One of the most difficult things in life is trying to describe to another person what you have personally experienced. Experiences are three-dimensional and descriptions are of single dimension at best. This is why experiences are such great teachers. When people ask me in my practice how chiropractic can help them, I am always a bit overwhelmed because my experience of chiropractic is multi-dimensional, and my explanations always seem to not measure up to my full experience as a chiropractor.
Medical schools, chiropractic included, use practical experience as a teacher for much of the student’s education. When we watch television medical shows, the scene we all recognize is that of the clinician taking the interns on “rounds”. The clinician stands at bedside and gives the interns the background data for the case (also known as a case study) then asks them for practical applications of their learning that could be used in making a diagnosis or providing treatment options. What we learn in the books can serve as a basic framework, but book learning is no substitute for learning first-hand. Today, I want to take you with me on a case study, from an actual case of mine, to help you better understand how chiropractic can help you.
Our study begins today with a 40-year-old female schoolteacher that reports suffering severe, unrelenting, nauseating, headaches that occur at least 3 times per week. The patient is a mother of two pre-teen daughters and her social life revolves around taking her girls to their various extra-curricular activities. Her husband works away from home, so she is also responsible for much of the home maintenance and upkeep as well.
When we examined the patient, we found a mildly overweight short statured woman. She had a stooped posture likely due to stress and the fact that she was large breasted. She demonstrated limited ability to lift her arms overhead from either the straightforward lift or the from a side lift. Her ability to move her neck in any direction was limited by at least 50%. She reported no history of disease, birth defects, or traumas in the past 6 months.
A diagnosis of migraine headaches was made, and we started treatment that consisted of therapies like ultrasound and electric stimulation initially to loosen and relax the neck muscles. Once the pain and frequency of the headaches was reduced by 50%, we introduced muscle stretching for the tight muscles and exercises for the weak muscles of the neck, upper back, and both shoulders. We suggested dietary changes like the DASH diet to lower tension and blood pressure as well as increased water consumption because research has shown this to be effective in controlling migraines.
In this case, the patient received two treatments per week for three weeks and the headache rate and intensity dropped initially to one headache per week the first week and by week three the patient was reporting no headaches at all. We currently treat this patient once per month to help keep muscular and postural balance and prevent recurrences. This treatment plan has been successful for several years in that regard.
Our office only utilizes evidence-based practices, which means we only use treatments that are supported by current medical literature as best practices for the condition we treat. Our focus is on you, the patient and we do everything in our power to include you in the devising of the treatment plan. If this type of care is interesting to you or someone you might know, please call 724-285-9093 and schedule your appointment today.
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