Taking Care of Yourself at Work

Wayne M. Whalen, D.C., DACAN

Chiropractic Neurologist

Overview• Anatomy of the spine: how it works• The American health care system: prescription for

health, or prescription for disaster?• The real risks of drug use• Preventing low back attacks• Proper computer set up• How to avoid overuse syndromes• What is chiropractic?• Is chiropractic safe? Is it effective?• Finding a good Doctor of Chiropractic• What to expect• A word about acupuncture• What else cam you do to avoid becoming a statistic?

Spinal Anatomy

How to avoid a BACK ATTACK

10 Tips to keep your back healthy

(From Spine-Health.com)

• Standing - Keeping one foot forward of the other, with knees slightly bent, takes the pressure off your low back.

• Sitting - Sitting with your knees slightly higher than your hips provides good low back support.

• Reaching - Stand on a stool to reach things that are above your shoulder level.

• Moving Heavy Items - Pushing is easier on your back than pulling. Use your arms and legs to start the push. If you must lift a heavy item, get someone to help you.

• Lifting - Kneel down on one knee with the other foot flat on the floor, as near as possible to the item you are lifting. Lift with your legs, not your back, keeping the object close to your body at all times.

• Carrying - Two small objects (one in either hand) may be easier to handle than one large one. If you must carry one large object, keep it close to your body.

• Sleeping - Sleeping on your back puts 55 lbs. of pressure on your back. Putting a couple of pillows under your knees cuts the pressure in half. Lying on your side with a pillow between your knees also reduces the pressure.

• Weight Control - Additional weight puts a strain on your back. Keep within 10 lbs. of your ideal weight for a healthier back.

• Quit Smoking - Smokers are more prone to back pain than nonsmokers because nicotine restricts the flow of blood to the discs that cushion your vertebrae.

• Minor Back Pain - Treat minor back pain with anti-inflammatories and gentle stretching, followed by an ice pack.  See your chiropractor!

Proper lifting tips

• (1) clear obstacles out of the way (2) get close to the object

• (3) face the object • (4) use your legs and feet for

proper stable positioning• (5) determine the best way to hold

the object• (6) maintain good posture• (7) do not bend and twist

simultaneously.

Computer monitors• Computer Monitor Ergonomics Checklist

( ) Monitor is directly in front of you and an arm's length away. ( ) Top of monitor is about level with your eyes.( ) You look down about 15-30 inches to the center of the screen. ( ) The monitor is a flat screen, light and easy to move. ( ) Monitor size fits the type of computer work you do. ( ) There is enough room on your workspace for correct monitor position.

• ( ) Watch the position of the mouse & desktop

The American Health Care System

• Prescription for disaster?

Medical Mistakes: The 3rd Leading Cause of Death

• JAMA, July 26, 2000 Vol. 284. No. 4

• 225,000 deaths/yr = 3rd leading cause of death

• 3rd only to heart disease and cancer!!

• Estimates are for death only and do not include adverse effects associated with disability or discomfort.

• Estimates are low!

Epidemiology

• BMJ March 4, 2000• 44,000 to 98,000 unnecessary

deaths/yr and 1,000,000 excess injuries.

Medical Errors

• JAMA, July 26, 2000 Vol. 284. No. 4

• 44,000 to 98,000 die/yr - Medical errors

• Of 13 countries, US ranks 12th of 16 indicators (second from the bottom!)

• WHO ranked US 15th of 25 industrialized countries

 Medical Errors-Patient Risks 

• “Blunders take 400,000 lives every year, Kaiser head says”

(By Robert A. Rosenblatt, LOS ANGELES TIMES Oakland Tribune, July 15, 1999)

• "Mistakes alone kill more people each year than tobacco, alcohol, firearms or automobiles."

• "If passengers were asked to fly with a commercial airline organized like most health care, they wouldn’t get on the plane.“

• Kaiser is the US’s largest HMO. The 400,000 deaths per year caused by medical mistakes is the largest number I have seen in print so far.

Alternatives to drugs and Surgery

• Chiropractic

• Physical Therapy

• Acupuncture

• Nutrition

What is Chiropractic?

Chiropractic is…

• ….a health care profession that focuses on disorders of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system, and the effects of these disorders on general health. Chiropractic care is used most often to treat neuromusculoskeletal complaints, including but not limited to back pain, neck pain, pain in the joints of the arms or legs, and headaches.

Chiropractic…

• Doctors of Chiropractic practice a drug-free, hands-on approach to health care that includes patient examination, diagnosis and treatment. Chiropractors have broad diagnostic skills and are also trained to recommend therapeutic and rehabilitative exercises, as well as to provide nutritional, dietary and lifestyle counseling.

What do DC’s do?

• The most common therapeutic procedure performed by doctors of chiropractic is known as “spinal manipulation,” also called “chiropractic adjustment.” The purpose of manipulation is to restore joint mobility by manually applying a controlled force into joints that have become hypomobile – or restricted in their movement – as a result of a tissue injury.

Tissue Injury and chiropractic• Tissue injury can be caused by a single

traumatic event, such as improper lifting of a heavy object, or through repetitive stresses, such as sitting in an awkward position with poor spinal posture for an extended period of time. In either case, injured tissues undergo physical and chemical changes that can cause inflammation, pain, and diminished function for the sufferer. Manipulation, or adjustment of the affected joint and tissues, restores mobility, thereby alleviating pain and muscle tightness, and allowing tissues to heal.

Chiropractic Education

• 2-4 years of premed courses

• 4 yr chiropractic college

• Basic sciences

• Clinical Sciences

• Postgraduate training

What to expect• All health care providers, including chiropractors, use a

standard procedure of examination to diagnose a patient’s condition in order to arrive at a plan of treatment. Chiropractors use many of the same time-honored methods used throughout the various health care professions, including:

• Consultation • Case history • Physical examination • Laboratory analysis • X-ray studies • Therefore, the patient usually perceives very little difference

comparing an initial chiropractic and medical consultation. However, the chiropractor’s examination of the spine to evaluate structure and function and the treatment focus on the spine separates chiropractic from other health care disciplines.

Does it work?• Paul G. Shekelle, M.D., M.P.H., of the RAND

Corporation made the following statement on ABC's 20/20: "There are considerably more randomized controlled trials which show benefit of this (chiropractic care) than there are for many, many other things which physicians and neurosurgeons do all the time.“

• Numerous high quality studies have shown chiropractic to be superior to usual medical treatment or physical therapy for low back conditions

Is it safe?

• Compared to most drugs and surgery, chiropractic care is one of the safest treatments available

• Risk of serious incident= 1 in 5.85 million to 1: 100,000,000

• 1:1430 chiropractic years• 1:48 chiropractic careers.

Finding the right DC

• List of criteria to evaluate DC’s

Acupuncture

• Basic facts about acupuncture

Copyright © 2012 Dr. Wayne Whalen