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Northern Virginia (NOVA)
CFS/M.E. & FMS
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Speakers - Binning

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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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Updated March 7, 2008