Q&A
with Dr. Dunn
An insightful interview with H. Joseph Dunn, Jr., DC, DABCN, about proper spinal
care,
21st-century treatments and why so many people suffer from chronic pain.
For New Patients
Chiropractic Care
Acupuncture Treatment
Back Pain
For Pregnant Women
For Children
For Athletes
For Older Adults
Neuromuscular Therapy
Nutritional Supplements
Total Wellness
For New Patients
Why do most people visit chiropractors?
“Most people will wait until they are suffering from intense pain, whether
from an auto accident or other causes. Simple symptoms you can observe, prior
to pain, are just plain old stiffness and loss of motion. Both of these are
early indicators that your body is not fully functional. It is important to
visit a chiropractor to have these warning signs properly evaluated.”
What can I expect on my first visit to your office?
“My goal for each new patient is to become a partner with them in bringing
them to total wellness. For this reason, I want my patients to be completely
at ease from the beginning. First, I listen to my patients as they explain their
problems to me and answer any questions or concerns. Then, I perform a thorough
examination, explaining to the patient what I am looking for, what I have found,
and how the findings relate to the problem or pain in their body. Finally, we
develop an individualized plan for each patient, detailing the treatments and
lifestyle changes needed to return the person to a state of total wellness.”
Back Pain
Why do so many Americans suffer from back pain?
“I believe the major cause of back pain and injuries is the lack of education
in taking care of our bodies. More than 80% of adults in our country will suffer
with back pain, accounting for the #2 reason for visits to the doctor (aside
from coughs and colds). People simply do not understand the importance of treating
your body like a fully functioning machine that requires routine maintenance."
“A second reason for back injuries is that people must become educated
on the concept of total wellness. Many people seek medical care to relieve pain
with drugs, rather than to foster a health-supporting lifestyle. To achieve
total wellness, we must take personal ownership of our health through education
and practical application of nutrition, exercise, and chiropractic care.”
Should I see a chiropractor for pain other than back
pain?
“Yes, because spinal problems may actually produce pain elsewhere in the
body, known as referred pain. A good example of referred pain is the arm pain
felt by a person experiencing a heart attack.
“The brain-body system is complex and uses many overlapping pathways for
pain, so that pain referred to another area is quite common. We treat many cases
of referred pain which were originally based in a spinal problem. "
Acupuncture Treatment
What is acupuncture?
“Acupuncture is a type of treatment that originated in Asia thousands of
years ago, stimulating various points that affected pain systems throughout
the body. While most people think of acupuncture as only using needles, the
treatment has progressed to using painless laser and electrical stimulation
to the meridian points.”
What symptoms and conditions does acupuncture treat?
“Many conditions are responsive to acupuncture treatment. Traditional medicine
is adopting acupuncture not only for pain management, but also for treating
neurological, musculoskeletal, eye, ear, and nose, gynecological, digestive,
and emotional conditions.”
Does acupuncture hurt?
“The pain associated with acupuncture with needles is comparable to a mosquito
bite, or other slight discomfort. Many people report feeling nothing at all,
except relief of their pain. When using microcurrent or laser, patients usually
feel no pain!”
What is auriculotherapy?
“Auriculotherapy is a type of acupuncture as applied to the outer ear.
I use microcurrent stimulation therapy which is recognized for effectively treating
a range of symptoms and conditions.”
Chiropractic Care
How does chiropractic care work?
“When I explain chiropractic care to new patients, I like to use a computer
as a metaphor of the body. Like your body, a computer is constantly fed information,
both good and bad. When enough bad data is stored in its system, a computer
begins to malfunction. The body works in the same manner. Most of our body mechanical
problems stem from dysfunction. Dysfunction causes overload! The role of chiropractic
care is to correct the dysfunction, remove the dysfunction overload, and send
in good data, which enhances wellness.
Does chiropractic care treat only back injuries?
“Chiropractic care can treat symptoms of all kinds because your physical
symptoms can simply be the result of a dysfunction in the brain-body connection.
In fact, 90 percent of our patients do not have pain caused by a disease or
infection. Many patients suffer pain caused from muscles or joints that are
not functioning properly, thus causing negative stress in other parts of the
body. Chiropractic care is very effective in alleviating pain and correcting
problems throughout the whole body.”
Is chiropractic care ever dangerous?
“Chiropractic care is one of the safest remedies of health care available,
and complications associated with chiropractic are extremely rare. I believe
chiropractic is 100 times safer than any other medical treatment. Chiropractic
care alleviates the risk of toxic effects and addictions to prescription drugs,
and also avoids the possible infections and complications experienced with surgery.
Please feel free to discuss any concern that you may have directly with me."
Will I need to continue chiropractic visits after my
pain is gone?
“Your pain is a symptom that your brain creates as an indicator of poor
functioning. However, you can have an injury or dysfunction for years prior
to the onset of pain. Degeneration of our skeletal systems start painlessly
in our youth, just like heart disease! It would be wrong to assume that when
the pain is gone, the body has returned to an optimal performance level. Heart
patients must make major lifestyle changes to avoid more serious episodes!"
“Your body needs continuous maintenance for maximum health. For instance,
if you do not care for your teeth with routine cleaning and flossing, you may
experience more serious health problems later on. Likewise, to live relatively
pain-free and maintain correct functioning of your body, you should schedule
routine visits to the chiropractor even after the pain is gone. Just like you
schedule routine checkups with your dentist!”
For Pregnant Women
If I am pregnant, how can chiropractic care help?
“Expectant mothers often feel pain in their lower back, so they believe
their lower back is not functioning properly. During pregnancy, however, the
upper back experiences the stress of the abdomen's heavier load, placing excessive
force on the lower back. Gentle chiropractic care creates a balance and equilibrium
between the upper and lower back to reduce stress and eliminate lower back pain.
Many women choose to receive chiropractic treatment until the time of delivery.
”
For Children
How can I recognize that my child might need chiropractic care?
“If a child is in pain, the most obvious sign is a sudden change in their
behavior, attitudes, and play habits. Chiropractic treatment can be very helpful
in solving the child's spinal problems. ”
For Athletes
Why would a healthy athlete need chiropractic care?
“Healthy athletes are actually an abnormal part of our population. They
are constantly subjecting their bodies to higher levels of stress, creating
strain on the body unknown to the average person. An athlete or other active
person must make sure they are utilizing full range of motion and proper body
maintenance, through stretching, nutrition, and chiropractic treatments. In
fact, many professional athletes, including the Jaguars, get regular adjustments.
”
For Older Adults
What common issues does the geriatric population face?
“For the geriatric population, remaining functional is very important.
As people age, their tendons, muscles and ligaments tend to stiffen and do not
stretch and move as in youth. Chiropractic care, using gentle spinal manipulations
and neuromuscular therapy, improves movement and flexibility for our geriatric
patients. They often report feeling young again. Cox® distraction techniques
help to restore motion in stiff backs.”
Neuromuscular Therapy
What is neuromuscular therapy?
" Neuromuscular therapy is a specialized form of muscle massage. Most of
the body is composed of muscle tissue, generating many symptoms from its sensors.
Neuromuscular therapy addresses certain conditions by physically treating the
muscle. This type of therapy aids the body in the healing process, offers significant
relief to most patients, and enables soft tissues to repair faster.”
Nutritional Supplements
How do nutritional supplements enhance chiropractic care?
“Nutritional supplements are actually important biochemicals that should
be contained naturally in our food. However, our food sources have changed dramatically
over the years, and many natural ingredients are lost in processing and packaging
food. Professional nutritional supplements provide the body with the proper
amounts of nutrients in the right combinations of types. High-quality nutritional
supplements can improve healing and functioning of the body by eliminating the
deficiencies in our processed foods.”
How can I know I am buying high-quality nutritional supplements?
“Consumers have to do their homework. It is important to buy products from
a reputable company that provides adequate testing, high-quality ingredients,
and proper technology. Consumers can expect to pay a little more for quality,
because it costs a manufacturer to operate at a high standard.”
Total Wellness
What does it mean when a person has achieved total wellness?
“Ideally, everything in our body is functioning properly and in harmony.
Basically, in concert with the brain, all cells and organ systems must perform
at an optimal level. In addition to proper functioning, a person must also receive
adequate amounts of sleep, nutrition, and exercise to balance all aspects of
their life. Total wellness can lower stress levels that would create negative
effects on the body.”
Why should a person spend all their time, effort, and money on a total wellness
program when all they really want is medication?
“First I would say, why would you want medication? Medicine is useful,
certainly, but many times it can only soothe pain symptoms without really addressing
underlying causes. Additionally, anti-inflammatory medications like Vioxx, Tylenol,
and Aspirin have proven harmful for chronic use.”
“Here again, education becomes key to understanding the body. A total wellness
program is individually tailored to educate both the mind and the body in maintaining
optimal health.”
For more information call Dunn Wellness Center at (904) 249-1551.
