Greg Walsh (grad March 09)

Spending Time at Marineland

Recently I spent some time with my family at Marineland, a Dolphin Conservation Center near St. Augustine, Fl. Unlike Sea World and the Atlanta Aquarium, the center is based around marine life education and is located right on the beach. There are several giant sized tanks that contained about five adult dolphins, three baby dolphins and two super old dolphins. Apparently dolphins live about 20 years longer in captivity than in the ocean. 

The price of admission was only about six dollars but you could choose to feed the dolphins or get in the water and mess around with them if you wanted to pay extra. They have several trainers that walk around and talk to you about anything you would ever want to know. However there is one girl that works in the gift shop that is a real downer and should be avoided. I thought I would include some pictures of the aqueous mammals below as well as what the facility looks like. 

http://s215.photobucket.com/albums/cc193/waving1/?action=view&current=MVI_1713.flv

4 Questions with Jake Parrish

This week I am going to be interviewing Jake Parrish, a 13th quarter intern who is also President of the Pierce club. Having been a major part of the ACE intern program for the last few quarters, Jake has helped many students hone their adjusting skills. He has had the pleasure of living two houses down the street from me and enjoys collecting chihuahas in his spare time. For those kids out there who will be trick or treating near the Parrish's house, you should stop by as they are giving out king size Reese's Peanut Butter Cups this Halloween.

 

1. Would you say that the Pierce technique is the Ultimate Technique?

 

Since Pierce was the Ultimate chiropractor, I would say yes. Any technique that works to correct a spine is fine with me though.

 

2. When you grasp a concept in class, why do you loudly go "ahhhh I see" all the time? Personally, I always do this inside my brain.

 

I never noticed I do that but I have always wondered if what I think actually comes out of my mouth. Wonder what else I say without knowing? Sorry if I have ever said anything about you out loud.

 

3. Congratulations on completing one year of fatherhood with your son Lincoln. Although I feel the parenting of the son will be much easier than the girl your wife Rachel is expecting. Are you ready to be the ultraprotective dad that hassles any wannabe boyfriends when she gets older? Also, do you have a name picked out?

 

Thanks, Lincoln is getting so big. No name yet but we have it narrowed down. Rachel feels like because we used a name I liked for Lincoln then she gets decide the girl name so I may lose that little battle.  Yeah, I can't wait to be the scary dad that every wannabe boyfriend is terrified by.

 

4. Where is the best hot dog in Spartanburg?

 

 Tough one, the best hot dog without the fixins is.......a DOG from the Hot Dog Cafe.

Good Stuff Happening at Sherman College

There has been a lot happening around the Health Center in the last few days. President John Schwartzbauer surprised everyone today with a stack of pizzas for the interns. It was much appreciated.

There is going to be a free Trolley Tour tonight that is happening around 6:15 for Sherman Students. I think it is going through some of the more haunted areas of town. It will be a good way to get everyone ready for Halloween.

We also got some copies of Sherman's new newsletter the Spizz in the Health Center. It is always really enjoyable reading articles by students because you never know what to expect.

Students today got to listen to John Guarnieri play the that flute-like thing that is attached to the bagpipes, whether they wanted to or not (ahaha just kidding John). But seriously, he played a song for us.

"It sounded awesome."-John Guarnieri

Bobcats are back October 30th!

Bobcats fans are buzzing with excitement as the season is only ten days away! As a Celtic fan, I have tried to adopt the Bobcats as my second team because of their proximity to Spartanburg, as well as the 10 dollar tickets. Despite the Bobcats best efforts to try to sabotage their own team in the last few years, it looks like they are going to be good enough to compete for one of the last spots in the Eastern Conference playoffs this year. Unfortunately they got stuck with a monster opening schedule this year as they have Cleveland, Detroit, New Orleans and a much improved Miami team in four of their first five games. Their roster hasn't changed much over the offseason, however they did add point guard DJ Augustin in the draft as well as veteran coach Larry Brown. Also, the team gets back Adam Morrison and Sean May who were sidelined for almost the entire year last year with injuried.

Why the Bobcats will be good: Although the team has no all-stars, they have a core set of solid starters. Gerald Wallace, Emeka Okafur and Jason Richardson would start on almost any NBA team. They should provide the scoring and leadership the team will need throughout the season. Larry Brown is an upgrade at coach who has a reputation for being a genius when things are going well and a cancer when things start looking bad. You may know Brown as the only coach who has ever won an NCAA championship as well as an NBA championship. He was the prime reason an above average Detroit Pistons team managed to beat the NBA's last dynasty, the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA championship. While center Nazr Mohammed is not a primary scoring threat, he will be the shot blocking and rebounding presence the team desperately needed before he came to town. Rookie Alexis Ajinca is a mystery, being a seven foot rookie from France.

Why the Bobcats will be bad: Unfortunately the Bobcats have suffered from poor management in the last few years. Giving Michael Jordan a great deal of power in the organization has turned out to be a near disaster. He has constantly brought in overpaid and underperforming rookies such as Adam Morrison, Sean May and Raymond Felton. It has been suspected that Felton and May were primarily chosen to appease local fans because of their University of North Carolina ties. May has also been reported to be extremely out of shape recently. This is disappointing news as he was already the token fat guy on the team the last few years. While Augustin looks like the point guard of the future, coach Larry Brown has been notorious for not playing rookies any significant time. The team has very little bench depth and an injury to any of the starting lineup will most likely cripple the team. Actually, an injury to Felton might help the team as Augustin could prove to be the new direction at point guard the team needs. Brown is also a wild card as the last few years have shown that his coaching skills have begun to diminish. He almost single-handedly destroyed the 2004 Olympic basketball team by giving Richard Jefferson and Carlos Boozer big minutes over younger guys like Amare Stoudamire and Dwayne Wade. His last coaching stint in New York with the Knicks is widely considered the worst coaching job ever performed in NBA history.

Pictured to the left: A good reason to root for Gerald Wallace this year.

Where have all the Pen Caps Gone?

When you enter the Sherman College Health Center for the first time, there are a few papers you need to fill out before you can get under an intern's care. That is when many patients notice a strange sight. We have a cup that is full of pens for patients to use for their paperwork, but none of the pens have caps! Since I have started my internship at Sherman College (of Straight Chiropractic) I have noticed this. Although this appears insignificant, I often borrow these pens from the front desk and store them for safe keeping in my jacket pocket. Since there are no caps, I am always marking myself up with ink. I think it would be interesting if somebody followed our daily shipment of pens and found out at what point somebody removes all the caps to them. We need to find out why this is done.

The Myth of Biofreeze Poisoning

Many chiropractors are beginning to look for natural ways to decrease pain relief to use in conjunction with spinal adjustments. One of the biggest products that has been widely accepted by many in the chiropractic community is the topical pain reliever Biofreeze. I was introduced to Biofreeze a year ago in Florida while attending the Chiro-Games. At the event, every chiropractic student was given a goodie bag filled with different odds and ends as well as a hefty supply of Biofreeze. I asked some of my friends about the product and they swore by its effects, saying it would loosen up tight muscles immediately. During one of the soccer games, I had a terrible hamstring injury that I could barely walk on and decided to rub some of the Biofreeze on it. To my shock, the cream worked and I was able to play without any pain or discomfort from my hamstring. However the next day my injury remained. I tried to rub the cream on it once again before my soccer game but did not get the same results.
In the last few days I decided to do a little more research on the product, wondering why a topical drug was being used so commonly amongst chiropractors. I soon found out that the active ingredient in Biofreeze is Menthol, which is usually derived from the mint plant. Researching Menthol, I found out that it has a very low toxicity but if orally consumed in large quantities can cause poisoning. Biofreeze also contains an extract from South American Holly called Ilex which the company seems really proud of because it is "all natural." However they do not list it as one of their active ingredients, rather an inactive ingredient so I am not sure how effective they plant extract really is. It should also be noted that Biofreeze has claimed that none of its chemicals enter the bloodstream.
While talking about Biofreeze with some students at Sherman College, I was informed that you had to be wary of Biofreeze because there have been a bunch of cases of poisoning due to overuse of the product. Unsure as to the accuracy of these claims, I researched the negative effects of Biofreeze. I found a couple of cases of Methyl Salicylate poisoning, an active ingredient found in some topical ointments such as BenGay and Icy Hot that had lead to some serious cases of poisoning. However Biofreeze does NOT contain this ingredient. I found no instances of Biofreeze poisoning up to this point in my internet browsing, but if somebody has any information on some good evidence of the product doing harm please let me know. As far as I can tell these are the only side effects to this natural cream:

Warnings: Ask a doctor before use if you have sensitive skin. Keep away from excessive heat or open flame. Avoid contact with the eyes or mucous membranes. Do not apply to wounds or damaged skin. Do not use with other ointments, creams, sprays or liniments. Do not apply to irritated skin or if excessive irritation develops. Do not bandage. Wash hands after use. If pregnant or breast-feeding, ask a health professional before use. Keep out of reach of children. If accidentally ingested, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center.

4 Q's with Lead ACE Intern Ashley Owens

This week I am interviewing Ashley Owens, one of the premiere chiropractors at Sherman College. Legend has it that she was ranked right behind Amanda Lafferty in student of the month votes for September. Hopefully she gets the honor next month. Anyway, Ashley has been a good friend of mine for three years and has been part of the ACE intern program. This program is like a tutor service for students that need help with some of their adjusting techniques. They also get to wear stylish black coats.

1) Ashley, did you join the "Black Coats" to be able to teach others your knowledge of chiropractic techniques or did you just want the cool black coat?

      Really just for the black coat but actually it's not that great because it doesn't go well with brown shoes so on those days I wear my blue coat.  But, helping people is fun too.

2) How many times would you adjust a segment before you realize it just isn't going to move?

      Well, I would look elsewhere in the spine after a couple of tries because it's probably a compensation anyway.

3) What is your favorite of the 33 Principles of Chiropractic? If you could add a principle, what would it be?

      My favorite principle is the one that says "Locate Analyze and Correct Vertebral Subluxations" because that's what Lyle Sherman told me to say. My very own principle would be "Life is better with chiropractic!!!!!!"

4) Congratulations on your wedding engagement by the way! Are you going to have a sweet gift registry that includes chiropractic tables and instruments (I have dibs on the face paper)?

      Well now that you mention it that is a great idea!  I believe I will.  I am going to register for a Zenith HyLo, an x ray unit, and defnitely some face paper (maybe even scented face paper, or pink face paper).