Blum Chiropractic

I have been an avid sports fan my entire life.  I can remember watching baseball from the floor of my parents home as far back as my pre-kindergarten ages as well as playing it in the front yard with my parents and neighbors.  I always thought I would end up being a professional baseball player. During my high school days, I played baseball, football and wrestled (I hated the diet part). During college I played football and baseball.  After college I tried out for the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL.  I never became a professional athlete, as things just didn’t work out, but I wasn’t for lack of effort.  Now I play golf (so,so well), work out (semi-religiously) and enjoy what adventures life has to offer.

The reason I am relaying this bit of information is to explain that I am no stranger to athletics and sports injury.  I was fortunate enough not to have experienced any terrible injury during my playing days, however I did get hurt enough on a few instances to miss some college games due to injury.  I now have some physical reminders from the culmination of all the sports collisions I survived during my younger sports years.  I have a great knowledge of the sports activities and mechanisms of injury and understand how to treat athletic injuries.

Injury aquired during sports activity is often the same type of injury one could suffer around the house, in the garden or at work. Usually the only difference from one injury, to another of the same, is the mechanism by which it occured. For example if you sprain an ankle playing basketball, is it any different than spraining your ankle tripping over a toy at home?  Generally, only the way it happened is different, and maybe the severity, however you can injure the same structures and tissue. Since people are all different, healing times are different, severity of injury is different, the treatment needs to be individualized for the person and the injury.

I am a Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician (CCSP), which means I have specific training dealing with sports type injuries.  I see little athletes, high school athletes, weekend warrior athletes and even professional athletes.  Athletes are often the most difficult of my patients to treat as they really don’t like to be slowed down with injury, because like myself, they enjoy the challenge of the sport, competition, and sense of accomplishment.  Athletes tend to try and play through injury often at a detriment to themselves.  This type of attitude can cause additional damage to already injured tissues.

No matter what sport you play, give yourself the time to heal and find the right type of treatment for those acute, chronic or nagging type injuries. The older we get, the slower our healing time becomes physiologically.  On the opposite end of that spectrum are the youngsters, who heal very quickly…..Oh, to be young again!  Please call our clinic for more information at 630-351-4700.

Dear Friend,
There is much new information in the world of health. Let’s get started.

DID YOU KNOW?

• A recent study of Acupuncture showed that acupuncture was effective for relief of vasomotor symptoms in breast cancer patients.  According to the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, researchers found acupuncture as effective as Effexor (venlafaxine) in reducing hot flashes, night sweats and other effects of anti-estrogen therapy.  This happened with no adverse side effects and the therapeutic effects lasted longer after treatment compared to those patients on antidepressants. There are many other studies proving the effects of acupuncture for various disorders with arthritis of the knee as another example.
• Bone health is preserved even with a rapid drop in weight according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine. This tends to put to rest the idea that rapid weight loss causes reductions in bone mineral density and bone content.  A common belief was that bones became brittle and frail from rapid weight loss.
• The Mediterranean diet is in the news again.  According to an article in the British Medical Journal, the Mediterranian diet was associated with lower overall mortality and lower mortality from several chronic diseases.  That is in edition to its cardiovascular and anti-cancer benefits. This is the first study that looked at the association of sticking to this particular diet and mortality and chronic disease in the general population.  This consists of eating a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes, cereals, fish, nuts, olive oil, and a “moderate” intake of red wine. It is low in red meat, dairy products and alcohol.
• Women who eat fish during pregnancy may give junior a significant developmental boost.  Fish intake of 59 grams a day for pregnent women (as opposed to pregnant men?) was associated with significantly higher developmental scores for the infant at 18 months compared to other children whose moms ate only 5.4 grams daily.  This was reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.  This is more support for taking the omega-3 fatty acids.  

No matter what anyone tells you, your body is not designed for car accidents. Injury from vehicle collisions, even at slow speeds can cause injury according to research. Car accidents as slow as 5-7 miles per hour can injure the occupants. Lack of visible damage to the car has little correlation to the extent of injury. Whiplash injury is one of the most common mechanisms of neck injury in a rear-end car crash. During this type of accident one car will strike into the rear of another car. Though the occupants of both cars can sustain injury, the persons in the car hit from behind usually receive injury of various type as they are not prepared for impact.

During a whiplash type injury, the neck and spine become abnormally elongated and bent into positions they are not designed to endure. The result of this crash can cause damage to the vertebrae, ligaments, joint capsules, the joint facets (surface), muscles, discs, and nerves. Even microfractures of the vertabrae and joints can occur and not be detectable without special types of imaging. Pain is usually the first symptom of a car accident however studies also show that pain may not be the initial symptom. Injury symptoms can begin many days, weeks or even months after the accident.

Besides pain, some of the symptoms one could experience after a car accident , based upon the severity and extent of injury, could include:

• Headaches
• Dizziness or problems with eye coordination
• Cognitive disorders (concentration, remembering, thinking or focusing problems)
• Insomnia (sleeping problems) or irritability (short temper)
• TMJ problems, jaw pain and tightness, a feeling of fullness in the ears
• Chronic muscle tightness/spasm around the face, neck, upper shoulders or shoulder blades
• Numbness and tingling in the extremities or unusual sensations
• Weakness of limbs or coordination problems
• Post traumatic stress symptoms. nervousness and even nightmares

I have personally seen and treated individuals with those symptoms following a car accident. Many of those persons came to me immediately after the accident however often they don?t seek treatment for days, weeks, months or even years later. Often times the symptoms show up so late, or are ignored for so long, the person may forget they were even caused by the accident. These symptoms can manifest a long time after the initial trauma.

The biggest mistake my patients have made in the past is that they generally fail to come in as soon after the accident as possible, because they dont feel pain immediately after the accident. This mistake often causes the injuries to become worse and more difficult to treat. There are specific do?s and don?ts when treating these types of injuries.

I have the specific training, equipment, knowledge and experience in treating folks with injuries due to an motor vehicle collision. If you or someone you know has been involved in an accident and need immediate assistance or seek relief from a chronic problem, please call our office at 630-351-4700

My staff can bill your insurance company as a courtesy to you. We can also provide a bill for any visit if you wish to have your insurance company reimburse you directly. We do attempt to verify your health insurance benefits. Often times when speaking with insurance companies, we run into situations in which we are told one thing about your insurance coverage and you may have been told something different. Though we like to think we are very good at verifying your health insurance coverage, things occasionally get lost in translation. Often we can only communicate with an automated system, never speaking to a human representative. I would ask that you also personally call and verify your coverage with your insurance provider in an effort to eliminate any potential problems. Insurance companies will usually explain that coverage is not a guarantee of payment, regardless of what you have been told.

I accept almost all health insurance, however I am not in network with all insurance companies. Your coverage will vary by whether I am in your network or not. Your health insurance benefits are defined by your insurance policy and most individual and company policies are different. You may have no Chiropractic coverage with your insurance policy or you may have no insurance at all. Though it seems unfathomable that in this day and age, insurance companies would not provide Chiropractic coverage in their policies, sadly many do not. I work with individuals regardless of insurance or non-insurance status. I also reserve that right to cancel my membership as provider with any insurance company if I feel they are not fair in their reimbursment practices to me or my patients. There are several select insurance companies I do not accept relative to those specific reimbursment issues.

Please feel free to call our office for an appointment or more information at: 630-351-4700

I have been very fortunate to have been educated and trained in the use of amino acid supplements for patients. My training has been under the tuteluge of Dr. Marty Hinz of the NeuroResearch clinic. He is one of the foremost researchers for amino acid therapy and disease treatment.   I have significant experience using them for treatment since 2003. As with advances in medicine and disease, there also come advances in nutrition and disease.  Amino acid nutritional therapy is a fairly new science, relative to treatment of disease, based upon neurotransmitter depletion or dysfunction.  Recent discoveries have increased our knowledge of how our natural chemical neurotransmitters work, relative to certain disease processes. This has shed new insight into non-pharmaceutical treatment of individuals with those diseases.  The following is a partial list of diseases associated with neurotransmitter depletion or deficiency:

• Obesity, weight loss and management and appetite suppression
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Depression/anxiety
• ADHD
• Migraine headaches
• Fibromyalgia
• Chronic fatigue, chronic pain syndromes

There are many more associated diseases not listed here

What are Neurotransmitters and Amino Acids?
Neurotransmitters are tiny chemical messengers that allow your nerves to keep the nervous signal traveling and communicate with each other.  They are released from the end of one nerve, dumped into the space between the nerves and then move on to attach to a receptor on the next nerve.  This works great until there are not enough neurotransmitters to allow for effective communication between nerves.  When you do not have enough neurotranmitters in your system, such as reduction or depletion of proper neurotransmitters levels, you can suffer the symptoms of one or more specific disease process.  Amino acids are the building blocks of the neurotransmitters.  We can only make neurotransmitters if we have the proper nutrients (amino acids) and amounts to do so. There are many neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine (among a few) which are responsible for many body functions including mood, cognition, hunger, sleep as well as a host of others.

What are Amino Acids
As I stated earlier, amino acids are those protein by-products that help build neurotransmitters in the body. The reason we need amino acids is that the brain cannot generate its own neurotransmitters without them and the central nervous system cannot function without them. Many foods and drugs/medications/pharmaceuticals can actually deplete the neurotransmitters from your body.  Drugs do not make neurotransmitters, they only shuffle them around in your body.  The fact is, many drugs actually deplete or diminish the number of neurotransmitters in your system thus eventually making you feel worse and contributing to disease symptoms.  We all need amino acids.

Information and misinformation
I have read much about amino acid therapy and neurotransmitters both in medical literature/studies and from websites posted on the internet.  There is a growing body of information and misinformation. Here are a few things I have learned:

• Amino acid therapy must be balanced and specific in its dosages.  Too much of one amino acid can deplete another thus creating as many problems as it is designed to help.
• Lab testing for neurotransmitter levels is in its infancy and several labs have developed a urine test.  However giving a urine test prior to beginning amino acid therapy is a waste of time and money because there is no correlation between sytemic and urinary levels.  The reason? The kidneys make their own neurotransmitters.
• There is only one lab I know of that is actually calibrated to account for the discrepancies in the kidneys involvement in making neurotransmitters.
• All nutritional supplements are not made equally.  The purity of the product is important.
• When disease is present, supplement dosages should be used to elevate neurotranmitters levels into therapeutic ranges and not necessarily normal values.
• Many physicians are jumping on the amino acid treatment bandwagon without proper training in their uses especially for specific disease processes.

Obvioulsy amino acid supplementation is important enough, that I feel it imperative to let patients know that they should have trained professional guidiance relative to its usage.  One could buy all the products necessary from a health food store however it would be cost prohibitive and there is the possibility of poor quality and improper self dosages.  In trained hands amino acid treatment is very safe with relatively few side effects and can even be used with children and adolescents.

For more information to find out if you or a loved one is a candidate for amino acid therapy call our office at 630-351-4700.

Obesity is an epidemic in the United States and statistics prove it. However losing weight is a very personal issue. BodyTransition is a physician monitored, high performance, in house, weight loss and management program. I initially developed this program for my patients who cannot seem to lose weight on their own. I use amino acid supplemental therapy to help my patients lose weight safely and effectively. My program was designed from a model based upon Dr. Marty Hinz?s work with amino acid therapy and bariatric patients. Dr. Hinz (founder of NeuroResearch in Duluth, Mn.) is at the forefront of research for amino acid therapy relative to disease. Dr. Hinz is the physician that educated me in the use of amino acids for neurotransmitter dysfunction. I have been utilizing them for various disorders since 2003.

Amino acids in weight loss are designed to suppress the appetite which allows one to reduce caloric intake comfortably. In other words, you can eat less food without feeling hungry. The only way to lose weight is to eat less, exercise more or both. Many who are obese have neurotransmitter levels that are so low they cannot shut off the sensation of hunger, thus they eat constantly or excessively. Amino acids increase the levels of neurotransmitters into therapeutic ranges so a person is able to actually suppress the pangs of hunger. Serotonin, dopamine, epinephrine and nor-epinephrine are the major neurotransmitters that we try to modulate. A person could never eat enough food to increase the neurotransmitters to required levels in the body, that is why it is important to supplement them.

My program is simple, when you come in for your first visit, together we determine how many calories you must consume on a daily basis, to lose a specific amount of weight, in a specific amount of time. That number then becomes your calorie prescription, meaning that is the number of calories (or less) you must eat on a daily basis to lose weight and reach your goals. You take your amino acids daily as recommended, you keep a diet log of all the food you consume, you keep track of the calories for all food eaten in the diet log and you come in for a weigh-in once a week.

Most people eat 500-600 calories a day more than they think and this alone can add one pound of fat to your body in a week (3500 calories = 1 pound fat). Studies show that those that track their eating and caloric intake do much better losing weight.

Every weight loss patient must bring their diet log to each weigh-in. The purpose of the diet log is two-fold. First and foremost it allows us to see what you eat, when you eat and how much you eat. Second, after two weeks of reviewing your diet log, we can tweak your diet to help you eat healthier and time foods during the day when they might be more beneficial in controlling hunger and blood sugar swings.

I will teach you to count calories if you do not understand how to do so. I will teach you to read food labels that allow you to understand what is in the foods you eat and how to determine serving and portion sizes. You will learn when to eat, what to eat and not just what not to eat. There are many other aspects of this program that will help you lose weight and for those very difficult cases, I use the help of a medical hypnotherapist, trained in medical cases, who can help you with other issues that prevent you from achieving success.

If you wish to know more about amino acid therapy, click on the amino acid therapy link or call my office at 630-351-4700

Acupuncture is probably the most amazing part of my practice, in that it has provided many of my patients with unbelievable and unexpected success. I have been utilizing it ever since I graduated from Chiropractic College, as I studied it while still in school. At this point I have over 13 years experience using it with my patients. Another neat aspect about acupuncture treatment is that most of my patients receive some degree of relief from their problems. Some get full relief and others partial relief however most patients experience positive results to one extent or another. Please keep in mind, that with any type of therapy, this may or may not be the right treatment for you and you may not have the success you are looking for, however it is a great treatment option when other avenues fail. You may expereience success beyond your expectations. Often times it is a last resort for those seeking relief from problems that traditional approaches did not help. For many of my patients it is the first and only treatment they need.

Simply put, in laymans terms, the basic theory/philosophy of Acupuncture is that each person has a vital force or life energy, (Chi), flowing throughout their body in “Meridians”. Meridians are invisible channels that run along and within the body. Each meridian has multiple acupuncture points that allow access to those meridians. This Chi is usually in “balance” however when you do not have this balance, you can experience disease or dysfunction.

The purpose of acupuncture is to locate and stimulate those specific points on the body that can revitilize or return the Chi to balance. When the vital force is balanced then the body will have reached an environment that allows resolution of the problem. There is not a ton of scientific research on acupuncture however existing studies show that it is an effective treatment alternative to a variety of problems. Many of the acupuncture points are located near a nerve or blood vessel. Almost any problem that western medicine treats is also treatable with acupuncture.

Finally, it is not so important as to what one uses to stimulate the acupuncture points, but more importantly, to stimulate the correct points. Needles are typically used in acupuncture treatments, however there are other methods also including, electrical stimulation, cupping, stones and acupressure. If you cannot tolerate needles, there is still a method that will provide similar results. There is so much to learn about this ancient form of Asian medicine that one could probably study a lifetime and not know or understand it all. All I can tell you is that I use it in my practice and it works, often remarkably so!

For more information or to set up a consult or appointment, please call or office at 630-351-4700

I would best describe my Chiropractic business as more of a “Passion” than work. I say this with all sincerity, as I truly mean that every day is not a job, but a true adventure. I absolutely love what I do as a professional, I enjoy coming to work each and every day and every day is unique and different. More importantly, I meet some of the most wonderful people in my practice. My patients are the greatest in the world as far as I am concerned. After all, what profession allows one to meet people in pain, injury and misery (bad dispositions often emerge in times of pain) and help them become happy and well again? This is a very self satisfying profession and I am very fortunate to be a Chiropractic physician.

I am often asked, “do you treat (insert problem here) ??”  My answer is that I see the full gamet of problems, but I am fortunate that the Chiropractic approach is often much more effective than traditional methods. The laws in my state are very liberal in that I can treat just about anything an MD can treat, however I cannot prescribe medications or perform invasive surgeries. I do not walk on water and I cannot help everyone that walks through my door, but I try to the best of my skills, knowledge and education. I am honest enough to say that if I cannot help someone, I will find someone who can. I refer to specialist and for additional imaging as needed. I will never give less than one hundred percent effort for my patients.

My business is a general family practice with emphasis or concentration in a few unique areas of health care. I work with patients of all ages, races, gender, and ethnic backgrounds with the ages of my patients ranging from infant to seniors, including all ages in between. Besides my education and training in the Chiropractic field, I stay on top of my field through ongoing post-graduate courses. I have utilized acupuncture for years and find I use it much more than ever before. Acupuncture is more in demand and often covered by health insurance, but more importantly, it works!.

I also concentrate in the area of Amino Acid therapy for people with disease associated with Neurotransmitter deficiency or depletion. It is a very new, cutting edge and extremely important aspect of treatment . Very few physicians are trained in treatment of this kind, as it is in its infancy stage. This therapy can provide amazing health benefits for people and help individuals rid themselves of medications in many instances. I am one of few physicians trained and certified in this field of treatment (amino acids). You will see a miriad of physicians jumping on this band wagon in the not too distant future. Even the info-mercials are in on the act. You should definitely be in the hands of a trained physician when utilizing them properly. Check out my link to amino acid therapy if you wish to know more. I generally use amino acid treatment for the following, however there are so many others:.

• Obesity
• Depression and anxiety
• Parkinon?s Disease
• Migraine headaches
• ADHD

My post graduate education is varied. I have many other certifications including that of a Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician (CCSP), Physical Rehabilitation, Whiplash and Brain Injury Traumatology, Physical Therapy, Acupuntcure & Meridian Therapy, X-Ray and Spinography, and a few others. I also have training in Nutrition and Supplementation, Auto Accident Injury..

I like to stay up with technology and utilize the latest and greatest toys when it comes to diagnosis, treatment and therapy, however technology comes with a cost to each the patient, physician and insurance company. My philosophy is a bit old fashioned, in that, if a new technique, procedure or piece of equipment does not contribute to the diagnosis, contribute to an answer, or improve the chances of recovery from injury/disease/disorder or provide greater insight to a problem, then I believe it to be of little clinical or treatment value other than a revenue source for someone. Technology is wonderful, has its place in healthcare but it should be utilized both timely and appropriately. It is often necessary but often utilized with little return for the patient. I will admit that I do have some state of the art equipment in my clinic however it will not allow me to time travel into the future..

If you have any questions or would like to schedule a consult or appointment, please call my office at 630-351-4700.

I wish to provide a brief history about my educational background and how I stumbled upon this great profession we call Chiropractic. I have been a sports nut and athlete most all my life (though much slower now). Late in my senior year of high school (1974), I was fortunate enough to receive a football scholarship to attend the local college in my quaint home town of Hastings, Nebraska. I graduated from Hastings College (in spite of myself) with a degree in physical education and a minor in English in 1978. After graduating college (whew!), I taught 9th grade English in a predominately African-American jr. high in an inner-city, Kansas City, Kansas school district for two years.

Being young (naive) and constantly without cash, I eventually quit teaching, due simply for the desire to earn more money, as living on rice and cream-of-anything soup soon got old. However, I must at this point emphasize that my teaching experience had a tremendous and important impact on my life and outlook relative to other cultures. During my limited stint as an educator, I was blessed with a multitude of valuable learning experiences, lifes lessons and the forging of unique and unforgettable friendships. I can only hope I taught my students as well as they taught me.

After my teaching career, during 1980, I became a retail sales manager for the FootLocker Corporation. For the next several years I worked, managed and was promoted throughout the Midwest with stints in Kansas City, Ks; St. Louis, Mo; and the cities of Northbrook, Bloomington-Normal, and Norridge, Illinois. For my efforts, I was honored as the FootLocker Rookie of the Year for the Midwest Division during that time, (back in the old days) and won a few other awards along the way.

During my time as manager of the Harlem and Irving Plaza Footlocker, Illinois, in the early 80?s, I had injured my back and was laid up for a couple of weeks due to both back and sciatic pain. Finally, with no success after trying the traditional medical route of pain killers and muscle relaxers, I literally crawled into a local chiropractic office. My doctor was a very young but very cool and intelligent guy. Following my first treatment (adjustment), I felt so much better that it was hard to believe that I was actually able to walk out with less pain than when I crawled in, all without a pill. I knew right then and there, Chiropractic was something special and it was the profession I wanted to learn more about. During subsequent visits, I asked my doctor for all the information I could about his wonderful profession. Shortly after that, I knew I would become a Chiropractic physician.

In 1991, I finally entered the National College of Chiropractic (NCC) in Lombard, Illinois. I worked and studied incredibly hard (unlike much of my previous educational endevours) and graduated with Summa Cum Laude honors during the Fall of 1995. I was the president of my graduating class as well as the class salutatorian. During my studies at NCC, which is now called the National University of Health Sciences, I also earned a bachelor of science degree in Human Biology. I currently live locally in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago and have maintained a private practice serving the Schaumburg, IL. and surrounding communities since 1997.

My purpose in providing this brief synopsis is not to toot my own horn, but to let you know that I am proud of my personal and professional career. I have worked hard and studied hard to attain what I have accomplished and promise to use that same knowledge, skills, drive and energy to help each and everyone of my patients regardless of age, race, gender and socio-economic status. Injury, disease and disorder does not limit itself from any one living entity, as we all experience pain or illness at some time during our lifes ventures. I love being a Chiropractic physician and it is my absolute pleasure to be that human resource that will listen to your concerns, care for your needs as a patient, treat you with respect as an individual and fight for your right to improve, achieve and maintain the health goals that you desire. If that is what you seek, I am that doctor.

People and patients often ask me if I treat specific problems sometimes unrelated to their own.  Obviously being a Chiropractic physician, I have a significant amount of education and training allowing me to see a variety of patient problems.  Like most physicians, I see my fair share of injury, disease and disorder, however unlike much of traditional medicine, I enjoy the ability to treat patients on a preventative basis as well.  The following are a majority of problems that patients present to me that I treat (not limited to), or provide referral services for, if needed.

• Neck, midback and lower back pain and spasm (bulging or herniated discs)
• Numbness and tingling of extremities (pinched nerve, sciatica)
• Whiplash and other vehicle accident injury
• Sports injury, tendinitis, sprain, strain, swelling
• Work injury of various types
• Headache, Migraine, Facial pain including TMJ and sinus disorders
• Arhtritis, degenerative disease including degenerative disc, stenosis, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis
• Stress, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, tiredness, burned out syndrome
• Obesity, overweight issues
• Depression, anxiety, ADHD and other associated neurotransmitter depletion problems
• Carpal Tunnel disorder

Im not a fan of lists however I hope this gives you some insight into the various problems I deal with on a daily basis.  If you do not find a problem on the list that you, a family member or friend may have, please call our office to find out at 630-351-4700