Posted by Dr. Jonathan Walker on March 29, 2009 under Uncategorized | 
Have you been searching for a chiropractor in Ocala? Having a hard time telling the difference from one to the next? I don’t blame you! A quick scan of the yellow pages shows dozens of qualified chiropractors who all treat back pain, neck pain, sciatica, headaches, disc injuries, auto injuries, and a host of other conditions.
Some might have spinal decompression, others might offer acupuncture, but at the end of the day, there’s not a whole lot of difference. Marketing guru Seth Godin wrote a must-read business book called “The Purple Cow”. Godin writes that driving through the countryside can be an exciting experience for a city dweller. The first cow you see reminds you that you’re no longer in the concrete jungle with it’s noise and chaos. However, as the trip goes on each cow becomes less and less interesting, and by the end of the journey you don’t even notice them as you whiz by.
But a purple cow? That’s an animal you’d never forget. Once you saw a purple cow you’d watch every other cow intently searching for the rare purple one.
What does any of this have to do with choosing a chiropractor? Seth Godin believes every business should have a purple cow, or at least one feature that makes it unique and exciting.
At Ocala Chiropractic Center, we are proud to introduce Dr. Anthony Sancetta, our resident purple cow! Dr. Sancetta is a medical physician, more specifically a D.O., who brings an entirely new skillset to the practice. Dr. Sancetta specializes in the field of natural medicine, working to help our patients balance their body chemistry and hormones. He’s also able to assist in the treatment of patients with severe pain, such as those who have been in auto accidents, with medication and trigger point injections.
If you’re looking for a truly unique experience, then Ocala Chiropractic Center is for you. We are the only clinic in Marion County with a chiropractor and medical physician working together. Let us find the solution to your health problems with our purple cow!
Posted by Dr. Jonathan Walker on January 31, 2009 under Back pain, Chiropractic, Neck pain, Research Articles, Whiplash |
The syndrome of whiplash was first described in litigation in 1928. Since
that time whiplash has had an unsavory reputation. Many researchers and doctors avoided involvement with whiplash injuries and opinions varied.
Over time, it became clear that complaints of patients sustaining this type of injury were, in fact, fairly consistent. The most common complaint, neck pain, could easily be understood, but other symptoms, such as ringing in the ears, dizziness, blurred vision, headaches, numbness, and back pain, were not so easily explained clinically.
According to research statistics, nearly one-third of all motor vehicle accidents are rear-end collisions. Newton’s first law of motion states that “an object continues either at rest or in a state of motion in a straight line, unless it is acted upon by an external force”. When a vehicle stopped at a red light is hit, the car is moved forward by the external force of the impacting vehicle. This force pushes the seat and driver forward. The neck, which is not in contact with the seat, remains stationary, causing hyperextension of the neck. When the front vehicle stops, the driver is thrown forward.
Although the shoulder harness prevents the driver from hitting the steering wheel or windshield, it forces the head to fly forward in a twisting motion, causing hyper flexion of the neck. Most injuries are a result of hyperextension, when the neck can exceed the maximum physiologic extension of 70 degrees by as much as 120 degrees, stretching some muscles as much as 30%.
The forces exerted on the head and neck with rear-end collisions can be quite high. For example, one G is the force exerted by the earth’s gravity which causes an object to fall at 32 feet per second. Pilots begin to pass out at 6 Gs, and at 8 Gs you are pinned to your seat. If a 150-pound person is subjected to 10 Gs, this is a force of 1,500 pounds. In crash testing, with impacts below 10 mph, the head can be subjected to 10 to 15 Gs for 100 milliseconds.
If the average head weighs 12 pounds, then it becomes a weight of 120-180 pounds. Talk about a headache!
Research involved with the actual injuries sustained by victims of whiplash show tearing of muscles, ligaments, vertebral disc derangement, tears in the ligamentous capsules surrounding the joints, damage to the sympathetic nervous system and peripheral nervous system, occult fractures, mild concussions, and micro-hemorrhages of the brain tissue and spinal cord, as well as stress disorders.
Many of these injuries are imperceptible on MRIs, CT scans, and x-rays. The symptoms range from muscle pain, headaches, jaw pain, vertigo, nausea, visual problems, forgetfulness, and unexplained numbness in the arms and legs, etc.
Symptoms may not present themselves for hours, days, months, or even years after the accident. Scientific evidence supports these characteristic of whiplash injuries. Other studies show that neck pain presents in 65% of patients within 6 hours of the accident, 28% within 24 hours, and 7% within 72 hours, though those people suffering symptoms immediately after the accident are more likely to continue to show symptoms more than 2 years following the initial injury.
People who have pre-existing conditions such as arthritis, and women due to their smaller frame and less muscle density than men, are more likely to be injured, though the speed and size of the vehicles involved, as well as the position of the seat and other factors play a significant role in determining the severity of an injury. Government reports revealed over one million injuries from rear-end collisions in 1990, and estimates project that over 25 years the prevalence of chronic pain from whiplash is more than 9% of the total U.S. population.
To lessen your risk of serious injury, wear your seatbelt, sit up in your seat with your seat in the upright position, and stop thinking of your head restraint as a headrest. The majority of people have their head restraint improperly positioned. Correctly adjusted, your restraint should be about even with eye level, and with no more than a two-inch gap between the restraint and your head.
If you are in an accident, even what appears to be a minor one, after life-threatening injuries have been ruled out, follow-up with a physician who specializes in soft-tissue trauma.
Remember, prevention is always best… drive safely, and watch out for the car behind you.
