Happy month of spooks! Am I the only full grown adult that loves a good Halloween movie and working through a pound of chocolate in one night? I choose to believe I’m not and that my kindred spirits are out there, don’t judge me.

I’m willing to bet most of you who are reading this have heard about whiplash. In fact, you may even know someone who has experienced it themselves due to a traumatic injury. All too common and expected – whiplash is the most common injury in those who have suffered from car accidents, falls, and even turning their heads too quickly.

As you probably know, June is LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, and Queer) Pride Month! Here in Miami we have a great LGBTQ community full of influencers, activists, and just overall a vibrant and welcoming group of people.

As long-time Miami citizens, we value everyone in our community and appreciate the unique experiences and strengths that every single person in our community brings to the table to make our home…home. With this, comes the unique struggles of minority communities (whether that be through sexual orientation, race, religion, or any other factor) that have also made our city their home, and the duty to stand with them, because they are an integral and irreplaceable part of our community. We feel the pain of our local community, and celebrate their wins as well.

This blog post is meant to honor our LGBTQ family, friends, and neighbors, and to reinforce that we are not only a part of the community, but we are also your allies. We want to take action during this Pride Month and beyond. Now, what can we do? As a business, and as medical practitioners? In my opinion, a lot.

You might have heard your Uncle Charlie complaining about his “slipped disc.” While the term is incorrect and misleading, dear old Uncle Charlie is talking about none other than a herniated disc. An injury that, as chiropractors, we are far too familiar with. Let’s just say, we see this often.

This study says “the incidence of a herniated disc is about 5 to 20 cases per 1000 adults annually and is most common in people in their third to the fifth decade of life.”

So what exactly is a herniated disc?

Do you watch March Madness? Or partake in the festivities? If you do then you know how impressive those athletes are. The players have to have incredible physique capabilities to be able to play an entire game full of jumps, sharp twists and turns, sprinting, jogging…etc.

The Sports Science Exchange (from Gatorade Sports Science Institute – yep, that’s a thing) published a paper titled Physiologic Profile of Basketball Athletes detailing the “scientific data on structural and functional demands of elite basketball players to establish the physiological profile of successful athletes.” TLDR; these athletes must have high levels of strength, power and agility and perform most of their work at a high intensity. The demands that this puts on a body go beyond those of regular moderate exercise.

Which leads to my point; behind every great athlete MUST be a great recovery and preventative care program. Which is where we come in. Chiropractic care is beneficial for everyone, but certainly has extra advantages for athletes. Here are a select few:

February is coming to a close, and with that so does black history month. We couldn’t end the month without giving some much needed and well-deserved attention to names that aren’t mentioned enough in the chiropractic field, as the discipline’s history is in large part interconnected with black history.

As with most things in life (especially in this decade am I right), there will be those who agree with you, and those who really really disagree with you. Which is fine, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. However, a good rule of thumb is to be open-minded enough to at least hear what the other side has to say. What am I talking about? Get to the point? Okay here it is; even chiropractors face a lot of negativity from those who have certain ~*opinions*~ regarding our specialty.

There was a research article that was published last year about chiropractic care decreasing the need for opioids. Ever since I read this article this statistic stuck with me; people who saw a chiropractor were 64% less likely to use opioids than people who didn’t according to the journal Pain Medicine. 64%. Those are winning odds.

Why does it matter?

Let’s get right to the point today: there are SO many myths about the chiropractic field. I love my profession, but I don’t love the lack of education and the bad rep it can sometimes get. There are several myths, but these are three that just need to be addressed.

The spread of misinformation that has occurred actively contributes to preventing people who could benefit greatly from chiropractic care from getting the help they need and instead turning towards medication, drugs or surgery (treating the symptom not the problem) or staying in pain. So, let’s get into busting these myths.