Commercial Drive - East Vancouver Chiropractor; Dr. Dominic Chan DC - "What to Expect on Your First Visit with Dr. Chan"

So many people have this question when seeing a new Chiropractor or even a Chiropractor for the very fist time. I thought I would write this post so you can get a good understanding of what to expect on your first visit with me.

First off, the first visit will take about 40-45 minutes. We will start off with a history of your complaint(s). A history is your opportunity to tell me what's going on. Along with questions I ask you, the goal is to find out; How did it start? how long has it been going on? has it happened before? what areas are affected? does anything make it better/worse? do you have medical issues that may affect treatment? does it affect your work/activities? and so on.

The idea is asking poignant questions and getting your account of the issue can help with the overall diagnosis. A trained doctor can have a very good idea of the problem based on the history alone. But most importantly, I need to assess if Chiropractic is right for you. If I uncover things in the history that concern me or things that need further investigation, I will recommend you consult your family physician or suggest other therapies like Physiotherapy or massage. If I think that another therapy is more appropriate for you, I will tell you.

If on the other hand, I think that Chiropractic can help you, I will also tell you. More on this later. The next step is the physical exam and orthopedic testing. The physical exam will give me a better idea of your status right off the bat. I will check for; areas of pain, if the pain radiates or travels to other areas, range of motion/stiffness in the affected areas, muscle strength in the affected areas, etc. I will also check for neurological signs that include reflexes, sensation and strength to assess the health of your nervous system.

Finally, I will use a series of orthopedic tests. Orthopedic tests are used in order to narrow down the diagnosis. These tests can be very helpful to distinguish where the problem is really coming from and what structures or tissues are involved.(To give you insight on how Chiropractors or any doctor for that matter thinks, when a patient presents complaining of symptoms or pain, there are probably a few possibilities of causes. So Chiropractors are trained to narrow down the possibilities until we find the most likely cause of your complaint. Kind of like playing a detective. If we can rule out possibilities one by one, we will often be left with the most probable cause)

For an example, here's a video that demonstrates a specific orthopedic tests called; Yeoman's test. This test is used to see if the source of a patient's low back pain is coming from the Sacroiliac joints that make up your pelvis. 

Once we've completed the physical exam. I will explain to you what my diagnosis is and the reasoning behind it. Then I will explain to you how Chiropractic can help you. When you understand the diagnosis and are comfortable with everything discussed, we can begin treatment.

We will then proceed with soft tissue and massage work. This not only feels good but can help to relieve tension in the muscles that almost everyone can relate to. After this, I will use a series of Chiropractic adjustments to correct your complaint, relieve pain, improve mobility and restore function. 

But before the session is over, I will often leave the patient with stretches and exercises they can perform at home to help speed their recovery. NOTE: In my office, this is pretty much a requirement. I believe everyone should be active and along with Chiropractic treatments, you can positively affect your outcome if you set aside some time to stretch and exercise. Although I can't force you to exercise, I know it will definitely help so I strongly recommend it.

I guess that pretty much sums up what to expect from your first visit to my office. But if you have any questions or comments, leave me a note below and perhaps we could get a group discussion going!

As always, if you're in the Commercial Drive neighborhood of East Vancouver stop by my office or go visit my website;COMMERCIAL DRIVE - EAST VANCOUVER CHIROPRACTOR; DR. DOMINIC CHAN DC!!! 

Commercial Drive - East Vancouver Chiropractor; Dr. Dominic Chan DC - "Excess Ibuprofen Ups Stroke Risk"

This article is directly related to a study that appeared a few days ago suggesting a link between heavy usage of Ibuprofen (commonly known as Advil) and risk of stroke. The corresponding research was done by a team of scientists from Switzerland. The team looked at 31 clinical trials involving 116,429 patients. They had each taken one of seven commonly-used painkillers. The study, published in the British Medical Journal, found that those who had taken ibuprofen over a long period of time were almost three times as likely to suffer a stroke.

The painkiller was also shown to raise significantly the risk of heart attacks and deaths caused by heart disease.This study also suggested that Ibuprofen carried the same risk of stroke and death from heart disease as a drug called, Vioxx, which was pulled from the market in 2004 amidst serious safety concerns.

Professor Peter Jüni, of the University of Bern, said: ‘We looked at patients taking these drugs three to four times a day. ‘They were mainly being treated for osteoarthritis with a few who had rheumatoid arthritis. A lot of them are elderly who are already have lots of risk factors and these will then be duplicated with these painkillers.

‘In terms of stroke, ibuprofen doesn’t look very good. If I was in chronic pain I would not take it as the risks are just too high. I would look at the different options.’

In my practice, I see lots of patients in acute and chronic pain and lo and behold, many have been taking Advil before they seek my care. In reality, many of these same patients do not wish to continue taking these medications. They arrive at my office looking for a better solution to their ailments that doesn't require medication. Chiropractic has helped many patients not only resolve their acute pain but to also manage and treat chronic pain as well. Now to be thorough it has to be stressed that the dosage of Ibuprofen in these studies was very high. How high you ask? Well the researchers believe people at most risk would have to take 4 pills daily for a matter of months or even years. So take the results with a grain of salt. I think the take home message is to remind people that although painkillers like Advil (Ibuprofen) are available off the shelf and without a prescription, be careful! Advil is not candy and if you need to take it for an extended period of time to manage pain, maybe it's time to look at alternatives!

In the Commercial Drive area of East Vancouver? Want more information? Click the link here;COMMERCIAL DRIVE - EAST VANCOUVER CHIROPRACTOR; DR. DOMINIC CHAN DC!!!!

Commercial Drive - East Vancouver Chiropractor; Dr. Dominic Chan DC - "$300 Billion - The Cost of Obesity"

This article I came across is a sobering reminder of the economic impact of a poor lifestyle and lack of exercise. Obesity is a well known social problem that is only becoming more prevalent as time goes on, especially in the western world.The total cost of obesity and being overweight is $270 billion in the US and $30 billion in Canada.

The $300 billion total cost in the United States and Canada is the result of: increased need for medical care ($127 billion); loss of worker productivity due to higher rates of death ($49 billion); loss of productivity due to disability of active workers ($43 billion); and loss of productivity due to total disability ($72 billion), said the Society of Actuaries (SOA).

For more detail, the standard used here is the Body Mass Index or BMI. A person is considered overweight if their BMI score is between 25 - 29.9. Obesity is considered a score of 30 or higher. 

"Overweight and obesity have been shown to increase the rate of several common adverse medical conditions, resulting in this extraordinary economic cost to society," study author Don Behan said in a SOA news release.

The findings are so grim and important to overall society that researchers are strongly urging insurance companies to offer incentives for people to lose weight. Another SOA survey found that 83% of respondents would be willing to follow a healthy lifestyle program if their insurance providers offered such incentives. 


Forgive me but it disappoints me to no end to think that people need 'incentives' to improve their own health. This is a message that I relay to my patients on a daily basis, "you must keep moving!!". Not just because many of my patients recover faster with appropriate activity and exercise but because it's has so many other health benefits.


If you're in the Commercial Drive neighborhood of East Vancouver, stop by the clinic or visit the website at;COMMERCIAL DRIVE - EAST VANCOUVER CHIROPRACTOR; DR. DOMINIC CHAN DC!!!

Commercial Drive - East Vancouver Chiropractor; Dr. Dominic Chan DC - "Who You Calling Fat?........."

I know that this is the time of year where new years resolutions to become healthier and lose weight abound. So I came across this article about our neighbours to the south that I thought would be interesting. It seems that even though countless research has shown that obesity is a huge, and growing problem, only a small percentage of people surveyed would call their diet, "unhealthy". 

Hmmmm, doesn't seem to make sense does it? Well, here's more about the article. The survey conducted by Consumer Reports found that only 1 in 10 people surveyed called their diet, "unhealthy". What's more, while four in 10 admitted being "somewhat overweight," just 11 percent said they were very overweight or obese — a direct contradiction of previous weight measurements taken by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which show that 68 percent of Americans are overweight or obese.

 "There does seem to be a disconnect," between reality and the answers most of us give when asked questions about our diet, how much exercise we get and our weight", said Molly Kimball, a registered dietitian at Ochshner's Elmwood Fitness Center in New Orleans.

The authors believe the culprit is a disconnect of what we "think" we're doing and what's actually going on. Many advertisers have lead us to believe that we are making healthy choices by choosing "reduced calories" products or eating so called, "healthy choices". However, the secret is to look behind the box and get a real idea of what you're eating. If sugar, corn syrup or the like is listed as one of the first three things in the ingredients list, there's no way it's healthy for you. Regardless of what kind of labeling is on the front of the package. 

Another thing that researchers have found is that we have a poor grasp of portion size. Many people claim to get the recommended 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day. But do  you know what a 'serving' really looks like? Well, to give you an idea, a 'serving' or 'portion' size is about the size of your fist. Hmmmmm. Now be honest with yourself. Are you really consuming 5 'servings' of fruits and vegetables in your day?

The moral of the story is the intention of becoming healthier and losing weight is far more than just will power alone. Anyone can be motivated to exercise and eat healthy for a few weeks but you need more than that. You need to do some research, get a little bit of education and most importantly, be honest with yourself.

In my clinic I stress the importance of a healthy lifestyle including diet and exercise. Most importantly, people need to be reminded that being "healthy" is much more than not feeling pain.

In the Commercial Drive neighbourhood of East Vancouver? Stop by the clinic or visit the website;COMMERCIAL DRIVE - EAST VANCOUVER CHIROPRACTOR; DR. DOMINIC CHAN DC!!!!