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In over 40 years, there have been no significant advances in the understanding of low back pain. Forty. Years. At Body Guitar, our goal is to revolutionize the way the whole world approaches, treats and researches low back, neck and shoulder pain.
Unfortunately, though, we can’t see every patient in the world—that’s where you step in.
Our vision begins by teaming up with physicians like you to get as many people better as possible.
Most pain physicians are not diagnosticians, as one would think. We believe a good diagnosis is the cornerstone for successful healing, but we don’t always rely on expensive imaging to get it.
Unlike any other specialty, the practice of pain—and the insurance coverage of it—has become an algorithm based on the MRI. Once the MRI achieved widespread use in pain medicine, it was thought to provide all the diagnosis one needed. Therefore, the practice of becoming experts in the patient’s medical history, physical exam and diagnosis was lost.
The truth is, without a proper physical exam, the MRI is not a reliable diagnostic tool. At Body Guitar, we put the focus back on the patient, providing all patients with a clear diagnosis and looking only to an MRI for confirmation.
What we do is completely different from what other physicians offer; Not only is the diagnosis more comprehensive, but the treatment is also. Our desire is to offer new insight into the difficult, common problems associated with back, neck and shoulder pain.
The treatment of back and neck pain may be our most difficult musculoskeletal diagnostic and treatment problem. This is why so many back and neck pain patients are subjected to increasing injections and pain medication, advancing surgeries and decreasing quality of life. Back pain has become the leading cause of disability worldwide. Instead of coming up with new ideas, they come up with new, more expensive procedures.
We turn pain treatment on its ear, making rehab the cornerstone for everything we do. We need tone back in the muscles that stabilize us. To get this tone we need to be out of pain. Therefore, all procedures are geared towards trying to achieve 2-3 months of pain relief followed by physical therapy to improve stability, improve mobility and regain sequence of muscle firing. All of which can be lost with just 2 weeks of back or neck/shoulder pain. We also use video motion analysis to quantify this improvement and can use it to monitor patient improvement or decline year by year. It is a modern, individualized approach that we have been using successfully for years. We have built a staff with people who care, and would love to show you how we can care for your patients too.
We always think we can get someone better. However, what we do takes weeks. If your patient has such severe pain that they can not make it through those weeks, you should consider a surgeon. If they have bowel or bladder changes, you should consider the emergency room! If they have rapid onset atrophy of a dermatome affected by a nerve you are considering, they should be seen immediately by a spine surgeon. If they have a disc bulge and they don’t have 10/10 pain or atrophy, we think we can help them. Sciatica is caused by many things that are not disc bulges. Even with an MRI showing a disc bulge, many to most patients are diagnosed with something other than a disc bulge. Many times, we are asked to see a patient after they have had a spine surgery and the leg pain or back pain persists. Don’t let this be your patient. Get a thoughtful, patient-centric diagnosis you can be sure of. If you are unsure, call and we will be happy to discuss it with you or go over the MRI with you. Your/our patients are worth it.
Sometimes. If you are truly concerned about radiculopathy and the insurance will pay for it, then get one. We don’t always use it, as we let the exam and physical exam guide us. It is a confirmatory tool and if we get to the point where we are looking for confirmation, it is nice to have it. But, without an exam that warrants an MRI, we are often left spending a lot of time telling a patient why the findings on their exam don’t match up with their MRI. It is a conversation that we don’t mind having, and it is often worthwhile.
If you would like us to use your clinic’s MRI, x-ray or labs, please let us know. If you want us to use your clinic’s physical therapy, please know that we can, but will hold them to a very high standard. Everything we do is reliant on high quality physical therapy and we will hold your PT to the same standard. Before referring to outside specialists, we will try to coordinate with you and your clinic to find someone we can both agree will be good for your patient. Open communication on all these topics is appreciated. We are all working towards that same goal: a happy, healthy patient.
We do not do long-term pain medication management; Even if we did, state regulations do not allow a pain management physician to start prescribing on the first visit. We have been known to prescribe medication on rare occasions, but we typically rely on physicians more experienced in medication management to handle the care of patients who need long-term support. This is a difficult problem for all caring doctors who are trying to be patient advocates. Please allow us to work this out with you, but never worry that we will send a patient back to you on a bunch of new pain medications. That is not what we are about.
If you refer to pain management physicians, then you should know that most practices have a large number of patients that see them on a regular basis for a series of injections. After 15 years of practice in Kansas City, and thousands of patients, we have zero patients that are scheduled to return for injections on a regular basis. We are actually a little disappointed and self-reflective when a patient comes back with the same pain. Did we treat them completely? Did we educate them enough on the rehab process? Did we motivate them enough to continue stability long-term? Did we empower them enough to own the process? You should be assured to know that we don’t need patients to come back every few months to stay busy. You should expect the same from every pain practice.
Our new way of thinking about low back pain requires new labels as a prompt, in aid of understanding.
Stabilizing muscle in six different areas of your body, including your lumbar spine, your low back. You strengthen your Bracing Muscles® by building circulation to them. one of two types of human muscle. Bracing Muscles are solely endurance muscles, and are one of two types of human muscle. The second type we label Action Muscles.
Movement muscles that appear throughout your body, one of two types of human muscle; Action Musclestrigger movement throughout your body, and are EITHER endurance muscles or ballistic muscles. You strengthen your Action Muscles by moving them. If your Bracing Muscles are not functioning properly, Action Muscles are called upon to compensate for weakness in your Bracing Muscles.
The unique human back, your back, including your lumbar spine [low back] and your Bracing Muscles – needed so your lumbar spine effectively goes to work for you, every day.
The OS or operating system for your BODY GUITAR, requiring the pumping of your blood to your BracingMuscles vs. pumping iron. Beyond strength training, one relies on Circulation Training – to strengthen the Bracing Muscles of your lumbar spine. This new way of addressing low back pain, this new OS, offers a revolutionary method of pelvic neutrality and true posture to both strengthen and provide tuning feedback on the Bracing Muscles of your BODY GUITAR.
A series of movements and exercises, performed regularly, that work to increase circulation – blood flow – to your low back Bracing Muscles; required for good health and quality of life as you age.
The result of Circulation Training, which increases regular blood flow to your low back Bracing Muscles so they will reflexively perform effectively for you.
Your ability to move – to rise up and move in any direction – every day with little or no low back pain, which we label Pain Liberation; the outcome of your use of Tune Me.
The fuller enjoyment of your life with those you care about and love as a result of understanding your Body Guitar, and the sharing of what you have learned to affect good health change.
The benefit your experience by understanding your BODY GUITAR and your use of Tune Me, creating your UPRISE.
A 180 degree refocus in how you care for your back – requiring 180 days to unlearn what you think you know about low back pain – your BODY GUITAR – and to understand and begin relying upon the Tune Me operating system – to achieve Pain Liberation.
