Just say No! to Opioids

Is there an alternative to prescribing opioids for back pain?

I am sure that I don’t need to tell you that the abuse of highly addictive prescription opioids is an epidemic in this country. Many people who become addicted started using opioids because they were dealing with real problems: acute back pain or chronic pain which needed genuine treatment. However, the unfortunate reality is that pain with opioids over the long-term can lead to dependency and addiction. Studies have shown that 36% of people who overdose on opioids were first prescribed those medications for back pain.

So what if there was an effective treatment for back pain that didn’t involve dangerously addictive medication? Guess what: there is! It’s called ‘chiropractic’!

“Sure, Dr. Renne,” you may be saying to yourself. “You are a chiropractor. Of course you are going to recommend chiropractic treatment for back pain.”

In fact, you don’t just have to take the word of this chiropractor. A new research study has shown that chiropractic is indeed an effective treatment for back pain and chronic pain, and that it keeps people from turning to opioids!

People in pain do better with chiropractic

The US Department of Veterans Affairs did a study of 14,000 veterans who had received chiropractic at least one chiropractic treatment. Many of those veterans were also prescribed an opioid for their pain. Of those that were, Veterans Affairs found that those who continued chiropractic treatment were significantly less likely to obtain further opioid prescription refills. Why? People who are able to manage their pain with chiropractic treatments are less likely to turn to addictive prescription medications.

This is not the first study to show that patients who use chiropractic to treat their pain are less likely to rely on opiates. Two other recent studies show very similar results. In one of these studies, patients who received chiropractic care were 55% less likely to use opioids. That’s less than half as likely, which is pretty incredible!

Recent research has also shown that over the long term opioids are not actually very effective for controlling chronic pain. Meanwhile, studies have also shown that a combination of chiropractic and over-the-counter drugs like Tylenol are just as effective as stronger prescription drugs in many cases.

Addictive pills are not the way to beat long term pain

If you are experiencing chronic pain or back pain, I highly recommend that you not try to use addictive prescription pain meds like opioids to try and recover. I have seen firsthand the devastating effects that opioid addiction can have on people’s lives. You do have alternatives when it comes to dealing with back pain or with chronic pain. Chiropractic is a real and effective method and has been scientifically tested.

If you’re experiencing back pain or chronic pain, get in touch with Active Medical & Chiropractic. I’d love to sit down with you and talk about how we can get you back on the road to wellness.

Yours in health,

Christopher B. Renne, D.C.
Active Medical & Chiropractic
www.activechirocenter.com

Our team:
Sanford Z. Pollak, D.O
Richard L. Woody, D.C.
Christopher B. Renne, D.C.
Paul A. Busse, M.D.

You know I love a good cup or two of coffee.....

Coffee: Friend or Foe?

Hello, friends! Why don’t you sit down and take a load off. I was just brewing up a nice, dark pot of coffee. Let me pour you a big, steaming cup.

Does that sound pretty good? I’ll bet for most of you reading this, it does! Often it seems like we have more to do than there are hours in a day, and the one thing that helps us power through is that our cuppa Joe! According to the National Coffee Association, 64% of Americans over 18 drink at least one cup of coffee a day. The average person drinks about 3.2 cups. But you have to wonder – how much coffee is too much? Is all that coffee good for your heart?

Well, I have great news for my fellow java-enthusiasts: current scientific research suggests that drinking plenty of coffee is in fact good for you! According to recent studies, drinking about four cups of coffee a day improves heart health. And now a new study from Germany suggests the reason why: a protein called p27.

Researchers in the German study studied mice. First they gave the each of the mice the mouse-sized equivalent of four cups of coffee a day. Then, after a week of mousey coffee consumption, they induced heart attacks in the mice. The mice that had been drinking their coffee recovered much better from the heart attacks than mice that had been caffeine-free.

It appears that the caffeine in coffee activates the p27 protein, causing it migrate into the mitochondria of certain types cells in the heart. This in turn allowed those cells to migrate more effectively to where they were needed, such as lining blood vessels or turning into heart muscle fibers. It also sped recovery after heart attacks.

In other words, the protein p27 is really good for your heart, and it loves caffeine!

One of the really interesting things that this and other studies have found is that the heart-boosting power of coffee really gets unlocked at around four cups a day. So if you are an ‘average American’ drinks about three cups a day, you might actually want to start drinking an extra cup!

Research shows that coffee drinkers are 19% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease. It also shows that drinking coffee reduces your risk of heart-attack and stroke.

Now, it’s important to remember that when these studies talk about ‘one cup of coffee’ they mean one measuring cup’s worth, not just however much coffee fits inside your giant-sized travel mug!

The good news is that for most people there probably is very little risk from drinking lots of coffee. The only exception is pregnant women: more than one or two cups of coffee a day may increase the risk of miscarriage, so if you are pregnant or think you might become pregnant you may want to slow down a little on your coffee habit.

Another thing that all of us need to keep in mind is that coffee by itself isn’t a miracle cure. If you really want to help your heart, you need to combine your coffee habit with exercise and a healthy diet.

But it’s nice to know that, for most of us, we can stop feeling guilty about our coffee addiction. So brew up another pot and enjoy!

Yours in health,

Christopher B. Renne, D.C.

4111 Atlantic Boulevard

Jacksonville, FL 32207

www.activechirocenter.com

Important safety bulletin: if you are getting an MRI, don’t wear yoga pants!

It’s a Stretch: Yoga Pants Don’t Belong in MRI Machines!

Important bulletin: if you are getting an MRI, don’t wear yoga pants!

Yes, that’s right – wearing certain types of spandex yoga pants into an MRI machine can be hazardous to your health!

As a chiropractor, I frequently order MRIs for my patients. It is a powerful tool because it allows me to examine a patient’s spine in much more detail for injury or other problems than an x-ray is able to reveal. Of course, an MRI machine is much more powerful than x-ray machine. We have an x-ray machine here at the office, and it barely takes it a second for it to do its job. If you need an MRI we will send you to a special imaging lab for a scan that will take 20-30 minutes in a large and very noisy machine.

An MRI machine works by using incredibly powerful magnets. These magnets remain active even when the machine isn’t operating. That’s why technicians require patients to remove all items from their person that may contain metal, such as car keys, cell phones, and belt buckles. But recently it has been discovered that there is a certain article of clothing that may contain metal that you might not expect – yoga pants!

Some yoga pants, and other athletic leisure garments, have strands of metal (usually silver) woven into them. These threads prevent bacteria-causing odor from building up in your yoga pants while you’re working up a good sweat. Unfortunately, they also have electromagnetic properties. There have been reports of these garments heating up during an MRI and causing painful burning. In one case, an eleven-year-old girl received second degree burns.

One brand of yoga pants that some MRI labs are specifically warning against is Lululemon. If you own Lululemon athletic attire that you are planning to wear to an MRI appointment, you can check on the tat to see if the product contains silver microfibers. However, Lululemon is not the only manufacturer that incorporates metal woven into their clothing.

Any clothes that feature ‘anti-bacterial’ or ‘anti-microbial’ technology should be avoided, as it is likely to include metallic microfibers. When in doubt, don’t take the risk – wear something else! Ordinary, everyday clothing such as a t-shirt and a pair of jeans should fare just fine inside an MRI machine. If the lab technicians have concerns about what you are wearing, they can ask you to change into a gown.

In the remote chance that you should ever find yourself inside an MRI machine and in pain or discomfort, you should notify the technician at once. You may need to shout – it’s loud in there! – but the technician will be nearby at all times. All MRI machines have emergency shutoff devices to allow for the swift and safe removal of the patient if necessary.

An MRI of your spine can be a powerful tool to getting on the road to speedy recovery. But think twice before you go into an MRI machine wearing your favorite pair of yoga pants!

Yours in health,

Christopher B. Renne, D.C.

Chiropractic Physician

Board Certified Integrative Medicine

www.activechirocenter.com

Got back pain? Then LIFT HEAVY THINGS!

Put Your Back Into It

Hello once again, Jacksonville. You’ve probably heard the phrase “Lift with your legs, not with your back” many times before. Everybody knows that it is important to protect your spine from injury by not lifting heavy objects, right? Well, believe it or not, I’m here to tell you today that recent studies show that this common wisdom is probably wrong.

That’s right, using your back more may actually protect it from injury! In fact, it may even prevent back pain in general!

With the way we treat our spines these days, you might think that the spine is one of nature’s great mistakes, a fragile body part that must be protected from stress at all cost. In fact, the human spine was intended to bear heavy loads. After all, your spine holds up your eleven-pound head 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Imagine if you had to carry an 11 pound bowling ball in your arms all the time. You would probably drop that ball pretty quick – but your spine supports your head just fine!

Like other tissue in your body such as your muscles, putting weight on the spine actually helps strengthen it. This is known in clinical terms as ‘loading’ the spine. ‘Loading’ has proved to be critical to spinal health. One way we know this is because of what happens when the spine is not loaded, the one time when it is entirely stress-free: in space! Astronauts who spend months weightless aboard the International Space Station tend to suffer from atrophy in their lumbar spine and often deal with chronic back pain upon returning to earth. Why? Because with no load to support in free-fall, the spine is greatly weakened!

When the spine doesn’t have to support any weight at all for long periods, it becomes unhealthy. When it is put under pressure and made to carry weight, it thrives.

Another spine fact which might surprise you is that it is okay to load your spine while it is bent. In fact, the spine is actually more stable when it is curved!

Now, all this doesn’t mean that you should go and immediately try to lift the heaviest object you can find. One of the reasons that back pain is so common today is because most of us don’t exercise our spines and the muscles around them the way we ought to. Just like astronauts coming back from a long space-mission, our spines are weakened. A back-strengthening exercise routine is a great idea, but start small.

You should also consult your chiropractor, your physical therapist, or your physician about the best way to exercise. For certain types of conditions and injuries, some types of exercises may not be appropriate.

For those with relatively healthy spines, here are a few strengthening exercises to try:

The Plank

Lying on your stomach on a flat surface, prop yourself up on your elbows with your forearms against the ground. With your feet resting on your toes, use your abdominal muscles to lift your body off the floor. Hold for as long as you can.

The Superman

Lie flat on your stomach with your arms above your head. Lift both arms and legs a few inches off the ground, supported by your abdomen. Hold.

The Gym

Does your gym have a rowing machine? Rowing is one of the best ways to strengthen your back. If you don’t have access to one, you can use a dumbbell instead. Bend over a chair or weight bench so your back is parallel to it and practice lifting the dumbbell up to your chest.

The Exercise Ball

Have an exercise ball? Here’s an exercise to try. Lie face down with your stomach on the ball. Lift your legs off the ground and hold them. Walk forward with your hands until your thigh are on the ball. Then walk back.

Keep strengthening those spines, everyone! 

Dr. Christopher B. Renne

Chiropractic Physician

Board Certified Integrative Medicine

4111 Atlantic Boulevard

Jacksonville, FL 32207

jaxchiro@gmail.com

www.activechirocenter.com

904-398-4860 office

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