Back Talk: Is There a Detective in the House?

KARL SCHWARTZ, D.C.

Unlike the traditional allopathic model, the medical doctor is more concerned with treating a patient’s symptom. Chiropractic care is all natural; we do not prescribe medications and utilize the body’s own recuperative power to heal. We are primarily looking W for the cause of the symptom. Chiropractors are considered a portal of entry provider, which means that we can be the first doctor that a patient sees for their problem. We have the responsibility to identify the potential cause and refer out to the correct medical provider if the treatment of the symptom is related to care beyond our scope of practice.

Where do we begin? What is the age of the patient? According to renowned psychologist Robert J. Havighurst, who proposed a theory of the development of humans, humans can be classified into six categories, which is how we categorize patients: infants and early childhood (birth to age 5), middle childhood (ages 6-12), adolescents (ages 13-18), early adulthood (ages 19-30), middle adulthood (ages 31-60), and late adulthood (ages 61+). Determining the cause of either a disease or a dysfunction in the body has everything to do with the age of the patient seeking care.

Is the cause physical, social, or emotional? Is it acute or chronic? The largest majority of our patient visits have physical causes, major (accidents, sports, falls) or minor trauma (repetitive use syndromes such as poor posture, poor ergonomics, or poor biomechanics). What are the common ailments, most common activities and usual causes of dysfunction in each age group? Diet and nutrition are always directly related to the healing process.

Like a detective, a chiropractor has to ask a lot of questions to start building the investigation into a patient’s situation. • An infant is brought in for care. What could be the cause of early dysfunction?

What was the mom’s pregnancy and labor and delivery experience? Was it normal and natural or were there some additional intervening procedures

performed, such as utilization of forceps, suction, induced labor? These are many times overlooked by parents. • In middle childhood, children are in school, carrying laptops and notebooks, bent over computer screens, perhaps becoming involved with sports or the arts and music. What are their typical repetitive activities? • In early adulthood, now we see patients who are working, starting families, and undergoing increased stress on a daily basis. • In middle adulthood, stressors change but we now also have to consider diseases or complications of taking years of meds. • Finally in late adulthood, we generally see patients with more diseases, more medications, and more deterioration, altered biomechanics for surgical implants such as hips, knees, and shoulders; foot problems, hip problems, and post-surgery conditions.

Can you see how each category of patient has usual and customary stressors? This is why we do a thorough and complete patient history, followed by a focused exam as related to the patient’s goal of care. Once we can ascertain a course of action, we often can see dramatic changes in a very short time improving quality of life

Have you seen your chiropractic detective recently?

DR. KARL SCHWARTZ is a graduate of Life University in Marietta, Georgia; he has been practicing chiropractic in Tucker for twenty-one years and a resident here for fifteen years. His office specializes in preventing sports injuries and maximizing performance by analyzing posture, weight bearing, and gait. If you have a question you would like addressed in a future column, please email karlschwartzdc@gmail.com. Note “Back Talk” in the subject line.