Chiropractic Care for Back Pain
Among people seeking back pain relief alternatives, most choose chiropractic treatment. About 22 million Americans visit chiropractors annually. Of these, 7.7 million, or 35%, are seeking relief from back pain from various causes, including accidents, sports injuries, and muscle strains. Other complaints include pain in the neck, arms, and legs, and headaches.
What Is Chiropractic Care?
Chiropractors use hands-on spinal manipulation and other alternative treatments. The theory is that proper alignment of the body’s musculoskeletal structure, particularly the spine, will enable the body to heal itself without surgery or medication. Manipulation is used to restore mobility to joints restricted by tissue injury caused by a traumatic event, such as falling, or repetitive stress, such as sitting without proper back support.
Chiropractic treatment is primarily used as a pain relief alternative for muscles, joints, bones, and connective tissue, such as cartilage, ligaments, and tendons. It is sometimes used in conjunction with conventional medical treatment.
The initials “DC” identify a chiropractor, whose education typically includes an undergraduate degree plus four years of chiropractic college.
What Does Chiropractic Treatment for Back Pain Involve?
A chiropractor first takes a medical history, performs a physical examination, and may use lab tests or diagnostic imaging to determine if treatment is appropriate for your back pain.
The treatment plan may involve one or more manual adjustments in which the doctor manipulates the joints, using a controlled, sudden force to improve range and quality of motion. Many chiropractors also incorporate nutritional counseling and exercise/rehabilitation into the treatment plan. The goals of chiropractic care include the restoration of function and prevention of injury in addition to back pain relief.
What Are the Benefits and Risks of Chiropractic Care?
Spinal manipulation and chiropractic care are generally considered safe, effective treatments for acute low back pain, the type of sudden injury that results from moving furniture or getting tackled. Acute back pain, which is more common than chronic pain, lasts no more than six weeks and typically gets better on its own.
Research has also shown chiropractic care to be helpful in treating neck pain and headaches. In addition, osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia may respond to the moderate pressure used both by chiropractors and practitioners of deep tissue massage.
People who have osteoporosis, spinal cord compression, or inflammatory arthritis, or who take blood-thinning medications should not undergo spinal manipulation. In addition, patients with a history of cancer should first obtain clearance from their medical doctor before undergoing spinal manipulation.
All treatment is based on an accurate diagnosis of your back pain. The chiropractor should be well informed regarding your medical history, including ongoing medical conditions, current medications, traumatic/surgical history, and lifestyle factors. Although rare, there have been cases in which treatment worsened a herniated or slipped disc, or neck manipulation resulted in a spinal cord injury. To be safe, always check with your medical doctor to make sure your condition will benefit from chiropractic or other pain relief alternatives.
Why Customer Care Matters in Healthcare
We are approaching a golden age in medicine, powered by hard-won advances in science and technology that enable treatments and outcomes that once were the stuff of science fiction. And yet for most patients, their healthcare experience remains firmly, and frustratingly, stuck in the past.
With all of its associated paperwork, insurance authorizations, and administration, even a commonplace doctor’s office visit can be confusing—and far more so if a hospital procedure is required. The result is a distrust of the overall healthcare system for many, and a considerable population that is woefully underserved. This, despite Americans paying more for their care than patients do virtually anywhere else in the world.
Neil Jordan, general manager of Microsoft Health, says that the healthcare system has historically focused on the experience and satisfaction of patients last, rather than making it a priority. “We’ve grown up in a world where the expectation of the health system is that it takes action on patients, versus patients making their own choices,” he says. “While that is changing, there’s much yet to be done.”
In conjunction with adopting value-based care practices, which incentivize outcomes and efficiency, healthcare providers and payers are reimagining their practices to put patients and their experiences first. “They want to understand their patients more deeply so they can provide better service, but they also want to understand the demographics that enable them to manage and develop their own services,” Jordan notes. Providers should grasp what the patient is interested in from the minute they hit the hospital website, he says, echoing a practice of today’s successful retailers.
In fact, by adopting successful practices pioneered in sectors like financial services and the hospitality or retail industries, tomorrow’s healthcare journey will get a lot more streamlined, more understandable, and transparent.
Radical Transparency
For most Americans, the U.S. healthcare system is defined above all else by a fundamental lack of transparency. For instance, as a consumer, it’s fairly easy to research the particulars of something when considering a purchase, whether it’s electronics, a car, or a house. However, attempting to do the same for a healthcare procedure—especially one that is complex—is far more difficult if not impossible.
Keith Roberts, vice president of engagement for Change Healthcare, says this disconnect at the last mile is the main point of friction for the prevailing patient experience. “Imagine if you went to a restaurant and received an exquisite meal. Then after months of back and forth with paper artifacts, the final bill arrives. Over several pages, the metal components are laid out: the farmer, the rancher, the distributor, the dishwasher—it is all itemized, with pricing for each. That meal is no longer as delightful in your memory as it was,” he says. “That is a ridiculous notion, yet for patients today it’s the status quo of their care.”
Roberts says radical transparency, not only in pricing but also in the choice of care itself, is fundamental to a new approach to healthcare. “That is where the friction occurs in the U.S. healthcare system, because we have patients seeking hope, health, and healing, and they are instead confronted with a transaction or a customer experience that’s confusing,” he says. “It erodes trust in the entire system—including the provider who is giving a world-class clinical experience.”
The solution lies in engaging the patient directly and openly with all of the available choices—including quality ratings and pricing and working with them to make the best possible decisions for their outcome. It’s also about communicating before, during, and aftercare in a way that is timely, orchestrated and personalized. While that may not sound like rocket science, compared with most of today’s experiences, it’s positively revolutionary.
Customer Service Industry
Roberts says that the healthcare community could take guidance from successes in the retail industry, itself emerging from an epic transformation to create more personalized shopping connections with consumers. By taking a holistic approach to the patient relationship, providers will foster a dynamic that is complementary rather than adversarial, as it often feels today.
“The world’s best healthcare providers are not only world-class in the clinical experience, but they are also making great strides at becoming world-class in the customer experience itself,” Roberts says. “For patients, the goal is: Help me trust you, simplify things for me, and personalize my interactions for me.” To do that, it’s necessary to simplify healthcare interactions and present patients with highly relevant information when and where they need it, whether that’s before, during, or aftercare.
Today it’s common for patients to be involved in a plethora of administrative activities, from upfront securing medical authorization for procedures to providing financial and insurance information. “It can be a research project to understand your benefits, determine your financial responsibility, and negotiate with providers and payers to land on an acceptable outcome,” notes Roberts.
Following even basic services, there are multiple levels of communication between provider and payer, manual clerical processes, coding, verification, billing, and more, all requiring multiple people, hours of work, and perhaps weeks to complete. It’s a cumbersome, mostly manual, friction-filled process, and the output is still largely confusing for patients, breeding distrust rather than confidence in the system. But introduce technology, and the process can be transformed.
Data-Driven Improvements
As financial services and retailers have learned, translating data into actionable information is the fuel for customer relationship management. Healthcare providers and payers are focused on rapidly doing the same. In the clinical realm, data interpreted using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning processes can allow for faster, cheaper, and better patient outcomes when used with diagnostic imaging tools and an expert clinician. But Roberts and Jordan say data and AI are also key for creating a vastly better patient experience overall.
From identifying and reaching out to patients with chronic conditions to simplifying patient statements, payers and providers are already using information and technology to create stronger ties with the patients they serve. “By applying AI and analytics, organizations can reason across different types of data to help people make better decisions,” Jordan notes.
But more can and is being done, particularly when it comes to reducing friction in the healthcare system. “Imagine knowing the price of a procedure, your financial responsibility, and the quality rating of your doctor—without 10 phone calls to piece it together yourself or secure the medical authorization,” says Roberts. “Further, imagine that afterward, you receive one itemized, accurate bill that reflects all the services you received for that care. That’s how you simplify the patient experience while building confidence and loyalty.”
A New Patient Experience
It is inevitable that, as with retail consumers, patients will elevate their expectations of service as they experience what’s possible when powerful data techniques are put to work. While everyone involved in the healthcare journey—patients, providers, and payers—will benefit from better outcomes at lower costs, it is the patient who stands to gain the most.
“The expectation of the patient, the consumer, is that the interaction they have with the healthcare system is going to be so much more digital than it is today. And not only will that help them navigate their way around a very complex and fragmented system, but also stay much more engaged pre-, during-, and post-care with their treatment and their payments,” says Jordan. “Patients, really for the first time, will have the ability to understand and chart their own course.”
Change Healthcare is inspiring a better healthcare system. Learn more about our practical healthcare technology innovation strategies.
Health Benefits Of Chiropractic Care From A Charlotte Chiropractor
Anyone who suffers from hip pain will already have gone from doctor to doctor hearing the same old rhetoric. If it’s not prescription pills for the pain it’s being told that you don’t get enough exercise. Worse yet is hearing is will lead to a hip replacement surgery. We know that this is the last thing anyone wants to go through. Isn’t it time to consider a chiropractic approach that can make that pain go away? That’s why you should look into getting treated from the best Charlotte chiropractors for the major health benefits of chiropractic care!
Benefits of Charlotte Chiropractic Care
What most doctors never like to mention to their patients is a cure for their services. It’s an endless chase that can make you feel dizzy in the end. The practice of chiropractor care has been mocked endlessly by the medical community and is often called a pseudo-science. Yet how many doctors will admit that spinal adjustments are the key to relieving several hip pain ailments?
If you suffer from Hip Joint Strain or Hip and Pelvis joint dysfunction then our services can help. We’ll identify and treat that pain at the source. Your brain tells you the pain is from your hip, but your spine will likely be the problem. Tiny nerves that are pinched will trigger the brain’s response to where the pain comes from. Often chronic sharp pain can be fixed in a single visit. Nagging dull pain is easily solved through our chiropractors care services.
Those who have poor posture or even muscle weakness and imbalance can benefit from adjustments that are quickly identified and treated. There are no medications required and you can be on your way the same day. As the spine is your central core, it’s often neglected much like a garden hose. One little kink and the nerve endings in that region will start to ache and eventually hurt.
But will all that being said, how does this impact the pain going away for you? It doesn’t have to be complicated problems either. Perhaps you have a stressful job sitting at a computer all day. Neck and upper back pain is caused by sitting awkward and can make your upper spine ache for days. We treat all types of back pain that isn’t just linked to medical injuries. Our services cover the daily torture that your spine reacts to.
With any chiropractor that cares enough to help your pain go away, why not take steps to be pain-free? There’s no magical pill to chiropractic care, but trusting that we’re professionals is hard for some to imagine. You might have had a terrible experience with other Chiropractors who weren’t trained properly. This could leave you in more pain and worried about it being just a scam.
Why Don’t Doctors Help You?
Medicine is not the answer since the effects wear off quickly and addictions can even develop. Through the careful management of our Chiropractic therapies, we can address the problem that doctors have failed to help you with. The betterment of your health and the end to hip pain and discomfort can begin to heal itself naturally. Even if you’ve dealt with pain for years, there is no better time to get the right help now.
It’s hard to think that medical help can’t treat what a doctor can’t see on paper. The truth of the matter is the benefits of chiropractic care are something that is seen. A simple X-ray would show any doctor that your spine is out of alignment. But do they know how to make a simple adjustment so you feel better? The answer is often pain medication and asking you why you don’t exercise more often.
We’re not going to judge you on your daily living since it’s not always your fault you’re hurting. You might be as fit as you can be but one wrong move can make pinched nerves ache for months. We’ll take that pain away with a simple correction that shouldn’t bother you after that. And this is a guaranty that we believe is the essential quality of life. A philosophy of paying it forward actually helps others who are in pain likewise.
Can your doctor do the same so you when a nagging pain is keeping you awake at night? If you want to feel better, it starts with learning how the process works and why it often happens to people. Understanding where your pain comes from is also an important part of chiropractor care. Many of our clients help educate others and can identify how pain returns. This is one of the main reasons why our clients bring in friends and family too.
Common Types of Charlotte Chiropractic Care
Most people think that physical pain is the only thing that chiropractors are treating. You would be surprised what else can be treated by our seasoned experts. If you suffer from chronic headaches or migraines, it might be from a stiff neck that needs adjusting. But there are deeper issues that can also treat depression, stress, and mood swings. If there’s a physical and mental feeling that is keeping you down, we’ll help you further.
That’s a lot more than most doctors want to admit and this is why doctors don’t like our services. The practice of Chiropractic care goes back centuries with 4000 years of recorded history. Today, we like to look back at D.D. Palmer; who was the first in America to identify spinal health treatments. It’s because of his efforts that directly linked the spine to our overall nervous system illnesses.
So when you are looking for a Chiropractor near me in Google search, Greater Life Chiropractic in Charlotte, NC will treat and provide chiropractic care for a wide variety of patients (see their map listing below)
Take The Next Steps To Become Pain Free
We understand that Chiropractor care is new to you, however; the first steps to proven treatments shouldn’t be a barrier. We honestly wish that the medical community didn’t need to sell their medications and services to manage everyday pain. Through the practice and benefits of chiropractic care, we offer a practical solution to what ails you. What it can do for you will be more than modern medicine hasn’t provided.
Contact us today and ask us how we can solve your aches and pains forever.… Read the rest
Read MoreOrthodontist tips in Greensboro NC
The Importance of Greensboro Orthodontists and What You Can Expect From Them
Visiting a medical practitioner from time to time is necessary for everyone if we are to stay healthy. Among the various health professionals who take care of our health, the one that deserves special mention is the orthodontist. Orthodontists are a special group of dentists who primarily deal with misalignment of teeth and jaw structures. By treating disproportionate jaw relations, dental irregularities and malocclusion, or the resulting inappropriate pitting, they restore the aesthetic appeal of a person’s smile disturbed by such deformities. In other words, Greensboro orthodontists help correct crooked teeth and solve problems caused by crowded teeth. They help to create perfectly symmetrical teeth and to align the jaw, which results in a perfect smile.
A Greensboro orthodontist will first do a thorough evaluation of your teeth and jaw structure, then develop a treatment plan to align them perfectly. Many people may choose to see an orthodontist for several reasons. While some of them may have a deformed jaw or tooth structure from birth, others may have had a serious accident in which their face suffered severe trauma. In such cases, they may need to see an orthodontist and correct their dental and jaw problems. There are a number of methods an orthodontist uses to restore your teeth and jaws to their normal shape. Among them, wearing braces is one of the most common and effective ways to achieve desired results.
When you visit an orthodontic treatment in Greensboro, you can expect the orthodontist to present you with a number of brace options suitable for your specific case. For example, when looking to get the best Greensboro teen brooches, you will be able to choose from metal, ceramic, and plastic brooches. Most metal brackets are made of high-quality stainless steel. Although they also contain some traces of nickel, it is also possible to create these nickel-free braces for people prone to nickel allergies. In addition, the colours of the ties that make up the threads are available in a range of colour shades that can be easily changed at any time. These brooches are very popular with children and adolescents.
For those looking for adult orthodontic options in Greensboro, the best thing to do is wear plastic or Invisalign orthotics. Many adults feel embarrassed when they need to wear braces. However, with these devices, it will be difficult for others to detect that a person is using them. With soft and comfortable aligners, they are also perfect for everyday use. In addition to helping straighten teeth, these devices also make it easier for a person to brush their teeth and floss, as they can be easily removed and reused.
What Greensboro orthodontists do
The goal of the orthodontist is to treat tooth displacement, but that’s about it. They can only be targeted with control and modification of facial growth. For you to witness what full orthodontic treatments are, they would normally use wire or what they call “Jushi”. They will insert the Jushi into suspenders or what you call suspenders. These braces are usually made of aesthetic steel or ceramic, but nowadays there are also colors. They do it because it has become a status symbol for the rich, but it’s just them. Some simply use singles for convenience, regardless of their status. Then the wires will meet the brackets that will move the teeth to the desired positions. Some even use Invisalign for those who don’t want braces to appear on their teeth. It is made of clear plastic aligners that also move your teeth.
However, the Greensboro orthodontist has better services than a normal orthodontist. Still, the orthodontist is a very important professional, because aligning teeth at a young age can be very helpful for introverts and young people who fear their misaligned teeth. This method used on the teeth is the most effective way to align them in place. When they grew up and the braces were finally removed, these children would have grown into adults with cute smiles.
Tips to Choose Good Greensboro Orthodontist
Who doesn’t love a perfect smile? It makes you look pretty and what’s more, it adds that much-needed tone of glamour to your personality. It goes without saying that a good personality helps you reach your goals faster. But not everyone is born with a big smile. Some people have problems with the alignment of their teeth and the result is a less attractive smile that also tends to seriously affect the confidence of the individual.
Well, don’t lose hope in such situations because orthodontists are here to help. Choosing a good orthodontist takes time and effort, but when you look at the end results, it is well worth it.
Here are some tips to help you choose a good orthodontist:
Look for references: Don’t think a dentist is good unless you don’t get the required references from previous clients. With the internet age, looking for reviews or getting referrals isn’t difficult. You can even post your questions to a popular blog forum and the answers will follow.
Compare the cost of treatment: Make no mistake, we are not asking you to compromise on the quality of treatment to keep costs down. But some orthodontists end up billing their clients. Therefore, you need to be careful and aware of what you are being charged for.
Reliable Doctor – An orthodontist who provides proper care, comfort, and treatment is your best option. Also, you must understand that you cannot receive treatment from a doctor whom you cannot trust.
Services and facilities: Even if the doctor has the experience, reconsider your plan to use his services, if the clinic does not have facilities. It helps because during the treatment you may need additional services and you don’t want to rush from one pillar to another at once.
Treatment Method: Two doctors may have a different approach to curing the same problem. You need to recognize this fact and make sure the choice is made accordingly. Always remember that your ulterior motive is to choose the treatment method that is best for you. Simply put, even if the procedure takes a long time but you are more comfortable with the results it gives, you have to choose it.… Read the rest
Read MoreImportance of Registered Nurse Staffing Contracts in the US
In the modern healthcare system registered nurses undoubtedly play an important role. More people in the US are compelled to use the healthcare system due to the increasing number of aging population and reforms in its health care system. It increased the demand for registered nurses in healthcare facilities. Most of the healthcare facilities contact staffing agencies to hire nurses on the basis of registered nursing staffing contracts.
They prefer to hire RNs on the contract due to a few reasons like:
- Lowering the mortality rate of patients by increasing nurse to patient ratio immediately
- Getting registered nurses with extensive knowledge and experience instead of nurses working at one facility since long
- Provide flexibility to RN and make it more attractive for them as they are free to extend their vacations, or start their family if they are not willing to continue with that facility
- Get registered nurses quickly when their demand is high at the time of epidemic or pandemic like COVID-19. It also allows healthcare facilities to reduce their staff when demand is very low.
In this condition, health care providers have to find certain staffing agencies that can take care of the registered nurse staffing contracts on their behalf. It will help healthcare providers to meet the demand of their patients to provide them the best care as much as possible. While finding a staffing agency for your health care facility you know why you need it and how it can help you.
Why do you need an RN staffing agency?
Meet the shortage of nurses
With the increase in the demand for healthcare facilities the demand for registered nurses increases in the US. According to the suggestions of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand of RN is growing at the rate of 15% per annum due to the increasing number of retired nurses, exhausted young nurses as well as patients. Moreover, the quality of the care of the patients is suffering from the poor nurse to patient ratio and that is why nurses are going on strike all over the US.
The increasing number of patients
The main reason for the shortage of registered nurses is a rapid increase in the number of patients due to various seasonal epidemics as well as pandemic due to Coronavirus etc. It is a crucial time for public health as 2.5 million people are infected from Coronavirus across the US at present and this number is progressing. Along with the people suffering from COVID-19 healthcare facilitiesRN have to take care of other patients with chronic health problems also.
Reducing number of registered nurses
According to an estimate, the nurses born after WWII are going to retire in a large number in the next 5-10 years. It will increase the demand for new registered nurses who have recently graduated from reputed institutions. The number of new graduates may not be able to meet the number of nurses expected to retire every year. This shortage of RN can be more in rural areas as the executives of the hospitals have to face difficulty in adjusting to remote places as most of them do not like to live there.
Need to find a dependable solution
So, to meet the staffing requirement in the healthcare facilities in the US it becomes important for them to find a staffing agency around them. Due to this shortage of RNs, the healthcare industry of the US is developing an all-round approach to meet the demand of registered nurses in the future.
Working of Nurse Staffing Agencies
The agencies dealing in nurse staffing help the healthcare facilities facing difficulty in hiring nurses on a permanent or temporary basis. They have registered nurse staffing contracts from various healthcare facilities to appoint nurses to work with them. During the last few decades, the concept of employing international nurses is gaining popularity to meet the increasing demand and supply of registered nurses in the US. Most of the hospitals depend on staffing agencies in the US due to the increasing cost of internationally qualified RN. These agencies charge fees from the hospitals at a flat rate against sponsoring the visa of international nurses. Along with providing staff several nurse staffing agencies also provide certain other services to the hospitals and healthcare providers like education programs, housing, and support in continuity, etc.
Types of nursing placement contracts
Most of the nurses staffing agencies in the US offer different types of registered nurse staffing contracts like:
Pro Re Nata (PRN)
Pro re nata or PRN nurses can be hired as needed. These nurses can meet the requirement of RN for healthcare facilities. They can be required to work on holidays or weekends.
Per Diem
Per diem or per day contract allows the healthcare services to hire a nurse on-call. This contract can be extended to several weeks as per the requirement of the facility. They can get a nurse in this contract as and when required to meet the demand immediately. The working hours are not guaranteed in this contract.
Travel Nurse
The contract of traveling nurses ranges from a few days to several weeks. They can be from different locations and assigned to different fields of healthcare wherever required. The terms of the contract can vary as per circumstances. Even full-time nurses can also work as traveling nurses.
Temporary-to-permanent contracts
To fill the gap of RNs in the healthcare facilities it is the best contract as temporary nurses can work as full-time nurses for a certain time if they like the location and environment of the workplace. Some of the employees involve agencies to help in the process of transition from temporary to permanent nurses.
Permanent placement contracts
Nurse staffing agencies help hospitals to hire nurses directly for permanent placement against some fee which can be a fixed percentage of the annual salary of the candidate. But the agency does not offer any retention guarantee. This is the best contract for those nurses who want to stay at one location for a long time.
Thus, the registered nurse staffing contracts play an important role in fulfilling the staffing requirements of healthcare facilities in the US. Nurse staffing agencies take care of these contracts.… Read the rest
Read More
Is It Really Possible to Obtain Optimum Health?
We think so. We believe the body has the ability to heal itself naturally. Chiropractic care was developed to remove interference and unleash that ability. Chiropractic care is the third largest primary health care profession in the world. It offers a non-invasive, non-drug approach to reversing chronic and degenerative problems plaguing Americans today.
Our practice goal is to help you achieve optimum health. Thousands of others have improved their overall health and enjoy pain-free lives as well, through Chiropractic.
“While other professions are concerns with changing the environment to suit the weakened body, chiropractic is concerned with strengthening the body to suit the environment.” – Dr. B.J. Palmer, developer of chiropractic… Read the rest
Read More
