Pollack Rehab

01/15/2026

On September 14, 1990, Alex Brennan walked into Dr. Martin Pollack’s chiropractic office for the first time, making him one of the very first patients my father treated in Fredericton.

Alex is a dedicated father, husband, business owner, fitness enthusiast and all around pillar of his community. But in 1990 he was a 14 year old rugby player with back pain and my father helped him dominate that sport for many years. He graduated from FHS in 1994 and I graduated from the same high school in 1998. I took over his chiropractic care 10 years ago and it has been a privilege.

I am grateful that so many wonderful people have trusted me with their chiropractic care over the years.

01/15/2026

Contrary to popular belief, epidemiology tells us that old injuries are NOT a significant risk factor for spontaneous neck pain.

Maybe you fell off a horse as a teenager or had a bad car accident 10 years ago. Past trauma is unlikely to be the primary cause of current pain. Especially if there was a multiple year pain-free period of time between the old injury and current symptoms.

Pain is often mysterious (unexplained by a recent history of trauma or repetitive strain) and it is natural to look for an explanation in your past, but you are generally better off looking for an explanation in your current lifestyle. Your neck or back or knee pain is much more likely the result of the way that you work or some other regular activity.

History is not destiny.

01/14/2026

🍎 The Four Pillars of Lifestyle Medicine:

1) Physical activity
2) Nutrition
3) Sleep
4) Stress

🥑 These four factors have a significant impact on your health. The research is overwhelming.

Dr Neil Skolnik moves beyond guidelines this month to review the most critical recent studies on the four pillars of wellness: activity, diet, sleep, and stress.

01/14/2026

Q: What is the best treatment for acute back pain, spinal manipulation, clinician-supported self-management or medical care?

A: They are all about the same.

"For patients with acute or subacute low back pain (LBP) at increased risk of chronic disabling LBP, clinician-supported biopsychosocial self-management showed statistically significant but small reductions in disability, but not pain, vs medical care over 1-year follow-up, and spinal manipulation alone showed no significant difference for either outcome," according to a 2025 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

Generally speaking, an all of the above approach is the best strategy for acute back pain. As a chiropractor, I provide both spinal manipulation and clinician-supported self-management to my patients. As this study suggests, lifestyle matters.

Spinal manipulation and staying as physically active as possible are just as effective as taking medication for acute back pain, and probably better for managing disability.

This randomized clinical trial examines the efficacy of spinal manipulation therapy combined with clinician-supported self-management vs guideline-directed medical care in patients with acute or subacute low back pain.

12/14/2025

🕎 Happy Hanukkah, “The Festival of Lights!”

✡️ The miracle of Hanukkah can bring some light, peace & love into the darkness.

12/14/2025

As a thank you for serving on the board, NBCA CEO Kelsey Nissen commissioned this wonderful original artwork: My office building!

🎨 Artist: Hannah Nissen
Instagram:

12/11/2025

Everyone should know the ten myths of back pain in older adults that can lead to ineffective and harmful care!

1) Myth: Back pain is inevitable as we age and is part of the normal aging process.

2) Myth: Back pain in older adults is usually due to a serious medical problem.

3) Myth: People over the age of 50 who present with low back pain (LBP) should undergo imaging to rule out serious disease and identify the cause of their pain.

4) Myth: Older adults with back pain should avoid lifting heavy objects, twisting or bending activities. Let the pain guide them-if it hurts, don't do it.

5) Myth: Bed rest is recommended for back pain among older adults.

6) Myth: Medication should be the first-line treatment for older adults with LBP.

7) Myth: Surgery is effective for back-dominant pain in older adults.

8) Myth: Chronic LBP in older adults is always due to structural damage.

9) Myth: Interventional procedures such as epidural injections, joint injections, nerve blocks or radiofrequency ablations are effective in older adults with chronic back pain.

10) Myth: Disc herniation causing back-related leg pain and disability are very common in older adults.

Not a myth: Chiropractic & manual therapies can help older adults with back pain.

Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most disabling conditions in older adults and among the costliest in terms of healthcare expenditures. Many factors contribute to the disability and high costs of LBP in older adults, but one of the most preventable is the spread of misinformation and unhelpful atti...

12/07/2025

🎄 My annual festive poinsettia.

12/02/2025

"I’ve referred to GLP-1 agents like Ozempic and Mounjaro as “miracle drugs” — a cure not just for the obesity epidemic but for the epidemic of overconsumption that drives so much early death in the United States: overconsumption of alcohol, ci******es, drugs, gambling, and so on, all of which have been found, in studies of varying quality, to be positively affected by the GLP-1s," according to Impact Factor with F. Perry Wilson, MD, MSCE.

"But there is a problem, and if I’m honest, something that makes these drugs less miraculous: They stop working when you stop taking them."

We knew the weight would return, but what happens to the other benefits when patients are no longer taking GLP-1 drugs?

12/02/2025

11/25/2025

Meet Karen Misener, lifelong chiropractic patient. On July 3, 1990, she walked into Dr. Martin Pollack’s chiropractic clinic for her first treatment. She was one of my father’s very first patients in Fredericton. She had seen chiropractors previously in Alberta, but “Martin was the best.”

She is a remarkable woman who spends her time volunteering for the Greener Village food bank and fundraising for Diabetes Canada. I asked her if she had a message for Facebook, and it was this: “Regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight and chiropractic have helped me tremendously.”

I would like to thank Karen and all the patients that have been dedicated to Pollack Chiropractic since 1990 and continued coming after my father retired in 2020. It has been a privilege serving this community.

11/09/2025

SPINAL MANIPULATION – WHAT’S REALLY HAPPENING

There’s this ridiculous idea floating around that a simple thrust can “realign” your bones. Let’s be clear — that’s not what’s happening. You cannot push vertebrae back into place with your hands. The spine isn’t dislocating and relocating every time someone cracks your back. If it were actually misaligned the way some claim, you’d be in hospital, not on a treatment table.

When a practitioner performs a spinal manipulation, the movement is extremely small — a few millimetres at most. The joint surfaces briefly separate, creating a rapid change in pressure within the synovial joint. That change causes gas (mostly CO₂ and nitrogen) to form and collapse inside the joint fluid — the audible “pop.” That’s all the noise is. It’s not bones moving back into place. It’s cavitation — a pressure change in the joint capsule.

Physiological Effects

Manipulation affects the body mainly through neurophysiological responses, not through physical repositioning of bones. The quick stretch activates mechanoreceptors within the joint capsule and surrounding tissues. These receptors send a flood of sensory input to the spinal cord and brain. This temporary barrage can reduce the sensitivity of nociceptive pathways (pain signalling) and alter muscle tone via reflex mechanisms. That’s why after a manipulation, patients often feel “looser,” “lighter,” or notice an improved range of motion — it’s not because their bones were realigned; it’s because their nervous system has momentarily adjusted how it’s interpreting movement and pain.

The effect can also increase local blood flow and help restore normal joint motion if it’s been restricted by protective muscle guarding. Again — that’s a functional change, not a structural one.

Why the Realignment Myth Persists

The “realignment” myth continues because it sounds dramatic and easy to sell. It gives people the impression something was out of place and the practitioner fixed it. It’s a neat story — but it’s nonsense. The vertebrae are held in place by strong ligaments, discs, and deep stabilising muscles. A single thrust cannot overcome that structure and magically shift things back.