Make No Bones About It

The other day I saw a young patient who was experiencing some weird symptoms.

She suffered from headaches, neck pain, shoulder pain, throat pain, issues with swallowing, jaw clenching, and pulling behind her eye.

When I asked her when the symptoms started, she mentioned the symptoms began after receiving a manipulation at a different practitioner's office six months prior.

Since then, she has tried acupuncture, massage, physical therapy, and myofascial release to get rid of the pain, all to no avail.

Her initial exam revealed a lot of scar tissue in her neck, and scoliosis and she mentioned something interesting.

She said she was a cheerleader back in the day and fell high in the air from a stunt that went bad.

She landed directly on her back and then hit her head.

She did not respond as expected from working the muscles in her neck, but when we adjusted her lower back, her neck immediately was able to move better, and the pain subsided.

You should have seen the look on her face when she was able to turn her head more freely as she could not believe that her back had anything to do with the neck.

In this case, the bones in the lower back shifted in one direction, causing the bones in the neck to shift in another direction. (imagine in the picture above if lower back bones move to the left, the neck bones compensate by moving to the right)

Sometimes, the area of complaint is not where the origin of the problem begins.

Often, your past history of trauma will point to the cause of your hidden pain.

You may have forgotten the trauma, but your body is not as forgetful.

It remembers every slip, trip, fall, and injury you have ever sustained, especially the traumas you never properly fixed.

I always tell patients who are in a car accident to come on the day of injury, and they will cut their recovery time in half and reduce their chances of having long-term problems from the accident.

This is why it is important to get balanced out shortly after an injury.

Immediate intervention inevitably leads to a more rapid recovery.

Some of you may be skeptical of what I am saying and think to yourself, "My body is going to eventually heal from an injury or trauma even if I don't do any intervention or treatment so why bother?"

I fully agree that with or without treatment, your body is going to eventually recover.

The issue is not a matter of 'Am I going to recover'.

The issue is more the matter of, 'What can I do to speed up the recovery process and at the same time, prevent future problems from the compensatory factors associated with this trauma.'

Treatment or no treatment you need to understand this one important concept: