Here’s an interesting question for you to consider: Do you want to keep your chiropractic internet marketing in-house or do you want to hire a professional? There are pros and cons to both, and the answer lies in your particular situation. Let’s check out the advantages and disadvantages of both.
Advantages of in-house chiropractic internet marketing
There is a lower monthly cost involved in using someone already employed by you.
The staff knows your practice intimately. Your staff has a good understanding of your clinic’s particular services and, therefore, is able to describe your specialties easier than those who don’t know the specifics of your particular practice.
You can communicate anytime. Being in-house it is easier to set up times to have meetings or just to chat about situations on the fly.
Disadvantages of in-house chiropractic website marketing
The staff may not be fully aware of what SEO (search engine optimization) is, let alone how to accomplish it. In that case, a lot of education and training will be needed to make sure SEO gets done right.
The staff may be overworked. Sometimes the time it takes to do SEO can be underestimated. It is an ongoing process that can actually be a full-time job. If a marketing manager has been told to do SEO as well as his or her full time job, obviously that person will be overworked and feel overwhelmed.
Attention needs to be paid to detail. This goes together with Point #2. If the staff is overworked, they have no time to check out search engine news and keep up-to-date on how the search engines have changed the game each week and what needs to be done to implement those changes to keep your clinic internet presence up in the rankings.
Advantages of using an outside professional
Chiropractic marketing companies are specialists in the field. They have experience in working on numerous clinics and their websites and optimizing them for SEO. They know, first hand, what works effectively and what doesn’t.
There is a dedicated team at the company who will be working on your site and can give it the attention it requires.
The company has a specific plan and won’t be just jumping around, going from short term tactic to short term tactic with no organized strategy and no clear way to reach your desired goals. In other words, they have an “integrated” internet marketing strategy.
Disadvantages of a chiropractic internet marketing company
Let’s face it, it can get expensive, but costs vary widely from company to company. Some companies out there are charging $600-$700 a month for their services. It is definitely worth your while to shop around and research before you buy.
There is usually a commitment. Most chiropractic internet marketing companies will want you to sign up for at least six months to a year.
Account management can be a problem. With high turnover rates at many companies, especially the big ones, there may be a chance that you’ll get handed from account manager to account manager just when you were building a relationship of trust. You may have to start over again, maybe even have to redesign and reiterate your strategy with the new manager.
Now that you’ve taken a moment to look at the pros and cons of both keeping your internet marketing in-house or hiring a professional, the solution to SEO and your internet marketing strategy will depend on the size of your practice, the time and staffing you can devote to it, and your overall long-term goals.
Now, of course, we are a chiropractic internet marketing company that specializes in helping chiropractors with their internet presence. So, I will admit that I am a bit biased on the side of your hiring an expert to do it right. If you are thinking of hiring a company to develop and implement your internet marketing strategy, it is tremendously important for you to hire one that specializes in chiropractic clinics. Why? Because we understand the chiropractic profession intimately. Therefore, in the long run it will save you both time and money not having to explain what chiropractic is about to some general SEO company. There are several of us out there.
If you are going to go with an outside company, be sure to read the fine print. Look at the bottom of their page for a disclaimer. If they have one, read about their “typical” results. You don’t want to be fooled by outrageous claims even though such hype can be enticing. Remember, your internet marketing strategy is just one stream of new patient leads. Even though chiropractic internet marketing is fast becoming a great source for new patient leads, and even though internet marketing gets more important with every passing day, and even though it is a crucial area in which to generate new patient leads, it is still not the only source of marketing you will need to succeed in your practice.
Whether you choose to keep your internet marketing in-house or to hire a professional, you want to be sure that the time and money you spend on SEO gets you where you want to go. A member of your staff that does your internet marketing for “free,” while squeezing those efforts in-between other tasks, may “cost” you in the long run. A professional whose sole focus is internet marketing, won’t lose sight of your goals. Internet marketing is essential to your practice, so choose your chiropractic internet path wisely.
Aah, summertime. Time to head for the beach or a nice sunny park. So, bring out the picnic basket and blanket, the toys and swimsuits, and the sunscreen and tomatoes. Tomatoes!? Yep, that’s what I said. Tomatoes are high in lycopene, an antioxidant, which not only increases collagen in the skin and adds up to fewer lines and furrows, but actually helps to protect the skin again sunburn. According to Prevention Magazine, a recent study found that volunteers that consumed five tablespoons of tomato paste daily for three months had 25 percent more protection against sunburn.
It’s always nice to come across “natural” alternatives to chemical products, isn’t it? And, in this case, it’s a tasty choice. But, that said, it is always a good idea to cover up and protect your skin if you are going to be out in the sun for extended periods. Because, let’s face it, a juicy tomato or pasta marinara can go just so far!
Your Corona Chiropractor offers a valuable non-invasive, drug-free approach to decreasing hip pain and often getting rid of it altogether. Whenever possible, surgery should be seen as a final option. So, before you decide on hip surgery, ask yourself the following questions: Does hip pain wake you up at night and make a good night’s sleep unattainable? When you arise in the morning, and/or when you get out of your car, are you stiff and do you find it initially difficult to move your legs? Do you feel pain in one or both hips when you cross your legs or rotate or twist your hips? If these symptoms sound familiar, it is likely that you have asymmetries and alignment problems in your lower extremities that, in addition to causing your hip pain, can eventually lead to osteoarthritis in your hips if not treated. The good news is that chiropractic treatment can help whether or not degenerative changes have already taken place!
It may be true that you’re getting older and your hip joints just aren’t what they used to be. But, are you aware that your hip pain and related problems, which usually signal age-related degenerative conditions, may not actually be caused by osteoarthritis? That’s right. In the majority of cases, rather than being the root cause of your pain, osteoarthritis of the hip joint is frequently the consequence of a earlier injury (or injuries) to your hips.
Hip problems oftentimes have to do with asymmetry or imbalance when you are in motion, as in the case of walking. If you “pronate” when you walk, like a duck, with your toes pointing away from your body, it is inevitable that you will feel pain in your hips due to the asymmetrical stress on your hip joints and your body’s efforts to compensate. Thankfully, you can learn to correct your gait pattern at any age, and your chiropractor in Corona can help you to do it.
In addition, you may have undergone gait changes as the result of an ankle sprain or knee strain, and since “the knee bone’s connected to the hip bone,” these biomechanical changes generate pain in the hip(s). Naturally, if not remedied, your hip joints will suffer further consequences, like wear and tear that produces degenerative changes.
Other situations that can frequently injure the hip joints are starting a new job or beginning a new sport that requires you to move your body in atypical ways. Also, transporting a child (or grandchild) on one hip can generate hip pain. Even the way you sit or driving for extended periods of time on a regular basis can cause hip injury and pain.
See? Not every pain is caused by “old age,” though we may suffer from more pain due to the progressive activity of untreated injuries.
Your chiropractor in Corona will treat our hip problem directly, and as part of your chiropractic management will recommend special rehabilitative exercises that include gentle muscle stretching and strengthening, and will also analyze your gait and may recommend simple pattern changes.
Your hip pain won’t go away by itself. Hip pain is a symptom informing you that there’s a condition that requires correcting. If left untreated, more than likely that at some point you will require that hip replacement surgery. So, don’t wait until it’s too late. Your chiropractor in Corona can get you out of pain, get your body back into balance, and help you get to back to enjoying your life again!
I’ve always appreciated the old saying, When you consider the alternative, getting old isn’t so bad.” However, it’s nothing to joke about if the aging process is causing you pain! As a chiropractor in Santa Barbara, when it comes to musculoskeletal challenges, I see too many age-related conditions that probably would not have occurred if the original cause had been addressed earlier. Pain in the back, neck, hips, knees, and even the feet are frequently the result of undue stresses due to poor posture, improper gait, and repetitive overuse. If we only aware years ago how our aging body would feel now, eh? However, as they say, “hindsight is 20-20.”
Back pain is number one on the list as the most prevalent musculoskeletal condition to develop as we age. back pain that is age-related is generally produced by a degenerative disorder known as Spondylosis (spine osteoarthritis).
Spinal osteoarthritis is caused by increased erosion and weight-bearing pressure on the spine that, over time, undermines discs, joints, and surrounding ligaments. The location and degree of the degenerative process of spondylosis is individual, varying from person to person. The areas that are generally affected are the cervical (neck), thoriacic (mid-back), or lumbar (low back). Spondylosis symptoms are individual as well, depending on the severity of degeneration, and can run a spectrum from minor pain and numbness to extensive sensory loss and muscular atrophy.
Repetitive stresses negatively affect the cartilage around the joints and can encourage calcium to deposit in the tissues around the vertebrae. These calcific deposits, known as bone spurs, can constrict adjacent nerves, blood vessels and soft tissue. This particular of compression is at the root of Spondylosis.
Fortunately, whether or not you have developed spondylosis, regular chiropractic treatment and overall chiropractic management can considerably delay the aging process of your spine. It may be true that “you can’t un-ring a bell” or “turn back the hands of time,” but it’s never too late to give your spine the good treatment it deserves. When it comes to treating the spine, chiropractors are experts! See your chiropractor in Santa Barbara today, for the health of your spine.
As a chiropractor, it is my professional point of view that surgery should be the last resort for conditions of the back, hips, and knees. chiropractic treatment is a conservative, non-invasive and drug-free approach to problems relating to the musculoskeletal system. That said, I am also of the persuasion that surgery for most health problems should be a last resort as well. As I’ve said before, there is no such thing as a “minor” surgery. All surgeries, no matter how small, carry big risks. But, not only is surgery risky, there is no “undoing” this permanent attempt at correcting a problem. However, until just a few years ago, I would not have imagined that weigh loss would fall under the “only have surgery as a last resort” category. But, more and more adults are having bariatric surgery or other weight-loss surgery as an attempt to remedy their obesity. Again, surgery is surgery, and this type of surgery has high risks for already “at risk” obese adults. What has been even more disturbing to me is the fact that some parents are opting for surgery for their obese children, even though the risks of bariatric surgery are not only substantial in general, but the long-term safety and effectiveness in children remain largely unknown.
Now, what I am about to pass along will probably fall into the “duh, you think” category for most of us, but in reviewing studies on the “obesity epidemic,” scientists from Britain and the United States lifestyle changes such as better diet and more exercise should always be the first option, and treatment with drugs should be used rarely. In other words, bariatric surgery, or weight-loss surgery, such as operations to apply gastric bands to limit the stomach size of severely overweight people, should be a last resort.
Yes, it is true that childhood obesity can adversely affect almost every organ in the body and often has serious consequences, including high blood pressure, abnormal blood fats, insulin resistance or diabetes, fatty liver disease, and psychosocial complications, it is also true that parents need education (and perhaps intervention) and schools need to provide better food options and more daily exercise for children, and communities need to support parental efforts as well. No “toys” as a prize for buying high caloric kids meals is just the beginning. In my opinion as a healthcare provider, without education and support, even children who undergo bariatric surgery will continue to crave high caloric foods and still not get the healthy exercise they need.
I understand from over twenty years experience as a Chiropractor in Wichita assisting individuals suffering from sciatic pain that the affliction can be extremely debilitating. Those who suffer from sciatica are unfortunately all too familiar with the kind of deep pain that often radiates through the lower part of their body, accompanies their waking hours each day and interferes with almost all of their daily activities.
There is a way to figure out if your low back pain is caused by sciatica. If your pain radiates from your low back, through one or both sides of your buttocks, down the large sciatic nerve in the back of one or both legs, and possibly radiates into one or both knees, you probably have sciatica. Moreover, not only movement, but even sitting can be painful. Commonly lying down will reduce, or occasionally even temporarily eliminate the pain. However, it’s important for you to be aware that sciatica will not go away without appropriate care.
Radiculopathy
A radiculopathy is a medical term that describes a condition where a disc has protruded from its normal position in the vertebral column and is causing pressure on the radicular nerve (nerve root) that forms part of the sciatic nerve in the lower back. This type of pressure can cause excruciating pain.
Prolonged sitting, especially in an improper position, can cause imbalances in the muscles enclosing the spine and additional pressure on the intervertebral discs. A specific event or injury isn’t usually the cause of sciatica, instead sciatica tends to evolve over time as a result of ordinary wear and tear on the vertebrae of the lower spine. Over the course of time the lower spine can lose its ability to function normally during common stresses.
Ultimately, the intervertebral disc undergoes small fissures or cracks, which then allow the soft nucleus to protrude the disc outward. Pain is created as the disc pushes on sensitive tissues. This condition is often known as a ruptured, or slipped, disc. Sciatica is the result of the disc pressing on the spinal nerve. The good news is that most disc challenges, including sciatica, can be completely relieved with chiropractic treatment and therapy that usually includes postural exercises.
Periformis Syndrome
Another condition that creates sciatic pain is periformis syndrome. Periformis syndrome occurs when the periformis muscle, for any reason, goes into spasm and irritates the sciatic nerve, which runs “deep to the muscle.” Along with chiropractic manipulation, this type of sciatica can be significantly relieved by sciatica stretches that your chiropractor can recommend.
It is vital for you to see your chiropractor for treatment if you are experiencing sciatic pain. If you are in the Wichita area, as your Wichita Chiropractor, I invite you to come in to see if I can get you out of pain and help you to get your life back!
There is just no getting around it, if you want to get healthy and stayhealthy, you must commit to a healthy lifestyle. Though it may not seem like it, every little thing you do each day from eating a banana to walking around the block makes a big difference in helping you to maintain your overall health and longevity potential. And, in just the same way, every little thing you don’t do makes a big difference as well. In fact, according to a new study published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the cumulative impact of smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, and excess alcohol consumption can add up to increased risk of death. Or to put it another way, these four bad habits can shorten your life by as much as 12 years. Not to mention, of course, the low quality of life enjoyment you’ll experience right up until “the end” prematurely comes along! In fact, the study authors say that, when compared to a healthy lifestyle that includes none of the above (or excludes all of the above), the combined effect of all four behaviors tripled or even quadrupled the risk of death.
So, yet another wake up for you procrastinators out there. The bad habits you eliminate and the good habits you develop will tip the scales significantly in your favor. Don’t put healthy changes off one more day. A healthy lifestyle can profoundly affect your chances of living to a happy old age.
Social Media is the “hottest” topic on the Internet today. If you’ve been giving some thought to getting on board, but you’re not sure where the platform is, let’s talk a little about the “Who, What, When, Where, and How” of social media and you, that’s “Who.” Then you can make up your mind whether or not to add Social Media to your chiropractic marketing strategy.
Social media marketing may be very much like, and completely unlike, any chiropractic marketing strategy you’ve contemplated. In the “very much like” category, you’d never consider trying any sort of marketing plan without making an effort to understand what it is and what you want to get from it. What are your goals? Once you know what you want, you’ll be more capable of using social media to your greatest advantage.
When you are ready to begin your social media endeavor, but before you start, you will need to make sure that you “own your name” on all the social media outlets, i.e., be certain that your name or the name of your clinic is available so that you can use precisely same name on every one of the social channels you desire to use. There is a service that is free and will assist you with your search when you’re ready. Knowem.com is the who to go to. Knowem.com will find out where your name is and/or if it’s available or not on a large number of social media sites.
The next step, once you have all your social media accounts “locked up”, is to make a decision as to where you want to be active. Because you have a clinic to run and patients to see, initially only a few social media sites is preferable and may actually be all you’ll need. That way you won’t get distracted by in too many channels. How do decide which sites are best for you? The big ones (where most of the action is) are facebook, twitter, linkedin, and Youtube. What successful social media activity will do for you is build a true presence in your community. What you should never do “sell” on your social media sites, that means don’t sell your clinic, don’t sell services or products, don’t sell anything! The purpose of social media is for you to have an addition channel through which to network with the community. By all means, inform them about what you do, but do it by becoming a participant. Social media works the same way as social networking offline. People on social media sites don’t want to be sold to, plain and simply. Social media sites are similar to a neighborhood backyard barbecue. People are standing around having a conversation about who they are and what they do, and then someone asks you what you do. Or, perhaps you begin the conversation by (just) stating, “Hello, I’m Dr. ____. With social media marketing, the same kind of interaction applies. Social media sites should be handled the same way you’d “work” offline networking opportunities to promote yourself, i.e., answer the questions and concerns that get potential patients interested in the who that’s you!
As a Cincinnati Chiropractor I treat a lot of seniors who are challenged by balance problems. In fact, dizziness, “wooziness,” and other balance-related challenges affect at least nine percent of adults, aged 65 and older. Good balance is extremely important, of course, in helping older adults in remaining independent and to avoid falling down and incurring injuries that are often extremely serious or even fatal. But, would you be surprised to hear that falls contribute to a large portion of work injuries for adults under 65 years of age, including workers in their twenties and thirties? That’s right! Balance problems can occur at any age. In fact, those who work at “dangerous heights” like construction workers, roofers, oil platform employees, windows cleaners, or any other place where a ladder is required are in danger of serious injury if their balance is “off.”
The primary function of good balance is to assist us in managing and maintaining our body position, whether standing still or moving, and whether on the ground or high up on a platform. Good balance helps us to walk without stumbling, arise from a sitting position without teetering, and to climb stairs without tripping. It is obvious, then, that good balance is essential to our health and well-being.
What you may not know could have a balance problem without any idea of how significant it is. Often times someone can “shake off” a dizzy sensation and the feeling may not reoccur for a while. But, when precipetous dizziness occurs at a decisive moment, it is too late to shake it off and a fall is usually unpreventable.
Vertigo is the medical term for the sensation that you, or things around you, are spinning. Nearly 40% of individuals in the U.S. will have at least one incidence of dizziness that is acute enough to seek out help from a health professional, such as your Chiropractor at Cincinnati Chiropractic. That said, if you are involved in any of the activities listed above, it is an excellent idea for you to have a chiropractor check your balance prior to an acute episode of dizziness, rather than as a response to such an episode. Why? Because as a chiropractor, I can not only check your balance, and make corrections if necessary, but can assist you in maintaining good balance in the future. And, it may go without saying that having good balance will likely save you from serious injury or worse.
Balance disorders at any age are risky. If you feel as if you might have a possible balance disorder, it is vital for you to be evaluated and treated without delay. To help to make your decision easier if you can answer “yes” to any of the following questions, even if the experience is seldom or infrequent, it is highly recommended that you discuss the symptom(s) with a chiropractor as soon as possible:
• Have you experienced a feeling of being “unsteady?”
• Has the room seemed to spin around you?
• Has there ever a time when you felt as if you were moving when you knew you were standing still?
• Have you lost your balance and/or fallen down?
• Have you ever felt as if you were falling?
• Has your vision ever become “blurred?”
• Have you ever felt disoriented, or lost a sense of time, place or identity?
It is important for you to remember that balance problems are not specific to a particular age group. Our falling down is an ever-present possibility from the time we learn to walk until we take our final step All the more reason to have your balance checked if you work in a job that makes your falling down a “critical” issue. Don’t wait until it’s too late! If you’re in the area, give your Cincinnati Chiropractor a call today. I can help!
As a Chiropractor in San Diego, I counsel many individuals who come to my clinic who want to lose weight. I know how hard it can be, and I also know how important it is to lose those extra pounds. Have you been telling yourself that a little extra poundage won’t matter? As we age, they can add up to a large number of health problems from heart and pulmonary diseases and diabetes to back pain and joint degeneration. Extra pounds put harmful stress on organs, like the heart, and on joints in the low back, hips, and knees. A whopping 62% of men and women in America are overweight or obese, according to recent studies. That is an extremely compelling percentage and an enormous national health issue (no pun intended).
It is likely no surprise to you to learn that the human body has not evolved to transport surplus poundage in the form of body fat. Just 20 or 30 extra pounds can, in point of fact, overload and even overwhelm the joints and muscles of the body. Extra weight in the tummy, for instance, makes it necessary for the body to compensate (counterbalance the weight) by tilting the pelvis forward. The tilt produces compression in the joints of the low back. Painful inflammation results as this joint compression hinders nerve activity. The majority of individuals who have a “spare tire”feel substantial pain in their low back caused by an impingement of the sciatic nerve or misalignments of the spinal column that constrict nerves due to weight-bearing stresses. If left untreated, misaligned vertebra in most cases develop into new arthritic changes in the spine over time, as well as persist in irritating the degenerative changes that have already taken place.
Here are the ways in which chiropractic treatment can help. Perhaps, it should go without saying that a moderate body weight is required in order for the musculoskeletal system to act and respond in the way it is built to. chiropractic treatment can not only ease the pain created by excess weight compensation, but it can aid in weight reduction. Here’s how. Chiropractic adjustments relieve nerve impingements in the vertebral column and assist in getting mobility back into the joints of the musculoskeletal system, especially in the low back, hips, and knees. And, of course exercise and physical activity is a lot easier, and more beneficial for the body, when the the joints have good mobility and the spine is aligned. The added benefit of exercise the, in addition to helping with weight reduction, it can actually delay degenerative changes as the body ages.
It is always a good idea to discuss diet and exercise alternatives with a healthcare professional, like your chiropractor. In addition to assisting individuals suffering from back pain and joint inflammation, chiropractors can provide trained guidance regarding the kinds of lifestyle modifications that can help a person to stay healthier, more energetic, and more active through the years. It isn’t a foregone conclusion that arthritis and immobility are an unpreventable part of the aging process. The structure of the human body is designed for an entire lifetime of pain-free movement.
So, if you’ve been thinking that a few extra pounds won’t hurt, think again! As your chiropractor in San Diego, and someone who cares deeply about your overall health, I’d like to help you to make healthier choices. Make an appointment today!
Aah, summertime. Time to head for the beach or a nice sunny park. So, bring out the picnic basket and blanket, the toys and swimsuits, and the sunscreen and tomatoes. Tomatoes!? Yep, that’s what I said. Tomatoes are high in lycopene, an antioxidant, which not only increases collagen in the skin and adds up to fewer lines and furrows, but actually helps to protect the skin again sunburn. According to Prevention Magazine, a recent study found that volunteers that consumed five tablespoons of tomato paste daily for three months had 25 percent more protection against sunburn.
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