Is Fibromyalgia a Brain Problem?? (Part 1)

      Fibromyalgia is a form of generalized muscular pain and fatigue that affects almost 5 million Americans. There is no one special lab test that makes the diagnosis, the diagnosis instead depends mostly on a person’s complaints. Pain is the most prominent symptom of fibromyalgia, and it generally occurs through the entire body, although it may start in one region such as the neck and shoulders, and spread to other areas over a period of time. The majority of patients with fibromyalgia experience moderate to severe fatigue. Along with decreased exercise endurance, and the kind of exhaustion that results from the flu or lack of sleep are very common, At times, the fatigue is more of a problem than the pain. Abdominal pain, bloating, alternating, light sensitivity, inability to sleep, abnormal heart rhythm, constipation and diarrhea, migraine headaches and muscular tension headaches are all part of the fibromyalgia syndrome. Officially in the medical realm there is no known cause; however recent studies have shown a growing body of evidence for two main causes neurologic and metabolic. Let’s talk about the neurologic cause first. 

      Using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT); researchers in France were able to detect functional abnormalities in certain regions in the brains of patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia, reinforcing the idea that symptoms of the disorder are related to a dysfunction in those parts of the brain where pain is processed. This is not a disease, it’s a functional problem. 

     There are neurologic pathways that connect on area of the brain to another, when one area of the brain understimualtes another area of the brain it can cause other areas of the brain to over fire. This over-firing can cause exaggerated pain response in the body. The area that overfires with chronic pain patients is called the mescencephalon or mid brain. This is the area of the brain that the nerves come out of that go to the organs of the body, heart digestive, eyes etc. High output from this area of the brain over-stimualtes the adrenal gland increasing levels of chemicals that nerve fibers are very sensitive too, hence the whole body pain expression. The key to successfully helping a fibromyalgia suffer is to re-establish balanced brain function, lowering the high mescencephalon function restore proper organ function and dampens the pain response. Detection of brain imbalance can be determined with standard neurological tests and the therapy is totally painless and all natural. Your brain can be re-habed just like other body parts. Next week we will talk about the metabolic component.

To learn more about Brain Based Therapy go to our website at www.lakewashingtonchiropractic.com

Chiropractic & Mental Illness****

According to B.J. Palmer, “D.D. Palmer was the first man to discover that insanity was caused by displaced cervical vertebrae, that by replacing them the patient could be restored to normal condition.”  B.J. also described his expert testimony in a case where he stated, “If an atlas is subluxated it makes abnormal functions of the brain” In answer to the question, “What is to be done in insanity?” he admonished his reader to “Go back to cause. Adjust that and return that brain to its normal capacity and capability.”

Everything we experience is processed through our nervous system. It only takes the pressure of a dime on any single nerve to lose our perception in that area and compromise our ability to respond appropriately. This can be very damaging to our physical health but can also result in impaired psychological and emotional function as well.

Under our present state mental health programs, approximately 75-95% of those entering mental health facilities are doomed to an asylum prison for life, depending on what state the patients are confined in, this costs taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars! Obviously with the above statistics their program is not very successful. Mental health workers only treat the symptoms with powerful mind altering drugs or shock therapy.

Dr. Schwartz conducted a study between 350 mental health patients and chiropractic care. Dr. Schwartz says that much of the emotional illness stems from nerve irritations maintained by distortions in the spinal column. Of the 350 patients in the Schwartz survey, 212 or 60.5% were “apparently cured”, 87 or 25% “much improved”, 28 or 8% “somewhat improved”, 19 or 5.5%  revealed “no change”, 4 or 1% were “worse”.

All in all, 93.5% of the 350 mental health patients showed improvement, impressive statistics!! Interestingly enough, every one of the 350 cases studied revealed subluxations of variable magnitude in spinal analysis!

The following are a few cases from the Schwartz study:

•   GENERAL NERVOUSNESS: G.I, age 26, married. Duration of illness: 15 months. Subject complained of sick headaches, pains in his neck and behind his ears. He was extremely nervous and given to violent outbursts without provocation. Inability to get along with people spelled a grave defect in his work. Subjects illness stemmed from a personal fight overseas in which he was knocked down. The medical officer gave him eye glasses which brought no relief. After 10 adjustments with a Chiropractor, he re-enlisted in the Army and showed no other signs of distress.
• SCHIZOPHRENIA: Male Student, age 22. Violent and under guard. Suffered acute hallucinations. Accused family of trying  to throw him into the lion’s den. Under care of a number of MD’s who diagnosed him as acute mania. Papers signed for subject’s committment. Mother refused to have him committed. Patient came under chiropractic care in a highly excitable state. Immediate improvement noted following first adjustment. Subject recovered in 4 weeks. Returned to college to complete studies.

The following are other documented cases:

• NERVOUS BREAKDOWN: (female, age 18) Nervous breakdown at Christmas. Laughed and cried hysterically much of the time. Was sent by physicians to Kings Sanitarium, Radford Virginia where she was placed in the insane ward for nine weeks. Her condition worsened. When brought to the Chiropractor, violently insane, it was learned that the child had fallen out of a haymow when six years old and was unconscious for a time. X-rays revealed a marked subluxation of the upper cervical vertebrae (upper neck). Adjustments were given and the girl recovered so completely that she was able to get back to work.
• PSYCHOSIS: Post partum psychosis. Had been confined to State Mental Hospital since delivery. Received hydrotherapy and shock treatments. was gradually becoming worse. Unable to concentrate and would not respond to questions. Placed under chiropractic care and received a total of 20 adjustments, given twice weekly. Showed immediate improvement. Discharged as cured and has been normal.

Chronic Migraine Sufferers Find Relief!!

Check out our video’s from a couple of patients that suffered from many, many years of daily headaches and/or migraines. Amazing!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuByKvOxLJ8 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE3C_pJXIaU 

http://www.lakewashingtonchiropractic.com/

lkwachiropractic@aol.com

*Also, check out our other post we wrote about headaches for info about how headaches are caused.

Do you suffer from headaches?

Nine out of ten Americans suffer from headaches. They are so frequent that people often assume they are normal, not true. Headaches are a warning sign that something is seriously wrong. Some headaches are occasional, some frequent, some are dull and throbbing, and some cause debilitating pain and nausea.

Research shows that spinal manipulation, provided primarily by Chiropractor’s, is an effective treatment option for headaches.

Headaches have many causes ranging from food allergies, environment disturbances, and/or daily behavior changes (insomnia, stress, blood sugar changes, etc.). 95% of headaches are primary such as tension, nigraine, or cluster headaches. These are headaches that are not caused by an illness or disease.

The greatest majority of headaches are associated with muscle tension in the neck. Americans are not as active as they once were spending many hours in a sedentary fixed position or posture and under extreme levels of stress which can cause tension in the neck, upper back and scalp. Chiropractic can provide relief with spinal manipulation to improve spinal function and alleviate stress on your system.

 You can visit our website @ www.lakewashingtonchiropractic.com or you can e-mail us @ lwchiropractic@gmail.com