Elevating Geriatric Spinal Health: Dr. Douglas Gordon on Chiropractic Care for the Aging Population

Expert geriatric chiropractic care with Dr. Douglas Gordon as we explore the fascinating intersection of aging and spinal health. Our conversation sheds light on the critical necessity for chiropractors to adeptly serve the booming geriatric population, which is on track to reach a staggering 95 million by 2060. Brace yourself for a deep dive into the four M's of high-quality geriatric care – what matters, medication, mentation, and mobility – and discover how chiropractic interventions, particularly those enhancing mobility, can significantly improve the quality of life for our elders. This episode is a treasure trove of insights for anyone interested in the future of chiropractic practice or the well-being of the aging demographic.

Dr. Gordon, a seasoned expert in the field, joins us to discuss the intricate details of geriatric chiropractic care and its burgeoning role in managing low back and neck pain, which plagues the elderly as the second most common neurological ailment in the U.S. We also give listeners a sneak peek at the new continuing education module, "Geriatrics and Non-Textbook Advanced Tests," set to elevate chiropractic techniques for the unique challenges presented by geriatric syndromes. If you're a chiropractic practitioner aiming to refine your approach or simply someone who cares about the comprehensive health of the older generation, this conversation is an invaluable resource that will enrich your understanding and practice.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hi, I'm Dr Arlen Foer and I'm bringing Activator
Practice to you this morning,the new podcast by Activator
Methods.
And this morning we have aguest that has a lot of
experience in the geriatricworld, dr Douglas Gordon from
California.
And we just shot a wholegeriatric course here just two

(00:24):
weeks ago at our platform in LasVegas, and I said to Doug I'd
like to have a little preview ofwhat's going to be coming up
this fall in the geriatric area.
And so, good morning, drDouglas, glad to have you.
Good morning, dr Thor, I'm gladto be here.
Well, the first question thatI'm going to ask you is what is

(00:46):
geriatrics?

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Geriatrics is the branch of medicine or social
science that deals with thehealth and care of older people,
and is there an age that'sconsidered geriatric?
In the US, we usually considerit to be 65 and older.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
Okay, and how much of an increase in the geriatric
population will there be in thenear future?

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Well, according to the Administration of Aging, 17%
of people in the United States,or one in six people, were 65
or older in 2020.
So that is more than 55.8million adults, and that number
is going to increase to 95million by the year 2060.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
Well, that's what I heard and that was the shocking
thing.
And you know, we never thoughtabout being prepared for
geriatrics when we startedActivator, but I mean it
couldn't be a better technique,which is a low-force technique
for an older person.
But I heard something like 2030, almost half the population is
going to be over 65.

(01:57):
And so it's quite a group of acohort of patients out there
that will be ready fortarp-rated care and they don't
have enough nursing homefacilities and so forth, so it's
going to be in-office, in-homecare.
And so what is theresponsibility for the increase
in the Americans' olderpopulation?

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Well, in the US it is pretty much the baby boomer
generation that was born between1946 and 1964, and they are
reshaping America's olderpopulation.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
How can chiropractors be involved in a high-quality
care that's required forwell-being of the geriatric
population?

Speaker 2 (02:47):
adhering to the four pillars of geriatrics through
providing a set of fourevidence-based elements of high
quality care to older adults inyour practice, and these are
known as the four M's whatmatters medication, mentation
and mobility and we can have abig responsibility in providing

(03:07):
for these.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
Say it over again the four pillars, the four.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
M's.
What matters is what we findout in our history Medication,
which is an important componentof understanding how our
patients are functioning, and wedeal with that in this new
module under polypharmacy.
Mentation, which is the mentalactivity of our patients, and

(03:35):
then mobility, which is whatchiropractors can very much
enjoy doing for their patientsand bringing back better
mobility enjoy doing for theirpatients and bringing back
better mobility.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
Yeah, and I heard here on the television the other
day that there's not going tobe enough nursing homes and so
it's going to go to in-home care, and so that's why chiropractic
will play a huge part keepingpeople mobile.
That's a big part of that 4M.
So what is the new module thatActivator will be including on
continuing education creditsthis next time around?

Speaker 2 (04:11):
This new module is titled Geriatrics and
Non-Textbook Advanced Tests, andwhat will be the outline?
Well, there's going to be 10sections to this module.
No-transcript chapters of thismodule are going to be dealing

(04:41):
with advanced tests, and thosewill include in the pelvis and
hip, lumbar, thoracic and ribs,cervicals and advanced knee,
foot and ankle tests.

Speaker 1 (04:52):
Why is it important to understand these non-textbook
advanced tests when treating ageriatric patient?

Speaker 2 (04:58):
It's important for one main reason, and that is for
proficiency in treating theseolder patients, because they are
likely to develop differentkinds of health problems, and
these are known as geriatricsyndromes, which are problems
that usually have more than onecause and involve many parts of

(05:19):
the body.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
So how did these tests become part of the
activator methods technique?

Speaker 2 (05:27):
These tests have been confirmed to be consistent in
finding a particular anatomicaldysfunction or subluxation by
numerous amounts of practicingactivator chiropractors over an
extended period of time, andthese new advanced tests had
been presented before at liveseminars in what had been known

(05:49):
as the pink notes.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
The pink notes.
Yes, you know I look back onhow we kept adding things and I
have to give credit to ourpractitioners out there because
I became kind of an editor andthere were so many people out
there that had found things thatwork.
And you know, I think that newthings are found in the field.

(06:13):
And I was just talking aboutthis the other day because
somebody said now why did I findsetting number two and the old
two so good?
And I said because it worked.
And in the five, you know wedid a lot of research on that
because we could only get up toabout 84% of our half sine wave
and we wanted a perfect halfsine wave.

(06:34):
So when we started with DrLiebschner, our biomechanist
from Baylor University, he saidlet's do electronic and then
we'll put an auto processor init and we can then adjust it.
And I never will forget thefirst results we got back.
He said it's too perfect, Ihave to do it again because it
followed the half sine wave toperfection.

(06:56):
So he did it over and over andover and he said the reason this
works is because the speed.
And he said it's the perfectspeed and that's what makes it
be the perfect half sine wave.
So, yeah, it was doctors out inthe field.
And here's something I'velearned over the years
Practitioners, clinicians, willnot use something that doesn't

(07:18):
work and they'll throw it away.
I mean, if an instrumentsurvives that test, then they'll
support it and they'll use itand they'll be on it.
So Thank you to all the peopleout there that found something
that worked and sent it in.
We included it in these notes.
Why is it important to useactivator instrument in treating
the geriatric patient Number?

Speaker 2 (07:41):
one safety.
69% of chiropractors using theactivator instrument in the US
and Canada reported safety as areason for its use.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
Well, that makes sense, doesn't it, when you've
got people.
You know, we just had a paperpublished.
Our research team from Madrid,Spain, had a paper published in
a very prestigious journalcalled Nature and it was the
scientific report of nature, andI sent them a clinician's wish

(08:12):
here about five years ago.
I said I'd wish to know if I'mhurting an osteoporotic patient.
And so they started.
And I don't know if you knowthis, but the only place in the
world that osteoporotic rabbitsare produced is in Los Angeles,
california.
So we ended up shipping 20rabbits all the way to Madrid
Spain, by the way, at $1,000 arabbit, and they started the

(08:36):
trials.
Now here was the outcome andthis is why Nature published it.
They found out not only was itsafe to adjust an osteoporotic
bone, but also, after two weeksof treatment, the trabeculum in
the bone started growing.
And this was shocking becausenobody had seen anything like
this from any kind of treatmentbefore.

(08:56):
That's why it got published inScientific Review.
So it was helping the clinicianout there.
Know, yes, it's safe.
And number two, and I had a oneof my old friends.
We had a big reunion and he wastelling me this is why when
people come in, they're onwalkers and six months later
they're walking around withoutit.
They were restoring thetrabeculum in the hip.

(09:17):
The trabeculum are the littlefibers in the hip joint that
make it stable.
And you know, many times peoplesaid that they fell.
Older people had a fall.
Their falling down syndrome isa big problem, and so they
wondered why did they fall?
Well, they actually broke theirfemur head before they ever hit
the floor.
So we've learned a bunch of newthings.

(09:38):
What is the number one reasonthat older adults seek out
chiropractic care?

Speaker 2 (09:44):
That is, low back and or neck pain, and according to
the National Institute of Health, back pain in the US is the
second most common neurologicalproblem.
The most common is headaches.
Interesting.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
Well, dr Gordon, thank you, and I know you've
done a lot of work on thisbecause, as I said, we just shot
a whole continuing educationsection on this which will be
approved here shortly in thefall that's shortly.
It takes time to get everythingdone, but by next year we'll
have a geriatric program out forthe field, and it was a

(10:24):
beautiful program because DrGordon took some 650 slides and
brought them down to 170 that wecould use, and so I want to
thank you for being on Activateyour Practice and for everybody
out there that's looking forwardto caring for the geriatric
patient.
Please look at Activator,because you'll be safe and not

(10:44):
sorry, thank you.
Thank you, dr Fork.