Chiropractors are severely trained to refer patients to the real doctors for just about anything. Below is a story about why people with so many severe medical problems might want to consider asking their real doctor for a referral to a real Doctor of Chiropractic. Keep in mind, it seems lately that almost half of my profession is not doing real chiropractic, but that is a story for another day.
In Los Angeles, you can’t drive for more than 30 seconds before seeing a giant billboard for an automobile injury attorney. There is a good chance in another few minutes of driving you’ll be needing one. So now I’m going to get into the nuts and bolts of why your real doctor might not be a great deal of help to you for your amazing number of symptoms that will overwhelm the best of the specialists.
The trauma sustained in a typical whiplash injury can create cranial nerve injuries. The brain stem is located near the big hole in your skull where it eventually turns into 20% of your brain known as the spinal cord, and it exits that big hole. A Whiplash injury can take the 13–15-pound bowling ball on your neck known also as your head, whip it around, and the bony jagged edges of that hole can bruise or damage the brain stem. If a poorly educated real doctor states emphatically that a chiropractor can’t affect those nerves at your brain stem level because they don’t reach your neck, you might want to check his grades or attendance records in his neurology/physiology courses.
How can I be so cruel and say such things? Here is how neck pain causes some of those troublesome problems that you have been told to never see a chiropractor for.
Vertigo/Dizziness: The cervical spine plays a crucial role in how the brain maintains balance. Signals from an injured cervical spine travel through the spinal cord to the brainstem—specifically the vestibular and oculomotor nuclei which are pools of nerve cells that control vision and balance. This is the same part of the brain that receives the signals from the inner ear, via a part of the eighth cranial nerve. I’ve been told by PhD anatomists that there is just no way a chiropractor can affect that 8th cranial nerve since it was locked securely in the skull.
A painful neck can cause overexcitation of the nerve pathways, resulting in altered functioning of the brainstem. These alterations in the brainstem can in turn cause dysfunction in eye motility and balance, since these different systems all work together as the Posture Control System. It is important for our brains to see the horizon correctly and if your neck is sending incorrect information, the brain just very well correct that problem by making your spine crooked, aka scoliosis. Those muscles that twist your spine are not connected to your voluntary motor strip, so there is nothing you can consciously do to change those mispositioned vertebrae. Now let’s get into the endocrine system that no one in their right mind would ever associate with your spine.
There are five major hormones that come from and/or are controlled by the Pituitary gland: (1)TSH; (2)ACTH; (3)LH; (4)FSH; and (5)ADH. The function of these five hormones can be greatly altered after a neck injury.
A concussion can cause the Pituitary gland to not secrete the right amount of Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, which can lead to: Hypothyroidism Hyperthyroidism Too little thyroid hormone causes: weight gain, dry skin, constipation, cold intolerance, puffy skin, hair loss, menstrual irregularity in women, and fatigue.
Of course, an endocrinologist should be involved when you have these symptoms, but there is a good probability that they are not going to think about what created it. They will treat it though and that is when the guessing game of how much of these hormones need to be regulated without making you worse begins. I’m not saying that the chiropractor can cure any of these things; we’re not even allowed to treat these things. However, many people have noticed their problems did go away after chiropractic treatment for a problem with their neck. There is a good chance the chiropractor didn’t even know you had these things. It’s just a coincidence, I’m sure.
Too much thyroid causes: rapid heart rate anxiety weight loss difficulty sleeping tremors in the hands weakness diarrhea sensitivity to light visual disturbances.
ACTH relates to corticosteroid chemicals. They are important in controlling inflammation in your body, helping you handle stress, and controlling your behavior. Cortisol is produced by your adrenal glands, where adrenalin comes from. When it is secreted, it increases your blood sugar level, suppresses your immune system and helps your body metabolize carbohydrates, fat and protein.
LH, Luteinizing hormone affects the production of testosterone. Studies showed that 80% of concussion patients have low testosterone within one year of the injury. Testosterone is crucial for the repair and regeneration of tissue also known as healing.
FSH, Follicle Stimulating Hormone regulates the development, growth, and reproductive processes of the body. It is a companion to LH in the reproductive system. It also causes the secretion of Inhibin which, together with Activin, affects your body’s ability to repair wounds (healing the physical injuries from the trauma).
ADH Anti Diuretic Hormone affects how much water is reabsorbed by your kidneys so it has an important effect on the regulation of water, glucose and salts in your blood.
When you get that simple whiplash that the insurance companies say can’t happen, all these things can happen. Speaking of which, SCIWORA, Spinal Cord Injury Without Radiographic Abnormality is a more recent term that admits that we are not at Star Trek levels of medical detection yet. We don’t have the technology to detect so many things that are going wrong.
What else can go wrong from that injury that didn’t disturb the coffee cup in the console holder of your car? Insurance lawyers love to use that one. Head Injury leads to an entire field known as, Psychiatric Risk Factor of Head injury. It is associated with a higher risk of: Schizophrenia Depression Bipolar Disorder Sleep Disorders & Concussion. Concussion patients had 39% abnormal sleep studies. 23% had Obstructive Sleep Apnea, OSA) 3% had posttraumatic hypersomnia 5% had narcolepsy 7% had PLMS (limb movement in sleep/restless leg) 21% had significant daytime sleepiness. Who on earth would be crazy enough to go to a chiropractor for that stuff? I’m being sarcastic, I certainly wouldn’t. I go to the chiropractor because I want my brain to work as correctly as possible.
There are 1.7 million TBIs (Traumatic Brain Injuries) in U.S. every year Only 1.4 million seek treatment 250,000 hospitalizations a year 50,000 deaths a year 70-90% of these are MILD TBIs 72.5% have impaired sleep/wake disturbances which developed after the TBI. 55% of concussion patients have insomnia, 34% develop OSA
Major depression is a frequent psychiatric complication among patients with TBI. 33% of patients with TBI were diagnosed with MAJOR depression” within 1 year of the TBI. 76% of those had comorbid anxiety. 56% had aggressive behavior
“Major” depression led to 26.7% Alcohol abuse or dependence 11.7% Panic Disorder 8.3% Specific Phobia 8.3% Psychotic Disorders 6.7% Personality Disorder 23.7% Avoidant Personality Disorder 15% Paranoid Personality Disorder 8.3% Schizoid Personality Disorder 6.7%. Of course, a Psychiatrist has to diagnose these disorders. I’m certainly not ever going to attempt it. I have no idea just how crazy my patients are because they are not exactly always forthcoming about that kind of thing. Strangely though, many have told me down the road of treatment with me that they were doing better in that department.
There is no such thing as a panacea, but if there was anything even close to one, I’d go looking for it at my colleague’s office. And yes, I go to the medical doctors. A little too much at my 7th decade of life. I’ve had some issues that I diagnosed that needed medical intervention, and I will be forever grateful for the amazing outcomes and benefits I received. On the other hand, I went to a neck surgeon recently with the worst MRI I’ve ever seen on a patient, and it was my MRI. He laughed and said it was an old man’s neck and there was nothing to do about it because I did not have any symptoms. The kinds of symptoms that many patients come to me for and get relief. They get some to great benefit. Once in a while they’ll write a review about it.
