Craig Ranch Chiropractic

Neurological/Neuromuscular Conditions/Multiple Functional Disorders

“Miracle on Hortense Street: a trip to a chiropractor and she's a new kid. “ Los Angeles Daily News Aug 4th, 2002

This is the story of 10-year-old Laura Bibb, a developmentally delayed girl, who as the newspaper reported, “went from being the neighborhood pity to the neighborhood Rocky.” As a baby, Laura was initially diagnosed as being mildly mentally retarded. Later, her skills and test scores placed her at the severely retarded level.

Helen and Ron Bibb, Laura's parents, never gave up hope or stopped fighting for their daughter…Laura kept falling down would binge-eat and sometimes refuse to talk to her family for long periods of time.

The doctors told her that everything medical science had to offer, inside the confines of the HMO plan, was being done to help Laura. Laura had orthotics put in her shoes but her knees remained swollen and began getting worse.

Her mother took Laura to Dr. King Rollins, a chiropractor. Dr. Rollin stated, “I was looking for anything that would interfere with Laura's nervous system and I found a vertebra at the base of the skull way out of place and putting pressure on the nerves. So I adjusted it.”

The first thing Laura did when Dr. Rollins adjusted her, according to her mother, “was to let out a big sigh of relief.”

That night Laura came down the stairs by herself. “This used to take forever with Laura holding on to both rails, her dad in front so she wouldn't fall and me guiding from behind,” Helen said.

She is no longer the shy girl hiding behind her mother. “She's an entirely different girl, mentally and physically,” said one neighbor.

“When we'd walk the dogs Laura couldn't keep up. Now she's out front. It's been a remarkable transformation…she's so proud of herself,” said her mother.

Chiropractic sacro-occipital technique treatment of arthrogryposis multiplex congenita. Getzoff H, Gregory TM. Chiropractic Technique Vol. 8, No 2 May 1996.

This is the case of a six-year-old boy diagnosed with AMC, a congenital lack of muscular development resulting in multiple join contractures and deformities. The child had the following symptoms: Severe generalized locomotor disability including the inability to bend over to tie his shoes, as well as recurring kidney infections.

Medical care had been orthopedic surgery and antibiotic therapy.

The child received 26 chiropractic adjustments using SOT protocols over a nine month period. After this period he was able to bend over to tie his shoes, ride a bicycle without training wheels, swim part way across a pool unaided and “presented a greatly improved physical demeanor”.

The role of chiropractic in the management of degenerative disease cases. Ward, L. Today's Chiropractic July/August 1995.

This is a fascinating discussion of Dr. Lowell Ward's research and clinical success with “incurable” Duchenne muscular dystrophy sufferers and other cases: “Degenerative conditions we have had good success in working with include: ataxia, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, convulsive disorders, the various dystrophies, phobias and most any chronic degenerative, ‘incurable' or life-threatening disease. Generally speaking the degenerative spinal pattern is relatively the same from disease to disease.”

Comment from Dr. Koren: I have studied the late Dr. Ward's methods and have used his work. Although the above statements may seem fantastic, he was, in fact, able to elicit impressive healing responses from many patients given up as incurable by other doctors. For information on his work contact: Ward Chiropractic Clinic, 3535 East Seventh St., Long Beach, CA 90804. 310-433-0444.

Longitudinal clinical case study: multidisciplinary care of child with multiple functional and developmental disorders. Golden L, Van Egmond C. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 1994, 17(4): 79.

The clinical course of a pediatric patient spanning eight years of chiropractic is reviewed. The patient was a 22-month non-ambulatory male diagnosed with spinal meningitis, cerebral palsy, physical and mental retardation, non-febrile seizures, and clinical considerations including enuresis, scoliosis, ambulation and vision, behavior and fine motor problems.

From the abstract:

Comprehensive care, coordinating chiropractic with other health care approaches, was initiated after conventional treatment had produced a poor prognosis...the anti-seizure prescriptions were discontinued, child was ambulatory, interactive and mainstreamed into his age group for regular public school education.

Reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome: a case report. Langweiler MJ, Febbo TA. Journal of the Neuromusculoskeletal System, 1993: 1;69-73

Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) is a very painful condition that tends to worsen and make the sufferer's life miserable. It involves the sympathetic nervous system and the structures supplied by the sympathetic nerves.

This is the case study of a 24 year old woman diagnosed with this condition after having neurological examinations in four different clinics.

The visceral structures of her entire upper body were affected: stiffness in the upper thoracic spine, severe burning pain, numbness, sweating, and swelling in the right arm and hand. Right arm and hand were cold and moist with mild edema of the wrist and hand. Entire upper right extremity was extremely sensitive to touch with the reflexes reduced; right rib and pinch strength were also reduced.

Although injection of anesthesia in to the stellate ganglion was recommended (stellate block), the patient decided to try chiropractic.

Patient had initial care of three adjustments a week (T3-T4 and C5-C6) for six weeks. At the time of the writing of the paper, her symptoms abated and she had been back to full time work for one year with no apparent sequelae.

Documented chiropractic results on a case diagnosed as myoclonic seizures. Duff BA Chiropractic: The Journal of Chiropractic Research and Clinical Investigation, 1992; 8: 56-57.

Mycoclonic seizures are sudden, severe contractions of all or part of a muscle or group of muscles. This is the case of a thirty-year-old female who would awaken in the middle of the night with migraine, slurred speech, vomiting, and pain behind the right eye, difficulty with visual focusing, and dots and lines in her field of vision. She was also having mild seizures. From the author's abstract:

A patient suffering several months with myoclonic seizures responded immediately after an adjustment of atlas subluxation complex. A fall nearly one week later reactivated the occurrences of seizure. A second atlas adjustment resulted in immediate favorable results. One two chiropractic adjustments were performed within one week. The seizures have not returned. The case is unique in the type of disorder, length of prior medical evaluation and rate of recovery.

The resolution of chronic inversion plantar flexion of the foot: a pediatric case study. Ellis WB, Ebrall PS, Chiropractic Technique, 1991; 3: 55-59.

This is a case of lower extremity RSD - reflex sympathetic dystrophy that responded to chiropractic care in a child.

A possible mechanism of these clinical states as described by Joe Flesia, D.C. of Renaissance International during his deposition on Feb. 7, 1985 to The Colorado State Board of Chiropractic Examiners.

The fifth component of the vertebral subluxation complex...(is the) physiologic or pathologic component.

On a local level, there are biomechanical changes in response to local tissue damage, inflammation and vascular insufficiency. One example of the degenerative changes happening local to the spine occurs at the myelin sheath, in which there is a loss of integrity of the myelin sheath.

Research on this has been done by Dr. Luttges, a member of the research team of Dr. Chung Ha Suh at the University of Colorado, doing research on the vertebral subluxation complex, as well as Dr. Irvin Korr, and Dr. Tran, Ph.D. showing that long-term irritation or compression of the nerve and the myelin sheath causes the myelin sheath to degenerate, producing degenerative toxins which are absorbed by the local tissues, and by the axoplasm of the nerve. In the case of axoplasmic absorption, these toxins are circulated throughout the entire length of the nerve causing metabolic disturbances of the nerve itself and at the end organ.

Child with myoclonic encephalopathy. International Chiropractic Pediatric Association newsletter. May 1990.

This is the case of a 2 ½ year-old male diagnosed with myoclonic encephalopathy (unable to control body movements). Child was normal until a tuberculin test and within two weeks symptoms prevailed.

After four adjustments to the C1-T9 and L3 areas, the uncontrollable body movements improved about 80%.

Spinal cord stimulation for palsies. Waltz, J.M. Patient Care 1979; 13:118-206.

Dr. J.M. Waltz, (M.D.) Director Department of Neurological Surgery, St. Barnabas Hospital, New York has stated in the above article:

In patients with cerebral palsy, upper cervical stimulation has repeatedly obtained unexpected benefits, such as decreased spasticity and marked improvement in motor control. Stimulation of C2, C3, and C4 offers the best overall chance of improvement”

Comment by Dr. Koren: Although not a chiropractic publication, it appears that the medical profession has noticed a connection between the health of cerebral palsy victims and the upper cervical spine.