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#159 OPIOID DEATHS Or Pick A Door

5/9/2016

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This is far from the first time I have discussed the issue of opioid addiction and death.  But now the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has piped in, reinforcing my message, which is that drugs need to be the last resort, not the first.  Examples of opioid pain medications are OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, Percodan, Demerol, morphine, methadone, hydrocodone, oxycodone, and last but not least, heroin.    Here are some of the CDC fun facts in the article I read:
 
-47,000 people died from Opioid use in 2014.  That’s over 5 people dying every hour in the U.S.  This compares to 32,000 dying in car crashes over the same period.
-1,900,000 people abused or were addicted to opioids in 2013.
-1 out of every 32 patients who are given the highest doses of opioids will be dead within 2-1/2 years.
-11.2% of the adult American population is in chronic pain.
-CDC director, Thomas Frieden, M.D. says, “The prescription overdose epidemic is doctor-driven.”
 
You see, when your medical doctor goes to work in the morning and opens his toolbox he extracts two things, a prescription pad and a scalpel.  While this may not be exactly accurate you get the point.  Now the CDC is telling medical doctors that they are killing people by employing the only tools that they have to do their job.  That hardly seems fair.  They go on to tell their members that they need to add new tools to their toolbox, such as exercise counseling, talk therapy, and the acceptance that sometimes being in pain is better than the risk of the drugs they have access to.  It is a great quandary for my brothers and sisters in white as they try to adapt to this new world where DRUGS ARE SIMPLY NOT THE ANSWER.  And on those occasions where they might be the only answer, they are still a bad answer. 
 
Enter Chiropractic.  Many of you have told me of friends or family members of yours that “don’t believe in chiropractic.”  I’m not really sure what belief has to do with science, but let’s look at this from another direction.  Let’s say you have severe chronic back or neck pain and you are standing in a waiting room with 3 doors to choose from.  The first door leads to a chiropractor who you “don’t believe in”, who is dispensing chiropractic adjustments and life-style suggestions.  On this door is a sign that reads SCIENTIFICALLY VALIDATED, 90+% POSITIVE RESULTS, VERY LOW RISK.  The second door leads to a medical doctor who you “do believe in” who is dispensing opioid pain killers.    On the door is a poster that reads SCIENTIFICALLY VALIDATED, 47,000 DEAD PER YEAR, 1 IN 32 CHANCE OF BEING DEAD IN 2-1/2 YEARS.  The third door is the exit to just live with it.    
 
Pick a door. 
 

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    Dr. Rick

    After writing an article per week for a year, I just kept going.  These are most of my collection.  They are written with my existing patients in mind, so some stuff may seem odd or unusual, but would make perfect sense to those who know chiropractic and who know me.  Enjoy and share!  For my personal blog visit: 

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What Our Patients Have To Say

Yolanda wrote:
     
     I used to suffer severe headaches and migraines on a daily basis, usually all day.  I managed to work in an office because I had to.  When I went home at the end of the day I would often close the shades and go to bed.  I could not plan weekend events because I simply never knew how I was going to feel tomorrow.  If there were a special event such as a birthday or wedding, I would begin to medicate myself two weeks in advance to give myself the best chance of making the event.
     Friends and fellow church-goers had been trying to get me to see Dr. Rick for some time before I finally gave in.  Looking back, I don’t know why I waited.  Within a month, I was headache free.  I couldn’t remember what it was like to not feel pain.  I could do whatever I wanted and not live in fear of the headache.  This was a miracle for me, but the story does not end here.
     An opportunity came up for us to adopt a newborn baby girl not long after I began chiropractic care.  This baby was particularly important to me and my husband because her mother is a relative.  Tragically, her mother was also a drug user and did drugs during her pregnancy.  If we could not adopt the baby she would have been put into the foster system since the biological mother was incapable of raising her.
     To keep a long story short, we did adopt her and she is doing fantastically.  There is no sign of any effect of the drugs on her as of yet, and with God’s help, there never will be.  We think that is because of the vast amounts of love and attention she gets from us, her real mommy and daddy.
     What does this have to do with chiropractic?  The reality is that without chiropractic, I would still be nearly an invalid with headaches.  I COULD NOT HAVE TAKEN CARE OF AN INFANT OR RAISED A YOUNG CHILD.  THEREFORE, SHE WOULD NOT HAVE ANY OF THE OPPORTUNITIES IN LIFE THAT MY HUSBAND AND I WILL BE ABLE TO PROVIDE FOR HER.  MY DAUGHTER’S LIFE IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE SOMEBODY MADE ME GO TO A CHIROPRACTOR. 
     You need to tell everyone you know what you know about chiropractic.  Who knows who’s life you will change too.
Andrew's mother, Barbara, wrote:

     Hello, My name is Andrew and I am a happy, healthy one year old.  But I wasn’t so happy or healthy when I first met Dr. Rick a few months ago.  I had been having problems with my ears for four months, I couldn’t sleep at night and I was miserable.  We’d been to the doctor lots of times but nothing was helping.  In fact, all the medicines the doctor had tried seemed to make me worse instead of better!  Both the regular doctor and the Ear-Nose and Throat doctor said that if the antibiotics didn’t work, then they’d just have to put tubes in.  Now my Mom and dad weren’t about to let them do surgery on me, especially since they had been reading and learned that tubes can cause more problems than they solve.  My mom and dad did a lot of praying.  Then my mom heard that sometimes babies who have a traumatic birth like mine have ear trouble.  You see when I was born they used a vacuum extractor and forceps to pull me out.  I guess all that yanking on my head, hurt my neck.  She also heard that chiropractic care can be the answer.  Now she was skeptical because she couldn’t imagine a chiropractor helping ear infections!?!  But at that point she was willing to try anything!!  Happily, a few weeks of adjustments and my ears were all cleared up.  In addition, I no longer had a stiff neck or shoulders and my whole personality was happier.  I have to tell all babies who have ear troubles, don’t let them give you tubes until you at least try chiropractic care first.  After all, it can’t hurt and if you’re like me, you could be perfectly well with no drugs and no surgery.  In my family, we thank God for Dr. Rick, because I feel better, my mom and dad are happier and sometimes, I even sleep through the night.