New study on maintenance care

Hi everyone

I hope you enjoyed Easter! Spring is in the air. Many of my patients asked me in the last few weeks what is preventive care or maintenance care. So I thought I would quickly explain the 3 different stages of care that patients got through. What is also interesting is that a study was published in 2011 stating that "SMT ( spinal manipulative therapy) is effective for the treatment of chronic non-specific LBP. To obtain long-term benefit, this study suggests maintenance spinal manipulation after the initial intensive manipulative therapy" It was published in Spine in 2011. The authors were Senna and Machaly.

When patients usually come to see us they are in a lot of pain. My first goal is to help them get out of pain as quickly as possible.

So the first phase of care is usually called the intensive phase. The goal here is to actually control your inflammation naturally. The time spent here really depends how quickly your body will control the swelling or inflammation and the muscle spasms. It usually also varies on how long the injury has been present.

The second phase is called the corrective phase. During this phase the patients usually have less pain. The goal of this phase is to improve the function, restore the vertebral motion, allow soft tissue reconstruction and to strengthen muscles and ligaments. Usually the visit frequency are reduced and also the adjustments are supported by exercises.

The third phase is called wellness or maintenance care. These visits are regular check- ups to make sure your spine is as healthy as it can be. It also allows the chiropractor to detect problems before they become more serious. Many of my patients find great benefits in getting regular chiropractic care. I like to compare this to going to the dentist to see if you have cavities or changing the oil in your car. I like to tease people that if I were to put them in cotton balls after the corrective phase and they would not move ever again then they would stay good. But that is not the case look how often you use your back when you work, play with your kids, work on your garden etc... I think you see what I mean. Now with this study coming out it actually gives us more information that people will feel better if they continues some treatments. The frequency is established between the chiropractor and the patient. It depends alot on your daily activities and how much you abuse your body!

So think about it. Do you think spinal health care could be included in your normal routine?Most of the time, it is just a question of making a point of booking the appointment.

I hope I have clarified a bit more the different stages and that you will consider maintenance care. Your spine and nervous system will be very thankful.

Valerie

World Federation Of Chiropractic 2011 Rio de janeiro

Hi everybody

So I am back and really excited to share with you some of my photos of my trip to the World Federation of Chiropractic Congress in Brazil. It was quite an adventure and a super experience. I met chiropractors from all around the world. It is so motivating to meet new people and exchange with them.

So we left Montreal on friday night and flew all night ouf!! It is far...So overall the trip was great except with the first 2 days where for some reason we had made it to Rio but our luggage had decided to stay in Miami!!! Yes no luggage for 48 hours so we ended visiting Leblon shopping centre on our first day!! Once we got basics,we finally made it to Ipanema beach. It was SO crowded we could hardly could find a path to the beach. Brazil is the classic beach culture !!! Soccer, volleyball and like my husband would say beautiful women!!! So for the first part of the trip we stayed in Ipanema which I would compare to Plateau montreal it is hip and full of people, a very happening spot. We had some great dinners! The language was a bit of a challenge. I tried to mix in a bit a spanish, french and english. We had some good laughs because a few times we were not quite certain what we had ordered or what was going to show up on our plate!!!

We visited the Hippie market on sunday and Santa Theresa a well known favela. It was very nice to see and allowed me to pick up a few gifts for the kids!

We also toured around Copacabana beach. A bit more touristic but a place worth seeing. The beaches are all beautiful and well kept up.

After our first few days we moved over to another area not too far to the hotel where was the congress. There were over 800 delegates from all over the world. I attended a 12 hour course in pediatrics which is always very interesting for me to apply with the kids that I see in my practice.

I met a very nice chiropractor from Brazil her name was Dr. Francielle Borilli. In Brazil chiropractic is starting. They have two schools but they are still fighting to get legislation passed with the government.

The congress started thursday morning with a brazilian show. So I went to some very interesting talks and updates on some of the research. I went to an extremity adjustment seminar. It was fun to learn other ways to adjust different regions of the body. There were alot of representative from my school CMCC. I had the chance to meet a few classmates and also profs that I had not seen in a long time. The congress finished with the gala and then it was time to go back home.

So in summary the experience was very positive and I always come back very refreshed and excited to get back in the clinic and start treating my patients again!!!

The next congress in 2013 will be in South Africa in Durben. Will see if we make it there or not! We have two years to think about it!!!

I hope you enjoy the photos posted on my facebook page

Valerie