James Binning, DC
Practitioner
About Dr. Binning
James Binning, DC
Chiropractic Center of Manassas, Inc.
Ambassador Square
7505 Presidential Lane
Manassas VA
(703) 257-0100
http://www.spinedoc.us/
Overview
James G. Binning, D.C., is originally from Niagara Falls, NY. He graduated from Palmer Chiropractic University in 1996, where he received his Doctorate of Chiropractic degree and was the recipient of the Clinical Excellence Award.
Dr. Binning is Certified by the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners, and is licensed to practice in chiropractic in Virginia by the Virginia Board of Medicine.
Dr.
Binning has a special interest in chronic pain. He has dealt
extensively with many conditions including Fibromyalgia and Myofascial
Pain Syndrome.
Quote
"Quality care is about you. Your desire to improve your quality of life. Your commitment to taking the first step and following through.
I
have learned from years of experience that each patient's health
condition is truly unique. My focus is on completely understanding and
interpreting your past and present medical history. By doing this, I
help you reach your health goals as soon as possible.
Each
individual’s treatment plan is customized to fit their unique
medical and physical condition. My emphasis is on providing care that
takes into account an individual's age, weight, current workout
routine, medical history and ability to master a recommended course of
treatment.
Chiropractic is more than just making the pain
disappear. It is about learning, understanding and taking care of your
body to improve your quality of life." - James Binning, D.
C.
Member
American Academy of Pain Management
National Fibromyalgia Partnership
National Pain Foundation
Subscriber
FacioScapuloHumeral Muscular Dystrophy Society
Pain Connection
Therapeutic Methods for Fibromyalgia and CFS
A presentation by James Binning, DC, to the
NOVA CFS/ME & FMS Support Group
Mason Governmental Center
Annandale, VA
February 16, 2008
Notes by Elly B.
[Note: Prior to the meeting, I sent our email list, statements on the Dr's Binning's Home and About Pain
pages that had impressed me. And I told the group of how he visited our
group to check us out one time. He believes quality support groups are
a part of the solution for people with chronic illness, and he was
making sure we were reputable.]
The February speaker, James
Binning, DC, gave a thorough presentation. To prepare his talk
and handouts, Dr. Binning did research about Fibromyalgia and CFS at
University, Government, and National Organization websites, including
Immunesupport.com. He listed therapeutic methods that were shown to be
helpful for patients by 70% of the sources he could find, and mentioned
a few more that had less consensus.
Dr. Binning is a
conservative practitioner who prefers to spend time with patients going
over history, diet and nutrition including supplements, and performing
more traditional chiropractic adjustments. He prefers simple and safe.
He considers being in the room with patients during any office visit
treatment a priority.
Dr. Binning told us of one of his
patients from the group that is doing better by leaps and bounds... and
qualified that to mean would be considered quite amazing for many in
our world, a 10% improvement. He prefers to see patients once a month
or once every other month, and work the schedule around what is
possible and best for the individual.
While there were many more things discussed, here is what I thought most remarkable. At the end, are highlights from his slides.
1) Records. Organization
Dr.
Binning had a section of his talk called Organization. In it, he
encouraged everyone to keep their own medical record at home, complete
with sections for lab work, and organized by specialty. Because he is
the kind of practitioner that wants to see your whole notebook of
medical information, and he wants to comb it for missed items, clues,
things that still need to be excluded or rechecked, and things that
might help that haven't been tried or tried in an optimal way. This
helps him and could very well help you. He takes his own thorough
history as well. By the way, first office visits with him are about an hour and a half, and include the initial therapy for that day.
To
me, this really wanting to see and use your full record is rare and
wonderful -- I only know 3 others who invite this as much, one is an MD
and the other two aren't. Dr. Binning lit up talking about how helpful
it is when a patient brings the paper record in this way and how much
time and effort it can save sometimes. He can dive in right away and
catch up with you, and go in a direction that makes more sense sooner
rather than later. He actually said he loves educated patients. He also
offered some advice about how to speak to physicians such as taking
time to learn their specialty's way of describing symptoms.
[There
are lots of reasons why it is hard to keep such a record.... the
physicality required, the difficulty getting copies sometimes, the
wanting to keep it going and offer it again even after several doctors
said they don't care, the emotional pain of seeing it get to be such a
big pile of paper with not too many answers. Still, it may be worth
continuing or resuming even with some blanks or years missing as one
never knows when and what kind of practitioner one may need in the
future. - elly ]
Also under organization, we discussed the
importance of time management [and this would also apply to energy
management]. It is an important way to reduce stress. The less
stressed, the more likely to function better.
2) Working closely with physicians.
Coming
from an integrative practice in Beverly Hills where there were 10
physicians in the office who all helped each other help the patient, he
knows the great value of utilizing other practitioners in their fields for specific
problems. He had the luxury of consulting and referring if need be
general surgeons, internists, neurologists, and so on so the patient
got more experience and expertise for their problems. In this region of
the country (he moved here to be near family), he is finding the
cooperation between physicians and other practitioners more elusive,
but he keeps networking for connecting patients with the testing and
treatment they need that he cannot provide.
3) You can never stop asking if something else isn't also present. Excluding is an ongoing process
Dr.
Binning spent much time describing many variations of sleep problems
and things that can be discovered with sleep studies. He talked about
GI and other symptoms that look like a part of FM and CFS, but could be
something else, something treatable. Those must be addressed or treated
so the remaining symptoms have a chance to be expressed, noticed,
treated.
He talked quite impressively about how as one adopts a
healthier lifestyle, any other chronic disease or condition that you
might have or develop would take longer to figure out because you are
slowing it down by taking care of yourself. Its good to take care of
yourself, and to be aware that the clues your body may be giving would
then be more subtle.
Stay vigilant and report new things., he
said... not just put everything on FM or CFS, and don't accept it if a
doctor dismisses everything as CFS/FM. Keep asking questions, keep
doing research. Research health information and research doctors,
clinics, sleep labs, whatever it is important for you.
He
encouraged people to do their own research and trust themselves, and to
see experts in the fields where you are suspecting and seeing new
signs, having new sensations to report.
4) He also mentioned:
- We still need orthodox treatment, but now we need more unorthodox, a big drive toward holistic.
- There is lots of confusion about sleep disturbances for both the professionals and the patients.
- There is confusion as well about which practitioner will address which symptoms.
- We must emphasize there are usually multiple co-existing conditions.
- He noticed there is much more similarity between CFS and FM than is normally reported
- Medical massage is probably better than other types of massage.
- It is important to make sure all practitioners know in detailed way what is going on with you.
-
When doing your own research, acedemic research and government research both have their benefits and limitations.
5) Excerpts from the handouts:
Overview
CFS
has been the subject of intense investigation, but its etiology and
clinical course remain unknown. As the search for more effective
treatment and, hopefully, a cure continues, future researchers may be
drawn toward a holistic approach to CFS, specifically as an interaction
among neural, endocrine, and immune systems. ( General Clinical
Research Center of Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine -
Source )
Sleep Disturbances to Evaluate
- Sleep related breathing disorders
- obstructive sleep apnea
- upper airway reisistence syndrome
- polysomnography (sleep test)
- Insomnia
- anxiety, depression, alcohol, & caffeine
- Narcolepsy
- cataplexy - (in which strong emotion or laughter causes a
person to suffer sudden physical collapse though remaining conscious.)
- Restless Leg Syndrome
- periodic leg movement
- Circadian rhythm disorder
- Shift work & jet lag [and daylight savings time shift, too, we discussed]
Diet and Nutrition
The following have been mentioned in a high percentage of sources as helpful:
Vitamins: B-12, B-Complex, Vitamin C & E
Minerals: Zinc, Magnesium, Calcium, and Potassium
Vegetables/Herbs: Garlic, tomatoes, greens, complex carbs-rice and potato
Fruits: Dark berries and citrus fruits
Liquids: Water, green/black teas & vegetable juices
Meats/Fish: Cold water fish - mackerel, salmon, & tuna; Light meats - chicken & turkey
Other: Yogurt-lactobacillus acidophilus, 5-HTP, & Sam-e
GastroIntestinal Dysfunction
In FMS
- IBS; Life Stresses; Lactose intolerant - fructose, sucralose &
sorbitol; Aerophagia - carbonated drinks, straws & gum;
certain carbohydrates - beans, cabbage, broccoli & cauliflower.
In CFS
- Enteroviral infection non-cytolytic; functional dyspepsia
Cognitive dysfunction
Mental Fatigue: Imparied concentration; Multidimensional fatigue inventory (See sample)
Cognitive function: Cambridge neuropsy test; functional MRI
[Dr.
Binning suggested to us it could be a good thing to find impact scores
and other tests online and take them every so often and notice our
progress.]
Multiple Chemical Sensitivity
- Consensus criteria
- 41% of people with CFIDS met criteria for MCS
- 55% of people with FM met criteria for MCS
- Exposure
- Long term low level exposure to a toxin
- Short term high level exposure to a toxin
- "Spreading"
We have extra copies of the handouts, available for the next few meetings.
The speaker's contact information is
James Binning, DC
http://www.spinedoc.us/
Manassas VA
(703) 257-0100
Web Links
for James Binning, DC
Chiropractor
About Pain
Prolonged
and chronic pain is a horrific thing. It is important to understand the
message of pain—if we don’t take time out of our busy lives
to analyze our pain, it will continue to worsen either gradually or
rapidly.
For many who don’t want to take
time out of their lives, pain medications are used as a quick fix or in
some cases as the solution. Taking many medications to cover up the
pain may only delay identification of its source and could lead to
worse problems.
When pain is of a chronic
long-term nature it is of paramount importance to clearly establish and
identify its cause before pursuing a surgical option. Sometimes,
individuals may, out of frustration and desire to take decisive action,
move too quickly to a surgical solution before finding out their exact
cause of pain. Sadly, some surgery may be performed leaving people with
the same or even worse pain. Surgery can be very beneficial when a
proper diagnosis is made and less invasive treatments are proven
insufficient.
Finding the cause of chronic pain
may take days, months, or even years. It takes time, patience and
understanding to determine its cause. But during the process, one
learns much about themselves and how to manage their pain more
effectively.
Even though pain may be a large part of one’s life—it need not control your life.
I hope that my office can help you better understand and relieve the causes of your pain.
James Binning, D. C.
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