One TN Patient's Experience

Perhaps their experience will guide you to the light at the end of your dark tunnel.

My story began 10 years ago with a fast onset of terrible pain. I went to the G.P., general dentist, oral surgeon, ENT, chiropractor, neurologist, neurosurgeon. It was the ENT professional who first diagnosed this after I had had the "usual" treatment of root canal and my dental fillings all changed to composites. After the diagnosis I was sent to the neurologist and on to the neurosurgeon who seemed gleeful to see me. When I balked at the first consultation, he assured me I "would be back." I have wandered through the usual maze of drug therapy, staggering, falling, and feeling in a daze. I have listened to others who swore by acupuncture (it did nothing for me); crystal therapy (yes, I tried that too!); chiropractic maneuvers (made it worse), and even having the offending nerve cut by an oral surgeon (permanent numbness but pain returned, of course). I have been depressed, given antidepressants, been more depressed, considered ending it all. But through it all I have worked! Have to. How? It has been an absolute heroic event. Finally, this past fall someone tried to convince me to try a "specialized chiropractic treatment" upper cervical. Sure, I thought. Another voo doo thing. I was sent a tape to listen to. The tape sat on my desk for months. One day I thought I would listen to it before I threw it out. Listened to it and thought, this is absurd. I listened to it several times and then thought, well, I'll try one more shot at voo doo. Finding one of these specialized people was hard. I did careful research, finally calling the national organization and spending a long time on the phone with the person in charge. I came away with two names of certified practitioners. I made an appointment and cancelled. Waited another few months. The pain was bad. Made another appointment and kept it. The specialist told me about the atlas bone in my spine. I was unconvinced, but now what did I have to lose? It was one more try with witchcraft or on to surgery. So, I gave it a try. I got better. I was skeptical. I am a tough patient. Since I started, I have had very good success with this procedure. I am now down way down on my meds. I can now function and eat and talk. I am still unwilling to say unequivocally that what I am doing will work for anyone else, but so far it has given me relief. At least the pain is gone...for now.

Changes in General Health Status during Upper Cervical Chiropractic Care: A Practice-Based Research Project Update

Kathryn T. Hoiriis, BS, DC
Deana Burd, BA
Research Department
Life University, School of Chiropractic
Marietta, GA
Edward F. Owens, Jr., MS, DC
Director of Research
Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic
Spartanburg, SC

ABSTRACT

Introduction: An upper cervical practice-based research (PBR) project, proposed at the 13th Annual Upper Cervical Conference in November 1996, is being used to study the effectiveness of upper cervical care related to the general health status of patients. This project uses the RAND (SF-36) Health Survey and a global well-being scale (GWBS) as primary outcome measures. Also, we are looking at concomitant changes in misalignment of the occipito-atlanto-axial joints as determined by pre- and post-adjustment radiographs.

Methods: Field doctors were recruited to contribute sequential information from their new patients between 18 and 59 years of age. The patients were followed through the course of care until maximum improvement for the presenting complaint was noted. The SF-36 was given to patients at the initial visit, after four weeks and at the end of the care plan (the level of maximal chiropractic improvement, MCI). The GWBS was completed at each visit. Radiographic analysis of upper cervical subluxation was recorded. Data are continually being collected from field practitioners and entered into a computerized database. This update summarizes the results from the first two years of the study.

Results: The patients (N=311) sought care for a variety of mostly musculoskeletal complaints: back pain (33.9%), neck pain (40.9%) and headache (9.8%). Forty % (N=34) of the 85 completed patients had acute complaints, while 60% (N=51) complained of chronic problems.

The average pre-adjustment C1 misalignment was 2.2 degrees of laterality. The average measured radiographic change was 51-75% with the average post-adjustment C1 misalignment reduced to 0.89 degrees.

The SF-36 data reduces to health scores ranging from 0 to 100 in eight discreet dimensions or subscales: physical function (PF), role physical (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), vitality (V), social function (SF), role emotional (RE) and mental health (MH). The mean SF-36 results for 4 week data (n=161) and MCI (n=85) show statistically significance changes from initial values (n=311) at both 4 weeks and MCI. All subscales showed improvement with the greatest average gain seen for role physical (39 points

Conclusions: In our chiropractic population, the improvement in average SF-36 scores might be attributed to changes in health due to the spinal correction, but there is no data available from a control population to support that conclusion.

Can Upper Cervical Care Ease Colic?

by Deb Donovan and Bob VanMetter

Almost all infants develop periods of fussiness. This is often referred to as colic. It has been defined as periods of irritability, fussiness and inconsolable crying in a healthy baby (that lasts for at least three hours a day, at least three days a week). But colic is actually a default diagnosis.

Pain from sources other than the gastrointestinal tract can be improperly diagnosed as colic. If a baby is crying inconsolably, it is very difficult to know if he is actually suffering from a digestive disturbance. There is a strong possibility, especially when there has been a history of birth trauma, that these babies are suffering from head and neck pain due to misalignments in the upper cervical (neck) area.

In a study looking at babies receiving upper cervical care for colic, 94 percent of parents saw improvement in their baby's behavior within two weeks of initiation of care. A little over half of these babies had already been unsuccessfully treated, usually by pharmacological means (Klougart et al., 1989). Another study found 91 percent of babies experienced a reduction in colicky behavior following as little as two upper cervical corrections (Nilsson, 1985).

PART TWO: Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome: Purple Feet and a Pounding Heart

By Alice Teisan

In October 1999 when I was still experiencing CFIDS symptoms, a friend recommended I see Dr. Marshall Dickholtz, Sr. He is a National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association (NUCCA) specialist. In Chiropractics, NUCCA is a specific form of chiropractic adjusting, focusing on an atlas vertebra relationship to the head and the rest of the cervical spine at the brain stem level. Having just completed a year of unsuccessful yet intensive Chiropractic treatment, I listened apprehensively, and prayed that my hopes wouldn’t be dashed again by yet another ineffective, all-consuming treatment option. After researching the treatment and discussing the findings with my internist, she then prescribed the treatment. I realized it met all my criteria - including being affordable, non-invasive, having a high success rate, and being respected within the western medical framework.

Prior to the appointment with Dr. Dickholtz, Sr., I completed an extensive health history profile. One of the first questions on the health history was, had I ever had a head injury? I thought, "Who hasn’t hit their head?" Then I remembered four memorable head injuries throughout my life. The most serious one took place a year prior to CFIDS and the most recent one occurred six months before seeing Dr. Dickholtz, Sr.

My initial appointment with Dr. Dickholtz, Sr. was extensive. After looking at the completed health history, he did six different kinds of tests to determine the problem. He asked me to sit in a chair, while he used a neurocalometer that measured the temperature difference of each side of my cervical spine (from the shoulders to the base of the skull). He also performed a supine leg check, which measured leg length differences in relationship to muscle spasms that occurs on each side of my body. Another test involved standing on an anatometer, which looked at a posture scan in relationship to my hip level and pelvic rotation position. There was a horizontal line chart that showed the level of the ears in the standing position relative to the talking of three X-rays, when seated, of the cervical spine and skull that were taken lastly.

After all the tests were performed, Dr. Dickholtz, Sr. examined and measured the X-rays and determined the proper adjustment needed to return my spine and head to a balanced position. Through the X-ray measurements, he was able to return the C1 (atlas) and the rest of the vertebrae to within a quarter degree of their proper positions.

Once the specific chiropractic adjustment was performed, it took my body time to acclimate before standing without feeling faint. When able, I walked the length of the exam room a couple times allowing my body to rebalance itself from the adjustment (correction). Before the four-hour appointment was completed, all six of the above tests were performed again and post X-rays taken to make sure that the adjustment was correct.

Dr. Dickholtz, Sr. describes the adjustment as equivalent to major surgery done on the body. Recovery time of a month is necessary before experiencing benefits. In my case my heart palpitations, tachycardia and irregular beats subsided immediately.

Follow-up visits include periodic checks to make sure the adjustment is holding.

Within a month of being adjusted I began to feel my neck, shoulder and back muscles loosen. Many aching, arthritic type pains, severe CFIDS-type headaches and the beet-red color in my face and neck subsided.

The ideal is to have the first adjustment be the only one needed, which many of his patients have experienced. My adjustment’s average holding time is three to four months.

The initial adjustment held four months before I hit my head, knocking my alignment out of place. Not totally believing the chiropractic treatment was helping I waited until my next scheduled appointment, two months later. At the time I didn’t realize that my NMOT symptoms along with exacerbated CFIDS symptoms begin almost immediately after my alignment was no longer holding.

Also during the two months that my adjustment was out from December 2000 to February 2001, after having worked three and a half years part time, I began to experience exacerbated CFIDS symptoms. The increased fatigue, inability to concentrate, increased tremors, and a heart rate over 140 when standing, along with fevers and the inability to perform simple daily tasks, resulted in my third total disability. However, within a week of having my neck readjusted, my heart rate dropped under 100 when standing. When my adjustment is holding, I experience great relief even though I am still disabled.

Dealing with CFIDS requires patience, persistence, stamina and a hope in Heaven to complete the journey well. How glad I am that I found a NUCCA Doctor, even though it has not provided the ultimate cure. It has provided restoration of new life to my body and a lessening of many CFIDS related symptoms, along with a continued hope for further healing. When my chiropractic adjustment is holding, the day-to-day pain and difficulties with CFIDS are much more manageable and less painful, allowing me to have a focus on something more enjoyable than my severe suffering.

For more information, contact the author, Alice Teisan, at alicemt2@juno.com. Dr. Marshall Dickholtz, Sr., can be contacted at dmarshallsr@worldnet.att.net.

PART ONE: Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome: Purple Feet and a Pounding Heart

June 19, 2002
By Alice Teisan

It was a warm April afternoon in 1996 and I was working as a nurse at the local hospital. While standing still, talking with one of my patients, I began feeling faint and quickly excused myself. Another nurse on the hospital unit instructed me to sit down as she performed a glucose test, blood pressure and electrocardiogram (EKG). However, I knew from my body’s horrendous response that I was experiencing a relapse with Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS).

Based on the recommendation from a journal article that correlated CFIDS with fainting, I quickly scheduled a tilt table test, with the approval of my internist, Dr.Vesna Skul, MD. The test, performed by a cardiologist, involves being strapped to an X-ray table. The straps keep the patient from shifting weight, thus altering the test results. Then an EKG is hooked up to monitor the patient's heart rate throughout the test. Next an IV is started as a precaution in case emergency medications are needed. The test begins while the patient is in a supine position (lying on the back), so the doctor can establish a baseline heart rate and blood pressure. Afterwards, the doctor moves the X-ray table to a standing position. Throughout the test the blood pressure along with the heart rate are monitored at regular intervals. Also, physical changes and my subjective symptoms are documented.

Within two minutes of the test, when I was placed in a standing position, my heart rate went from 94 to 168. Other symptoms included a beet-red face and neck, the feeling of my heart pounding, a throbbing head, uncontrollable sweating, nausea, exacerbated fatigue, severe trembling, and feet that were turning purple. I felt even worse with the passing of the next 21 minutes while left in the standing position. Within five minutes of being returned to the lying position my heart rate dropped under 100. The symptoms caused by the test remained for days.

My body’s unique response to the test mystified the cardiologist as my heart rate rose while my blood pressure remained normal - when it should have dropped. He recommended treating the high heart rate with Inderal, a beta-blocker medication that slows the heart rate. Within a month, I knew this straightforward treatment for common heart problems was the wrong treatment for my disorder. I could not get out of bed without feeling faint.

A nursing colleague discussed my medical history with an endocrinologist. She explained that I had struggled with CFIDS since 1992, had seen over 25 specialists and tried several treatments in an attempt to find answers to my problem. Also she gave him the recent Tilt table test results. The endocrinologist was doing a research study on a condition called Neurally Mediated Orthostatic Tachycardia (NMOT). This is a rare autonomic nervous system problem where orthostatic refers to a change in position (in my case, standing) and tachycardia is a heart rate over 100.

Therefore, when receiving the endocrinologist’s initial call in July I listened eagerly. He began by saying, “Your feet turn purple, your heart pounds, and you always fidget when standing.” During this first contact, by phone, I was to learn how well he knew my symptoms that were revealed by the Tilt table test in May. After seeing me, gratis, he began a one-year medication therapy, including up to 11 pills a day for nine months. The treatment helped regulate my heart rate; however, Dr. Skul was concerned about the difficulty my body experienced from the side affects of the medications.

During this 18-month relapse I went through a period of deep depression. I had lost the ability to work, live alone, or stand without feeling faint, which profoundly affected all areas of my life. The depression therapy was part of the above treatment.

Once my heart rate was under control and my health was improving I began doing menial tasks. As my stamina increased, I was able to work in a part-time clerical position for a dental office. However, I continued to get many of the same limiting CFIDS and NMOT symptoms within three hours of starting work. Along with the NMOT symptoms earlier mentioned, my CFIDS symptoms included low-grade temperatures, arthritic type pain, severe headaches, blurred vision, inability to concentrate, slowed reaction time, and increased environmental sensitivities to noises, air quality, temperature, and odors...

Tune in later for Part 2

Upper Cervical Care Cuts Blood Pressure

The article below is a great example of the power of an Upper Cervical correction:

Study Finds Special 'Atlas Correction' Lowers Blood Pressure
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Medical News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

March 16, 2007 -- An Upper Cervical Correction can significantly lower high blood pressure, a placebo-controlled study suggests.

"This procedure has the effect of not one, but two blood-pressure medications given in combination," study leader George Bakris, MD, tells WebMD. "And it seems to be adverse-event free. We saw no side effects and no problems," adds Bakris, director of the University of Chicago hypertension center.

Eight weeks after undergoing the procedure, 25 patients with early-stage high blood pressure had significantly lower blood pressure than 25 similar patients who underwent a sham upper cervical correction. Because patients can't feel the technique, they were unable to tell which group they were in.

X-rays showed that the procedure realigned the Atlas vertebra -- the doughnut-like bone at the very top of the spine -- with the spine in the treated patients, but not in the sham-treated patients. Compared to the sham-treated patients, those who got the real procedure saw an average 14 mm Hg greater drop in systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure count), and an average 8 mm Hg greater drop in diastolic blood pressure None of the patients took blood pressure medicine during the eight-week study.

"When the statistician brought me the data, I actually didn't believe it. It was way too good to be true," Bakris says. "The statistician said, 'I don't even believe it.' But we checked for everything, and there it was." Bakris and colleagues report their findings in the advance online issue of the Journal of Human Hypertension.

Atlas Adjustment and Hypertension

The procedure calls for adjustment of the C-1 vertebra. It's called the Atlas vertebra because it holds up the head, just as the titan Atlas holds up the world in Greek mythology. Marshall Dickholtz Sr., DC, of the Chiropractic Health Center, in Chicago, is the 84-year-old Upper Cervical doctor who performed all the procedures in the study. He calls the Atlas vertebra "the fuse box to the body."

"At the base of the brain are two centers that control all the muscles of the body. If you pinch the base of the brain -- if the Atlas gets locked in a position as little as a half a millimeter out of line -- it doesn't cause any pain but it upsets these centers," Dickholtz tells WebMD.

The subtle correction is practiced by the very small subgroup of chiropractors certified in National Upper Cervical Chiropractic (NUCCA) techniques. The procedure employs precise measurements to determine a patient's Atlas vertebra alignment. If realignment is deemed necessary, the chiropractor uses his or her hands to gently manipulate the vertebra.

"We are not doctors. We are spinal engineers," Dickholtz says. "We use mathematics, geometry, and physics to learn how to slide everything back into place."

What does this have to do with high blood pressure?

Bakris notes that some researchers have suggested that injury to the Atlas vertebra can affect blood flow in the arteries at the base of the skull. Dickholtz thinks the misaligned Atlas triggers release of signals that make the arteries contract. Whether the procedure actually fixes such injuries is unknown, Bakris says.

Bakris began the study after a fellow doctor told him that something strange was happening in his family practice. The doctor had been sending some of his patients to a chiropractor. Some of these patients had high blood pressure.

Yet after seeing the chiropractor, the patients' blood pressure had normalized -- and a few of them were able to stop taking their blood pressure medications. So Bakris, then at Rush University, designed the pilot study with 50 patients. He's now organizing a much bigger clinical trial.

"Is it going to be for everybody with high blood pressure? No," Bakris says. "We clearly need to identify those who can benefit. It is pretty clear that some kind of head or neck trauma early in life is related to this. This is really a work in progress. It is certainly in the early stages of research."

Dickholtz has been teaching, practicing, and studying the NUCCA technique for 50 years. He says high blood pressure is far from the only thing an Atlas misalignment causes.
"On the other hand, if people have high blood pressure, there is a tremendous possibility they need an Atlas adjustment," he says.

http://www.webmd.com/hypertensionhigh- blood-pressure/news/20070316/chiropractic- cuts-blood-pressure?page=1

Editor’s Note: In 2006 WebMD was awarded best medical website by WebAward.org. The significance of just such a move for chiropractic cannot be fully seen in the present but if this publicity continues to grow, the world is going to need a lot of specific upper cervical chiropractors in the near future.

Published: May 2007

Where can I find an upper cervical doctor?

Check out www.uppercervicalcare.com or www.upcspine.com

The 40 plus offices on the first website you can be sure are real upper cervical doctors. If you find a doctor closer to you on the second site just double check with a doc on the first site, myself, or Brandon Harshe (on www.theatlasoflife.com) to confirm if they follow standard Upper Cervical Care protocol. Just because a doctor works with this area of the spine that does not make them an upper cervical doctor. We can give you the right questions to ask to find out if you are getting the real deal or not.

What Is Upper Cervical Care

The Blair Chiropractic Society wrote the following when asked what upper cervical care is:

“The Upper Cervical technique is a specific system of analyzing and adjusting the upper cervical bones of the spinal column. These bones can misalign in such a way as to interfere with the brain stem and spinal cord as they exit through the floor of the skull and into the neural canal. Special attention is given to the first two bones in the neck, the atlas and axis, as they are the most freely moveable bones in the spinal column and the ones most commonly misaligned.

After many years of research and study of all the techniques that were developing at the time, Dr. B.J. Palmer, the developer of chiropractic, realized that the only place a person could truly have interference to the nervous system was at the level of the base of the skull; and the atlas and axis. There are no discs between the skull and the atlas, or between the atlas and axis. Most movement of the head and neck occur at this level. The joint surfaces in this area move more on a horizontal plane rather than a vertical plane as in the rest of the spine. This area is not supplied with the abundance of supporting ligaments that are found in the rest of the spine. As a result of these characteristics of the cervical spine, it becomes the weakest link in the chain when exposed to the forces of trauma such as the birth process, falls, auto accidents, stress etc.

Dr. Palmer conducted studies in Germany on cadavers and found that the brain stem or medulla, extended into the spine to the level of the second bone (axis) in the neck, at which point it becomes the spinal cord extending downward. The brain stem has been referred to as "Houston Control". It is the area where nerve cell centers are located that control many of the major functions of the body such as heartbeat, respiration, digestion, elimination, our heating and cooling mechanism, constriction and dilation of the veins and arteries, muscle coordination, etc. Most of the functions of the body that we don't have to consciously think about are controlled at the brain stem level.

The brain stem at the level of the atlas consists of approximately ten billion nerve fibers sending messages through the spinal cord to the cells of the body and from the cells back to the brain. These nerve fibers are arranged in small bundles called nerve tracts. These nerve tracts are either sensory or motor. The motor nerves allow us function of the organs and systems while moving the body about its environment, via the musculoskeletal system. Gray's Anatomy states, "The nervous system is the master system of the body controlling and coordinating all the functions of the body and relating the individual to his environment."

The atlas and axis are the only parts of the backbone in proximity to the brain stem. When they misalign to the extent that they irritate the brain stem and or spinal cord they interfere with the vital messages being sent to and from the brain to all parts of the body. If for example the atlas is irritating the part of the cord that sends messages to the left hand, that individual may experience a numbness, burning or tingling sensation in that hand. If the nerve tracts at the brain stem level that go to the heart are being irritated that individual may experience high blood pressure, palpitations or an irregular heartbeat. Any part of the body can be affected when there is irritation in the brain stem or spinal cord because almost all of the nerves have to pass through this area before reaching the part of the body they innervate.

When the atlas or axis misaligns to the extent that it interferes with nerve tissue and reduces the mental impulses it is termed a subluxation. A subluxation may be present for months or years before producing any outward signs such as pain or symptoms, causing the body to break down.

The purpose of the Upper Cervical technique is not to diagnose or treat diseases or conditions, but to analyze and correct vertebral subluxations in an accurate, precise and specific manner to allow the body to mend, repair and maintain health from within.

The Upper Cervical technique utilizes neurological tests, heat sensitive instrumentation and other means for detecting when the vertebral subluxation is present or absent. The adjustment is administered only when nerve irritation is present. The Upper Cervical technique utilizes precise x-rays of the upper cervical area to determine which way the vertebra has misaligned so that a precise and specific adjustment may be tailored and administered to that individual.”