We’re always adapting to your needs, so we’re introducing our AI receptionist

It’s become very clear that almost no one leaves voice messages anymore. This is true even though many people still prefer calling our office over texting the line.

Unfortunately that means dropped calls and missed connections.

To give you another option we’ve adopted Charlie AI to pick up the phone 24/7 when our front desk is not available.

Charlie is a work in progress, so please be patient as we smooth out the rough edges.

If you run into any trouble, you can always ask to transfer back to our normal line and leave a message.

So, in case you’re not keeping track…

New patients:

• can book online through our new patient web page
• can text us directly to our main line: 248-598-4002
• can text us via our chat box on our website (bottom corner)
• can chat with our AI receptionist 24/7
• or talk to our front desk in person during normal business hours

Established patients:

• can book online through our scheduling app
• can text us directly to our main line: 248-598-4002
• can chat with our AI receptionist 24/7
• or talk to our front desk in person during normal business hours

Disc spaces in neck expand in chiropractic study, suggests long term care can positively impact arthritis

Can narrow disc spaces expand? One new chiropractic study shows that this is possible.

The average age of the patients were 52 years old, with a total of 38 patients included with x-rays. The patients were treated with an upper cervical technique, that also includes whole neck adjusting, called the Blair Technique.

I personally use aspects of the Blair perspective when adjusting the neck.

The disc spaces were measured on x-ray at start of care, at 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months.

The mean cervical disc-height space measurement increased from approximately 4.60 mm at baseline to 6.52 mm at 12 months, roughly a 42% increase. It reports the mean increase as about 1.15 mm at six months and 1.43 mm at 12 months relative to baseline.

Disc space is the area occupied by the intervertebral disc. So, it’s reasonable to believe that an increase in disc height on x-ray may mean an increase in the size of the disc.

Because discs tend to narrow or get smaller with age and degeneration, a measurement in the opposite direction would be positive.

What can we say about this change?

Did the discs actually regenerate in this study?

First, we should say is this wasn’t an MRI study. The disc spaces expanded on x-ray, but only an MRI measurement, before and after, could tell us conclusively that this was a regeneration of the disc.

Second, this was a retrospective study. So there wasn’t a control group that could definitely tell us whether these kinds of x-ray measurements can happen without treatment.

It’s statistically likely that something positive happened

That said, the statistical analysis shows that this very likely more than chance that these changes happened.

It’s a small study that shows that disc regeneration may be possible with certain forms of long term chiropractic care. This is worthy of more study.

If this turns out to be verifiable change, it’s more evidence that chiropractic care can help undo arthritic changes in the spine.

Read the study here: Scott Baker, DC & Joel Alcantara, DC, PhD — “Increased Cervical Intervertebral Disc Height Following Blair Upper Cervical Chiropractic Care: A Retrospective Radiographic Review.”

Big changes brewing for HRT therapy for menopause or perimenopause, why it may matter to you, and one place to start researching

I’ve had more conversations about HRT for menopause related changes in the past year than did in the first fourteen years of this practice. Why now? And what could it mean for you…

In late 2025 the FDA made a decision to remove the “black-box” warning on HRT after a process of: consultation of an expert panel, a public comments period, and a review of the scientific literature.

Those label changes were just coming online in early 2026, so many physicians are just catching up with the changes.

Why’d the FDA change their warnings?

Basically, the “black-box” warning was too strong and too broad, and based on information from 2002 that wasn’t seen as valid anymore.

In 2002, the conversation was about 63 year old women in post-menopause taking only “horse estrogen” (Premarin) and one form of progesterone (Provera).

But the options for HRT have expanded beyond Premarin and Provera.

Now women have the option to “micro-dose” estrogen patches and take micronized progesterone.

The FDA determined that the old black-box warning didn’t reflect newer research showing that risks can vary based on

• a woman’s age,
• when treatment begins,
• and the type of hormones used.

So the FDA removed warnings about heart disease, breast cancer, and dementia from the black box. These risks are still discussed in HRT prescribing information.

The new wild west of HRT for women?

More and more women are learning of the potential benefits of the new HRT as the market expands via online prescribers, health influencers, and independent physicians…

And many parts of Big Healthcare haven’t really caught up yet.

Most women I’ve spoken too are starting low levels of estradiol patches for the purposes of controlling negative symptoms of perimenopause like: insomnia, hot flashes, and negative changes in mood and energy.

And some have had work with an online prescriber to find a provider that was up to date with the potential options.

Some women are biohacking, and attempting to avoid menopause decline

There’s also another group of women that are seeking upgraded HRT to avoid the menopause decline in cardiovascular health, bone health, muscle health, and brain health.

They are following people like Dr. Rhonda Patrick and Dr. Vonda Wright, and plan on using HRT long term to slow the decline of aging. (They are also optimizing diet, sleep, and resistance training, not just using HRT).

Why it matters now

I’m a chiropractor and my license doesn’t allow me to prescribe or dissuade you from any drug. So don’t read this update as a promotion of anyone to get on HRT.

That said, there’s multiple perspectives at work here.

• Those come from the pro-HRT anti-aging perspective
• to those who don’t believe we really understand what’s happening in menopause and shouldn’t mess with bioidentical hormones.

Everyone’s physiology is different based on genetics, prior history, and ability to adapt.

HRT is not risk-free, but it also shouldn’t be viewed as universally dangerous, at least according to the FDA.

If you want to learn more from a pro-HRT medical perspective I have found many posts by Dr. Ed Pomicter to be helpful. Dr. Pomicter is from the “Physiological HRT” perspective which believes in supporting women with bioidentical estrogen. Later I can link a different perspective.

On his public Facebook profile he has a pinned post that starts his series.

It’s a great place to start for background information regardless of your perspective.

Read from the FDA here: HHS Advances Women’s Health, Removes Misleading FDA Warnings on Hormone Replacement Therapy

“Michigan’s most dangerous intersections” reveals something great about roundabouts

Roundabouts can be quite annoying. Especially when when you’re surrounded by people who don’t know how to drive in them. And at first glance, they don’t seem worthwhile, when you take crash data into account.

ClickOnDetroit just published their list of the 20 Most Dangerous Intersections in 2025 and 18 of them are in Metro-Detroit.

You can find the list here: Nearly all of Michigan’s 20 most dangerous intersections in 2025 were in Metro Detroit, data shows.

Unfortunately, roundabouts make up 5 of the 18 in Metro Detroit. And that’s with so few of them…So it doesn’t look good for roundabouts.

However, there is more than one definition of dangerous. There’s dangerous, as in a lot of crashes happen there. There’s also dangerous, as in a lot of injuries happen there.

Even though roundabouts are over represented among places where drivers crash, they are also under-represented for injuries.

• The five roundabouts account for 610 crashes and 33 injuries, an injury-to-crash ratio of 5.4%.
• The other 15 intersections account for 1,312 crashes and 281 injuries, an injury-to-crash ratio of 21.4%.

So, within this particular Top-20 dataset, a crash at a listed non-roundabout intersection was associated with an injury about 4 times as often as a crash at a listed roundabout.

Why this shows us roundabouts are doing what they are designed to do

What makes car accidents at traditional intersections so dangerous are:

• Cars traveling fast enough to collide and roll over (roll-over accidents account for 50% of fatal car accidents from year to year)
• Cars traveling opposing directions leading to head-on, near head-on, or perpendicular crash vectors which tend to be more dangerous

Roundabouts, however, are designed to:

• Slow drivers down
• Make oppositional crash vectors almost impossible, instead mostly being rear-impact and side-swipe vectors

Rear impact collisions at low speed can, of course, create injuries. I work with people all of the time who have experienced these injuries.

But a betting person would choose a roundabout collision over a traditional intersection crash any day of the week.

Open enrollment for Medicare patients

Annual Open Enrollment Period for “Original Medicare” and Medicare Advantage is Oct 15 through Dec 7.

• Medicare participants can move between “Original Medicare” and the Medicare Advantage Plans, which usually go into effect on Jan 1, 2027
• Part D changes (prescription drug coverage) are usually made as this time
• Medigap coverage should be explored at this time if necessary

Medicare Advantage has its own Open Enrollment from Jan 1 through Mar 31.

• Med Advantage enrollees can switch between Med Advantage Plans (which usually revolves around drug coverage)
• Med Advantage enrollees can return to “Original Medicare” – but should pay attention to whether Medigap is available

Resources: Medicare and You 2027, the official government handbook

Who do we recommend for discussing your Medicare open enrollment needs?

Nick Philko is a great place to start. I know Nick personally, and he has the patience and personal experience to help guide you. We works with Medicare, group insurance, private insurance, and the Healthcare.gov Marketplace. He doesn’t just work with one company.

It’s best to just call or text directly: 248-303-4755.

Leave a message or text and he will respond, and you’re welcome to mention my name.