Miracles in Michigan, vol.6

Thank you so much to our incredible tribe. I am blown away how much these newsletters connect with people. Thank you for all the feedback. Please keep sharing them with your friends and family!
Want to know why I'm still surviving and thriving after almost 20 years when so many of my former colleagues have faded away or gotten out of practice?

It isn't because of my ability to craft an email, take a great x-ray, my encyclopedic knowledge of 80s pop culture or my boyish charm...

... it's because I care. I care a lot.

That's why these newsletters touch so many people because they are deep, they have SOUL, substance, something everyone can feel... 
Today we are going an inch wide and a mile deep. Hang with me, this one is worth the read (trust me).
Today I'm going to share with you some of the miracles we see in the office every week. This one is special. Special to me, special to this young lady's parents and extra special to this young lady. 
No names will be mentioned (I take privacy very seriously). And I got permission from this young lady's father to share this. 
One of the more serious spinal conditions to show up in a Chiropractic clinic (any clinic for that matter) is a spinal condition known as scoliosis. 
Scoliosis is a lateral curve of the spine that can often become debilitating or crippling if it's not addressed properly.
Two things to know about scoliosis:
1. Scoliosis is an advanced spine condition that regular Chiropractors are not equipped to manage. 
2. Chiropractors with advanced training and knowledge are some of the best doctors to manage scoliosis. Why? Because we do spine work all-day every day giving us a big advantage.
If you want to know more about scoliosis, and all the different types click here. I could spend hours writing about it, but I really want you to experience this story and not write a dissertation on spinal conditions.
Here's the miracle you've been waiting for!
So we have a young lady in the office, she is 9. (scoliosis is more prevalent in young ladies, if you want to know why click the link above) Both parents are concerned about an early scoliosis diagnosis they received from the MD. After some discussion, we decide it would be wise to evaluate and measure the scoliosis so we can determine the proper course of action. X-ray analysis determined that the spine measured at 16.8 degrees of curve. (Remember ideal is ZERO, zilch, nada, nothing)
The parents are very proactive and very health conscious and want to know what options they have to manage this. The most popular option parents often hear is ("let's wait and see if it gets worse"). Most people reading this probably innately know something doesn't feel right about that option.
I recommended we build this young lady a hyper-corrective nocturnal orthesis. This is a type of spinal brace that is worn at night. (nighttime is when human growth hormone is released into the bloodstream and spine growth happens). We are attempting to influence the growth of her spine over time. A concept known as Wolff's Law. (this is how dental braces work)

I combined state-of-the-art digital x-ray with 3D scanning technology to create a computerized 3D model of this patient's spine. We then sent our scans to a company called Spinal Technology. Spinal Technology then combines the digital x-rays and the 3D scans to custom print a corrective orthesis to the EXACT specifications of this young patient's spine. (yeah, it is almost unbelievable, I get tingles talking about it). 1st miracle.

​The orthesis is then shipped to our clinic and we fit the patient. The first question every parent has is "is this going to work?". 

To answer this question definitively we set up a 6-week progressive x-ray to determine the effectiveness of the orthesis. The goal here is to take an x-ray with the patient wearing the orthesis and measure any changes. Obviously this x-ray will help us determine is the brace is working.
​
Well, if it wasn't on x-ray (pictures) you might not believe it, but when the young lady is wearing her orthesis the scoliosis is reduced from 16.8 to 3.8 degrees! Yes you read that correctly, 3.8 degrees! I included the x-ray below so you can see the miracle for yourself. (miracle #2) 

Patient's 1st x-ray and 2nd x-ray 6 weeks after brace fitting.

In addition to building adolescent scoliosis braces I have also built many braces for another scoliosis condition known as de-novo scoliosis; a degenerative classification of scoliosis found in adulthood. While our clinical objective is slightly different then adolescent scoliosis, the adult braces still have profound effects on long-term quality of life.
Every person reading this newsletter is a living, breathing human being. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, son, daughters - you are not a "number". You will never be treated as a number under our care.
These newsletters are to help my tribe shift through all the noise in their lives and distill it down to the core things that matter. Faith, family, friendship, health & meaningful work.
Go out and do good work this week!

To Our Health,Dr. Wegmann
P.S. last week's email resonated with A LOT of people. Read it here if you missed it.