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Gently restoring healthy joint function
By Dr. Melanie Brown | Originally posted at The Mountain Times on 03/31/23 Our professor in chiropractic school would say, “We do not crack backs; we restore healthy joint function!” Unfortunately, some people shy away from chiropractic therapy because they don't like the idea of their joints being “cracked.” Thus, most chiropractors don't use that terminology to describe chiropractic joint manipulation. In fact, some cringe at the term, but some of...
The Dynamic Puzzle of Your Head Bones
Originally posted by Dr. Melanie Brown at The Mountain Times on 02/01/23 Nancy Sullivan, MD, proclaimed as she taught our craniosacral class, “Tell your patients, ‘You're not a coconut head!’” She was talking about the skull's puzzle-like flat bones and zipper-like connections or “sutures.” Our anatomy instructor in chiropractic college said that he only occasionally saw fusion of head bones in geriatric cadavers but not in the general population of adults. A Sacro-Occipital...
Improving Herniated Discs Without Surgery
Dr. Melanie Brown | Originally posted to Mountain Times | January 1, 2023 Discs are the shock absorbers of our spine. They hold space between the bones of the spine, called vertebrae, to allow movement. If looking at discs from above, they consist of outer cartilaginous rings, called annular fibers, and a soft inner gelatinous “nucleus pulposus,” which moves within the disc with changes in posture. It's kind of like a jelly...
An Earful: The Endonasal Technique
Hearing can be affected by scar tissue or congestion in the eustachian tube. The endonasal technique can alleviate this issue....
Well Adjusted: Exactly What Is Chiropractic Care?
Written for the Mountain Times Oregon by Dr. Melanie Brown | Published 04/01/2022 I became interested in chiropractic care due to my stepmom's experience. She had been seeing a neurologist for numbness in her right leg. After three MRIs and several tests, she had no answers. Her neurologist gave her two options — exploratory surgery or chiropractic care. She visited a chiropractor who x-rayed her standing up and found the problem, which...
Well Adjusted: Take Steps for Healthier Feet
With all the options for footwear and orthotics, it is often hard to know what to buy to have healthier feet. When in chiropractic school and more conscious than ever of making good decisions for my joints and muscles, I splurged on a pair of trendy, but orthopedic, clogs. I had previously worked as a certified nursing assistant in a hospital, and I noticed that the nurses always wore them,...