Back pain and injuries related to backpacks are more common than you would think. With kids headed back to school, it's important to take a close look at their backpacks before they start the year. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, in 2016 alone, and estimated 6,300 kids received emergency room treatment for backpack-related injuries. This number does not include visits to primary doctors or other physicians for backpack-related injuries.

Ensure your child is wearing the right back pack the right way to minimize the risk of injury. Here are some tips for safe backpack use:

• Limit the weight. Lighter is always better and backpack weight should be less than 10% of the child's weight.
• Use adjustable straps to fit the bag to the child's back. The bag should not be hanging low from loose straps.
• The child should use both straps and ideally they are padded for comfort.
• Ensure the backpack has compartments to secure their supplies in a balanced way without shifting around.

Patients are welcome to bring their child in our clinic and have their child checked while wearing their backpack to make sure it is being worn properly. Call (330) 492-1010 to schedule a courtesy backpack check and have the bag filled with an average day's supplies.

A bill has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives to improve coverage of services provided by a doctor of chiropractic to Medicare patients. The legislation, H.R. 3645, known as the Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act of 2019, would "align Medicare's coverage of chiropractic services with that of other federal health care providers as well as many private health plans."

For years, Medicare coverage has been overly restrictive on services provided by chiropractic physicians, forcing these patients to pay out of pocket for examinations or adjunct therapies. Doctors of chiropractic are the only physicians restricted in this way.

Multiple studies comparing Medicare patients under the care of chiropractors have shown good benefit as well as cost savings compared to more expensive medical care. Other Medicare studies of chiropractic patients have revealed prescription opioid use at half the rate compared to patients seeing a medical provider for a similar condition. H.R. 3645 has the potential to reduce overall health care costs for Medicare patients seeing a doctor of chiropractic as well as significantly reducing high risk opioid use.

The American Chiropractic Association described the bill stating it "would enable beneficiaries to more easily access the chiropractic profession's broad-based, non-drug approach to pain management, which includes Medicare-covered services such as manual manipulation of the spine and extremities, evaluation and management services, diagnostic imaging and utilization of other non-drug approached that have become an important strategy in national efforts to stem the epidemic of prescription opioid overuse and abuse."

To help voice support to improve the health coverage of U.S. seniors, please take one minute to use the link below to send a letter of support to your U.S. Representative: