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Our Patient Achieves 300% – 400% Improvement In Meniere’s Disease

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VIEW CASE STUDY

HISTORY OF IMPROVEMENT IN MENIERE’S SYMPTOMS

KATHY’S TESTIMONIAL

Hello, my name is Kathy and I have Meniere’s Disease.

In 2009, I was doing yoga and was suddenly overcome by dizziness and fell over. It only lasted a few minutes and I had no idea what happened.  Then…nothing for a year and a half.  In 2011, I was at a chiropractor’s office and he did a neck adjustment and wham…I was so dizzy, I could not walk or drive. Someone had to come pick me up and get me and my car home.  An Ear, Nose and Throat doctor said I had benign positional vertigo and gave me some movements to do when I got dizzy. But then, I had an acute episode of vertigo. Luckily, I was at home at the time. I couldn’t walk or sit or lay down or even blink without the world spinning. Then came the cyclical vomiting. My husband had to take me to the emergency room because it wouldn’t stop. Every 20 minutes like clockwork. It was horrible. It was then that I was diagnosed with Meniere’s Disease. It was then that my life changed.

I was put on several medications for when I was having symptoms, and they help but they don’t solve the underlying problem

I was put on a low sodium diet and a diuretic. I have low blood pressure, so I could not tolerate the diuretic. I felt worse than I did before. They wanted to put me on some other medications that had worse side effects than the symptoms.  I said no. I don’t really like to take a bunch of stuff, especially when they didn’t even know if it would help.  I was put on several medications for when I was having symptoms, and they help but they don’t solve the underlying problem, nor the anxiety that goes along with not knowing when an episode will hit.

Meniere’s is a very frustrating disease to have.  No one knows exactly what is happening inside the ear, what causes it, or how to cure it.  They have theories, of course, and treatment is hit or miss. There is no treatment that seems to work for everyone. Currently it has no cure.  Just management.

I prefer a holistic, whole body approach to my healthcare, not just, “here, take this medication and see what happens.”

My doctor was not listening to me. He dismissed many of my questions. He said my case was minor compared to some he had seen and dismissed how this disease was affecting my life. He was convinced I had asymptomatic migraines and wanted to put me on an antidepressant that is used to treat migraines. Some of the more common side effects of that medication are dizziness and tinnitus. Those were some of the very symptoms I was trying to get rid of! Maybe if they could have proved to me that I actually had migraines, that would have helped convince me.  Yes, there is a correlation between people who have migraines and Meniere’s, about 50%.  But that means that there are 50% of Meniere’s sufferers who do NOT have migraines. The logic of “take this medication, for a condition you may or may not have, that may or may not actually help with the Meniere’s symptoms” was not something I could get behind.

I started to do a lot of research.

I wanted to find an underlying cause.  I wanted to treat the underlying cause, not just treat the symptoms. I had immunological testing, and allergy testing. I tried to reduce the stress in my life.  I changed my diet to eliminate things that are known to be inflammatory to the body. Inflammation is a cause of fluid retention. Fluid retention in the body means more fluid in the ears. Made sense to me. I have tried meditation, essential oils, massage. I tracked the occurrence of dizziness and vertigo against sleep patterns, menstrual cycles, stress.  It does appear to me that things that cause stress to the mind and body, aggravate the symptoms. Over the years, I have tried many things with varying degrees of success.

Then I came across some research addressing a possible cause of Meniere’s

by Dr Michael Burcon. Then I came across a book that took that research and went into it further.  The book is called “Say Goodbye to Meniere’s Disease: Here’s How to Make Your World Stop Spinning” by Neil G Bauman, PhD.  I read it.  This was the first thing I had seen giving an explanation of a possible underlying cause of Meniere’s and even better, a possible cure.  It made complete sense to me! And it fit with my personal medical history. I knew I had numerous issues with my back, shoulders, hips and neck that were a result of a pretty bad car accident I had when I was younger. But I didn’t realize that those could be the underlying cause of what was going on now.

But not just any chiropractor

I’m not going to go into detail here, but please get the book yourself, read it and see if it makes sense to you.  In a nutshell, what it came down to, was a misalignment of the cervical vertebrae.  And the treatment involves going to a chiropractor.  But not just any chiropractor – one that has extra certifications in upper cervical treatment.  Specifically, an expert, in adjusting the atlas and axis vertebrae (C1 and C2).

You may recall I mentioned earlier that my first real experience with vertigo was after I had an adjustment in a chiropractic office. I was fairly nervous to try it again.  But, all chiropractors are not created equal.  The previous chiropractor I saw was what I call a “twist and crack” chiropractor.  So, as recommended in the book, I went online and did a search for chiropractors that had this extra training, years of experience and the extra certifications.  There are only a couple in the whole state of Colorado.   Dr Tom Groover at the Boulder Chiropractic Clinic is one of them.

Then he determined exactly how to treat ME.

From my first visit, I realized this was going to be different from chiropractors I had seen before.  He took x-rays and measurements, so the adjustments could be precise and specifically for MY body and MY issues.  He determined exactly what was misaligned, and in exactly what way. Then he determined exactly how to treat ME.

I started seeing Dr. Groover in February 2018.  Besides the upper cervical misalignment, I had several other issues that needed to be corrected and stabilized in order for my body to hold the adjustments permanently. No, I didn’t experience a miraculous cure after one treatment. But I wasn’t expecting that. My body had been misaligned for 33 years. My muscles had been holding my bones in the wrong place for all that time.  I figured it was going to take some time to undo all that and retrain my muscles to hold my bones where they are meant to be.

Is it improved? Dramatically. Do I feel better? Definitely.

And best of all, since I started seeing Dr. Groover, I have not had one acute vertigo episode.  I do still experience dizziness, and there are times when I think it might get worse and I could have an acute episode. But it hasn’t happened. Am I cured? Honestly, I’m not sure yet. I’m cautiously optimistic. What I can tell you for certain, is that I feel better than I did before, and I do believe this path is the correct one for me.

For the first time in years, I have hope.

Read the book, read the research. See if it makes sense to you.  If it does, I recommend you make an appointment. What do you have to lose? It may just turn out to be the answer you’ve been looking for. It may be the turning point where your live begins to feel like it did before you were diagnosed with Meniere’s.  For the first time in years, I have hope. There might just be a light at the end of that tunnel. And I for one am looking forward to reaching it.

Best of luck to you and may you find a path that leads you back to a life of good health and balance!

Did This Happen When You Fell On Your Butt?

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Yes, Did This Happen When You Fell On Your Butt?

“Falling on your butt may cause you serious problems,” says Boulder Chiropractic Clinic’s Dr. Tom Groover. “Such upward jolts to your pelvis frequently injure your sacroiliac joint ligaments. These common percussive forces will miss-align your sacrum (the spine’s triangular base, each side of which joins with your ilia) and your illia (two large hip bones). The junctions between your illia and sacrum are your sacroiliac joints, misalignments of which cause considerable problems.”

“Healthy sacroiliac joints are structurally and functionally symmetrical. Each ilium fits precisely with the sacrum and the ilia align precisely with each other. Subluxations (misalignments less than dislocations) of these sacroiliac joints cause structural distortions and movement asymmetries. Falling-on-your-butt-traumas cause both simple and complex sacroiliac joint subluxations.”

Dr. Groover describes how these injuries will manifest into symptomes. “These sacroiliac joint subluxations irritate your joint tissues, nerves and muscles. The results: acute and chronic sciatica including low back, hip, pelvis and leg pain. Pelvis subluxations really stress your nervous system.” He explains, “Some subluxations are simple and easily diagnosed and treated by most chiropractic and osteopathic doctors. Others are much more difficult.”

The Majority of New Patients Coming to Our Clinic Have Sciatica.

“More than half our new patients have subluxation-induced sciatica — that radiating pain down your butt, hip and leg. Many have non-radiating low back, hip and leg pains. The larger majority of these patient have previously been treated for their conditions. Some have been to many medical doctors, physical therapists, osteopathic doctors and chiropractic doctors. They often complain about spending their time, effort and money for little or no results.

Chiropractic College Was Just the Beginning.

Dr. Groover explains, “Chiropractic college really was the beginning of my chiropractic education. The curriculum there gave me the fundamental language and perspective for life-long learning and professional development. The diagnostic and treatment procedures for pelvis and lumbar spine subluxations I learned were excellent. Surprisingly, those procedures didn’t work for many of my patients. Now these patients enjoy great results from the knowledge, understanding and procedures I have developed refined during my many years of clinic practice.”

Let’s Take Care of that Condition Right Away.

We at Boulder Chiropractic Clinic recognize the critical importance of your pelvis and low back alignments. They provide structural and functional support for your skeletal, muscular and neurological systems.

If you have injured yourself currently or in the past and have acute or chronic sciatica, low back, hip or leg pain; give us a call at 303-442-7772.

Or, email us at info@BoulderChiropracticClinic.com.

Let’s take care of that condition right away.

Did This Happen When You Fell On Your Butt?

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Snowboarding season is upon us here in Colorado and I can’t tell you how many times I have treated these athletes for sacroiliac joint butt-landing ligament injuries. These ligament failures accompany sacroiliac joint subluxations (misalignments less than dislocations) with attendant pain, stiffness and weakness. Depending upon the patient’s age and general health, immediate, accurate diagnosis and treatment will re-align the sacroiliac joints and heal the ligaments for uncomplicated recovery.

On the other hand, most people with chronic low back-hip-pelvis-leg pain, stiffness and weakness have, at some time in the more distant past, fallen on their butts and experienced the same injuries. Due to the long-term wear and tear of these injuries, these cases are often complicated by more severe ligament laxities, inflammation, cartilage loss and the pain of degenerative osteoarthritis.

I recommend that you take care of your sacroiliac joint ligament injuries and their attendant joint subluxations quickly and effectively. If you are still symptomatic after undergoing reasonable treatment, seek another opinion from a sacroiliac joint injury expert. Left unattended, these injuries can make your life miserable.

boulderchiropracticclinic.com

Neuromuscular Education of Your Knee & Joints

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Neuromuscular re-education is an attempt to teach your body to move normally through analysis of your abnormal movement and then learning and practicing the normal movement. Theoretically, your normal movement patterns involve specific nerve signals transmitted through specific nerve tracts between your muscles and your brain. By practicing normal movement repeatedly over time, these nerve tracts become reinforced and these normal muscle movement patterns are learned and remembered. It is thought that normal muscle movement patterns are disrupted when nerves or muscles are injured, and normal movement may be regained through Neuromuscular re-education.

I find it is true that abnormal movement results from nerve and muscle injuries and may be relearned. However, it is my clinical experience that certain conditions must be in place for that to occur. Namely, movement-disrupting injuries are more extensive than those to nerves and muscles, and to restore normal movement, these injuries must be healed.

The traumas which injure muscles and nerves will most likely injure your joints too. In most of my cases, joint injury is the primary injury and the nerve and muscle injuries are secondary to (they are caused by) the joint injury. Joint injuries occur from both acute and repetitive stress traumas. Acute traumas abound in contact sports and motor vehicle collisions, where excessive forces sprain your ligaments, strain your muscles and bruise your nerves, and worse. Accompanying these sprains and strains are displacements of your bones from their healthy, neutral alignments within your joint capsules.

Your joints contain bone, cartilage and synovial fluid encapsulated by ligaments, muscles and membranes. Your joints contain nerve endings (mechanoreceptors) which deliver feedback such as information about the alignment of the bones within your joints, joint capsular pressure, ligament, tendon and muscle tension/tone and the position of your limbs in space. When your joints are injured, and therefore misaligned, feedback from these injured joints to your central nervous system becomes abnormal. You’ve heard the expression “garbage in — garbage out”. The control of the nerves associated with those injured  joints is disrupted or lost and abnormal motion of the joints ensues.

In this case, treating the abnormal muscles and nerves without realigning the joint and healing the ligament and other soft tissue injuries can only go so far. Based upon my clinical experience, I propose that the injured ligaments, tendons, muscles and nerves will not effectively heal until their associated joints are realigned and are moving normally in the first place.

boulderchiropracticclinic.com