As a chiropractor and healthcare provider, I would be remiss if I didn’t address the vital issue of excess weight and how it negatively affects every part of the human body. I explain the health challenges to my overweight patients and hammer away on the subject in my blogs because in addition to the cardio-vascular diseases caused by obesity, much of the back pain, hip pain, and knee pain that people experience is influenced by the undue stress excess weight puts on the joints of the body. And, though it may not surprise you, an expert panel in a report out just today said that people in this country must slash their calories and increase physical activity because the obesity epidemic is “the single greatest threat to public health in this century.”
We all know that dieting isn’t easy, but the advisory committee for the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans gave this clear-cut advice: “People in this country need to cut the calories they consume from added sugars and solid fats (butter, marbled meats) and start eating a more nutrient-rich, plant-based diet.”
Here’s an interesting question for you to consider: Do you want to keep your chiropractic internet marketing in-house or do you want to hire a professional? There are pros and cons to both, and the answer lies in your particular situation. Let’s check out the advantages and disadvantages of both.
Advantages of in-house chiropractic internet marketing
There is a lower monthly cost involved in using someone already employed by you.
The staff knows your practice intimately. Your staff has a good understanding of your clinic’s particular services and, therefore, is able to describe your specialties easier than those who don’t know the specifics of your particular practice.
You can communicate anytime. Being in-house it is easier to set up times to have meetings or just to chat about situations on the fly.
Disadvantages of in-house chiropractic website marketing
The staff may not be fully aware of what SEO (search engine optimization) is, let alone how to accomplish it. In that case, a lot of education and training will be needed to make sure SEO gets done right.
The staff may be overworked. Sometimes the time it takes to do SEO can be underestimated. It is an ongoing process that can actually be a full-time job. If a marketing manager has been told to do SEO as well as his or her full time job, obviously that person will be overworked and feel overwhelmed.
Attention needs to be paid to detail. This goes together with Point #2. If the staff is overworked, they have no time to check out search engine news and keep up-to-date on how the search engines have changed the game each week and what needs to be done to implement those changes to keep your clinic internet presence up in the rankings.
Advantages of using an outside professional
Chiropractic marketing companies are specialists in the field. They have experience in working on numerous clinics and their websites and optimizing them for SEO. They know, first hand, what works effectively and what doesn’t.
There is a dedicated team at the company who will be working on your site and can give it the attention it requires.
The company has a specific plan and won’t be just jumping around, going from short term tactic to short term tactic with no organized strategy and no clear way to reach your desired goals. In other words, they have an “integrated” internet marketing strategy.
Disadvantages of a chiropractic internet marketing company
Let’s face it, it can get expensive, but costs vary widely from company to company. Some companies out there are charging $600-$700 a month for their services. It is definitely worth your while to shop around and research before you buy.
There is usually a commitment. Most chiropractic internet marketing companies will want you to sign up for at least six months to a year.
Account management can be a problem. With high turnover rates at many companies, especially the big ones, there may be a chance that you’ll get handed from account manager to account manager just when you were building a relationship of trust. You may have to start over again, maybe even have to redesign and reiterate your strategy with the new manager.
Now that you’ve taken a moment to look at the pros and cons of both keeping your internet marketing in-house or hiring a professional, the solution to SEO and your internet marketing strategy will depend on the size of your practice, the time and staffing you can devote to it, and your overall long-term goals.
Now, of course, we are a chiropractic internet marketing company that specializes in helping chiropractors with their internet presence. So, I will admit that I am a bit biased on the side of your hiring an expert to do it right. If you are thinking of hiring a company to develop and implement your internet marketing strategy, it is tremendously important for you to hire one that specializes in chiropractic clinics. Why? Because we understand the chiropractic profession intimately. Therefore, in the long run it will save you both time and money not having to explain what chiropractic is about to some general SEO company. There are several of us out there.
If you are going to go with an outside company, be sure to read the fine print. Look at the bottom of their page for a disclaimer. If they have one, read about their “typical” results. You don’t want to be fooled by outrageous claims even though such hype can be enticing. Remember, your internet marketing strategy is just one stream of new patient leads. Even though chiropractic internet marketing is fast becoming a great source for new patient leads, and even though internet marketing gets more important with every passing day, and even though it is a crucial area in which to generate new patient leads, it is still not the only source of marketing you will need to succeed in your practice.
Whether you choose to keep your internet marketing in-house or to hire a professional, you want to be sure that the time and money you spend on SEO gets you where you want to go. A member of your staff that does your internet marketing for “free,” while squeezing those efforts in-between other tasks, may “cost” you in the long run. A professional whose sole focus is internet marketing, won’t lose sight of your goals. Internet marketing is essential to your practice, so choose your chiropractic internet path wisely.
As a Cincinnati Chiropractor I treat many seniors who are affected by balance problems. In fact, dizziness, “wooziness,” and other balance-related conditions affect at least 9% of adults, aged 65 and older. Good balance is crucial, of course, in helping older adults in staying independent and to avoid falling down and incurring injuries that are commonly extremely serious or even fatal. But, did you know that falls contribute to a large number of work injuries for workers under 65 years of age, including those in their twenties and thirties? That’s right! Balance challenges can occur at any age. In fact, those who work at “dangerous heights” like construction workers, roofers, oil platform employees, windows cleaners, or anywhere else where a ladder is necessary are far more likely to sustain serious injury if their balance isn’t good.
The most important capacity of good balance is to help us to manage and maintain our body position, whether we are standing still or moving, and whether we are on the ground or high up on a platform. Good balance helps us to walk without staggering, arise from a sitting position without tottering, and to climb stairs without missing a step. In other words, good balance is extremely important to our health and well-being.
What come as a surprise to you is that you could have a balance abnormality without being aware of how threatening it is. On occasion an individual can “shake off” a dizzy sensation and it may not return for a while. But, when precipetous dizziness happens at a critical moment, it is too late to shake it off and a fall is most likely inevitable.
When you have the sensation that you, personally, are spinning or that things around you are moving, it is known as “vertigo.” Nearly 40% of people in the U.S. will have at least one experience of dizziness that is acute enough to seek out a health professional, like your Chiropractor at Cincinnati Chiropractic. However, if you are involved in any of the activities listed above, having a chiropractor check your balance prior to a distinct episode of vertigo, make adjustments if needed, and then help you to maintain good balance, may save you from serious injury or worse.
Balance disorders are dangerous at any age. It is crucial for you to be diagnosed and treated without delay if you feel as if you may have a possible balance disorder. Often guidelines are helpful. Therefore, if you can answer “yes” to any of the following questions, even if the experience is seldom or infrequent, it is highly recommended that you discuss the symptom(s) with a chiropractor as soon as possible:
• Have you experienced a feeling of being “unsteady?”
• Has the room seemed to spin around you?
• Has there ever a time when you felt as if you were moving when you knew you were standing still?
• Have you lost your balance and/or fallen down?
• Have you ever felt as if you were falling?
• Has your vision ever become “blurred?”
• Have you ever felt disoriented, or lost a sense of time, place or identity?
As discussed above, balance problems are not confined to a particular age group. From the time we learn to walk until we take our final step, our falling down is an ever-present possibility. If you work in a job that makes your falling down a “critical” event, you need to have your balance checked. Don’t wait until you sustain a work injury! Call a Chiropractor today, and if you’re in the Cincinnati area, I’d love to be your Cincinnati Chiropractor!
Let’s face it, you can’t stop kids from carrying backpacks especially with school lockers being removed from many schools. And, we, adults use them, too, for plenty of activities in addition to hiking. But, not all backpacks are equal when it comes to their impact on the musculoskeletal system of young and old, alike. That’s why the endorsement of nine backpackes and daypackes from The North Face, announced today by the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) is so important. The endorsed styles are the Big Shot, Borealis, Box Shot, Cornice, Hotshot, On Sight, Recon, Surge, and Yavapai. \
Here’s what a panel of doctors of chiropractic found with regard to the benefits of The North Face packs:
• Injection molded shoulder straps: creating innovative flex points to alleviate clavicle and pressure point strain;
• Anatomically correct shoulder straps: constructed in a shape specifically suited for males or females;
• Back panels with improved fit: featuring a recessed channel designed to take pressure off the spine and a more comfortable fabrication for load-bearing activities; and
• Updated interior organization: providing ample pockets and dividers for storing and organizing the necessities of school, work and play .
“After careful study and consultation with Scott Bautch, DC, The North Face designers revised specific backpacks and daypacks, making improvements to fit, comfort and usability,” said Scott McGuire, equipment product director for The North Face. “Improvements to features such as shoulder straps, back panels and hipbelts increase both the function and comfort of this collection.”
For additional information and to purchase the new ACA-endorsed packs visit www.thenorthface.com.
No doubt you’ve heard the saying, When you consider the alternative, getting old isn’t so bad.” But, if the aging process is creating pain in your body, you are painfully aware that aging is no joke! As a Santa Barbara chiropractor, I give care to many patients suffering from age-related challenges that likely would not have taken place if the primary cause had been addressed earlier in life, especially when it relates to musculoskeletal breakdowns. Pain in the back, neck, hips, knees, and even the feet are commonly the result of undue stresses due to poor posture, improper gait, and repetitive overuse. If we only knew then how our aging body would feel now, eh? However, as they say, “hindsight is 20-20.”
Back pain is number one on the list as the most prevalent musculoskeletal condition to evolve as we age. Age-related back pain is most often produced by spine osteoarthritis, or Spondylosis, a degenerative disorder.
Spinal osteoarthritis is caused by advanced deterioration and weight-bearing pressure on the spine that, over time, undermines discs, joints, and surrounding ligaments. The specific area(s) and degree of the degenerative process of spondylosis is individual, varying from person to person. It is likely to affect the cervical (neck), thoracic (mid-back), or lumbar (low back) areas of the spine. Spondylosis symptoms are individual as well, depending on the severity of degeneration, and can extend from low-amplitude pain and numbness to severe sensory loss and muscular atrophy.
Calcium is deposited in the tissues around the vertebrae due to repetitive stresses that negatively affect the cartilage surrounding the joints Adjacent nerves, blood vessels, and soft tissue can be constricted by these calcific deposits, also called bone spurs. This type of compression is at the root of Spondylosis.
Whether or not you are suffering from spondylosis, regular chiropractic care and overall chiropractic management can significantly delay age-related degeneration of your spine. No, “you can’t un-ring a bell” or “turn back the hands of time,” but it’s never too late to give your spine the attention it deserves. Chiropractors are experts when it comes to treatment of the spine. See your chiropractor in Santa Barbara today, for the health of your spine.
You’ve no doubt surmised from reading my past blogs that, as a chiropractor, my philosophy is a resounding “motion is life,” and that I believe that daily exercise is one of the most important elements to health and longevity, mentally as well as physically. So, naturally, whenever I run across a new study that validates the importance of exercise, I like to pass it along to my patients. And, that’s just what I’m doing here. A new study by researchers from the University of Essex, and published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, found that just five minutes of exercise a day in “the great outdoors” can improve mental health. That’s right, “green activity” like walking in the park, cycling around vineyards, and gardening, or even farming, can actually boost a person’s mood and self esteem.
Even though plenty of studies in the past have confirmed that outdoor exercise can not only increase a sense of well-being, but reduce the risk of mental illness in general, there hasn’t been a study focusing on just how much time outdoors is needed to produce positive benefits. What may come as a surprise to many people is just how little time is required. The study found that the largest positive effect on self-esteem came from just a five-minute “tip-toe through the tulips.” Surely, we all have five minutes to devote to your sense of well-being. Of course, if you don’t live or work close to a park, allow time for the commute.
You can read more on this study in the journal Environmental Science & Technology or go to msnbc.com/health
Your Corona Chiropractor offers a valuable non-surgical, drug-free approach to relieving hip pain and often eliminating it altogether. As most of us know, surgery should be a last resort whenever possible. Therefore, before you schedule a surgery to replace that hip, think about the following questions: Is it out of the question for you to get a good night’s sleep because your hip pain wakes you up at night? When you get up in the morning, and/or when you get out of your car, are you stiff and do you find it difficult at first to move your legs? Do you feel pain in one or both hips when you cross your legs or rotate or twist your hips? If so, you may have asymmetries and misalignments in your lower extremities that, in addition to causing your hip pain, can eventually lead to degenerative joint disease in your hips if not treated. The good news is that chiropractic treatment can help whether or not degenerative changes have already taken place!
You may be getting older and it may be true that your hip joints aren’t what they used to be. Nonetheless, are you aware that your hip pain (and related problems), which point to age-related degenerative conditions, may not actually be produced by osteoarthritis? That’s right. In many cases, instead of being the original source of your problem, osteoarthritis of the hip joint is often the result of a previous injury (or injuries) to your hips.
Hip problems frequently have to do with asymmetry or imbalance when you are in motion, like walking for instance. If you “pronate” when you walk, like a duck, with your toes pointing away from your body, it is inevitable that you will feel pain in your hips due to the asymmetrical tension on your hip joints and your body’s efforts to compensate. Fortunately, you can learn to correct your gait pattern at any age, and your chiropractor in Corona can help you to do it.
Moreover, you may have undergone gait changes as the result of an ankle sprain or knee strain, and since “the knee bone’s connected to the hip bone,” these biomechanical accommodations produce hip pain. There is no doubt that, if not treated, your hip joints will suffer further consequences, i.e, wear and tear that produces degenerative changes.
Other activities that can occasionally injure the hip joints are starting a new job or beginning a new sport that makes it necessary for you to move your body in unfamiliar ways. Also, ferrying a child (or grandchild) on one hip can cause hip pain. Even your sitting position or driving for extended periods of time on a routine basis can cause hip injury and pain.
So you can see that not every pain is caused by “old age,” even though we may experience more pain due to the progressive nature of untreated injuries.
And important aspect of the chiropractic management of your hip problem, in addition to your adjustments, your Corona Chiropractor will offer individualized rehabilitative exercises that include gentle muscle stretching and strengthening, and will also study your gait and may recommend simple pattern changes.
Your hip pain won’t disappear on its own. Hip pain is a sign that something needs correcting. If neglected, there is a good possibility that at some point you will require that hip replacement surgery. So, don’t wait until it’s too late. Your chiropractor in Corona can relieve your hip pain, get your body back into balance, and help you get to back to enjoying your life again!
Here’s another research finding to file under “Duh, you think?” Recent scientific research found that junk food is addictive. Hey, mom, don’t blame your kid when he has a meltdown when his “fix” at McDonald’s is replaced by a nutritious home-cooked meal that includes (yikes!) vegetables! And, you dieters out there, stop beating yourself up when you find that no matter how many fresh fruits and vegetables you add to your diet, you still find yourself at a midnight In-N-Out Burger drive-thru. It’s an addiction, man!
The study found that eating junk food can actually change the chemistry in your brain. How? High-calorie foods affect your brain in much the same way as cocaine and heroin, and can lead to compulsive eating habits that resemble drug addiction. Plus, foods stripped of healthy nutrients, like junk food, make you more hungry because your body “thinks” you need more food when, in fact, what you really crave is more nutrients.
Chiropractors, like me, work with our patients to achieve overall health through regular chiropractic care, a nutritious diet, good hydration, and daily exercise. If any one of these components is missing, your good health and longevity are at risk. See your chiropractor today. He or she can help you “kick” your junk food “addiction.”
For more on this study, go to reuters.com.
The “hottest” buzz word on the internet today is Social Media. For those of you who would like to feel out Social Media marketing as part of your overall chiropractic internet marketing strategy, but aren’t really sure what all the buzz is about, let’s take a minute to talk about the “Who, What, When, Where, and How” of social media and you, that’s “Who.”
Social media marketing may seem familiar in some respects to other chiropractic marketing strategies you’ve thought about in the past, but also unfamiliar at the same time. In the “familiar” category, you’d never think of trying any sort of marketing plan without taking the time to understand what it is and what you want to get from it. It’s important to ask yourself, “What are my goals?” Once you know what you want, it’ll be easier for you to use social media to your greatest advantage.
Before you begin your social media effort, it will be highly important for you to make certain that you “own your name” on all the social media outlets, which is to say, be certain that your name or your clinic’s name is procurable so that you can use the exact same name on all of the social channels you decide to use. There is a free service to assist you with your search when you’re ready. That who is knowem.com. Knowem.com will check where your name is and/or if it’s attainable or not on a sufficient number of social media sites.
The next step, once you have all your social media accounts “locked up”, is to make a decision as to where you ought to be active. Because you have a clinic to run and patients to see, starting with only a few social media sites is best and may actually be all you’ll need. That way you won’t get unduly busy in too many channels. So, how do you choose the best sites for you? Choose the social media site where the most action is, which are facebook, twitter, linkedin, and Youtube What successful social media activity will do for you is build a real presence in your community. What you should never do “sell” on your social media sites, in other words don’t sell your clinic, don’t sell services or products, don’t sell anything! The purpose of social media is for you to go out and network with the community. By all means, let them become aware what you do, but do it by becoming a participant. Social media works the same way as social networking offline. People on social media sites don’t want to be sold to, plain and simply. Social media sites are a lot like a neighborhood backyard barbecue. People are standing around chatting about who they are and what they do, and then a person asks you what you do. Or, maybe you start the conversation by simply stating, “Hello, I’m Dr. ____. With social media marketing, the same kind of interaction applies. Social media sites should be handled the same way you’d “work” offline networking opportunities to promote yourself, i.e., answer the questions and concerns that get potential patients interested in the who that’s you!
“Move it or lose it” captures the chiropractic philosophy in a nutshell, especially when it comes to aging. As we age, our joints lose much of their “natural” mobility mostly due to wear and tear over the years and age-related moisture decline. Unless we, boomers, make a concerted effort to get regular exercise and stretch daily, and perhaps to get periodic chiropractic manipulation to maintain or increase joint mobility, boomers are cruising towards a future of mobility-related disabilities that will be costly both in healthcare needs and quality of life in general. Which direction are a large number of baby boomers cruising? According to new study, the number of middle-aged Americans with certain mobility-related disabilities, (including walking a quarter-mile and climbing 10 steps) is on the rise. That’s right! The study, based on a National Health Interview Survey carried out each year from 1997 to 2007, which included up to 15,000 individuals annually, revealed that more than 40 percent (that’s too close to half!) of 50 to 64 year olds reported having problems with at least one of nine physical functions and many reported more than one difficulty.
There was also an increase in the number of people using special equipment, like a cane or wheelchair, to get around. Moreover, an increased number of people reported needing help with daily personal care activities, such as getting out of bed and moving around the home. “This a disappointing trend with potentially far-reaching and long-term negative consequences,” said Richard Suzman, director of the Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the National Institute on Aging, which funded the study. “If people have such difficulties in middle age, how can we expect that this age group — today’s baby boomers — will be able to take care of itself with advancing age? If it continues, this trend could have a significant effect on the need for long-term care in the future.”
The researchers note that the study was based on people’s self-reports, which could affect the results.
For more on the study, which was published in the April issue of the journal Health Affairs, go to LiveScience.com.
As a chiropractor and healthcare provider, I would be remiss if I didn’t address the vital issue of excess weight and how it negatively affects every part of the human body. I explain the health challenges to my overweight patients and hammer away on the subject in my blogs because in addition to the cardio-vascular diseases caused by obesity, much of the back pain, hip pain, and knee pain that people experience is influenced by the undue stress excess weight puts on the joints of the body. And, though it may not surprise you, an expert panel in a report out just today said that people in this country must slash their calories and increase physical activity because the obesity epidemic is “the single greatest threat to public health in this century.” 
Let’s face it, you can’t stop kids from carrying backpacks especially with school lockers being removed from many schools. And, we, adults use them, too, for plenty of activities in addition to hiking. But, not all backpacks are equal when it comes to their impact on the musculoskeletal system of young and old, alike. That’s why the endorsement of nine backpackes and daypackes from The North Face, announced today by the