Stop! Before you put that lotion on your next patient's back, make sure you read the list of ingredients - all the ingredients. Various ingredients in the products you use in your office can be absorbed through your patient's skin into their bloodstream. Those same chemicals may be stored in their body fat at much higher concentrations. How do you choose the products you use on your patients' skin, whether to ease their pain or in conjunction with physical therapy modalities? Have you ever looked at the ingredients in the products you use?
The cosmetics industry is highly unregulated. Manufacturers can use virtually any ingredients they want in the products they manufacture. The FDA does not regulate the cosmetic industry and has no control over whether the products are safe. The FDA can make suggestions or recommendations to manufacturers about cosmetic products or their ingredients, but the manufacturers do not have to comply. The FDA must first prove in a court of law that a product is harmful, improperly labeled or violates the law if it wants to remove a cosmetic product from the market.
The definition of cosmetic products consists of all cosmetics and personal care items, including the lotions and gels you use when treating your patients. Products that contain "active ingredients" are classified as drugs. The non-active ingredients in these products are the same types of ingredients found in cosmetics and personal care products on the market. In many cases, the sales reps who sell you these products don't know anything about the safety of the ingredients used in the products they're selling you. They just know what they're trained to tell you.
It would seem as if the products sold to practitioners in the alternative healing arts would be natural with healthy ingredients. Certainly some that fall into this category, but for a great many products, this isn't the case.
When you consider a product, whether for use on your patients or for personal use, the most important thing to read before you decide to buy is the ingredients list. You might want to keep a magnifying glass handy because sometimes the ingredients are in a print so tiny it's almost impossible to read. If the ingredients don't pass the test, all of the other information about the product is irrelevant. Here are some ingredients found in many lotions, creams and gels, and sold to health care practitioners, that should be avoided.
Other ingredients that may be contaminated with 1,4-dioxane contain ceteareth, laureth, myreth, oleth, any other chemical ending in "-eth," polyethylene, polyoxyethylene or oxynol.18
A recent study commissioned by the Organic Consumers Association revealed the presence of 1,4-dioxane in a large number of personal care products, including those labeled as organic and found on the shelves of many health food stores. Ingredients containing these contaminants are widely used. Products certified organic or that adhere to the organic standards of the National Organic Program (food standards) will not contain these contaminants.18
Note: Not all organic standards are created equal. The Ecocert and OASIS Organic Standards are not true organic standards. These organizations are known to certify products as organic that contain synthetically derived ingredients and really do not meet true organic standards.19-20
Note: FD&C colors are certified by the FDA to not contain more than 10 ppm of lead and arsenic. D&C colors are certified to not contain more than 20 ppm. Most FD&C and D&C colors are derived from coal tar. Certification does not address any harmful effects these colors may have on the body. Most coal tar colors are potential carcinogens, may contain carcinogenic contaminants and cause allergic reactions.1
Some ingredients may be produced by different processes. One method may produce a chemical that is perfectly safe, while another may not. That information is not likely to be printed on the label; you will have to contact the manufacturer to obtain it. One such ingredient is polysorbate 60. If naturally derived, it's fine. However, if synthetically derived, it may be contaminated with the carcinogen 1,4-dioxane.26
Frequently, manufacturers will list the healthy ingredients contained in their products in their advertising and on their Web sites, purposely leaving out the synthetic chemical ingredients that can cause a wide variety of harmful effects. In many cases, unless you read the complete ingredients list in tiny print on the back of the label or call the manufacturer, you may be using products yourself or on your patients with ingredients that may cause harm.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. There are more than 15,000 ingredients with 63,000 different names that manufacturers can use in their products. Most have not been fully tested for safety. Safety testing has been done on various individual ingredients, but not on combinations of ingredients. Ingredients that are safe individually may be harmful in certain combinations. No one knows the effects of the many different ingredients used in the thousands of different combinations, the effects of using numerous different products, one on top of the other, or the effects of repeated use of ingredients or products over time.
To make sure you're using products with only safe and healthy ingredients, read the ingredients list on the label. Use a reference if necessary to determine the safety of the ingredients. Choose certified organic products when available. And remember, manufacturers sometimes change the ingredients in their products, so read the ingredients list every time you buy, even if you've been using the product for years.
References
When sports chiropractors first appeared at the Olympic Games in the 1980s, it was alongside individual athletes who had experienced the benefits of chiropractic care in their training and recovery processes at home. Fast forward to Paris 2024, where chiropractic care was available in the polyclinic for all athletes, and the attitude has now evolved to recognize that “every athlete deserves access to sports chiropractic."
It is estimated that 61% of patients with CTS avoid taking surgical options due to postoperative complications and costly surgical procedures. Chiropractic care offers a comprehensive and effective treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, addressing the condition from multiple angles. Recent studies also have unveiled a game-changing adjunct to chiropractic treatments for CTS: nerve flossing.
Some doctors thrive in a personality-based clinic and have a loyal following no matter what services or equipment they offer, but for most chiropractic offices who are trying to grow and expand, new equipment purchases help us stay relevant and continue to service our client base in the best, most up-to-date manner possible. So, regarding equipment purchasing: should you lease, get a bank loan, or pay cash?
