I am very excited to blog about my first success story treating a patient suffering from vertigo using Quantum Neurology™. This female patient has been suffering from vertigo for six months. Vertigo may not sound too serious to those of us not suffering from it. To this patient, it meant that for six months, she has been able to sleep in only one position, sitting straight up. If she dared lay down on her back, she would suffer from debilitating nausea and dizziness. Imagine the worst sea sickness you have ever had, or the drunkest you have ever been…all the time! This is what vertigo is like for those suffering from it.

Quantum Neurology™ is a collection of techniques used to evaluate and rehabilitate every major nerve in the body. This systematic rehabilitation allows the body to function more efficiently. More importantly, Quantum Neurology™ focuses on allowing nerves that may be associated with painful or debilitating injuries or conditions to stabilize so that the body can heal itself. You can find out more about this technique at http://www.quantumneurology.com/qnprogram.htm . This technique is known for its excellent results with often hopeless conditions such as chronic pain, Frozen Shoulder, Multiple Sclerosis, PMS, Autism, Menopause, Headaches, Tremors, Dizziness/Vertigo, Epilepsy, Erectile Dysfunction, Chronic Fatigue, Neuropathy, Stroke Rehabilitation, Interrupted Sleep, enhanced athletic performance, Trigeminal Neuralgia, Morning Sickness/Pregnancy Relief, Bell’s Palsy, Relief From Arthritic Pain, ADHD/ADD/Dyslexia, and many others.

Vertigo, or dizziness, refers to the sensation of spinning (subjective vertigo) or the perception that surrounding objects are moving or spinning (objective vertigo). Some patients describe a feeling of being pulled toward the floor or toward one side of the room. Moving the head, changing position, and turning while lying down often worsen vertigo. The sudden onset of vertigo usually indicates a peripheral vestibular disorder (inner ear disturbance; e.g., BPPV, Ménière disease, and vestibular neuritis). Symptoms of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) usually last a few seconds to a few minutes and are intermittent (i.e., come and go). They also may include lightheadedness, imbalance and nausea, usually as a result of a change in position (e.g., rolling over in bed, getting out of bed). This is by far the most common form of vertigo. Symptoms of Ménière disease and vestibular neuritis include vertigo, hearing loss, ringing in the ears (tinnitus), and ear pressure that often lasts hours to days.

Traditional Vertigo treatment varies. The medical world, generally speaking, does not offer very successful treatments for vertigo. This can be very frustrating for the person suffering from vertigo. In this patient’s case, she unsuccessfully consulted her medical doctor, an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist, neurologists, and had every relevant scan, MRI and test performed to no avail. I have found through the years that medical treatment consists more of ruling out conditions than getting specific help. In her case, they have ruled out many causes of her condition, but have not been able to offer her solutions.

After fewer than ten treatments using Quantum Neurology ™, this patient is 90% improved, and I am happy to report that she was able to sleep one pillow for the first time in six months. Please feel free to also look at this vertigo case study, posted by my colleague and friend Dr. David Pascal http://www.quantumneurology.com/casestudies/drdavepascal/dapacase2.htm

Noreen suffered from Fibromyalgia for 25 years. She becamed disabled and finally completely bedridden for six months. She started Fibromyalgia treatment at The Neurologic Relief Center in Fayetteville, AR. Today, she is a different person with a whole new outlook on life in general, and her future in particular. Read the rest of this entry »

It is often said that chiropractors claim that they can cure anything. From back pain, leg pain,arthritis and fibromyalgia to chronic fatigue or even…(drum roll please) cancer? The truth is that chiropractors, using chiropractic techniques can heal NOTHING! Allow me to elaborate, starting with a bit of chiropractic history.

Chiropractic was formally “discovered” in 1895 when a man called D.D. Palmer adjusted a deaf janitor, named Harvey Lillard, after which his hearing was restored. Hence, the chiropractic profession was born. The actual roots of chiropractic, however, date thousands of years back. Even Hippocrates advised the following: “Get knowledge of the spine, for this is the requisite for many diseases.” See http://www.worldchiropracticalliance.org/consumer/history.htm for more fascinating health care history.

Before “wellness” or “alternative health” became a hip word, chiropractors fought fiercely for their profession at a time when they were called “quacks” and chiropractors were generally not accepted as a separate and distinct profession. Chiropractors were persecuted and jailed for the best part of three quarters of a century for “practicing medicine without a license”. See www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11620299 Until 1983, the medical association labeled chiropractic as “an unscientific cult”. A chiropractor called Wilkes took the AMA to court for unlawful discrimination against chiropractors. In 1990, the Supreme Court ruled against the AMA, finding that the AMA had engaged in a “lengthy, systematic, successful and unlawful boycott” designed to restrict cooperation between M.D.’s and chiropractors in order to eliminate the profession of chiropractic.” See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilk_v._American_Medical_Association Chiropractors are still faced with discrimination and accusations  that they are “wannabe M.D.’s” (not true!) that they can hurt you (the chances of that are so slim, that they pay roughly 10% of the malpractice insurance M.D.’s do), or that their schooling is somehow inferior (actually, they have more credit hours under the belt than most General Practitioner M.D.’s!) The truth is that most chiropractors are very passionate about their work. They subscribe to the 33 chiropractic principles . See: http://www.deepdownwellness.com/chiroinfo/33prin.html These principles basically state that the human body is a self-healing, self regulating organism. Most chiropractors do not want any part of prescribing medicine, if given the choice. Every day, the equivalent of a Boeing 747 full of Americans are killed by medical mistakes and drug side effects! Do we really need more drugs?  Please note that it is not my belief that medicine or M.D.’s are “bad”. It is just, in my opinion, overused!  Medicine functions beautifully in emergency care situations, not in health care. If our current health care system worked, and you take into consideration that we have the best pharmaceutical companies, the best doctors, and the most medical schools…we would not rank #48 in the world for health.

So, in conclusion, let me answer that initial question. Chiropractors heal nothing. We do not treat symptoms, although our patients often start care because of symptoms. Our only job is to remove the nerve interference, which prevents the patient’s body from healing itself, and then allow the patient to experience a miracle in it’s own right: the healing of their body, inside- out.

What’s the most powerful step you can take to dramatically improve your health?

My answer is this:

Learn how to effectively manage emotional stress

All of my clinical and personal experiences over the years have me convinced that no other factor has more influence over your health.

Not diet, not exercise, not even how much you sleep.

Why is emotional stress is one of the most significant causes of all chronic health challenges?

Because your body cannot defend itself against the damage that emotional stress quietly creates over time. Your body pays a heavy physiological price for every moment that you feel anxious, tense, frustrated, and angry.

I’m not suggesting that you should strive to never feel these emotions. Anxiety, tension, frustration, and anger all serve important purposes when they first arise. The danger is in experiencing these emotions on a chronic basis.

Emotional stress sets off a series of reactions in your body that involve your sympathetic nervous system, the portion of your nervous system that would increase your chance of surviving if you were to run into a mountain lion during a hike. In such a situation, your sympathetic nervous system would:

* Speed up and intensify your heart and breathing rates, so that you could have more oxygen and nutrients available to your muscles to run or fight.

* Divert the bulk of your blood supply to your large muscles groups to run or fight.

* Slow or even shut down your digestive system so as to not waste blood, nutrients, and oxygen that could be used to run or fight.

* Stimulate the release of extra glucose into your blood to give you a burst of energy, just as a cheetah’s spleen gushes extra blood into its circulation when it needs a burst of acceleration.

* Cause your adrenal glands to release epinephrine and norepinephrine into your system to increase cardiac output and increase blood sugar.

* Stimulate the release of cortisol from your adrenal glands to increase blood sugar and energy.

* Increase the diameter of your pupils to allow for more light to enter your eyes and more acute vision for fighting and running quickly on any type of terrain.

Clearly, it is to your advantage to have a healthy sympathetic nervous system, one that is capable of providing all of the functions listed above during physical emergencies.

What you don’t want is for your body to experience all of the above on a continuous, low-grade level because of emotional stress.

And this is exactly what many of us are suffering from in today’s hectic world.

Emotional stress is immensely harmful to your health because your body reacts to it in the same way that it would react if you came upon a wild mountain lion. Not always to the same degree, of course, but there’s no question that your sympathetic nervous system increases its output whenever you feel anxious, tense, frustrated, or angry. In other words, whenever you feel stressed.

There’s really no need to provide a list of health conditions that are partly caused by emotional stress, because every health condition is partly caused by emotional stress. Emotional stress always equals increased output by the sympathetic nervous system, which always equals accelerated aging and breakdown of your tissues.

So what can you do to effectively manage emotional stressors in your life and prevent them from creating health problems?

1. Breathe deeply and regularly

Doing so can actually decrease the tone of your sympathetic nervous system and increase the tone of your parasympathetic nervous system, which is the portion of your nervous system that promotes relaxation and good digestion.

2. Spend some quiet time every day in prayer, meditation, or a purposeful relaxation session

All three have been scientifically proven to facilitate a relaxation response in your body that can decrease blood pressure, decrease pulse rate, and improve blood circulation. Meditation and relaxation sessions can be greatly enhanced by listening to any number of audio CDs that are designed to facilitate optimal relaxation and mental clarity. .

3. Do your “homework”.

Stress always happens, right? Dr. Lucas has a saying: “the day you stop stressing is the day they close the lid on your coffin.” How do we deal with it when bad things happen? It is O.K. to hurt, to be fearful, to get angry, as long as you also see the silver lining around the dark cloud. It is only our unresolved stress that makes us sick. The dark clouds without the acknowledged silver lining. Homework consists of the following:

* See some good. There is always good in every bad. It may be as simple as:, “I will be stronger for this”.

* Learn the lesson, for example, “This doesn’t feel good, so I will never treat other people this way. It makes me better.”

* Forgiveness. Forgive yourself, forgive others. It is the great healer. It is touted in all religions for a reason. Carrying a grudge is like drinking poison, thinking if you just drink enough, it will somehow hurt the person that hurt you. Silly, right? If you want to get healthy, forgiveness is a shortcut!

4. Make sure that you are getting the nutrients that you need for a healthy nervous system

Your nutritional status can make all the difference between being able to handle a certain amount of stress without breaking down vs. quickly suffering health problems when faced with stress.

While it’s important to your overall health that you eat a well balanced and nutrient-dense diet, for emotional health specifically, it is important to ensure adequate intake of B vitamins, Vitamin D, and two long chain omega-3 fatty acids, DHA and EPA.

5. Be honest about your feelings

There’s a reason why know thyself is a wise proverb/saying in virtually every culture of our world. Striving to know yourself and what you are truly feeling on a daily basis is absolutely essential to preventing unpleasant but genuine emotions from becoming chronic states. Anger, frustration, and anxiousness can all help to fuel personal growth and character development if you are honest with yourself and seek to discover their root causes.

One of the best methods I can recommend to increase your awareness of what you are truly feeling is journal writing. The rules are simple: no censorship, no possibility of another set of eyes being able to read your thoughts, just pure flow of thoughts from your mind and heart onto a piece of paper or your computer screen. Regular journal writing in this manner can be extremely beneficial to your emotional health.

6. Move your body

It’s a well established fact that regular exercise is one of the best habits you can adopt that will help you avoid depression and stay emotionally balanced. It doesn’t matter what kind of exercise you do. What’s important is to be active and use your joints and muscles on a regular basis.

Don’t make the mistake that many health conscious people make and fret over the percentages of carbs, protein, fat, raw food, and cooked food in your diet while neglecting the emotional stressors in your life.

Yes, eating fresh, nutrient-dense foods is good for your health. But eating fresh, nutrient-dense foods while feeling emotionally balanced and at peace is even better.