Many thanks to other area D.C.'s for allowing us to help your patients too (with lasers & auriculotherapy).

At Austin Family Chiropractic, we are very appreciative of the many wonderful patients that we've met & served over the years who were referred to our clinic by other area Doctors of Chiropractic. Yes, you did read the previous sentence correctly!

The truth is that it's fairly common these days for us to get referrals from other area D.C.'s from Carlinville to Springfield for the purpose of Cold Laser Therapy (for tough shoulder & knee cases) and Auriculotherapy (ie, our quit smoking program) as well.

I know that some more closed-minded D.C.'s would never refer to other D.C.'s due to the 'competition factor'. But rest assured that if your D.C. refers you to our office for either laser treatments or to quit smoking, we will do our best to assist him in his efforts to restore your health. We will then gladly refer you back to your primary D.C. for your regular chiropractic care.

This is because many D.C.'s don't have cold lasers like Austin Family Chiropractic does. And most of those that do only have one laser device. Please see my previous blog entry about 'all lasers not being created equal' for more info here. We've spent a lot of time (doing our homework) and money (thousands of dollars purchasing our clinic's full arsenal of laser therapy devices) dating back to the spring of 2005. Treating tough cases with low level laser therapy (LLLT) is truly a passion of ours, and is thus an ongoing process.

The same can be said of our quit smoking program, which for $100/person, currently boasts a 72% success rate. Dr. Todd has studied under 18 auriculotherapy pioneers from 5 different countries dating back to 2006. Helping folks to quit the nicotine habit is also a labor of love for us here at Austin Family Chiropractic in Virden, IL.

The truth is that all Doctors of Chiropractic are here to serve their patients and to improve the health of their respective communities. Collectively, it is our goal to make the world a better place through optimizing the health of our patients, one treatment at a time.

Austin Family Chiropractic now offering Cold Laser Therapy.

*The following article is being reprinted from page 7 of the 8-3-2005 issue of the Virden Recorder.

Laser therapy, which has been around since the 1960's in Europe, is used for all aspects of physical medicine, wound healing and rehabilitation. It has become a locker room staple for European sports teams and during the past five years has slowly been working its way into chiropractic offices in the United States, mainly on the east and west coasts. A Macoupin County Chiropractic Physician, Dr. Todd Austin of Virden, IL is now using this amazing technology in his office. Some of the results are quite staggering!

Austin was first introduced to this laser technology in the summer of 2004 at a chiropractic seminar. He then attended a weekend seminar devoted entirely to laser therapy in March 2005. "I was especially intrigued by the extent of serious shoulder injuries (rotator cuff, frozen shoulder, bursitis, etc.) that I witnessed responding to laser therapy at that seminar." says Austin. "I decided to devote the next few months to learn all that I could about lasers, to find the right laser equipment for my practice, and to save up the money to purchase this technology." And now Dr. Austin has done just that.

His laser equipment which arrived on July 16, 2005, actually consists of three individual laser devices. The first is suited for relaxing any kind of soft tissue injury, as well as promoting lymphatic drainage, while the second is specific for hard tissue problems like bones, joints and nerves (including conditions like sciatica and carpal tunnel syndrome). The third laser device is used for relaxing muscles as well as performing trigger point therapy and can also be used to perform acupuncture without needles.

Austin has been practicing needle acupuncture since 1993 and sees this 3rd laser as quite a breakthrough. "I love acupuncture, and have performed it for a variety of conditions. But I limit myself to doing three needle acupuncture treatments per day, since it is so time intensive. With laser acupuncture, I can treat each point (usually about 10 acu-points per patient) for just 30 seconds at each acu-point and get the same results."

And here's the kicker... most insurance companies won't pay for needle acupuncture which they consider "experimental", but will cover laser acupuncture which is usually included under the patient's therapy benefits.

"I see this as an awesome opportunity to introduce the benefits of acupuncture to more people throughout central Illinois," Austin explains, "and they won't even have to get stuck with needles."

The lasers that Austin uses are commonly called "cold lasers" or low-level laser therapy (LLLT) because they do not increase the temperature of the tissues that they contact, as compared to much more powerful "hot lasers" which are used for surgical applications in which the objective is to cut or cauterize tissue.



Photo caption: Dr. Todd Austin gave a laser demonstration speech at a local Toastmasters meeting. The speech was called "Lighting up Macoupin County".

Cold laser therapy directs a specialized beam of light to the injury site. On a cellular level this increases local circulation, improves tissue oxygenation and stimulates the production of ATP (the cell's energy blocks), allowing tissue to be more responsive and to heal faster. On a larger scale, cold laser therapy quickly decreases pain, increases range of motion and increases the tissue's ability to heal and handle stress.

Cold laser therapy is exciting for the results it delivers to both doctors and patients. These benefits include:

*Easy to use. Simply turn the laser on and move it over the area of complaint. Research has shown that this protocol alone increases healing time by up to 30 percent, although there are much more advanced protocols for conditions like shoulder injuries.

*Time saving. Patients often feel better within 30 seconds to 3 minutes.

*'Body saver'. The laser prepares the patient for the chiropractic adjustment. It quickly softens tissue and increases range of motion, so the Chiropractic Physician doesn't need to work as hard.



Photo caption: Dr. Todd Austin performing cold laser therapy on a patient.

"In the two short weeks we've been using the lasers so far at our clinic, we have treated over two dozen patients with this technology" said Austin. "Most patients are quite impressed with the results. We've had several patients who are low back pain sufferers who reported that when they got up off the treatment table after their laser treatment, their pain was totally gone."

The first lady that used Dr. Austin's lasers for a chronic shoulder problem hadn't had normal right shoulder range of motion in over a year. She reported that her shoulder was pain-free when she got off the treatment table. Two days later, just before her second laser treatment, she informed the doctor that her range of motion not only had returned to normal, but that she had abused her shoulder at work all day with no ill effects whatsoever!

Lasers speak for themselves -- through patients who have experienced their healing effects. For more info on cold laser therapy or to schedule an appointment call Dr. Austin's office at (217) 965-3100 or send e-mail to draustin@royell.net .

For more information from an independent resource on cold laser therapy, including more than 200 research abstracts, go to http://www.laser.nu , the Web site sponsored by the Swedish Medical Society. More information can also be found on Dr. Austin's website at: http"//www.AFCvirden.com .

All LOW LEVEL LASERS are not EQUAL!!!

All LOW LEVEL (or COLD) LASER devices are not created equal. Translation = No one LASER device can cure every condition under the sun. In fact, a few months back while at a post-graduate seminar, I stumbled upon a deal on a great affordably priced LASER device. I was downright giddy about paying almost $2,000 for this Super-pulsed 905 nanometer LASER.

A few minutes later, I was talking to another Chiropractor. I excitedly told him that I was getting ready to plunk down $2,000 for a new LASER. A vendor within earshot spoke up, saying that she had a LASER that her company carried that she would gladly sell me for $2,000. After she explained which LASER she was peddling, a couldn't help but chuckle. It was an ML 830. A veritable toy compared to the LASER devices that I already own. I politely replied "Thanks, but no thanks."

Fast forward to today. I found an ad in a local Macoupin County newspaper advertising how another local DC can cure 'almost everything under the sun' with his new ML 830 LASER. Needless to say, I chuckled again! While it's true that his device will definitely help some people, there will no doubt be a lot of folks that don't respond at all, as an ML 830 just doesn't penetrate deep enough to treat a herniated disc, for example. Wouldn't you know that of the 14 conditions he lists in his ad that this ML 830 will fix, the herniated disc is the first item. Whoops!

The truth is that 5 years ago, when I purchased my first 3 LASER devices, the ML 830 sold for $8,000. After doing my homework for three months, I purchased three lasers that combined cost less than that price. One of which for just $1,800, runs rings around the ML 830.

For example my 808 nanometer LASER can do in 5 minutes (at a possible penetration of 3 centimeters) what the ML 830 would take a nearly 30 minutes to do (depth of penetration of 2 centimeters, but much fewer photons will reach the target tissue in 5 minutes). Of course most Docs don't have time to shine the LASER on the patient for over a half hour, and most patients don't have the time to lay there that long either (especially with a hot low back).

If the target tissue is the Carpal Tunnel, the ML 830 would do a fine job (over time). It wouldn't need to get more than 2 cm deep. If on the other hand, I'm wanting to treat a 350-pound patient which a bulging disc in her lower back, I'll need much more penetration power than the relatively low-powered ML 830 could muster!
This is where my new super-pulsed LASER (with a deeper penetration of 5 cm) comes in super handy.

At Austin Family Chiropractic, what sets our clinic apart from the local LASER competition, is that each patient who receives COLD LASER THERAPY at AFCvirden, is treated with NOT ONE LASER, but rather with the THREE BEST LASERS for his or her particular condition. Thus we're utilizing both:

* continuous & super-pulsed,
* visible red & infrared,
* superficial & deeper penetrating,
* lower (more subtle energy) power & higher power,
* resonating lasers & stimulating lasers.

In other words, (sometimes stubborn) damaged cells and tissues are more apt to respond to AFC's approach!

The Austin Family Chiropractic approach is definitely NOT one-size-fits-all LASER THERAPY!!!

BTW, The cost of the ML 830 has continued to drift downward over the past 5 years. It now retails for $2,000.

In summary, one laser device is much better than zero laser devices. But several LASER devices with many different wavelengths (of light) and power levels to choose from allows for a much more individualized approach to each patients' specific condition.

Our laser treatments are also very affordable as well. In fact, we've helped hundreds of people with them since July of 2005.

Please give us a call at (217) 965-3100 for your free LOW LEVEL LASER THERAPY demonstration & consultation. You'll be glad that you did.

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3 of our Austin Family Chiropractic's cold laser devices receive FDA clearance for osteoarthritis of the hand!

Just a note to let everyone know that 3 of our clinic's lasers, an LLLT (low level laser therapy or cold laser therapy) system that we've been using here at Austin Family Chiropractic in Virden, IL since July 2005 recently received their FDA clearance for treatment of (osteo)arthritis of the hand!

Of course, the lasers help all kinds of other symptoms too. It's just that technically we only have the government's blessing to promote them for the treatment of hand OA in any 'advertising'. From my nearly 5 years of clinical experience with them, I've seen them work great for many tough knee & shoulder issues (both acute & chronic) as well. The lowest powered of the three lasers, I've also used successfully for solving the pain and itching of poison ivy within minutes!