By Curtis Turchin, MA, DC and Paula Tanksley, PT

According to recent research, Americans sent nearly 2 trillion text messages last year. That's a lot of time spent hunching over our phones--and it's making a physical difference in our bodies. Experts are seeing more and more cases of "tech-neck" in their practices, an abnormal forward posture that causes neck pain, headaches, and arm and shoulder pain. The good news is that tech-neck can be corrected, with easy-to-use and affordable devices like the Omni Cervical Relief Pillow, which provides gentle cervical traction. Fox News reports on the text neck epidemic and other ways to help.

As a chiropractor, are you distinguishing your practice enough? 

Patients with neck and back issues are often unsure which way they should go for care and treatment. Is chiropractic the best choice?  What about physiatry? Or should they see an orthopedic surgeon?

In your educational marketing and in positioning yourself as an expert in your community, the answers to these questions may be quite helpful to potential patients. 

Physiatry is sometimes defined as non-surgical orthopedic medicine, and these physicians can prescribe medication and rely more on lab work to diagnose conditions. They may also refer patients on to orthopedic surgery if warranted.

A good message to share is that chiropractic is a good place to start for many patients with back pain since chiropractors are specially trained to handle spinal subluxations, or misaligned spines. Correcting the misalignment then adding muscle rehabilitation can often provide a more lasting result. 

But no matter the branch they pursue, patients should feel confident that their provider's primary goal is to achieve their best outcome, whether that's through chiropractic or a referrral to another type of provider.

Have you looked at setting up a workplace-based clinic? If not, maybe you should. According to WorkersCompensation.com, recent research has found that on-site chiropractic clinics provide value to patients, lower costs and even reduce the need for surgery--all of which would put your practice in high demand.

For the past decade or more, chiropractic has regularly been a "hot topic" in the media. And as a result, chiropractors have been under scrutiny.

But that only serves to underscore how important it is for our profession to stand up and speak out on behalf of chiropractic. In this recent article, Dr. Anthony Lombardi, DC, advocates for more chiropractors to be brand ambassadors and experts in their own communities to help educate the general public about the benefits of chiropractic.

Whether it's being featured in newspaper or magazine articles, TV commercials or spots, or advertising, these marketing and PR mediums offer invaluable opportunities to combat any negative PR with positive stories of how chiropractic helps patients. For example, in 2011, former Olympian hockey player Sidney Crosby was sidelined with a concussion and looked to chiropractic care to get him back on the ice; his own chiropractor and others were sought out as expert interviewees to discuss the role of chiropractic care. Along the way, said Lombardi, their interviews contributed to the credibility of the profession and the perceived authority of chiropractors everywhere.

It's estimated that mainstream medical communities may pitch a leading TV network an average of 200 stories a week. Unfortunately, chiropractic pitches only come perhaps once or twice a year. The profession needs to become acccustomed to pitching its own evidence and success stories. As it has been said, "If we do not control our message to the public, someone else will control it for us." 

Chiropractors are finding that one simple technique can have a major impact on their patients' well-being and overall bodily health. The Cranial Release Technique takes only about a minute, gently stretching muscles at the base of the skull to realign bones in the head. Patients have reported benefits to a wide range of bodily conditions, from improvements in joint paint and headaches to allergies and even digestive problems.

It’s an age-old question: Which should come first, tape or low-level laser therapy?

Soft tissue tools are going mainstream—and that’s a very good thing for athletes.

When I tell patients that their head and neck pain is related to their smartphone or tablet use, they don’t even blink. “You’re probably right,” they say.