A few years ago Peta used a combination of pure essential oils on our dog for her fleas. It included Lavender oil, Tea tree oil, Eucalyptus oil and Cedar wood oil in a carrier. I recall being amazed at how effective it was. The fleas couldn’t jump off her quick enough.
The cat had fleas so I thought I would try just the Tea Tree oil with her, we didn’t have any other oil and I thought it might work. Well, it helped but didn’t work as quickly as the combination of oils. The oil on the cats fur made her look like she had the mange. She wasn’t too happy for a couple of days, but I figure it’s still better than putting a collar around her neck with extremely toxic chemicals. She looked quite miserable, poor little cat.
She might have forgiven me if the oil worked quickly, but given that it didn’t she was looking at me with that ‘I used to like you but now I hate you look’ that cats are good at for a while. I might have to go outside and pull up weeds to get back in her good books. That’s one of her favourite things. She feels safe from the neighbourhood bully cat while I’m out there and can relax in the sunshine. By the time of publishing this blog the fleas seemed to have cleared up but the combination of oils worked better (you can try orange oil too apparently).

Here is a recent study using the methods we use in the clinic for back pain. The study was published in a prestigious medical journal. It tells me, other Chiropractors, and my patients nothing. But it tells the so called sceptics a lot. At least the ones open minded enough to look at it.

A newly published trial (1) has shown that 12 weeks of
chiropractic care in a group of older patients
resulted in improvements in their sensory and motor
functions that are important for falls risk, as well as
improvement in the physical component of quality of
life. The study, the main trial in chiropractic researcher
Dr. Kelly Holt’s PhD, states:
“Falls account for more than 80% of injury-related
hospital admissions in people older than 65 years, and
they are the leading cause of injury-related death in
older adults ”
The study showed that compared with the control
group:
• Those receiving chiropractic care “improved
significantly in ankle joint position sense error.”
This shows a potential impact of chiropractic
care on proprioception, or the brain’s ability to
know where the body is in space.
• There was also a significant improvement of
increased sensorimotor function at 12-weeks.
Interestingly they only started to improve after 4
weeks of care, but not before.
• At the 12-week mark, the chiropractic group also
improved by 13.5% in multisensory processing
(integrating information from two or more
senses), an important factor in falls risk.
• The chiropractic group also displayed statistically
significant improvements in quality of life related
to physical health.
“In general, older people are underrepresented in
many chiropractic practices.” says Holt “This study
should give chiropractors confidence that they can
help improve function in their older patients and that
may have an impact on their overall health and quality
of life. We should encourage older adults to get
checked!”
From this study, chiropractors can confidently say that
“12 weeks of chiropractic care has resulted in
improvements in some factors that are important for
falls risk (sensory and motor function), as well as
improvement in the physical component of quality of
life in a group of older adult patients.”
1. Holt, Kelly R et al, “Effectiveness of Chiropractic Care to Improve
Sensorimotor Function Associated With Falls Risk in Older People: A
Randomized Controlled Trial,” Journal of Manipulative and
Physiological Therapeutics.

1. This Randomized Controlled Trial showed
that chiropractic can help improve function in
older people, with a possible impact on their
overall health and quality of life. We should
encourage older adults to get checked!
2. There was a really big improvement in one
of the measures as a result of more than 4
weeks of chiropractic care, but not less time.
Sometimes the improvements in function
that we’re looking for just take time.
3. Practical Application: 12 weeks of
chiropractic care resulted in improvements in
some factors that are important for falls risk
(sensory and motor function), as well as
improvement in the physical component of
quality of life in a group of older adult people.