Today at Titan

Just last week this was on national television, causing quite a eye opener in regards to the swine flu vaccine. Click here to read the full story on Fox News website in Washington, DC.

Desiree Jennings, a Washington Redskins cheerleader and avid runner, got a seasonal flu shot and 10 days later became very ill. The doctors have diagnosed her with dystonia, and all the blame is firmly on the vaccination she got a local grocery store.

What’s funny is that all the doctors that have been consulted in this case are saying that the flu shots are safe, and that this was a one in a million case. What I would ask these doctors is would they feel the same way if “dystonia” happened to them or one of their loved ones??

We really have to consider what the media says is “safe” against our own belief system and weigh out the true risk vs. reward. We can’t just allow ourselves to be hearded like sheep and believe everything we see on tv and do that.

Am I scared of getting the swine flu…umm, heck no. I’m scared of getting dystonia, or something worse. Even if it is a one in a million chance. I’ll take my chances with the flu. thanks.

First of all, for those of you who don’t know, I injured myself at practice a couple of weeks ago and have not been playing or travelling because of it. I actually separated my shoulder, which was pretty painful, but also humbling because I haven’t been injured in a long time.

In my course of rehabilitation, I prescribe and recommend resistance exercises with tubing or bands in order to stimulate the soft tissue to repair and strengthen the weak joint. Casually surfing the web to find other exercises to do that would benefit me in helping my shoulder get stronger, I came across this gem and couldn’t pass on putting on my next blog.

It really has nothing to do with chiropractic, nor rehabilitation, but it is really funny. I promise, back to real issues

Seeing as many of you enjoyed the last blog about self “cracking”, i thought I’d post another clip of the same sort, but on a larger scale. Big Brother is a CBS show that began airing in 2000 and became wildly popular as the reality television show fad came full swing. This is a great clip on what not to do when you’re pretending to be a chiropractor…and Will’s comment about Kaysar’s background in chiropractic made me giggle too.

In this episode, a contestant Kaysar, says to Will, who’s got a backache from picking up another contestant, “I saw someone do this once.” before attempting to “crack” his back. He says after, “How do you feel?” Will answers, “Terrible.” So what happens next? He foolishly lets another contestant, Danielle, take a shot at his back, to no avail.

The clip is summed up by a fourth contestant named Howie saying the only intelligent and rational thing to the others, “Be careful. You’ll break his back.”

Indeed.

Need I say more? How many of your friends or family members do the same thing?

I often get links to video clips from friends, family and patients, and this was one of the more disturbing that I have seen in a while. There has been an debate in the medical community as to whether chiropractic really works and whether spinal manipulation is a valid form of neck and back pain relief. Although the research is in it’s toddler stage, it’s there, and it’s proving that chiropractic does work.

Here’s a study from the May 2007 edition of the Journal of Rheumatology that shows that adjustments coupled with exercise have an intermediate or long term positive effect on acute, subacute, and chronic mechanical neck disorders. Click here to read the article and someone please find out who this child is, ask if she’s ok, and send the link to her parents…

This week has really been a odd week. I think “hit or miss” would best describe it. It seems as if everyone that normally schedules and makes their appointments are missing. It also seems as if those I haven’t seen in a while are now coming in. But the commonality that they all have, is that they are, or their families, are getting sick. The swine flu bug is in full swing here in Tampa, but no one in this office seems to be to concerned. I’m sure next year it’ll be the frog flu, or the rhino flu. Even more importantly, we know chiropractic works and that it can protect us from whatever flu is out there by strengthening our immune system.

Dr. Austin Cohen, aside from having the coolest name in the universe, appeared on CBS Atlanta with a fantastic guide to preventing and protecting ourselves and our families from the dreaded H1-N1 virus, or the swine flu. His explanation about how chiropractic can help is short and sharp, and makes great sense about how a healthy nervous system equals a healthy immune system.