Village Family Clinic Blog

Hackettstown, NJ (August 8, 2018) Village Family Clinic invites old patients and new patients in for patient appreciation day on September 22nd from 10am to 1pm and is very excited to announce that we will also have a meet and greet with Doc Gooden the same day from 11am to 1pm.

Dr. James R. Fedich, clinic director at Village Family Clinic, has organized a meet and greet with Dwight “Doc” Gooden for Patient Appreciation Day to give thanks to the community for supporting his Clinic for over 14 years now. Dr. Fedich has Patient Appreciation Day annually and is really looking forward to everyone getting together and joining in on this fun event. Dr. Fedich explains, “This event really brings the community together and shows that our clinic really takes pride in ‘what we do’ and our patients. Without our patients and all the support that we get, we simply would not have this clinic today.” Patient Appreciation day recognizes our existing patients but also invites new patients as well. The more, the better! Village Family Clinic will have free food, free adjustments, free new patient exams and mini acupuncture exams too. Now let’s get to even more exciting news about this day, Saturday September 22nd!

We have a very special guest coming in for this wonderful event we are holding at our clinic, Dwight “Doc” Gooden. Dr. Fedich and his team brainstormed and thought, “What could really get people excited about stopping by our clinic besides all the wonderful free things we are having for Patient Appreciation Day? What could bring new patients into our clinic too?” After a lot of consideration and thought we got exciting news of someone who was interested in our event and wanted to have the Meet and Greet right here in our clinic, Doc Gooden! What you should know about Dwight “Doc” Gooden is that he is a former professional baseball pitcher who pitched for the New York Mets. Doc Gooden was one of the most sensational pitchers of his generation, gaining many of the highest accolades. The accolades that Gooden received are as followed, “NL Rookie of the Year (1984), 2x MLB Strikeout Leader (1984, 1985), 4x All Star (1984, 1985, 1986, 1988), MLB Wins Leader (1985), MLB ERA Leader (1985), NL Cy Young Award (1985), Triple Crown (1985), Pitched a no-hitter on May 14, (1996), 3x World Series Champion (1986, 1996, 2000), Silver Slugger Award (1992) and New York Mets Hall of Fame Member.” Through out Doc Gooden’s time he was able to achieve all the accolades that you see here so we couldn’t be any more excited about having him at our very own Village Family Clinic.

Patient Appreciation Day will be held at the Village Family Clinic in Hackettstown, NJ on September 22nd from 10am to 1pm as well at the Meet and Greet with Dwight “Doc” Gooden from 11am to 1pm. For more information, directions or an appointment, contact the Village Family Clinic at (908)813-8200, or visit them on the web at www.hackettstownfamilyclinic.com.

We get this question often from our patient’s, friends and relatives. Recently I read an excellent review article of a Danish Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT) by John Orchard, MD a sports physician from Australia. Here is a synopsis of his article.

100 patients eligible for TKR; randomized to 50 getting TKR, 50 to conservative care

The group was followed for 12 months, 26% (13) patients crossed over from conservative care to TKR

Both groups showed similar improvements in decreased pain and improved function at 1 year

The authors could not rule out an additional surgical placebo effect over and above the non-surgery group

TKR group had a higher complication rate do to the intervention of 16% (this was expected) vs 2% for the non-surgical group

However serious adverse medical events not directly associated to the surgery over the 12 months was 48% for the TKR group and only 12% for the conservative care group.

TKR seriously challenges a patient’s general health to warrant warning patients about the increased risk

These findings can make the decision to undergo TKR more difficult for some patients. “Does the more likely improvements in pain and function of TKR outweigh the increased serious adverse risk?”

You may want to take this aspect into account

Current fitness level: Pain is subjective but fitness and activity levels are objective.

Low levels of activity are hazardous to long term health.

If your knee pain is preventing you from walking less than 6000-7000 steps a day (can be tracked with a fitness tracker or smartphone) it may be time to consider TKR.

Medical history: Pre-existing cardiac or renal disease, history of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) that requires blood thinners for control, diabetes and a history of smoking increase the risk of serious medical complications following TKR.

Recent cortisone or arthroscopic surgery : Studies found that having either or both procedures within 3 months of TKR increased the complication rates.

Did conservative care fail or was never attempted: Person was never sent for physical therapy, education /exercise classes. Did not have a trail of Hyaluron gel injections or a trial of a joint off loading brace.

Do not make the decision based on the following:

X-ray or MRI severity of OA: X-ray can help establish the diagnosis of knee OA. However, several studies have found poor correlation between X-ray OA severity and actual levels of activity and walking tolerance. (again think physical activity level capabilities vs X-ray findings)

The patient’s age: There is a tendency for surgeons to state the best age for TKR is 60-65 years old. They are considered young enough to do well and old enough that they most likely will not a revision (second TKR), within their remaining lifetime. Although there is some fact to this statement it should not be used to encourage a patient of 60-65 to have a TKR that is not needed. Conversely allowing a 40-50 year old who is extremely debilitated an unable walk more than a several thousand steps a day not being considered for TKR.

Hopefully this synopsis helps if you are currently considering TKR. In closing TKR is a good and viable surgical procedure for the right person done at the right time. If you have medical issues you may want to consider addressing them with your doctors and medical providers to help reduce your risk levels and get the best results following TKR. Village Family Clinic offers proven conservative care such as Physical Therapy, fitting of knee Off Loading Braces, Chiropractic care, Nutritional counseling and Acupuncture . If you are having TKR we offer prehabilitation to prepare you for surgery and postoperative TKR care to help you get back to the activities and life you want to have!.

Should you have any questions regarding this information please feel free to contact us.

Bob Scanlon, PT, Cert MDT, NJ Lic # 40QA00283600

According to two recent CBS news articles and a report published by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, opioids are culpable for more than 115 U.S. deaths every day. The abuse of opioids, prescribed pain-relieving drugs, has increased dramatically and the search is on for a natural alternative to these drugs.

Ashley Welch, a CBS news writer, writes about the logistics involved in the opioid crisis in her article, “Opioid Overdoses Spike 30 Percent, Hospitals Report.” Welch writes that “Data from hospital emergency departments show a big increase in drug overdoses across the country.” The National Institute on Drug Abuse confirms this point as well as demonstrates the prevalence of general opioid abuse nationwide: “21 to 29 percent of patients prescribed opioids for chronic pain misuse them.”

Fortunately, there are alternative methods to treat pain and promote pain management that many people are unaware of. Dr. James R. Fedich, Chiropractic and director at Village Family Clinic discusses the healthy and natural forms to relieve pain and foster recovery and rehabilitation from injuries and accidents.

Fedich talks about the success he has had in relieving pain for patients suffering from a variety of injuries, accidents, or pains. “Our patients have diverse backgrounds and range in age. We treat patients that suffer from sports injuries, injuries from vehicular and falling accidents, and pains that stem from the natural wear and tear of life. Patient testimonials validate the effectiveness of the treatments we offer” such as adjustments, spinal decompression, and physical therapy.

If you are seeking an alternative method to treat pain and discomfort, call Village Family Clinic at (908) 813-8200 or visit http://wwwhackettstownfamilyclinic.com. Their team of chiropractors, physical therapists, a pain management doctor, an acupuncturist, and a nutritionist are trained to rehabilitate your body and relieve pain.

# # #

Alemany, Jacqueline. “Trump to Roll out Plan to Combat Opioids with No Clear Funding Plan.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 18 Mar. 2018, www.cbsnews.com/news/opioid-epidemic-crisis-new-hampshire-donald-trump/.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Opioid Overdose Crisis.” NIDA, 6 Mar. 2018, www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis.
Welch, Ashley. “Opioid Overdoses Spike 30 Percent, Hospitals Report.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 6 Mar. 2018, www.cbsnews.com/news/opioid-overdoses-increase-across-us/.

By Dr. Tyler J. Carlock, D.C.

Did you know that even a minor fender bender can cause serious injury to your spine? Whiplash is a common word but not many people know exactly what it means. Whiplash occurs when you are in a collision with a car especially being rear-ended. When the collision happens, your neck rapidly extends backwards then flexes forward in a split second, which is traumatic to the ligaments and muscles in your neck. This can be very painful and cause decreased range of motion in your cervical spine (sometimes people don’t feel any pain until the next day). In most instances, the inflammation will irritate the spinal nerves which can cause sharp pains into your shoulder or down your arm which can cause decreased muscle strength or sensory changes. This is called a “radiculopathy.” In severe cases, fractures can even occur in the bones in your neck. According to a study, whiplash at even 5 mph can cause permanent damage to your cervical spine.

Whiplash is not the only injury one can sustain from even a minor car accident, low back pain and disc herniations in the lumbar spine can be very common as well. People may experience “sciatica” which is a sharp shooting pain down your leg. Most people will get sent to the hospital after a car accident, and if the x-ray is negative for fractures they will just be released with an anti-inflammatory or muscle relaxers. Most of the time this is not a sufficient treatment for the underlying cause of the injuries. Visiting a chiropractor for all of these injuries after an accident is a great way to deal and recover from the injuries. Taking pressure off of the nerves and getting you out of pain and increasing range of motion is the main goal of treatment. In most cases, the automobile insurance company will pay for all of the care you receive from a chiropractor for injuries due to a motor vehicle accident.

Hackettstown, NJ (July 11, 2018) Dr. Tyler Carlock, Chiropractic physician at Village Family Clinic explains the gravity of the damage a car accident can inflict on the spine and ways to promote recovery and rehabilitation.

Dr. Carlock defines whiplash, “a common word but [one that] not many people know exactly what it means,” as an injury that occurs most often during a collision. Specifically, with whiplash, the “neck rapidly extends backwards then flexes forward in a split second, which is traumatic to the ligaments and muscles in the neck” Carlock explains. Most often, the effects of whiplash materialize into “inflammation [that] irritates the spinal nerves which can cause sharp pains into the shoulder or down the arm which can cause decreased muscle strength or sensory changes. This is called ‘radiculopathy’.” The symptoms of whiplash may not be felt right away but could lead to issues in the future.

Carlock stresses the importance of visiting a chiropractor after even a minor car accident. Following a car accident, victims are sent to the hospital where they have x-rays that do not show inflammation and other symptoms of whiplash that many accident victims endure. Carlock indicates that “visiting a chiropractor for all of these injuries after an accident is a great way to deal and recover from the injuries. Taking pressure off of the nerves and getting you out of pain and increasing range of motion is the main goal of [chiropractic] treatment.”

If you have been involved in a car accident, however minor, a visit to a chiropractor can ensure a full recovery. Dr. Carlock points out that “in most cases, automobile insurance companies will pay for all of the care you receive from a chiropractor for injuries due to a motor vehicle accident.”

At Village Family Clinic, a team of chiropractors, physical therapists, and an acupuncturist are equipped to treat car accident victims and foster rehabilitation. For more information, a consultation, or treatment, call the Village Family Clinic at (908) 813-8200, or visit them on the web at hackettstownfamilyclinic.com.

Hackettstown, NJ (July 11, 2018) Village Family Clinic hosts their seventh annual Pet Food Drive at their office location in Hackettstown, NJ to collect pet food for local animal shelters August 20th through the 24th during office hours.

Dr. James R. Fedich, clinic director at Village Family Clinic, has organized a Pet Food Drive to support local animal shelters. Over the past seven years, Dr. Fedich’s team and their patients have collectively donated enough pet food to fill seven pick-up trucks. “Our Pet Food Drive has perennially benefited the local animal shelters and has allowed myself and our community to give back” Dr Fedich explains. “It also encourages new patients as well as beloved returning patients to visit the office.” In fact, Dr. Fedich is offering special services to motivate new and returning patients to donate pet food. If a patient, new or returning, donates just one 5lb bag of dog or cat food, he or she can choose to receive a free exam, free adjustment, or receive half off of one acupuncture session.

Dr. Fedich is excited about the opportunity to meet new patients: “Some people are hesitant that chiropractic, acupuncture, and other services offered at our clinic are what they need. The week of our Pet Food Drive is an opportunity for those people to see our office, meet and speak with the doctors, and save money by receiving a free exam, free adjustment, or half off an acupuncture session all for the cost of one 5lb bag of pet food.” During the Pet Food Drive, new and returning patients can save money on their treatment and play a part in giving back to the community by benefiting local animal shelters and the animals there. According to Dr. Fedich, the goal of this year’s Pet Food Drive is to collect enough pet food to fill one entire pick-up truck.

The Pet Food Drive will be held at the Village Family Clinic in Hackettstown, NJ the week of August 20-24, 2018, during office hours, 9am until 7pm. For more information, directions, or an appointment, contact the Village Family Clinic at (908) 813-8200, or visit them on the web at www.hackettstownfamilyclinic.com.

Hello everybody Dr. James Fedich, Clinic Director at Village Family Clinic in Hackettstown, NJ. If you don't know we are we're in Hackensack New Jersey and we are one of the area's largest health care providers. We havehave multiple chiropractors, physical therapists, acupuncturists, nutritionists, and medical pain management over here for all your healthcare needs.

In this video we're talking about sleeping. We see a lot of patients in the clinic with problems sleeping so we're gonna give you some sleep tips, tips to get you to sleep better, and some general tips about sleep positioning.

There's a lot of people with insomnia which means you're not getting enough sleep. There's a couple different problems. It's really kind of two major problems when we're having trouble falling asleep and/or we're having trouble staying asleep. So there's different problems in there this is a complex issue.

The number one reason people do not sleep well is actually muscle aches and pain. So you're waking up because your back hurts your neck hurts you're rolling on your shoulder. It is physical problems that is actually the number one reason why we're not getting good night's sleep. So if you have a physical problem, back pain, neck pain,headaches, shoulder problems, or anything like that give us a call at (908) 813-8200 and we'll fix that up for you.

There's some other good tips I'd like to give you today. Let’s talk general sleep problems versus a physical problem. Number one is electronics. We're all into iPhones iPads and computers. We had a guy in recently with trouble sleeping. It turns out he leaves his I pad on and it alerts when he's getting email alerts all night and of course it's waking him up multiple times. So rule number one in getting a good night's sleep is turning electronics off an hour before bedtime. Turn phones off, iPads off, no TVs in the room an hour before bedtime. All that light, it's gets complicated, but the light stimulating hormones in the brain and keeps you awake. The body thinks there's some light out there and wants to be awakened.

Rule number two. We don't want to eat or drink anything in our before bed as well. So if you were eating this midnight snack or drinking a big glass of water, then you got to get up and go to the bathroom. So it's no food or drinking at bedtime.

Your room environment is very important so a couple things in the general room for you to think about. A lot of us are sleeping way too warm whether it's in the summer or winter. Most of you are sleeping too warm. If you set sleep temperatures at 72 or 70, then you're under the blankets. You're gonna be 75 degrees in there as your body heat is all trapped in there. There's a lot of different strategies but the best thing for most is to keep the room a little bit cooler enough that you don’t need a thick blanket. Myself, we use something called the chill pad at home where it circulates water underneath you and it helps regulate your body temperature.

Next we’ll discuss sleep positions. A lot of people don't know how to sleep. Number one we never want to sleep on our stomach. There's just no good way to sleep on your stomach. It's gonna put strain on the neck and it's hard to breathe properly. For women out there they say gives you wrinkles quicker if you sleep on your stomach. So that's why I get my women patients to sleep on their back or sides. I found a change that happens to work. Get all those long body pillows at Target or some store like that. Just get one of those big long and inexpensive pillows and start putting it underneath you. Start gently turning off your stomach toward your side or back, either is okay, whatever it's better for you.

I know a lot of people have trouble snoring. If you're snoring a lot and your partner says you kind of stop breathing in the night you could have something called sleep apnea where you're waking up continually and which is actually a very serious medical problem. So if you have a severe snoring and your partner says that you're kind of not breathing in middle of night you want to get a sleep study done to evaluate you for sleep apnea.

One thing we recommend is one good pillow. So a normal pillow you are going to find at the stores are probably not going to give you enough support. One of the pillows that we have here is this water-based pillow. Basically what you do is you fill up water level based on how big you are. So you use just one pillow. A nice thing about the water pillow is that it's nice and heavy, doesn't slide around. So we use these at the clinic.

So, no food or drinking before bedtime, no electronics at night before bedtime, try to go to bed a little earlier, No electronics, no food, nothing else an hour before bed. Once in a nice calming relaxing bedroom, get the temperature down. Most of us are sleeping way too warm. Get it to 72 degrees in there and sleep a little cooler. Sleep positions, be on our back or a side. Use one good pillow. If you have a bad lower back, a sleep pill is ok and use a pillow or two underneath the knees to elevate them so that you can take some pressure off the spine. Come on in and we can delve into this a little bit more. Hopefully this helped you out a little bit. Check out our website hackettstownfamilyclinic.com or give us a call.

How's everybody doing? This is Dr. Carlock with Hackettstown, NJ’s Village Family Clinic. I'm here today talking about a couple of home exercises and stretches you can do if you're suffering from any neck pain or discomfort.

A lot of us at our jobs are sitting all day at the computer with shoulders and neck bent forward and that's a really common problem in today’s society. So if you want to help yourself a little bit letme show you a couple stretches.

So range of motion stretches are relatively easy to do. You're just go to one side to get the range of motion and hold it for like 10 seconds. Go to the other side 10 seconds and a good one in. There's your levator scapulae muscles on your shoulder. It attaches to your neck.

You're gonna bring your head down, you're gonna look towards your armpit,you're just going to enforce it to go down a little bit more. Hold that for again like 10 seconds or so. You can do the other side as well, neck down, look over pull.

Another really good exercise is called chin tucks. That's for your posture and your suboccipital muscles right up there at the base your neck. So you're gonna look forward straight ahead and all you're gonna do is bring your chin in and tuck it. If you see me from this side I'm not bending my neck, I'm just plugging my chin back. I'm gonna hold that for about 10 seconds. If you want you can push it down a little bit. I know that looks funny but if you do that about 10 times with a 5 to 10 second hold a couple times a day that'll be really good for your neck posture.

So those are some things you can do at home for your neck pain. If you have any concerns you can come on in we'll take a look at your neck. You can call us at (908) 813-8200.

How are you doing everybody? This is Dr.Carlock with Village Family Chiropractic Clinic here in Hackettstown, NJ. I’m going to talk to you today a little bit about the pelvis and how it relates to low back pain.

A lot of our patients come in our office with complaints about low back pain. A lot of times it's coming from the lumbar spine whether it's a disc or a pinched nerve. But a lot of times the pain can be coming from your pelvis and that includes the ilium these are these two bones on the ides and your sacrum is right at the bottom there. So if this pelvis isn't functioning properly (it’s supposed to be moving back and forth). This joint is called your sacrum realiac and if that’s stuck stuck that can manifest and low back pain. It can be on the side and it can hurt worse when you're getting up from a seated position and things of that nature.

We have a good way to evaluate it in the office. You can present with a short leg sometimes and other things of that nature. So if you have lower back pain and you don't know where it could be coming from, come on into the office we'll evaluate you and provide you the chiropractic care necessary here in Hackettstown to get you feeling better.

• Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo
• Benign – it is not life-threatening
• Paroxysmal – it comes in sudden, brief spells
• Positional – it gets triggered by certain head positions or movements
• Vertigo – a false sense of rotational movement

BPPV is a mechanical problem in the inner ear. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is probably the most common cause of vestibular vertigo accounting for approximately 20–30% of diagnoses of vertigo. It occurs when some of the calcium carbonate crystals (otoconia) that are normally embedded in gel in another part of the inner ear dislodge and fall into one of the three canals of the inner ear.

If enough of these particles accumulate in one of the canals they can disrupt the normal flow of the fluid in the canal. This will cause the inner ear to send abnormal signals to the brain causing certain head motions to trigger a sense of Vertigo/Dizziness. The majority of cases occur for no apparent reason, with many people describing that they simply went to get out of bed one morning and the room started to spin.

The sense of dizziness or vertigo from BPPV usually lasts less than 1 minute. It is usually brought on by particular head motions such as looking upward or downward or to one side. Such as looking up to a high shelf, shampooing your hair, bending down to put on shoes or socks or rolling from one side to the other in bed.

Between vertigo spells some people are usually symptom-free, while others feel a mild sense of imbalance or disequilibrium.

HOW IS IT DIAGNOSED?

Normal medical imaging (e.g. an MRI) is not effective in diagnosing BPPV, because it does not show the crystals that have moved into the canals. When someone with BPPV has their head moved into a position that dislodges the crystals an error signal causes the eyes to move in a very specific pattern, called “nystagmus”.

The inner ears and the eye muscles are what normally allow us to stay focused on our environment while the head is moving. Since the dislodged crystals cause abnormal information to be sent to the brain, the person’s nervous system thinks they are moving when they’re not. It mistakenly causes the eyes to move, which makes it look like the room is spinning. Tests such as Dix-

Hallpike or Roll Tests involve moving the head into specific orientations. This causes movement of the dislodged particles triggering the vertigo and allows the clinician to look for specific eye movements that can help to specify which ear and canal has the problem.

HOW IS IT TREATED?

Though many people are given medication for BPPV, there is no evidence to support its use in treatment of this condition. In extremely rare circumstances, surgical options are considered. However, fortunately, in the vast majority of cases, BPPV can be corrected mechanically via Canalith Repositioning Maneuvers. Many studies have been done into the effectiveness of treatment maneuvers for BPPV, with results showing rates of resolution well into the 90% range by 1-3 treatments.

Symptoms not associated with BPPV!

It is important to know that BPPV will NOT give you constant dizziness that is unaffected by movement or a change in position. It will NOT affect your hearing or produce fainting, headache or neurological symptoms such as numbness, “pins and needles,” trouble speaking or trouble coordinating your movements. If you have any of these additional symptoms, tell your healthcare provider immediately.

BPPV is a common problem, and will more then likely be seen more and more as our population ages. The impact can range from a mild annoyance to a highly debilitating condition, and can affect function, safety and fall risk.

If you have any questions regarding this condition and would like more information contact Village Family Clinic or please feel free to ask one of our staff members or clinicians,.