Pollack Rehab

12/14/2025

🕎 Happy Hanukkah, “The Festival of Lights!”

✡️ The miracle of Hanukkah can bring some light, peace & love into the darkness.

12/14/2025

As a thank you for serving on the board, NBCA CEO Kelsey Nissen commissioned this wonderful original artwork: My office building!

🎨 Artist: Hannah Nissen
Instagram:

12/11/2025

Everyone should know the ten myths of back pain in older adults that can lead to ineffective and harmful care!

1) Myth: Back pain is inevitable as we age and is part of the normal aging process.

2) Myth: Back pain in older adults is usually due to a serious medical problem.

3) Myth: People over the age of 50 who present with low back pain (LBP) should undergo imaging to rule out serious disease and identify the cause of their pain.

4) Myth: Older adults with back pain should avoid lifting heavy objects, twisting or bending activities. Let the pain guide them-if it hurts, don't do it.

5) Myth: Bed rest is recommended for back pain among older adults.

6) Myth: Medication should be the first-line treatment for older adults with LBP.

7) Myth: Surgery is effective for back-dominant pain in older adults.

8) Myth: Chronic LBP in older adults is always due to structural damage.

9) Myth: Interventional procedures such as epidural injections, joint injections, nerve blocks or radiofrequency ablations are effective in older adults with chronic back pain.

10) Myth: Disc herniation causing back-related leg pain and disability are very common in older adults.

Not a myth: Chiropractic & manual therapies can help older adults with back pain.

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most disabling conditions in older adults and among the costliest in terms of healthcare expenditures. Many factors contribute to the disability and high costs of LBP in older adults, but one of the most preventable is the spread of misinformation and unhelpful atti...

12/07/2025

🎄 My annual festive poinsettia.

12/02/2025

"I’ve referred to GLP-1 agents like Ozempic and Mounjaro as “miracle drugs” — a cure not just for the obesity epidemic but for the epidemic of overconsumption that drives so much early death in the United States: overconsumption of alcohol, ci******es, drugs, gambling, and so on, all of which have been found, in studies of varying quality, to be positively affected by the GLP-1s," according to Impact Factor with F. Perry Wilson, MD, MSCE.

"But there is a problem, and if I’m honest, something that makes these drugs less miraculous: They stop working when you stop taking them."

We knew the weight would return, but what happens to the other benefits when patients are no longer taking GLP-1 drugs?

12/02/2025

11/25/2025

Meet Karen Misener, lifelong chiropractic patient. On July 3, 1990, she walked into Dr. Martin Pollack’s chiropractic clinic for her first treatment. She was one of my father’s very first patients in Fredericton. She had seen chiropractors previously in Alberta, but “Martin was the best.”

She is a remarkable woman who spends her time volunteering for the Greener Village food bank and fundraising for Diabetes Canada. I asked her if she had a message for Facebook, and it was this: “Regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight and chiropractic have helped me tremendously.”

I would like to thank Karen and all the patients that have been dedicated to Pollack Chiropractic since 1990 and continued coming after my father retired in 2020. It has been a privilege serving this community.

11/09/2025

SPINAL MANIPULATION – WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING

There’s this ridiculous idea floating around that a simple thrust can “realign” your bones. Let’s be clear — that’s not what’s happening. You cannot push vertebrae back into place with your hands. The spine isn’t dislocating and relocating every time someone cracks your back. If it were actually misaligned the way some claim, you’d be in hospital, not on a treatment table.

When a practitioner performs a spinal manipulation, the movement is extremely small — a few millimetres at most. The joint surfaces briefly separate, creating a rapid change in pressure within the synovial joint. That change causes gas (mostly CO₂ and nitrogen) to form and collapse inside the joint fluid — the audible “pop.” That’s all the noise is. It’s not bones moving back into place. It’s cavitation — a pressure change in the joint capsule.

Physiological Effects

Manipulation affects the body mainly through neurophysiological responses, not through physical repositioning of bones. The quick stretch activates mechanoreceptors within the joint capsule and surrounding tissues. These receptors send a flood of sensory input to the spinal cord and brain. This temporary barrage can reduce the sensitivity of nociceptive pathways (pain signalling) and alter muscle tone via reflex mechanisms. That’s why after a manipulation, patients often feel “looser,” “lighter,” or notice an improved range of motion — it’s not because their bones were realigned; it’s because their nervous system has momentarily adjusted how it’s interpreting movement and pain.

The effect can also increase local blood flow and help restore normal joint motion if it’s been restricted by protective muscle guarding. Again — that’s a functional change, not a structural one.

Why the Realignment Myth Persists

The “realignment” myth continues because it sounds dramatic and easy to sell. It gives people the impression something was out of place and the practitioner fixed it. It’s a neat story — but it’s nonsense. The vertebrae are held in place by strong ligaments, discs, and deep stabilising muscles. A single thrust cannot overcome that structure and magically shift things back.

11/08/2025

10/08/2025

🌳 There is a lot of wisdom here, despite the gimmicky headline.

My daughter rolls her eyes every time I say it. She’s the one with the $200 yoga mat, the smartwatch that buzzes when she’s been sitting for more than an hour, and the shelves full of protein powders.Me? I’m 75, and my version of exercise is walking Lottie, my dog, around the park and gardenin...

10/07/2025

Dynamic and enthusiastic, Jill embraces all life has to offer. So far in her journey she’s been a holistic esthetician, arctic adventurer, business owner, gardener extraordinaire, ice castle raver, friendly live wire, solo world traveler, kundalini yogi, and unpaid roadie.

09/15/2025

⚠️ FAQ: My knees make noise, should I be worried?

Short answer: No.

Self-reported knee crepitus — an audible crackling or grinding noise during knee movement — did not predict worsening osteoarthritis (OA) features in either the patellofemoral or tibiofemoral compartment over the next 5 years, according to a 2025 study published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Joints are designed to make noise. Crackling is normal. Although this study found that crepitus was a bad sign after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, there is probably nothing to worry about for the general population. Movement is medicine for mechanical knee pain, with or without crepitus.

Knee crepitus after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction is tied to cartilage damage and worse patient-reported symptoms 1 year after surgery but doesn’t predict worsening joint damage over time.