Moving Past the Misconceptions: A Combined Neurologic/ Chiropractic Approach to Treating Headaches and Neck Pain
In this presentation with the patient present, Osher Center clinicians, Drs. Matthew Kowalski, Carolyn Bernstein, and Donald Levy described the dynamic nature of migraine related disorders and the multiple components of migraines that can be addressed in treatment.
The presenters also discussed the safety and efficacy of chiropractic care for migraine patients and how interdisciplinary collaboration can provide synergistic treatments that may contribute to improved migraine outcomes.
Integrative Medicine Grand Rounds/Research
Tuesday, November 7th, 8:00am – 9:00am (followed by coffee hour)
Bornstein Family Amphitheater, BWH, 45 Francis St., Boston, MA
Directions
Presenter: Matthew Kowalski, DC, is a 1990 graduate of the National College of Chiropractic, where he also completed a two-year multidisciplinary residency in orthopedics. He is certified with the American Board of Chiropractic Orthopedics. Dr. Kowalski is the President of the New England Spine Institute, PC, with practices in Holbrook, East Bridgewater and Carver. He is an adjunct post-graduate faculty member of the National University of Health Sciences. Dr. Kowalski has co-authored chapters on “The lumbar intervertebral disc” and “Lumbar spinal stenosis” for Low Back Syndromes (Morris, ed.). His practice focuses on the evaluation and treatment of patient suffering with headaches, neck pain and back pain.
Discussant: Carolyn Bernstein, MD, FAHS, is a neurologist with a subspecialty certification in Headache Medicine and is Fellow of the American Headache Society. She is a faculty member of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Division of Neurology, and is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. She is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and North American Menopause Society. Doctor Bernstein’s interests include migraine disorders, hormonal headache and the use of integrative therapies in the treatment of headaches and pain, with a focus on lifestyle and wellness. She is the author of The Migraine Brain: Your Break-through Guide to Fewer Headaches, Better Health (Free Press 2008) and has edited and co-written two textbooks: Pain in Women (Springer 2012) and Medical Complications of Pregnancy (Springer, in press). She has lectured on headache and migraine locally, nationally and internationally.
Moderator: Donald Levy, MD, is the Medical Director of the Osher Clinical Center. He is a board certified internist and an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He graduated New York Medical College in 1981 and completed his residency at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA. Dr. Levy taught Harvard medical students, interns, residents and fellows in a variety of roles for over 25 years and maintained a practice in primary care internal medicine until 2007. He worked at the Marino Center for Progressive Health in Cambridge, MA for over 10 years, where he served as Medical Director for one year, and then staff physician and Director of Integrative Medical Education. He helped the center to expand its multidisciplinary team of practitioners and to ally itself with local academic medical centers, hospitals and research organizations. His professional interests include the use of nutrition and dietary herbs and supplements in medicine, the management of cardiac risks to prevent heart disease and the integration of scientific advances in modern medicine with the rediscovery and implementation of age-old principles and therapies that enhance the ability to heal and maintain good health.