COVID-19 Update

How Our Office is Handling COVID-19

Integrative Neurology WILL remain OPEN to those that need us. We are committed to keeping the office as clean, sanitized, and safe as possible while still providing the best possible care to our patients.

However, we are asking to reschedule your appointment if you or someone you’ve been in contact with is sick or experiencing a cough, fever, difficulty breathing, or has recently traveled. We appreciate the honesty and respect and we will absolutely waive the cancellation fee. Our top priority is to continue to safely serve our patients through safeguarding our office.

Here is a list of precautions we are taking to ensure your safety:

  • Dr. Runyan and I are staggering our patients to limit you having to be in the waiting room with another patient.
  • We are asking you to arrive on time to also limit waiting time.
  • We have one pen out at the front desk and it is disinfected after each use.
  • We are washing our hands thoroughly before we clean the office, after we clean the office and between patients.
  • We have allotted extra time between patients to clean all rooms.
  • The following items and surfaces are being sanitized between each patient:
    1. The front door handle (inside and outside)
    2. Our adjusting table, stool, and chairs
    3. The waiting room chairs and handle on the water dispenser
    4. The front desk, pen, phone, mouse, keyboard
    5. The bathroom door knob, faucet, toilet, soap dispenser

The word “doctor” is the active noun of the Latin verb docere (do-ke-re) which means “to teach”.  An enormous mission for us is to teach you what is happening with your human physiology.  Staying true to the word, below are just a small sample of valid links and neuroscience research articles on how you can mount a better defense against becoming infected as well as the science behind how getting adjusted during these times actually increases the activation of your immune system.  There are historical accounts where osteopathic/chiropractic manipulations actually helped diminish the effects of the Bird flu in 1918 and continue to help each flu season.  Following are tips to stimulate your BRAIN & IMMUNE system.

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/cases-in-us.html#reporting-cases

US center of Disease Control. Reputable source of up to date rates of exposure and precautions that are shown to help. Updated at Noon everyday. 

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Illinois Department of Public Health.  Good place to map out total exposed and locations. 

Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource Center

A wealth of legitimate information regarding anything Corona. Led by Dr. Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, one of the country’s leading researchers and educators on public health and germ transmission. 

The immune system: Cells, tissues, function, and disease

Literally teaches how your immune system works. 

https://www.factcheck.org/

https://www.snopes.com/

These are both good sites for checking on things you read or hear.  Assists you in finding what is really important and really false. 

National Center for Biotechnology Information

This is where we usually begin any research project about a topic. It compiles peer-reviewed or case study abstracts or full articles on a vast multitude of subjects. Just type in the search field, what you are trying to understand. There are multiple databases these sites use, PubMed and PMC being two of them.   

Avian influenza: an osteopathic component to treatment

This article shows the effect on osteopathic/chiropractic joint moving procedures to help with avian flu infection, however the procedures will help with systemic infections.  They even list some of their “how to do it” procedures.

“The following section describes some of the OMT procedures that could be useful in the treatment of patients with avian influenza infection. Included here are descriptions of the specific procedures discussed earlier in the literature review. These include the thoracic, hepatic, splenic, abdominal and pedal lymphatic pump procedures, and rib raising procedures. Also included are other OMT procedures that, although not thoroughly researched, have been clinically observed to provide similar effects.”

Osteopathic Manipulative Therapy Induces Early Plasma Cytokine Release and Mobilization of a Population of Blood Dendritic Cells

This article shows that having your joints deliberately moved and less restricted will help increase your immune response, therefore protecting you from infection.  

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=balanced+brain+asymmetry+modulates+T+cell-mediated+evenetss

Another important paper on how the brain regulates the adaptive immune system response. They discuss how activating the Left brain [joint movement and cognitive inputs] activates T cells to help strengthen your immune system to prevent, as well as, fighting of an infection. 

Brain Tips:

All this information is backed by current Neuroscience.  Keep your brain active and healthy, read, exercise, get adjusted, move, word games, play chess, play cards, learn card tricks, math problems, jigsaw puzzles, paints, draw, write.  DO NOT just sit, watch movies or play video games.

When it comes to any virus, it is all about your HEALTH.  There is no medication, antibiotics are ineffective with viruses, so your only defense is your OWN IMMUNE SYSTEM. This is stimulated by your LEFT brain. READING is one of the best ways, and not just three sentences under a social media picture, but commit to a novel or learn about history..  

USE NUTRITION: The best thing you can mount your body with is taking higher than average doses of Vitamin C, D and OMEGA 3 fish oils.

Stimulate YOUR LEFT BRAIN. It literally activates your immune system.  

USE YOUR EYES:  Expose yourself to warmer colors like RED, ORANGE, YELLOW. This stimulates your left brain. Change your phone filter or background pictures, wear red lens glasses while watching comedy. Laughter stimulates the left brain as well. 

USE YOUR EARS: Sound into your RIGHT ear stimulates LEFT brain. Just use the right ear bud. Classical Mozart or happy songs with uplifting lyrics will help.  

USE YOUR BODY: Stimulate the right side of your body. One of the best ways is to get adjusted, whatever joint is needed, just favor the right side, as a consequence, this will stimulate the LEFT brain.  Use a massager on the right side of your body. 

USE YOUR NOSE: Even using the sense of smell, only through the LEFT nostril [hold the right nostril closed], using smells of food, natural aromas, cherry, apples, lavender etc.   

USE TOUCH: As cliche as it sounds for a chiropractor to tell you to get adjusted, there are literally thousands of peer-reviewed research articles showing how the sense of touch or joint mobilization helps with everything from improving mental states, immune system functions to gut regulation. 

From Dr. Joseph Baldino

We encourage you to read the above articles and implement some of these tips to boost your immune system.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email or call the office at 331-222-9667.