A Skeptical Patient's Experience

(Editor's Note: The following is one patient's experience with Upper Cervical Care.)

I have had the extraordinary privilege of working with Dr. Dan Fedelli here in Chicago over the last 2 years and I’ve become a believer in Upper Cervical Chiropractic work and the difference it makes.

I was really skeptical. When I came to Dr. Dan, my jaw hurt all the time , I had excruciating tension headaches that wrapped around my skull like a 2 inch wide Bandana from an 80’s Hair band. The Right side of my face had fallen sometime in 2006, and my smile was a hot-lopsided mess! The Facebook picture I have in which some accuse of being too sultry, was in fact an attempt to hide said lop-eared smile! I also had difficulty sleeping due to intense unrelenting pain between my shoulders. And I was grinding my teeth all night every night.
In the beginning, I would go to my appointments with him and just cry from relief. Then I would go directly home and nap for 2 hours – getting the best deepest rest I’d had in 3 years. I didn’t know if any of this would help me, but I kept going as I had no diagnosis and therefore no treatment…and my symptoms were getting worse. It felt good to at least be doing SOMETHING.

I began to sleep better…my headaches diminished with in 1 month.

With in 4 months my smile was restored.

What I liked about working with Dr. Fedelli, is that he was straight about getting me on a healing program and not interested in maintaining the frequency of my appointments. We started with 2 appointments / week, which quickly went to 1/wk, the every 2 weeks…then 1/month. After a year or so I felt pretty good and I had dropped out my appointments for a few months…slowly my neck bunched up and I was experiencing lower energy etc…I have to say when I returned 5 months later it only took 6 weeks to get back on track and return to sound sleeping once more.

I also appreciate the service of his staff, the private treatment rooms.  I feel cared for and valued versus pursued as a revenue stream, which has been my experience of other chiropractors in the past.

A word about NET or Neuro Emotional Therapy, I don’t pretend to understand it, I only know it produces results. It’s a valuable tool in my commitment to healing my whole self, and ridding my body of whatever dis-ease I have created in my experience.

Here is a link to his web site:
http://www.thebalancingcenter.com.

There is something about the whole specialty of Upper Cervical Chiropractic that goes beyond the norm. I highly recommend it to anyone with lingering jaw issues due to dental surgery, stress in the upper back or shoulders and lack of function or nerve damage in the face! Get your self some balance!

(Editor's note: Remember the objective of upper cervical care is to correct head neck misalignment that is interfering with proper brain to body communication. When this is corrected the body functions at a higher level and can often correct other problems more efficiently on its own. Please do not confuse upper cervical care as a treatment for any condition, disease or symptom.)

Really Skeptical of Upper Cervical Care: A Patient’s Experience

"I have had the extraordinary privilege of working with Dr.Dan Fedelli here in Chicago over the last 2 years and I've become a believer in Upper Cervical work and the difference it makes.

I was really skeptical. When I came to Dr Dan, my jaw hurt all the time, I had excruciating tension headaches that wrapped around my skull like a 2 inch wide Bandanna from an 80’s Hair band. The right side of my face had fallen sometime in 2006, and my smile was a hot-lopsided mess! The Facebook picture I have in which some accuse of being too sultry, was in fact an attempt to hide said lop-eared smile! I also had difficulty sleeping due to intense unrelenting pain between my shoulders. And I was grinding my teeth all night every night.

In the beginning, I would go to my appointments with him and just cry from relief. Then I would go directly home and nap for 2 hours – getting the best deepest rest I’d had in 3 years. I didn't know if any of this would help me, but I kept going as I had no diagnosis and therefore no treatment…and my symptoms were getting worse. It felt good to at least be doing SOMETHING.

I began to sleep better…my headaches diminished with in 1 month.

Within 4 months my smile was restored.

What I liked about working with Dr. Fedelli is that he was straight about getting me on a healing program and not interested in maintaining the frequency of my appointments. We started with 2 appointments / week, which quickly went to 1/wk, the every 2 weeks…then 1/month. After a year or so I felt pretty good and I had dropped out my appointments for a few months…slowly my neck bunched up and I was experiencing lower energy etc…I have to say when I returned 5 months later it only took 6 weeks to get back on track and return to sound sleeping once more."

I also appreciate the service of his staff, the private treatment rooms, and their sensitivity to my symptom of emotional liability.

I feel cared for and valued versus pursued as a revenue stream, which has been my experience of other chiropractors in the past.

There is something about the whole specialty of Upper Cervical Care that goes beyond the norm. I highly recommend it to anyone with lingering jaw issues due to dental surgery, stress in the upper back or shoulders and lack of function or nerve damage in the face! Get yourself some balance!"

(Editor's note: Remember the objective of upper cervical care is to correct head neck misalignment that is interfering with proper brain to body communication. When this is corrected the body functions at a higher level and can often correct other problems more efficiently on its own. Please do not confuse upper cervical care as a treatment for any condition, disease or symptom.)

Upper Cervical Care and The Suicide Disease

The Problem of Trigeminal Neuralgia and Other Chronic Pains


by Dr. Ward

Popular web resources on the facial pain Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) only have drugs, injections, and surgeries as possible treatments. But they’re missing a potential important ingredient to resolving TN symptoms: upper cervical chiropractic care.

Trigeminal Neuralgia is the #1 cause of facial pain, with 4 to 5 persons per 100,000 having the disease. Some authorities say that more might be suffering, but aren’t counted because of misdiagnosis.


According to the National Pain Foundation, 1.7 millions have been diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia. TN’s reputation as one of the most severe body pains makes that 1.7 million too many. In many cases TN grows to be a debilitating and chronic pain that threatens the livelihood of the one who suffers with it.

In the past TN has been called Tic douloureux, and also the suicide disease, because the suffering it causes some patients drove them to take their life. Modern medicine has improved pain management through drugs and surgical procedures, and takes credit for reducing TN’s deadly reputation.

Yet, medicines don’t always work, and the idea of a cranial surgery can be too expensive, or downright scary for many. Some choose to seek help from alternative treatments. Indeed, popular web sources like Mayo.com list some of those therapies, like acupuncture, biofeedback, and vitamin therapy.

Still, there is one glaring omission of what might help TN. Upper cervical care.

There are several theories on what causes, or possibly exacerbates the symptoms of facial nerve pain. The most popular is a mechanical explanation: there is pressure on the facial nerve, inside the skull, most likely cause by a blood vessel. Pain then occurs with little or no warning, often just with moving the head, eating, or touching the face.

It’s thought that the pressure actually occurs at the base of the brain stem, where the roots of the facial nerve are.

What’s interesting about the facial nerve is that it’s not just found at the brain stem. There are actually cell extensions of the facial nerve which descend down into the spinal cord to the level of our second cervical vertebra. So, reach back to just about the back of your hair line, at the back of your neck. You have cells hooked up to the trigeminal nerve which are nestled less than a few inches away from your finger.

If there was a doctor who could do a surgery and take away small amounts of pressure at the top of the spinal cord, in between the second vertebra and the bottom of the head, do you think it might relieve the pressure on the facial nerve?

Now what if that doctor wasn’t doing surgery, but was gently improving the balance between the head and neck? Balance that affects nerve pressure and blood flow into the brain stem. Would you think that might relieve pressure on the facial nerve?

And what if I told you that non-surgical doctor was a chiropractor, practicing upper cervical chiropractic?

Upper cervical chiropractic worked for one TN patient of an upper cervical doctor in St. Louis. And it did for James Tomasi, who you can read about here, or listen to his story in the recording above. I have personally  seen improvement in facial pain in 3 different patients in the last 45 days.

So, why haven’t you heard about this before? Good question. Here’s one answer: when you search the current National Institute of Heath’s clinical trials, there are only 3 TN studies. And not one of them is examining Trigeminal Neuralgia and upper cervical care. There is very little funding for upper cervical research period, let alone research into a non-back-pain related condition.

Here’s a second answer:  Mayo and other authorities are  comfortable reporting on the potential of acupuncture, vitamins, and biofeedback, because it’s not upper cervical care. You simply haven’t heard about Trigeminal Neuralgia and upper cervical care because of bias.

And it’s not just limited to facial pain, but other chronic pains as well. Thankfully patient advocacy groups like the Facial Pain Association are willing to tell others about facial pain and upper cervical chiropractic.

(Editor's note: Remember the objective of upper cervical care is to correct head neck misalignment that is interfering with proper brain to body communication. When this is corrected the body functions at a higher level and can often correct other problems more efficiently on its own. Please do not confuse upper cervical care as a treatment for tinnitus or any other condition, disease or symptom.)

Ear Pain And The NUCCA Correction?

(Editor's Note:  Today's post comes to us from Dr. Zachary Ward and Nucca News, enjoy!)

NUCCA Patient Spotlight

The ear bone's connected to the jaw bone? A surprising change after one NUCCA correction.

Usually ear pain in a child makes doctors think ear infection--but 10 year old Lauren's pain was different. After Lauren began complaining of ear pain, her mother, Renee, took her to the pediatrician who investigated the source of the earache, but found nothing wrong. "Since she had already been on antibiotics, and there was nothing wrong inside the ear, the doctor told me to give her Ibuprofen," said Renee. In spite of the doctor's diagnosis, the pain continued, and in fact, got worse.

Lauren described the pain as sharp stabbing deep in her right ear, which would quickly come and go, happening as often as four to five times per hour. The pediatrician said that a trip to ENT might be in order. Filing that in the back of her mind, Renee took her daughter to a NUCCA doctor instead.

When Dr. Zachary Ward heard Lauren's story, he suggested that the pain might be nerve related and might respond to a NUCCA correction. Dr. Ward evaluated Lauren and found tight musculature in her neck and shoulder, as well as a heat reading that showed an increased temperature around the atlas vertebrae on her left side. Lauren received a NUCCA correction on Friday morning, and by the end of that weekend, the pain subsided completely.

Something surprising also happened after the correction: the left side of Lauren's left jaw began to relax. "I asked Lauren, 'How come you never told me that your jaw was so tight on your left side'" Renee told the NUCCA News. "Lauren said, 'Mom I didn't know my jaw was that tight. It's been like that my whole life. I thought that was normal!'"

To make matters more interesting, Lauren has received orthodontia care since she was three years to correct jaw and teeth alignment issues related to a cleft palate. Until her NUCCA correction, Lauren and Renee had no idea that Lauren's ear and jaw health could be related to her neck.

"I was surprised how quickly things improved for Lauren, without using any kind of drugs or surgery." said Renee.

(Editor's note: Remember the objective of any type of upper cervical care is to correct head neck misalignment that is interfering with proper brain to body communication. When this is corrected the body functions at a higher level and can often correct other problems more efficiently on its own. Please do not confuse upper cervical care as a treatment for ear pain or any other condition, disease or symptom.)

Upper Cervical Care Stories Of Healing: Part 1

It's our 200th post and I wanted to share some amazing patient stories over the next few days, many of which are from Dr. Margaret Banitch in Montclair, New Jersey / Blair upper cervical doctor.

(Editors Note: Please remember that upper cervical doctors do not treat any condition or disease. They are simply removing an obstruction to the body healing on its own. When this is accomplished and it stays that way the wisdom of the body can do amazing things)

Denise's Story

I am a 35 year old female. I started to get head and facial pain in 1994. It seemed to come out of nowhere, although I had been in a car accident two years prior to this. I initially went to a dentist who insisted that I wear a nightguard on my teeth, thinking that the facial pain must he from grinding my teeth. I was also being treated by a chiropractor at the time, but there was no improvement to my condition.

My next visit was to a dental specialist who claimed my jaw was misaligned and that I had T.M.J. He fitted me with another mouthpiece, with no improvement, so eventually he put me under anesthesia and manually manipulated my jaw until it popped, hoping this would realign my jaw and fix the problem, but again after the pain of the procedure subsided, I was left in constant pain, mostly to the right side of my face and head. I was so depressed that I decided to go to a neurologist. After reviewing the results of my MRI, he felt my problems were emanating from my neck and recommended that I go to a pain center to receive Novocain injections. I still had little relief.

In 1997 my mother found a chiropractor who practiced the "Blair Technique", and specialized in upper cervical care. I had nothing to lose, so I went to see him. Within my first week of treatments I began to see real results and within a few months I was back to feeling normal for the first time in years. I could finally start to live a normal life again. I continued treatment with this doctor until he moved to California in 1999. I then went under the care of a chiropractor who had been training on the Blair Technique for about a year, but was more of a conventional chiropractor, rather than an upper cervical specialist. Within a few months I was back to where I started and it only seemed to be getting worse.

My husband and I began to search the Internet for chiropractors who specialized in the Blair Technique of upper cervical care and found Dr. Margaret Banitch in Montclair, New Jersey. She not only practiced this technique, but was also a trainer/teacher of this method to other chiropractors. We were very optimistic and traveled the hour to see Dr. Margaret for a consultation. We felt very comfortable and confident in Dr. Margaret's treatment and began care for our whole family after that first visit. Within the first few days I started to feel great and by the end of the first month the pain was completely gone. Most times when I'm out of alignment I don't even know it, because I have no pain. On the occasions that I do feel discomfort I know it's just a matter of being adjusted to feel better.

Dr. Margaret Banitch is my hero, I really count my blessings that I have found her. My husband and our two children are under Dr. Margaret's care with fantastic results. We believe strongly in the Blair Upper Cervical Technique and recommend Dr. Margaret to everyone. We continue to go for regular checkups to stay healthy.