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Office Hours: |
Monday 8a-6p
Tuesday Closed
Wednesday 8a-6p
Thursday 8a-6p
Friday 7:30a-2:30p |
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Severe Neck Problems After
Unsuccessful Spinal Surgery Helped With Chiropractic
In the September 2001 issue of the peer reviewed,
"Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics"
comes a case report study titled, "Chiropractic care of
a patient with vertebral subluxations and unsuccessful
surgery of the cervical spine". This was a report of a
55-year-old man who had neck pain along with radiating
pain down both arms after unsuccessful cervical (neck)
spine surgery.
The man's history was similar to many seen in
chiropractic offices. While responding to an auto
accident during an ice storm, the 55 year old highway
patrolman slipped getting out of his car and fell
backward, landing on his upper back and neck After a few
days he began to experience pain in his neck. Two months
later he consulted a medical doctor, who referred him to
a neurologist. During the neurological examination, the
patient experienced a seizure that eventually led to a
diagnosis of a tumor of the adrenal gland. Several weeks
later, the patient had surgery to excise the tumor which
resulted in temporary relief of the neck pain.
He returned to work, and 6 weeks after surgery he began
to experience neck pain again, which he described as
“sharp,” along with pain, numbness, and tingling in both
arms. His condition worsened, for about 6 to 7 months,
and he was was referred to a neurosurgeon. The patient
eventually consented to neck surgery, and an anterior
cervical diskectomy (disc removal) was performed.
When he returned to the surgeon for a postsurgery
check-up and had continuing complaints, he then asked
when the surgeon wanted to see him again. The reply was,
“I never want to see you again.” This answer was
devastating for the patient, and he assumed that he was
destined to live with these problems for life.
Approximately 3˝ years after surgery, the patient
started chiropractic care. The chiropractic care began
and after receiving the first set of adjustments, the
patient indicated that his ability to raise his left arm
had increased by 50% and that his neck pain and arm
complaints were also relieved. He was astonished and
excited by the results of the care he received. Within 2
weeks of starting care he was able to fully abduct his
left arm and to loop his belt to his pants. A year after
the onset of chiropractic care, the patient was working
on his small ranch performing various odd jobs and has,
on occasion, had some problems because of over activity.
This documented and published case is not unfamiliar to
chiropractors world wide. The unique aspect of this case
is the fact that it was published in a peer reviewed
scientific journal. The authors of the study summed this
situation up with the following; "This is the first
description in the indexed literature of the
chiropractic care of a patient with vertebral and
sacroiliac subluxations with a history of unsuccessful
cervical diskectomy of the cervical spine. In our
experience, allopathic (medical) practitioners usually
do not offer patients the option of chiropractic care
before surgery. Perhaps more rarely is chiropractic care
considered a viable option in instances of unsuccessful
surgical care." It is obvious from this study that
chiropractic should have been considered first.
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