mail, to all parents of young kids who believe every word their pediatrician says, even if it has to do with conditions they know little about.  Parents will need to know there are answers.  Better than “ice and rest”, which is actually no answer at all.

In 1975, Dr. George Sheehan, the deceased running cardiologist who was a guru in his time, said so eloquently in his Book on Running;

“The human body is a marvelous instrument. When in perfect alignment and balance, there is almost no feat of endurance the body cannot handle even on a regular basis. However, structural imbalance of even minor degrees can result in incapacitating injuries and persistent disabilities.

Prevention and treatment of musculo-skeletal injuries in the athlete, therefore, rests in the establishment of the structural balance and architectural integrity of the body-and its re-establishment should injury occur.

I cannot emphasize too strongly that most athletic injuries are structural, almost architectural, not medical. You would almost be better off in the hands of an engineer than a medical doctor when this type of injury occurs.”

The mission continues.