A Strange,Foreign Land by Corte Madera chiropractor Dr Harte

Today I went to pick up somebody's X-rays at a large orthopedic group. It has been so long that I was in a medical office, it felt really weird.

There were about a dozen orthopedists' names on the door, along with one physicians' assistant and one nurse practitioner. Big place. But faceless. It just seemed to totally lack warmth. The staff were a good match. Different color pajamas to denote different levels. (As an outsider, I had no idea who was receptionist, nurse, doctor, technician. Nothing was clear.) There was an overwhelming feeling of everyone there feeling "I am am just putting in my hours. I could care less what happens to the people we serve."

Do I have any hard evidence? No. It was all just a feeling. The feeling was so intense that I felt like I needed a shower after that.

When I got back to my office and looked at the X-rays, I was shocked at the gross medical malpractice, taking advantage of an old woman, who, in all likelihood, had very good insurance.

I shudder when I think that, a long time ago, my dream was to be an orthopedic surgeon.

Don Harte, D.C.
Marin Authentic Chiropractor
Liberator of Innate

Marin Runners with Knee Pain

How many serious runners are plagued with knee pain? Well, how many runners are serious, plus many who are not.

What do you do? Most take Advil or Tylenol, which only covers up the pain. Take enough of that stuff, long enough, and you end up damaging your liver, kidneys and stomach. And, by interfering with the natural process of inflammation, these anti-inflammatories cause increased damage to injured joints, especially as you continue to run. You think you're OK when you pop some pills that killed the pain? Think again!

You might, after a time, go see an orthopedist. After all kinds of allegedly definitive, scientific tests, you will receive some useless diagnosis, and probably be given stronger anti-inflammatory drugs, which will "work better," at least for a time, and end up doing even more damage to joints and organs. You might be directed to waste time at physical therapy. Eventually, the orthopedist will be sharpening his or her scalpel. These days, they are prone to just tear the whole knee out, and put in a fake one. Aside from the horrendous cost in pain, time and money, do you really think that this fake knee will be equivalent to a real one. (I know you got the standard "bone-on'bone" talk. It's, for the most part, BS.) Realize that these things wear out in seven or eight years; then, it's time for another replacement. This whole thing is barbaric!

If you have knee pain, the rational course of action would be to get to the cause. First, Vertebral Subluxation Complex (VSC) must be corrected. This will allow the knee and the whole lower extremity to function right, and to heal, as well as increase coordination and balance, and improve your gait. This is standard in straight Chiropractic. Further, in my practice, I check and adjust extremities as well as the spine. So, I would check, and adjust as necessary, the bones of your knee, and your meniscus (and your other knee), hips, and feet. Doesn't that make sense?

Don Harte, D.C.
Corte Madera Straight Chiropractor
Liberator of Innate

Surgeons Gone Wild notes Dr Harte, Marin Chiropractor

Have you noticed that so many people are getting surgery lately, especially spinal surgery and joint replacement? Are the orthopedists having a sale, or have they replicated themselves like bacteria and they're all out looking for work, looking for someone to cut?

It is interesting that, at the same time, more and more people are getting cortisone shots in their joints? Sure, this sometimes gives good pain relief, but it is a deal with the Medical Devil. It also cause massive destruction in the joint, that is already damaged. Could this be "foreplay" for all the surgery?

With the exception of an unstable fracture or perhaps an invasive tumor, you gotta be nuts to let those yahoos in masks cut into your spine, or trade out your knee or hip for a fake one.

Forget their alleged scientific tests. Their science is phony and self-serving.

Rely on the experience of millions of years of evolution. Trust your Innate Intelligence to heal you, no matter what They say you have. get checked. Get adjusted.

Don Harte, D.C.
Corte Madera Straight Chiropractor
Liberator of Innate


PS: You are invited to our "HUNGRY FOR HEALTH?" Dinner Talk on Tues., Nov 1st at Gira Polli Restaurant in Mill Valley. Bring your sick and subluxated friends. But reservations are a MUST. Seating is VERY limited. Call me today (415)460-6527. Enjoy good food and wine, and save your life!

Orthopedists' Stupid Tricks: Cortisone Shots to the Knee

"Primum nocerum." That's Latin for "Do no harm." This is considered to be the primary dictum for medical doctors, written by the Old Man himself, Hippocrates. (He was, of course Greek. Why the expression is known to us in Latin, I dunno.)

"Corticosteroid therapy is the refuge of the destitute." This is in the introduction to a classic medical textbook, Boyd's Pathology. This is a medical doctor talking to, writing to medical doctors and students. What it means is that the doctor pull out the cortisone when he's got nothin."

The topic today is corticosteroid injections of joints, a common procedure of orthopedists.

Yesterday, I was talking to one of my favorite practice members about the very sad state of his knee. The knee joint was subluxated for years, as was the nerve supply the the knee, above and below, and the nerve supply for posture, coordination, balance, etc. That much is commonplace. What puts him, and his knee, in a very bad way is that he has had several cortisone shots there. Disastrous!

I explained that this kind of treatment, shots to the knee, or the hip, or the spine, etc., may be a good deal if one is planning to die in a few months. HUH? Well, often the shots "work," they kill the pain. How? Cortisone and related compounds are the most potent of the anti-inflammatories. Since inflammation is the most common cause of joint pain, get rid of the inflammation, you get rid of the pain, sometimes even completely, sometimes for several months.

So what's the problem? Inflammation, like every other symptom, is the body's effort to heal itself. If you interfere with this healing, you've got big trouble. That's why Vioxx, an oral anti-inflammatory, was taken off the market because of damage to the heart and circulatory system. And that is why cortisone shots are a very bad idea. While they can sometimes offer very good relief, they leave your joint, that is already in trouble, with further damage. The more shots, the more damage.

Could they, the orthopedists, be drumming up surgery business by destroying joints?

Why not get to the cause? Bad knee? Get adjusted. Allow your body to heal. Yes it can, even if you've been told your knee is "bone-on-bone."

Don Harte, D.C.
Marin Straight Chiropractor
Liberator of Innate

Racism in Health Care

Yesterday, I did a booth at the Senior Fair. Nice event.

My fellow nearby exhibitors were very medical. None of them even looked in our direction, let alone acknowledged a "hello." Of course, I didn;t expect anything from two booths down, where I experienced one of my life's dreams... proof of what my grandma used to tell me: "You live long enough, you see anything." I must have lived long enough. I saw an orthopedist going amongst the people, telling his story at a booth, just like me, humble chiropractor. (He was hawking a kind of spinal surgery, when the spine is in a state of collapse, with his put-your-heal-in scam bone scaning machine. Perhaps previous prescription meds caused the vertebrae to collapse. Or maybe subluxation to the parathyroid gland, which controls calcium metabolism.)

Most of the participants were very nice. Some, though, couldn't figure out what I was doing there. When my assistant said "Chiropractic," some scrunched up their face, made some weird kind of nasal noise, and stormed away. Not just uninterested, but hateful.

Why? I am here to help, just like a medical doctor or a nurse or an acupuncturist.

What is the hate based upon? Some cockamamie story of your next door neighbor's brother-in-law's next door neighbor, who got sore after an adjustment. Facts?

The fact is that the brain and the nervous system runs the body. Interfere with that, and function is no longer normal, resulting in diminished capacity and. eventually disease. remove interference... vertebral subluxation, and proper function... health... returns. This is Chiropractic. Ther is nothing to argue about.

There is certainly nothing to hate.

That's my opinion. What's yours?

Don Harte, D.C.
Corte Madera straight chiropractor
Liberator of Innate