removing interference

when one has interference blocking normal nerve impulses, one cannot possibly have 100% health. why wouldnt you want to find the cause of the interference and remove it?

That is Chiropractic!

www.smithtownwellness.com

perception

This story was recently sent to me from a friend Dr. Dennis Perman.

“A man sat at a metro station in Washington, DC and started to play the violin. It was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.Three minutes went by and a middle-aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip -- a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.The one who paid the most attention was a three-year-old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.In the forty-five minutes the musician played, only six people stopped and stayed for a while. About twenty gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth $3,500,000. Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”This New Year is a blank slate, waiting for us to write the story of our destiny upon it. But how we look at what we see dramatically affects what we get – if all we see is struggle, poverty, or insurmountable odds, we could be looking past the most beautiful music in the world. Training yourself to be optimistically objective, maintaining a grasp on reality but observing your world through a positive lens, may be our best shot to get past the current challenges. Pay attention, success is leaving you clues – but only you can decide to be aware of them. What you perceive is what you get – see the miracles all around you that are already there, and you just may make this your best year yet.

Medicare

So, to those of you who are health professionals...

Do you participate in Medicare? Have you opted-out?

For those chiropractors, if you could opt-out of Medicare, would you?


Be sure to check out my website: www.SmithtownWellness.net

Painful thoracic turns out to be hemangioma

A patient of mine for over 8 months now had been complaining of mid-back pain since he started care which seemed to resolve after a few months. X-rays revealed disc thinning throughout and degenerative changes in the thoracics. The pain was attributed to a combination of the degenerative spondylosis(arthritis), disc thinning, and subluxations present in the mid-back.

5 months ago, the patient quit smoking with the application of auriculotherapy performed in our office by me. Clearing himself of the toxins, various pains started to surface but most found resolution within a minor period of time.

A month and half ago, the pain in his mid-back seemed to return. This time it was hard to find comfort unless he was lying down. I ordered an MRI which was NOT EASY to do with GHI!!!

MRI revealed a small hemangioma present at the T-10 level, right where his pain is, degeneration (which we already knew) and a T2-3 herniated disc which is asymptomatic.

It appears this hemangioma, although benign, is causing some great discomfort with this patients. Note, no osseous adjustments were performed on the area pending MR imaging.

Patient has been referred for a neurosurgical consult to rule out possible surgical intervention on this symptomatic hemangioma.

Sense of smell returns after Chiropractic adjustment

A female patient of mine, 52 years old, started care last month with a sprain to her upper back and neck from lifting a computer. Subluxations at C1 and T3 were diagnosed and care consisted of instrument adjusting via the Integrator utilizing the Torque Release method of analysis.

After the 8th adjustment she made mention of how her sense of smell had been lost some 7 years earlier. She had made no mention of this during her exam, and she had no other neurological deficits which would have prompted this in the evaluation. Routine visits to an EENT had revealed no known cause for this loss.

She started comprehending the concept of the nervous system being the master control system of the body and knew that Chiropractic helped bring this system into balance. She then asked if the adjustments could be affecting her smell because it had started to return. I said that the adjustments could affect any part of her body, and that since her primary subluxation was at C1, which is at the brain stem level, it could most definitely move her nervous system into a more positive state of tone.

She had indicated that she has not implemented anything new in her routine, nor started any other therapy, other than the Chiropractic adjustments.

This is just a single case study, yet it just goes to show how everybody is unique in how their body responds to stress, toxicity, deficiency and subluxation. In this case, her body had lost it's ability to register smell, in another it could be migraines. In another person it could be Chron's disease, while in the next person it could be asthma.

Please have your nervous system checked for areas of stress and subluxation. It is quite easy. Feel free to contact me if you need a referral to a Chiropractor. You can also visit my website at www.SmithtownWellness.net

Dr. B

Chiropractic can lower blood pressure??? YES!!!

Many of you may have seen ABC News' report on Chiropractic and it's role on lowering blood pressure. The study, published last year in The Journal of Hypertension, showed how adjustments to the C1 vertebra lowered blood pressure as much as two medications combined!!! http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=4520614&page=1

Chiropractors have been touting for years the benefical results of undergoing Chiropractic wellness care. Now a team of MDs and DCs have collaborated on a groundbreaking study to actually document what many of us have been experiencing in our practices for years.

I urge all of you who are on hypertensive meds, and those of you who are prescribing such meds, to consult with a Chiropractor in your area to see if this adjustment can help you or your patients. Remember, this adjustment is extremely safe and has no known side effects.

As always, I am available for your questions. Please email me at doctor@SmithtownWellness.net or visit my website at www.SmithtownWellness.net


-Dr. B

The role of the pubic symphisis in Pregnancy related pain

As a Chiropractor who sees a great deal of pregnant patients, I am often presented with patients who are experiencing lower pelvic pain related to their pregnancy.

Many will complain of a sharp pain that affects their walking and limits movement when rolling over, particularly in bed.

The pelvis is undergoing constant changes through the pregnancy. Ligaments are elongating and relaxing in order to allow for the safe passage of the baby through the canal. The pubic symphysis, the tough rubber-band like ligament that joins the two pelvic bones together, is also being stressed. Many things we do during the day can stress this area to the point that the two pelvic bones shift opposite each other. This would cause that pain women complain of at the pubic bone.

To re-align this subluxated pelvic region, we would have to determine which way the pelvis subluxated. It can move superior or inferior, both individually or together. This analysis is done quite simply and WITHOUT the need for x-rays. It is then adjusted lightly with a spring loaded device called the Integrator. This is an evolved form of what many have known previously as the Activator.

Results are usually instantaneous and overwhelmingly positive. Please check my website for more pregnancy related information at http://www.SmithtownWellness.net You can also find links there to other related topics and websites.

Please don't hesitate to ask me a question! I can be reached at doctor@SmithtownWellness.net

Back and working hard!

Well, i've let the Blog go dormant for quite some time. I'm making a concerted effort to keep up with posts at least weekly. I faced two bouts of serious back pain from an injury I suffered 15 years ago. If a chiropractor has bad back pain, it has to be serious!

So, look forward to some thought provoking posts!

Managed Care, poor reimbursement

One of the biggest challenges facing us Chiropractors, and to some extent, other health care providers, is the decision to stay in-network with third party payers.

Many in my profession are moving to 'all-cash' practices. For those who have older practices, this is a harder conversion as many of these practices are filled with insurance based patients. One of my old bosses once told me that when I go out on my own, to open a cash only practice and to do it from the very beginning.

Well, my practice started out that way but now is over 65% insurance. Hmmm. It is definitely a trend I would like to reverse and work towards a 100% cash practice. When I mentioned this to an M.D. friend of mine, he mentioned who in their right mind would want to pay cash for services when they have benefits.

Well, many people think they have benefits when in reality it's a farce. Some companies will grant a few visits and make it harder than a triathalon to get the amount required to care for the patient. The time, energy, and money expended on satisfying third party payers is ridiculous. Then you have the network reimbursement rates which hover near the medicare rate, some even going below it.

My service requires multiple visits, after the initial, to be effective. The face time with the patient coupled with the decision making required daily demands a fair reimbursement and the cash model is quickly becoming the only way to have a viable practice, let alone succeed.

There is also the fact that i am worth what i'm worth. My fee is my fee is my fee! Or is it? There come times in practice when we are asked to lower our fee or take special consideration for various cases. This trend will increase as reimbursement sinks and D.C.s are forced to set cash rates at proper levels.

Furthermore, as health care providers, we are strictly limited in the ways we can discount our services. We are not treated as other businesses are and must follow restrictions put in place to 'protect' the consumer. BS. It's to protect the insurance companies because they do not want to pay a penny more than anybody else, save Medicare.

Now, I'm just thinking out loud here, but if providers everywhere were to drop out of their respective networks, managed care or otherwise, the health care scene as we know it, would be forced to change....for the better.

Today I'm off to meet with the local school's 'wellness' committee

I've been invited to a meeting with the local school's 'wellness' committee. As many know, the federal gov't has mandated that every school district that receives federal funding must put into place a 'wellness policy'.

My local school district's committee head, a nice woman who is a nutritionist and runs the commissary, invited me to speak to everyone on what 'wellness' is. It will be interesting to see the dynamics of this meeting. You have school employees, especially those who have to run 'businesses' within the school district and make a profit. Then you have parent representatives who have their own agenda.

But really, the agendas should all focus on the proper education of our children and introduce them, as early as possible, to healthy, wellness focused living. That is my intention and I will report back to let you all know how it went.

Goal-ing

Now that the new year has already put one month behind us, I am finding myself looking at my goals for the year and re-evaluating, if necessary. A common pitfall many fall into when setting goals, (which I do and must watch for) is setting the goals in an arbitrary manner.

If I want to see 250 visits per week and i'm below 50, to properly hit those goals I would incrementally add 10% from my starting point so that I achieve the end result (250) without 'shocking' the mind and thereby making the goal look 'unreachable'. The brain sees 10% increases as not being different from the current status. So 55 is no problem, then 60, then 66, and so on. The mind fulfills the request for 10% increases quite effortlessly.

I believe quite highly in the 'Power of Attraction'. If you haven't seen the movie 'The Secret' you MUST get a hold of it and watch it! Use this powerful phenomenon and properly goal-set so that you reach your dreams!

Oh, Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all! As well, I hope everybody had a Happy Hanukkah and a Merry Christmas. Or a Merry Chrismahanukwanza to the multi-denominational.

See you in the new year!

RE:Medicare has got some set of...

So, it's only been months since I sent in my medicare update application to notify them of my new address. I send some claims in a while back for some patients from last year which I held until they processed my new address.

so, we call them up today and they have no record of the update application nor the new claims that were submitted! And these claims have to be sent in by the end of this year. And to top it off, they de-activated my medicare number due to lack of billing activity.

unbelievable. all this for under $29/encounter.

Did you all see Larry King last week?

Larry King Live had over the course of November, two episodes dedicated to "The Secret". For those who don't know, "The Secret" is a movie that details how 'the secret' can be used by anyone for achieving all that they want in life, and in fact, 'the secret' was known by some of the most influential people of all time.

The Power of Intention is in essence what 'the secret' is and to many, it's as foreign as Pluto. However, when one can properly focus their mental 'energy' on a desire, the results are amazing.

TheSecret.tv is the website where you can see this powerful video online and also buy a copy for home.

Success is more than just thinking positive, it's about creating an intense visualization in your mind, and then setting the subconcious to go to work for you and manifest what it is that you desire.

It is more than a mere wish; for with a wish, you do not see yourself truly obtaining that which you desire. You are simply hoping.

For example, if you are looking for certain job position, you would have to visualize yourself already at the job and working. That way, you show the universe that you already work there and now it simply does your bidding by bringing it all about. You see, you set the ball in motion by your thoughts.

Thoughts are energy. Thoughts have tangible effects. A thought becomes a desire which becomes an action and then a result. So thoughts are more than mere mental images. They are quite powerful.

This topic is fascinating and I hope to spend more time on it. For those who are new to this way of thinking, please, watch The Secret and read some books such as Napoleon Hill's "The Magic of Thinking Big" or other greats like "The Power of Intention" and many of the books from Dr. Wayne Dyer.

Please, sound off on this subject and let me hear what you think.

Don't forget, you can always find me at www.SmithtownWellness.net

The Powerful Chiropractor

The Powerful Chiropractor

Welcome and an Introduction!

Hello, and welcome to the blog of Scott E. Brunengraber, The Poweful Chiropractor!

I am confident you will find insightful information on my blog and even if you take with you just a sliver of what is to come, you will find your life move in directions you never thought possible!

So, a bit about myself.

I am a Chiropractor in private practice located in Smithtown, New York. And before you ask, yes, it IS on Long Island.

My Purpose is to enable others to achieve levels of health previously thought unreachable, attain personal growth never thought attainable, and happiness in life beyond dreams.

In practice, I emphasize three core concepts in order for anyone to grow in a positive direction.

Feed the Physical
Nourish the Chemical
Soothe the Emotional

Everything we encounter in life causes some sort of 'stress' to ourselves. This would then be labeled a stressor. So, think of anything that we do in our daily life. No matter what activity, action, consequence, etc., they would all fit into one of the three categories: Physical, Chemical, and Emotional.

In order to achieve true health, wellness, is to minimize the negative stressors and multiply the positives, so that our bodies can then respond by achieving a balanced homeostasis; one that is in balance and harmony with our world.

This blog will be fun for all involved, namely me, the author, and you, the esteemed reader.

You can find out more about my practice by visiting http://www.smithtownwellness.net

I look forward to this journey.

Be. Live. Well.