Drs. Jason Bourne & Nancy Brooks-Bourne in Ontario, Canada

I'm taking this blog global, one continent at a time.

Dr. Jason Bourne has been using a PulStar system for about 4 1/2 years but recently he purchased a second system that his wife, Dr. Nancy Brooks-Bourne will use.  This dynamic duo has offices in London, Ontario (150 Kent St, N6A 1L3, P:519-433-7444, F: 519-433-1276) and Exeter, Ontario (374 Main Street S, N0M 1S6, P: 519-235-2225, F: 519-433-1276).

Jason was born and raised in Deux-Montagnes, Quebec (north of Montreal) while Nancy grew up in Grand-Falls, Newfoundland.  Both graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, IA, Jason in 2002 and Nancy in 1999.  Each has been practicing in Ontario since their graduation.  Aside from PulStar, they specialize in Neuromechanical, Diversified, Thompson, Gonstead and Torque Release Technique.

When not giving PulStar treatments, this PulStar power couple enjoys spending time with their children, Brooke and Evan, and their Redbone Coonhound, Penny.  Some of their favorite activities are skiing, cycling, hiking and going out on their Seadoo boat.

Dr. Jason Bourne says they chose the PulStar Multiple Impulse Therapy because they, "like the specificity of instrument adjusting.  We like that PulStar is visual and we can show our patients where their problems are.  It proves what we do and we know our patients like that".

As of right now, the First Couple of Canadian Chiropractic, has two of the 5 PulStars in the whole Province.  Dr. Jason Bourne was the first chiropractor in Ontario to use the PulStar and others have obviously taken notice of his success.     If you would like to make an appointment with the most experienced PulStar doctor in Ontario, you can call 519-433-7444.

Dr. Tami Andrews in Lake Elmo, MN

I am proud to post about a new member joining the PulStar family!

Dr. Tami Andrews is the newest user of the PulStar Multiple Impulse Therapy.  Dr. Andrews practices at the Lake Elmo Chiropractic Clinic at 3511 Lake Elmo Avenue N, Lake Elmo, MN 55042.  She has been practicing here for 13 years.

Dr. Andrews got her start at Hynan Chiropractic in St. Paul where she practiced for 4 years after graduating from Northwestern College of Chiropractic in 1992.  She specializes in adjustments, nutrition and non-surgical decompression.

Raised in Chisholm, MN, Dr. Andrews enjoys playing tennis, watching hockey and skating as would any true native of the North Star State. :)

Dr. Andrews says she chose the PulStar because of the technology, customer service and price.  Patients at Lake Elmo Chiropractic can expect personal service, a caring attitude and prompt attention.  And she says, "we have combined technology in our offices that other offices do not".

To schedule an appointment you can call 651-779-7858 or 651-777-2426 and you can find her on the web by clicking here.

Dr. Andrews, it's good to have you on board.  We look forward to hearing your successes with the PulStar.  Good luck!

PulStar is Reliable and Consistent

One of the benefits of technology is that measurements can be made precisely and they can be repeated accurately.  

For example, we could measure the speed of a thrown baseball by having someone count how many seconds it takes to get to the catcher.  How reliable would that be?  Maybe the person starts a little faster on this throw, a little slower on that throw.  And how about consistency between counters?  Maybe one counts "one-one thousand", one counts "one Mississippi" and a third counts "one, two...".  How accurate can any of them be?

We could use the technological advancement of the stopwatch which would improve the time measurement but still would have inconsistencies between those using the watch.  What if one person starts the watch during the wind up, another right before he ball is released and a third after the ball has left the hand?  All three would accurately judge the time from the starting point to the end but the starting points would all be different.

Thankfully a radar gun was created and there is much less confusion or argument about the speed of pitches.  There is little human inconsistency that interferes with the measurement of a thrown ball.  We now trust that a ball measured at 93 mph in Pittsburgh's PNC Park will be measured at 93 mph in every other park in the country.

Now think about chiropractic.  A doctor using just his hands can not objectively quantify the stiffness of muscles or pinpoint exactly where a problem may be.  He can go on his experience and intuition to find and relieve your pain.  Even if you find the best chiropractor available, how accurate can he be for every one of your visits or for every patient he sees?  Human error is undeniable, it's going to happen, even to the best of us.  What if you moved and needed to see a different chiropractor, what's the guarantee the new doctor will find the same things as your previous doctor?

There are instruments available in chiropractic that may offer adjustment or analysis but are no more beneficial to chiropractic than the stop watch in the example above was to measuring the speed of a thrown pitch.  These instruments rely heavily on the doctor using it and the diagnosis of that doctor.  Different practitioners of these instruments will achieve different results.

Thankfully there's the PulStar Multiple Impulse Therapy.  Dr. Robert Leach, a PulStar user,  published his research about PulStar's repeatability in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics.  What Dr. Leach found is that for an experienced user, the PulStar analysis was repeatable on a scale of .89 out of 1.0 and between different doctors the analysis was repeatable on a scale of .87 out of 1.0.

The point is that you can count on the PulStar technology to accurately and consistently analyze you to find the problems causing your pain.  You can count on it if you go to the same doctor every time and you can count on it if you have to go to a different PulStar user.  The PulStar will improve chiropractic just like other technologies have improved every aspect of our lives.

 

You can click here for more research available about the PulStar or PulStarFRAS.  Just type either word into the box and click "go" to find the published research.           

Why Don't All Chiropractors have a PulStar?

Given all that I have learned about the PulStar Multiple Impulse Therapy since I've been here, I often wonder why chiropractors aren't beating down our door for one.  It's interesting to me when I talk to a chiropractor about buying a PulStar, the two main reasons I hear why they don't want to buy one are 1. Cost and 2. they don't want to change the way they currently do things (ie manual  adjustments).

The cost is understandable especially in these difficult economic times and it's a topic I can discuss later.  But the part about this that I struggle with is that the PulStar will attract new patients which will in turn increase their income.  But they say it still costs too much.  However, it's a pretty good bet that most of these chiropractors have spent more money on a car that loses value everyday and costs more in maintenance and gas and doesn't return a penny.  But people still buy cars.  Anyway...

The other reason that chiropractors don't buy is because they think they do it better themselves and technology is just for show or for chiropractors that hurt and can't use their own hands any more.  We hear stories all the time from doctors who buy a PulStar and find they had no idea how much their patients prefer it.  If you read through the testimonials on our web site and the results of a survey given by Dr. Mantoya to his patients posted earlier, you will see that patients love the gentle treatment the PulStar gives them.

Everyone knows that one of the knocks on chiropractic is that people think it hurts and is dangerous.  Chiropractors know this but somehow don't believe that people with back pain don't seek chiropractic care because they are scared.  I'll admit that I have never been manually adjusted and I never will.  I don't care what anyone says, I don't want my body twisted up and I know that I am not alone.  The PulStar is ideal for someone like me and had I known it was available, I would have started using it a long time ago. 

I hope we can get some people on this blog to comment about their experience being manually adjusted and then getting a PulStar treatment to relieve their back pain.  I'm sure if enough people tell chiropractors that they prefer the safe and effective PulStar treatment, more chiropractors will make it available.  Treatment for back pain doesn't need to be painful or scary or dangerous.  The PulStar proves it.

Dr. John Huffman in Erie, PA

Dr. John D Huffman, DC opened his doors at Huffman Family Chiropractic at 2030 E. 38th Street in Erie, PA on October 27th of this year.  After practicing in Dublin, OH and Sunbury, OH, Dr. Huffman decided to buy a PulStar and start his own practice.

Dr. Huffman graduated from the Logan College of Chiropractic in 2005.  Since then he has specialized in the Diversified, Thompson and Cox techniques.  Dr. Huffman says that PulStar's "reputation" as the latest technology on the market accompanied with the best customer support made the decision to buy a PulStar easy.

Dr. Huffman grew up in Randolph, NY and enjoys football, baseball and some hockey when he's not giving PulStar treatments.  Cars are also a hobby of his, both working on them and driving them.  Maybe after treating your back pain he can treat the sputter in your carburetor.  ;-) 

Dr. Huffman promises to treat you like family at his practice.  With that promise and a PulStar at his side, we're sure Dr. Huffman will have great success.  

Congratulations on the new practice and PulStar, Dr. Huffman!  Good luck!  Keep us posted on how things are going.

Focus Group Results

One of our newer users, Dr. Jerry Mantonya, recently provided a questionnaire to some of his patients that had received a PulStar Multiple Impulse Therapy treatment for the first time. On top of being a great idea, the information was very insightful and helpful.

Here are the results:

1. How wold you rate the appearance of the PulStar, easy to understand or too technical?

All responded that it is easy to understand. A couple mentioned that not only was it interesting but it was a nice visual especially when comparing before and after.

2. Does this technology instill confidence that it could fix your problem?

All but one responded yes. The one person said "unsure" but that they wold be inclined to begin treatments using the PulStar if a problem arose. Others commented that using the PulStar the doctor was sure of "getting the right place", there would be "increased confidence for each effective adjustment", doctors could "know all areas have been identified and adjusted".

3. Do you find this to be on the cutting edge of Health Care?

All responded yes. One respondent commented that "previous technologies didn't seem foolproof - this appears to be much more specific with regard to treating and identifying areas of concern".

4. How was the comfort compared to manual adjusting, was it more comfortable, less comfortable, no difference? (only those that had been adjusted were asked to respond)

Of those that responded, 60% responded that it was more comfortable, the other 40% said they didn't notice a difference with one saying he/she "was sore after adjustment but within a couple of days could tell difference. Had been having headaches and those were better".

5. Would this technology influence your decision of chiropractic care, less likely, more likely, no influence?

No one selected "less likely" but only 43% said the PulStar would "more likely" influence their decision. 28% didn't respond and the rest said they were "unsure" of the influence.

The comments here were interesting though.

One respondent that didn't answer this question commented he/she "knew it would influence a lot of people who believe that 'you'll make them worse to keep them coming' or 'why bother, it doesn't do any good'."

Another that didn't answer this question said they "already knew how important chiropractic is to me but if I were new to chiropractic, being able to see would make it easier to believe".

One of the respondents marked "no influence" because he/she would still come to see their favorite doctor but "if he was not available, I now know that with the data/history stored in memory, any of the doctors could do my adjustment with a successful outcome".

One respondent that selected "more likely" said "the print out helps me monitor & measure my own progress".

6. Additional Comments:

Here are some of the comments:

"Great 'proof' for the insurance and family of unbelievers."

"My daughter cannot stand to have her neck touched and this would work ... and make logical sense".

"Women who don't want a man to 'hover over them' and 'get that close' would appreciate the difference".

"I think for patients that are afraid of adjustment, I feel this would be a good alternative".

"Great when [you] need to shift to a different doctor - would get same technique and same opportunity for continued progress on the same areas or 'know' that the new area really needed done"

"I would recommend to others, especially people that might be hesitant, as they may be more convinced about treatment, consistency, outcomes".

Overall the results of the focus group came out positive. We will be looking at the possibility of doing more of these with other users around the country and hopefully we'll be able to get some PulStar patients to this site so they can tell their story first hand.

We'd like to thank Dr. Jerry Mantonya for this great work and if you are ever in the Newark, OH or Hebron, OH areas and need a PulStar adjustment, check him out.