Compass Chiropractic and massage is now accepting Cigna open access and open access plus.  We hope that joining Cigna will help make care more accessible to our current patients  and remove obstacles for our new patients who have Cigna.
Call Whitney to find out you specific coverage - 257-2800

For more information about Cigna, visit their website: www.cigna.com

For general help with insurance you can visit our Help with Insurance Page

I recently became aware of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and have been very impressed with their work.  The first iPhone application that I downloaded from them was a list of the best to least healthy sunscreens and now they’ve added another app that will help you decide which foods to buy organic.  There is also a pdf version of their list that is available on the EWG website.

Buying organic is best, but it is also expensive.  There are some foods that hold the pesticides in more than others.  When buying these foods you should opt for the organic.  The list produced by EWG list the foods that contain the most pesticides and foods that have the least.

Happy eating

How much harm can popping a couple Advils do?  According to a new study out of Denmark, more than you would imagine.

A group of very common over the counter pain medications known as NSAIDs (Nonsteriodal Anitinflammatory Drugs) have been shown to increase the risk of death due to stroke.   Typically we assume that anyone who has an adverse reaction to medications like Advil has been taking them for an extended period of time, but the researchers in this study found that many of the people who died had only been taking the drugs for a two week period. The doses that were measured in the Danish study were similar to what someone would take for treating chronic pain, about three tablets per day. “We found that most NSAIDs are associated with increased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity,” says researcher Emil Loldrup Fosbol, MD, of Gentofte University Hospital in Hellerup, Denmark.

My take…

Couple days ago I had a person call the office because he had questions about his back pain.  He told me that he spoke with his MD who told him that he could take 10 tablets of ibuprofen a day, without any limitation to the duration.  I also spoke with a friend who was told by an orthopedist to “take them (NSAIDs) like candy.”

For too long we have taken medications such as ibuprofen with disregard for the side effects associated with these medications. You can see the side effects associated with ibuprofen by clicking drugs.com.  Most people are surprised that an our the counter medication such as ibuprofen can cause such serious sides effects.

Ibuprofen has it’s place, but it is meant to be used for pain relief in the short term and not to rely on for ongoing pain relief.  Pain is a message that something is wrong with the body, much like check engine light in your car.  Ibuprofen is a way to mask the symptoms, but it doesn’t fix the underlying problem.  Use ibuprofen for acute pain relief if you have to and fix the problem that is causing the symptoms.

Chiropractic addresses the cause of the problem and eliminates the need for harmful medications.  If you’re experiencing pain, speak to a chiropractor and see if you’re a candidate for chiropractic care.  For more information about our office check out the about us page.  If you would like specific information on conditions that we treat you can click the following links: neck pain, back pain, headaches, sports injuries, auto accidents.

Researchers out of Boston University believe that they’ve determined which genetic factors promote longevity.  Longevity is due to a number of different factors, many of them lifestyle related such as diet, exercise, smoking etc.  Many researchers now believe that living into the late nineties has more to do with your genes than it does with your lifestyle.  Professor Paola Sebastiani, a biostatistician at Boston University who is on the research team that made the discovery suggests that there is a strong genetic component to extreme longevity.

Scientists identified 150 DNA sequence variations called single nucleotide polymorphisms among those 100 years old and above that may have contributed to their healthy aging. In the control group, 15% of participants had longevity-associated genes suggesting that 15% of the American population are predisposed to live to be 100.  According to the researchers this test is 77% percent accurate.

What would you do with this information?

I heard Dr. Sebastiani (the researcher in the study) interviewed on WFYI this morning and she was asked if she had tested her self and she said no.  At first this came as a surprise to me, but made more sense as I thought about the impact of this imformation.  If you did know that you were going to live to 100 according to your DNA would you be less likely to follow a healthy lifestyle?  On the flip side, would you take more risks if you believed that you were going to have a short life. What if you made decisions based on test that were incorrect?  Unfortunately by the time you figured it out you it would be too late.

Dr. Sebastinani went on to say that the real value in this study is what we will learn about how people age.  The information gleaned from the study will help researchers understand why some people get diseases of old age sooner than others.  While it is interesting to think about the idea of taking a test that will predict your life span, it is important to remember that there are many other factor that play a role in longevity and there is a 23% chance that the test is wrong.

In the mean time, I’m going to continue to eat healthy, get regular chiropractic , exercise and try to limit my stress.  If it is in my genes that I’m going to check out early at least I felt my best during the time I had.

Anyone who has stayed up past midnight watching cable knows that there are a number of different gadgets and gimmicks that make amazing claims, and anyone who purchased these items knows that there is typically more hype than help. You might have noticed more people wearing what looks like orthopedic shoes in the last couple years.  These clunky shoes typically referred to as toning shoes are sold by a few different companies who claim that these shoes provide a number of health benefits, but not everyone is on board.

What are the claims?

Manufactures of these shoes claim that the shoes improve your health in the following ways:
-Improved Circulation
-Weight Loss
-Back strengthening and Posture
-Firming Buttocks and Thighs and Calfs
- Reduce Knee Pain

Impressive claims, but do these wonder shoes live up?  Of course that depends on who you talk to.  There are a number of industry financed studies on these tone up shoes (see skechers, MBT) , but very little independent research has been done to date.  The lack of independent research has been a major sticking point for experts in the field.

Regardless of the lack of research, the toning shoe industry is the fastest growing segment in the 17 billion dollar athletic shoe industry.  Shoe giant Nike has decided to stay out of this market. Nike spokesman Derek Kent said in a statement “Our focus is on creating performance products that really work.”  Reebok did decide to join the trend and their a example of their version can found here.

What do the experts say?

The response to this new shoe trend has been mixed amongst the experts. Claims that toning shoes can significantly contribute to a person’s fitness are “utter nonsense,” says Barbara de Lateur, distinguished service professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Medicine in Baltimore.  On the other end Cary M. Golub, DPM, a podiatrist in Long Beach, N.Y, says toning or rocker-bottom shoes have a place in certain people’s shoe collection. For starters, these shoes may help relieve pain among people with heel pain, he says. “They take the pressure off of the heel and give more support to the ankle,” he says.

Are they safe?

There have been reports of a number of people who have hurt themselves including breaking bones while using these shoes.  The shoes are intentional unstable, which requires you to recruit more muscles, therefore burning more calories.  Think of using an exercise ball to do crunches as opposed to doing them on the floor. So, are the shoes to blame for these injuries, or are the people who are using them not fit enough to keep themselves stable and prevent falling?  It is certain that people who have balance issues should use extreme caution when wearing these shoes.

My take…

I was first introduced to these shoes when I was practicing in Portland.  A patient who had just moved from LA brought them into the office and asked me my impression.  I did my homework, but there wasn’t much available about these shoes.  Recently it seems that this style of footwear has reached a tipping point and I’ve started to see them showing up in my office in Indianapolis.

I know the benefit of training on unstable surfaces and my patient do also.  For my patients who have back pain, I have them strengthen their muscles while on a balance pad, exercise ball or  wobble board, but I don’t put everyone on the balance board the first day.  I asses a patient’s condition and determine what type of exercise is best for them.  Unfortunately a lot of people are misusing these shoes. Just as I wouldn’t put a 70 year old patient on a wobble board, I wouldn’t want them wearing an unstable shoe in places where they could fall.

From what I’ve read, these shoes have some benefit.  They are not for everyone, but used correctly they can provide increased recruitment of muscles and improved balance.   If you decide to purchase a pair of these shoes, take it slow and don’t begin with activities that require a lot of lateral movement.

Related reading:

If your interested in getting rid of your shoes altogether check out this blog post.

I’m not a coffee drinker, but I’ve been around enough coffee drinkers (especially living in Portland) to know that people are a lot happier after their morning cup of joe.  For many people coffee is a necessity for survival, but a new study out of the University of Bristol found that the energy boosting effects of coffee might just be in your head.

In this study subjects were given either a caffeine pill or a placebo and their alertness was measured through computer testing.  The results of the testing showed that caffeine did not improve the alertness of the subjects who took the caffeine pill.

The take home message from this study was that People who drink coffee experience an acute caffeine withdraw fatigue that makes them more tired and require coffee to return back to normal.

Study researcher Peter Rogers, from the University of Bristol’s department of experimental psychology, says in a news release: “Our study shows that we don’t gain an advantage from consuming caffeine — although we feel alerted by it, this is caffeine just bringing us back to normal. On the other hand, while caffeine can increase anxiety, tolerance means that for most caffeine consumers this effect is negligible.”

Link to original article

The minimalist footwear or no-wear movement is gaining ground amongst running at great speed.  Since the 70’s we have been using the best science we have to create the most advanced shoes imaginable, but the level of injuries has not diminished, if anything injuries have increased.  In this video from Nature, Havard Professor Daniel Lieberman demonstrates the benefits of barefoot running.  He himself is a barefoot running and can be seen in the video running outside barefoot in what appears to be the winter.

Not all of us are willing to chuck the shoes and head out sans shoes.  If your interested in running barefoot, but worry about the debris in your neighborhood you should look into the Vibram Five Fingers which provide the closest you can come to running barefoot, while still protecting your feet.  Also, another great resource for these unique shoes is www.birthdayshoes.com.

For more information about sports injuries, check out our sports injury page.

Romaine lettuce that was sold in 23 states  may be contaminated with dangerous E. coli O145 bacteria and has been recalled.

Authorities have reported 19 cases of E. coli O145  in Michigan, Ohio, and New York. Twelve people have been hospitalized, including three with life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) caused by the bacterium.

Several lines of evidence — including detection of bacteria in an unopened package of Freshway Foods shredded Romaine lettuce — point to Freshway Foods wholesale Romaine lettuce products.

Freshway Foods has recalled all products containing Romaine lettuce with a use-by date of May 12 or earlier. These products were sold wholesale to restaurants and supermarkets under the Freshway or Imperial Sysco brands.

The recall does not include bagged or prepackaged Romaine or lettuce mixes containing Romaine. However, the lettuce may be found in supermarket salad bars and delis.

Freshway Foods is advising consumers not to eat “grab and go” salads sold in store salad bars and delis at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets, and Marsh stores.

Symptoms of infection with harmful E. coli may range from none to mild diarrhea to severe complications. The acute symptoms include severe abdominal cramps and diarrhea, which may be bloody. Patients may progress to serious complications, such as kidney damage. The FDA and the CDC encourage anyone with these symptoms to contact his or her health care provider immediately.

The states in which the lettuce was sold are Alabama, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin

We’ve all heard that lifestyle modifications such as eating better and exercise can improve our health, but Lee Berk, DrPH, MPH, director of the molecular research laboratory at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, Calif. believes that laughter should be added to that list.

”The parallel between moderate exercise and mirthful laughter is uncanny,” Berk says.  Berk has found that ”mirthful laughter” reduces the stress hormones known as cortisol and catecholamines, much the same way that moderate physical exercise does. It’s also been found to enhance immune system functioning and may lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

Berk’s most recent study looks at the effect laughter pays on appetite.  Subjects had blood drawn to measure appetite regulating hormones before and after watching a funny film.  The study found that there was a decrease in certain hormones that suppress appetite after a subject laughed.

At first glance you might think to yourself, “I’m hungry enough, I’m never laughing again!”  From this research it is thought that laughter doesn’t increase appetite, but rather balance your appetite.  This information is likely to be used with the elderly who have very little appetite and who need to increase their food intake.

Link to the original article: WebMD

For you dose of laughter…

The force of the body hitting the ground over and over again can cause injuries, which is why it is very important to make sure you have the shoes that are best for your foot types.   The staff at the running company keep up with the latest research regarding proper shoe fit and gait analysis.  Their motto is quality vs quantity, which is evident by commitment from each member of the staff.

Compass is teaming up with The Running Company to provide the best in footwear needs.  For the month of April we will be handing out $10 off coupons to anyone who mentions this email. Stop in and ask Whitney for a coupon today.

You can learn more about The Running Company by clicking here.