This month, we’ve been looking at opioids. Read a study here and watch a video on the topic by Dr. Ryan and Dr. Denise Dopps here.
“Maybe our chiropractor could help you, Mom?” Catherine’s son hadn’t seen her in a couple years, and was surprised to see that her neck and shoulders had become stiff and painful.
In her early sixties, Catherine was beginning to resign herself to the reduced mobility of a much older person. She required daily pain medication to function at her office job, and had been on increasingly higher doses of the prescription for the last two years.
Catherine was interested but only cautiously optimistic, when she got her first chiropractic examination. She asked if there was any hope reducing her pain.
“With time and repetition, as long as there’s not a limitation to matter, people should be able to recover from anything with a healthy nervous system,” Dr. Ryan Dopps DC explained.
Reclaiming Hope and Freedom
With opioid addiction and prescription drug abuse running rampant in our country, it’s time to find natural solutions to pain medication.
Unlike drugs that block the body’s ability to heal, chiropractic opens up the lines of communication between the nervous system and the brain. This increases the flow of nutrients with red blood cells, white blood cells to fight infection, and macrophages to clean to injured or damaged area.
While drugs take a toll on systems and organs like the liver and kidneys, chiropractic joins the body’s efforts to heal. Removing subluxations of the vertebrae simply allows the body to its job better.
New policies are being put into place in states like Ohio. This article, Non-Drug Alternatives Replace Opioids in Treating Ohio’s Pain had this to say: “The Joint Commission –– the national hospital accreditation organization — now requires considering alternative treatments before prescribing opioids. So do many states. Bobbie D’Amato, is CEO of a medical billing and coding service based in Youngstown. ‘In the state of Ohio, there are four bullet points, a chiropractor, acupuncturist, and behavior, or cognitive therapist. They have to reach out to before they’ll be put on opioids.’”
How Catherine Found Pain Relief
Sixteen years previously, Catherine’s doctor said her x-ray showed “very slight scoliosis and the start of lumbar arthritis.” Over the course of the years, she saw various doctors, had cortisone shots, took anti-inflammatory medication, and did sessions of massage and physical therapy. However, none of them seemed to get to the cause of her pain and some even made it worse. She swam and exercised, trying to keep some mobility.
By 2013, after an x-ray, Catherine was told that her arthritis had not progressed much in the last ten years, but the doctors didn’t have a solution for the pain, other than to say, “it’s normal to suffer with arthritis.”
“The stiffness of my neck frequently obliged me to turn my torso,” said Catherine, “causing more and more lumbar pain and problems with my sciatic nerve. This meant I could only lay down on my back and kept me from sleeping. ”
By April 2014, the lack of sleep, constant pain and trouble at work brought Catherine into such a state of depression that her GP recommended she stop working. She took off for two weeks, while take anti-depressants, anti-inflammatories and 75mg of an opioid painkiller each day.
At the beginning of 2015, Catherine received gentle spinal manipulations from an osteopathic doctor, and did his suggested neck exercises. The osteopath prescribed a shot of Cortisone, then after several months, concluded her pain was chronic and prescribed 150-225 mg of opioid per day as needed.
While on vacation, Catherine’s son suggested she visit his chiropractor, Dr. Ryan. Less stress and no computer work enabled her to reduce her opioid use to twice per day.
After the first adjustment, Catherine was very sore that evening. After the second, she had a sensation of her back be “unblocked” and her neck felt better as well.
Anyone with chronic pain is left with residual scar tissue and damage, due to the fact that the bone has been out of place for so long. It needs time to recover, to re-adapt and to heal. This means regular chiropractic care.
As soon as she returned home, Catherine found a chiropractor who had trained at the Palmer Institute. After six months of weekly and then bi-weekly adjustments, Catherine was able to reduce and then eliminate her need for opioid painkillers.
Now Catherine sees her chiropractor monthly and rarely takes pain medication. “I’m grateful to have met Dr. Dopps and discover at last a way to relief from pain without stuffing myself with medications,” she said. “I once again enjoy the gym, long hikes and go swimming!”
Start Your Drug-Free Life
Click here to make an appointment with Dr. Ryan or Dr. Denise Dopps at our NE Wichita office (21st and Greenwich). If you are not in the Wichita area, reach out to us at
doppsne@att.net and we will use our broad network to help find a principled chiropractor near you.
I have been a patient of Dr Ryan for the past 10 yrs. He and Dr Denise have so much compassion for their patients! April 17, 2019 On Facebook
― Tara Basgall
I have been seeing Dr Ryan and Dr Denise Dopps for over 7 years now. I was struggling with sciatica pain, but when they took a closer look i was completely unaware of the condition i was in. They both took extreme caution and concern in treating me. Always took the time to listen to …
― Nicole Rinck
I appreciate education driven practice. I learn something every time I am in the office and my results are measurable. My thyroid function is better because my neck is aligned and not suppressing it. Secondly, my right thigh muscle is not numb anymore. I appreciate being show clinically how I am improving. The results are …
― Shannon Carrico Althouse
I’ve been going to Dr. Ryan Dopps throughout my pregnancy and it has been a life saver. He has fixed the headaches I was having daily as well as anytime I start to swell up an adjustment from him and my feet, ankles, and hands are 100% back to normal size and I can walk …
― Kylie Breitenbach
