Approximately five days after Hurricane Katrina hit the South, I was invited to go to Mississippi with a team of doctors from Yale and the Hospital of St. Raphael in New Haven, Conn.
I joined a team that was comprised of a cardiologist, a pulmonologist, a doctor of internal medicine, a pediatrician, an orthopedic surgeon, and a plastic surgeon. A shipping and supplies expert accompanied us.
After arriving in Gulfport, Miss., we were stationed at Gulfport Memorial Hospital. We had taken approximately $50,000 worth of medical supplies and medicine along with us, which had been donated by St. Raphael's and private physicians for this mercy mission. I came armed with a small portable chiropractic table. Later, we hooked up with three ENTs
from Missouri; like us, they were there hoping to give medical help where it was needed. We were able to acquire an ambulance and a box truck, which we drove approximately 170 miles per day, traveling from one Red Cross shelter to another, providing all types of medical care.
It was both a personal privilege and a great chiropractic experience for me. Half of my time was spent assisting the doctors I was with; the other half of the time, I was treating patients, including local residents, Red Cross volunteers and hospital workers. The amount of musculoskeletal injuries was vast. Many people who had lost their homes were sore from sleeping on floors. The volunteers and hospital workers who had been working without relief were also in need of my
services. It was remarkable - whenever I took out the chiropractic table, a line would form. It was a great feeling to have an opportunity to give to people who at this point had so little. Working alongside such a diverse medical team with all their support was an added experience that I never would have known if not for this situation.
If you're ever given the opportunity to volunteer in this capacity, I strongly recommend that you take time out of your life to give back. It is a life-changing experience from which you gain as much as you give.
A historic meeting between chiropractic and Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) leadership took place on March 10th, 2026, in Washington, D.C., featuring representatives from chiropractic national organizations, professional associations and policy principals. The collective goal: advancing the role of chiropractic in improving the health of Americans. Meeting participants focused on long-standing issues that have affected the chiropractic profession for decades, including access to care, reimbursement parity, and ensuring DCs have an appropriate role in national health policy discussions.
Radicular-like pain of the upper and lower extremities is among the most common presentations in musculoskeletal and spine-related practice. Traditionally, these symptoms are interpreted through a disc-centric and dermatomal framework, often leading clinicians to attribute limb pain, paresthesia or perceived weakness to spinal nerve-root pathology. While this approach is appropriate in cases of true radiculopathy, it frequently falls short when symptoms fail to follow consistent dermatomal patterns or correlate poorly with imaging findings.
A 46-year-old male presented to our clinic with a seven-year history of recurrent low back pain with sciatica. He reported stiffness and discomfort that worsened with prolonged sitting both at his desk job and during evening television time. The patient had seen multiple chiropractors over the years. In every case, spinal manipulation and other passive treatments would bring gradual symptom relief over 2-3 months. However, within another 3-6 months, the symptoms would return. Frustrated – and now considering a spinal injection and possibly surgery if that failed, he came to our office seeking a different approach.
