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IT IS MANDATORY THAT YOU READ MY 'DISCLAIMER' BEFORE ENTERING THIS SITE, AND REMEMBER THAT ANYTHING YOU MAY LEARN HERE SHOULD NEVER BE USED TO REPLACE OR MODIFY YOUR DOCTOR'S ADVICE!!!

Welcome to chirogeek.com, a site created and managed by Douglas M. Gillard, DC. All images on this site are copyright protected and may not be used without written permission from Dr. Gillard. Some images, however, may be purchased.

In 2002 I suffered a devastating and life-altering injury to my lower back and left leg during a competitive cycling race--10 years of Olympic-level Track & Field training and competition didn't help things. After suffering from terrible back and leg pain for over a year, I reluctantly succumb to low back surgery (microdiscectomy at L5/S1), which failed miserably. In fact, the surgery probably set back my recovery about a year and a half.

In attempts to get back my life, I directed my full, type AAA personality to understanding the causes back and neck pain, as well as their strange associated radiating extremity pains. I also set out to discover the truth about all the available treatment options. Even though I had been treating and evaluating back and neck pain for over 15 years as a chiropractor and state disability evaluator, there was much that even I had to learn. And learn I did! This website is a by product of my continued studies.

After really suffering for approximately 4 years, I finally regained most of my life back and for the most part rid myself of the back and leg pain. I attribute this delayed healing to mother nature, a routine of simple exercise and walking and the avoidance of activities that are aggravative to the lumbar discs (i.e., heavy lifting; repeated bending and twisting).

In fact, over the last few years I've felt so good that I have turned my attention to conquering another lifelong dream: going to medical school, which I have now begun at age 51! (That's quite a story in and of itself.) Up-data: the adventure has fallen through. See my diary for details.

Therefore, if the reader studies the information on these pages carefully, he/she will be able to converse intelligently with any doctor -- even a spinal specialist -- regarding their problem. You will also be able to understand the available treatment options, which perhaps may assist you in making a better and more informed decision with regard to what type of treatment you are going to try.

So WELCOME TO CHIROGEEK.COM and ENJOY this ad-free, and spy-ware free site!

© Copyright 2002 – 2012 All rights reserved - Douglas Gillard, BS, DC. Absolutely no copying or printing of any of the material on this site without the written permission of Dr. Gillard. Some images, however, may be purchased.

What's New:

4-21-12:finally after about a month's work, I'm launching a rough draft of my "Fusion 101" page [here].

4-8-12: Added an example page so folks can see what kind of teaching device I create for patient who want a coaching session. [here] If you would like to speak with me about your pain and what to do, learn about that service here.

4-5-12: Added a bunch of pictures of my journey by car from San Jose, CA to Vail, CO. Hands down the best trip I've ever taken by car. Beautiful country, both Utah and Colorado. [here and here].

3-23-12: Made a long overdue -- and very informative I might add -- open / micro-discectomy page [here].

3-18-12: Made a new page on the different minimally invasive procedures geared to treat small contained disc herniations [here].

3-13-12: I'm taking the job as a spine research scientist for a very prestigious medical clinic in Vail Colorado [here].

3-13-12: I'm now offering, once again, my skills as a seasoned medical-legal report writer.

3-4-12: New Page (lot of work on this one) on a minimally invasive treatment for those pesky small contained disc herniations: Nucleoplasty.

2-29-12: I completed my page on automated percutaneous lumbar discectomy (APLD), which is the most commonly performed minimally invasive form of discectomy to date. May work, but only for a very narrow window of patients. [here]

2-28-12: got my California Chiropractic license back today. I can call myself a doctor once again! Not sure what good that's going to do in Florida, but it's always good to be licensed. Make sure you check out the Research Corner. I've published two rows + of new important studies.

2-21-12: I published my review of a meta-analysis of an FDA approved minimally invasive procedure called percutaneous laser disc decompression
[Here].

2-20-12: I published a new Discography Page [Here].

2-13-12: I published a new review of an investigation into the phenomenon of centralized pain, which affects some unlucky patients. What's that? As this research paper will demonstrate by fMRI, the brains of some chronic back pain patients (as well as patients suffering fibromyalgia) have been re-wired so to speak and have developed the ability to feel pain secondary to low levels of painful stimulus ( or They feel pain when they shouldn't be feeling anything as the control group will demonstrate). Another very impressive study by Nachemson elf. [Here]

2-3-12: I feel like I have just given birth. After five straight days of work, I have just published a page dedicated to one of the best research papers I have ever read. This paper was devoted to reassessing the safety and efficacy of the newly FDA approved cervical artificial discs. It's a must read for any patient considering undergoing the traditional anterior cervical discectomy fusion (ACDF). It is my layperson opinion, that for a select group of patients, cervical artificial disc is the way to go (it is rare for me to jump on the bandwagon with regard to spinal procedures, but this is an exception--there has been the changing of the guard. [Here]

1-24-12: I discovered a paper worthy of making the research corner. Read about a randomized controlled trial that pitted ACDF against an Endoscopic procedure. [Here]

1-22-12: new tutorial that will help thoughs of you who want a fast consultation, to get one by up-loading your MRI files to a server. Then I can download them promptly. This way, there is no delay in waiting for MRI Disks to arrive in the mail. Check it out.

1-16-12: new research papers reviewed and added to the current research page.

11-30-11: Got a new MRI today. See my diary for the details.

10-23-11: I've updated my research page.

05-15-11: I've updated my diary and research page.

10-23-09: I've updated my Diary, the Current Research Page, and the Disc Anatomy page.

10-11-09: I've updated the Annular Tear Page.

09-25-09: The Mini-Consult! By popular demand, I'm going to offer a mini-consultation in which I'll spend 15-20 minutes on the phone with you and even review your MRI images in attempts to identify your problem and formulate a plan of attack for recovery. I'm not sure how it's going to work out (patients typically spend 50-60 minutes with me on the phone) but I've gotten so much e-mail requesting this, I'll give it a try.

I've also updated the Current Research Page with a few interesting new (2009) investigations one of which demonstrates that the mind is a power force in the process of recovery from surgery!!

01-28-09: Damn, another Injury!

10-06-08: I've updated my Current Research Page with 4 new research investigation that caught my eye.

10-06-08: Its been a while. Back's doing great, my sciatica's long gone and I've applied to many Osteopathic Schools in hopes of starting a new and exciting career change--the MCAT is my only hurdle, which I just took last month and am awaiting the what I believe to be bad new--notwithstanding my modern G.P.A. of 3.6, I need a good year to prepare for that damn test; a year that this 48-year-old doesn't have. I've also updated my history page to included my latest condition and story. Doug's Story.

07-01-07: A lot of new spinal research updates have been added to the Current Research Page.

06-21-07: PayPal has been added to my services page in order to facilitate the growing number of phone consultations. Now you can use your credit card to speak to me. Too, I have added several new investigations to the current research page. I also, finally, completed my BS degree (Applied Biology), which I need to apply for medical school. MCAT preparation with begin this fall.

11-24-06: I've added 6 new, what I consider to be, significant medical investigations published in 2006. None of these bode well for IDET, provocative discography, Infliximab, and even microdiscectomy. See my "Current Research Page" [here]

Also want to thank Ferris State University for inducting me into their prestigious Athletic Hall of Fame. Thank you Ray, Dean, and all the other members of the induction committee; it is truly a great honor.

02-19-06: I've reviewed the Torgerson investigation of 1976. This is one of the few radiographic investigations into the false positive rate of x-ray on DDD, DJD, Spondylolysis, and Spondylolisthesis as the study compared over 100 pain free age-matched folks with over 100 low back pain patients. (here)

What's new - Page 2