Good communication.

Your doctor can go to bat for you and your therapist if treatment can be medically justified. Take a look at this article.

Garamendi. He was good for the people

The San Diego Union-Trib has a good article about Garamendi. The former CA insurance commissioner was recently sworn in as Lieutenant Governor of Californa. He tried to get the insurance industry to take the long view apparently.

Since July 2003, after the Legislature passed a series of restrictions on medical services provided to injured workers, Garamendi lowered the target rate for workers' compensation insurance by 59.4 percent, including a 9.5 percent
reduction that went into effect Monday. Despite the rate cuts, many businesses complain that they haven't seen enough savings, injured workers complain that they are not getting enough service, and Garamendi believes that insurers have been keeping too much of the money for themselves. “Insurers must pass on all available savings to employers,” he said when calling for the latest rate change. “In 2004 and 2005, workers' compensation insurers spent only 31 cents of each premium dollar to provide for injured workers. That is an historic low, and an indication that not all of the savings are being used to benefit employers.”

Read the rest of the story.

Get your legs under you...

Well, not only exercises for the back, but also for the knees. The condition of the leg and pelvic muscles can influence, and sometimes, directly affect what a person feels in their back. Shortened and/or weak hip flexors and extensors can take a toll on your lumbo-sacral area. Check those bad boys (or girls) out and get 'em in shape. A simple home program for the quads and hip flexors can be found here. Also, Dr. Miller is a professor at my Alma Mater, in case you were interested.

Most people who suffer from back pain do not realize that it can probably be treated very simply. Robert Palmer says the following:

Most of us will experience low back pain at some time in our life. The good
news is most low back pain can be prevented. Decreasing the chance of acquiring
low back pain requires increasing strength and endurance of the supporting
structures as well as enhancing flexibility and utilizing proper movement
mechanics.

You can read the rest of the article here.