Thoughts on Whiplash or Neck Trauma by a NYC Chiropractor/Applied Kinesiologist

“Whiplash” is commonly associated with auto accidents but also can be associated with many types of trauma like sport injuries, bad falls and even nodding off in chair and awaking with a sudden jerking of the neck.

The term “whiplash” refers to the mechanism of the injury. The proper terminology is cervical hyperextension/hyperflexion sprain. Hyperextension means that the head and neck are bent backward beyond their normal range of movement. Hyperflexion means that the head and neck are bent forward beyond the normal range of motion. Symptoms can include neck and back pain, loss of range of motion, shoulder & arm pain or numbness, jaw pain, dizziness, headaches, nausea, difficulty swallowing etc.

Within the neck region’s joints are some of the most complex movements within the body. The cervical bones house and protect the spinal cord. Nerves from the cord pass out of the spine between the vertebrae; nerve entrapment can happen due to the shift of the cervical joint and spasm in both the smaller vertebral muscles http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-prevertebral-muscles-of-the-neck.html that control fine movements and the larger and longer muscles https://www.realbodywork.com/learn/neck/neck.htm that control the gross movements of the neck which can result in the above

Cranial-Sacral Mechanism: the skull and sacrum operate in ways that are often inadequately considered in whiplash cases. There is movement between the cranial bones and the sacrum called the cranial sacral respiratory mechanism that pumps cerebrospinal fluid https://drvittoriarepetto.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/cranial-sacral-therapy-in-applied-kinesiology/ up and down the spine that helps keep the nerves healthy. Whiplash can cause jamming of the cranial bones resulting in poor function. Poor function of this mechanism can interfere with cranial nerves, some of which control neck muscles, muscles that move the eyes, and muscles that move the jaw, muscles involved with swallowing and breathing.

Some of the very bizarre symptoms of whiplash trauma develop as a result of cranial dysfunction. Intricately associated with this area are the nerves responsible for balance. These include cranial nerve VIII, which supplies the balance mechanism of the middle ear, cranial nerves III, IV, and VI that supply the muscles that move the eyes and are intricately associated with the visual righting reflexes, and the nerve endings in the upper cervical vertebral ligaments that supply the head on-neck reflexes. These reflexes must work together. If there has been injury causing improper nerve supply to one or more of these areas, neurologic disorganization develops that can cause a change in muscle function throughout the body; there may be dizziness, ear ringing, nausea, blurred or double vision, headaches, and myriad other symptoms.

Many whiplash patients develop pain in the jaw joint, called the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), which is aggravated by chewing. https://drvittoriarepetto.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/tmj-problems-jaw-problems-and-how-a-nyc-chiropractorapplied-kinesiologist-handles-the-problem/

As a doctor of chiropractor who also does applied kinesiology, I not only deal with restoring the proper movement of the cervical vertebrae https://drvittoriarepetto.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/the-subluxationspinal-joint-dysfunction/ but almost dealing with the injury to the both the flexion and extension muscles of the cervical area mentioned above whether they need to be relaxed or whether they need to be strengthened. https://drvittoriarepetto.wordpress.com/2010/06/21/muscle-balancing-in-applied-kinesiology/

Nutrition is suggested to help repair injured muscle fibers.

Cranial bone movement is checked via muscle testing and restored by non-force movements with inspiratory assistance

The movement of the sacrum, commonly missed in a non-applied kinesiology office, is checked for dysfunction and adjusted for return of normal function and proper flow of the cerebrospinal fluid so important to the health of the brain and the spinal cord and nerves.

 

© 2015-Dr. Vittoria Repetto

Want more information on Dr. Vittoria Repetto and her NYC Applied Kinesiology/Chiropractic practice at 230 W 13th St., NYC 10011; please go to www.drvittoriarepetto.com

And please check out the Patient Testimonials page at my web site.

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Research Supporting Chiropractic & Applied Kinesiology

Here’s two web pages showing some of the research being done on Chiropractic

http://www.acatoday.org/level2_css.cfm?T1ID=21&T2ID=96

& on Applied Kinesiology at  http://www.icakusa.com/research/ 

Some of the sample papers on Applied Kinesiology include:

Knee Pain and Positive MMT Findings Correlation.

 Neck Pain Caused by Muscle Weakness.

 Low Back Pain Caused by Muscle Weakness

Meridian System Relationship: AK and MMT

Enjoy!

Want more information on Dr. Vittoria Repetto and her NYC Applied Kinesiology/Chiropractic practice at 455 W. 23rd St , NYC 10011; please go to www.drvittoriarepetto.com.

And please check out the Patient Testimonials at the “Our Practice” page at the web site.

Cranial Sacral Therapy in Applied Kinesiology

Cranial Sacral Therapy is a technique taught in Applied Kinesiology based on Cranial Osteopathy which was discovered by osteopath Dr. William Sutherland after he had a remarkable insight while examining the specialized articulations of cranial bones. Contrary to popular belief Dr Sutherland realized that cranial sutures were, in fact, designed to express small degrees of motion.

DeJarnette and Goodheart introduced diagnostic methods for the evaluation and treatment of cranial dysfunctions. The key technical factor that has advanced cranial diagnosis and treatment, and brought the entire field of cranial therapy into accessible, reproducible, practice and scientific form, was provided by Goodheart’s discovery that the musculoskeletal system and manual muscle testing (MMT) reflects what is going on within the cranial mechanism.

MMT has allowed applied kinesiologists to discover the dramatic functional relationships that exist between the cranium and every other articulation and tissue in the body. Furthermore, patients are not treated in a “touchy feely” fashion in which the patient’s skull is cradled for an indeterminate time, until the cradler perceives warmth or a yielding or softening sensation.

 There are many other physical signs and tests (besides MMT) that also reveal cranial dysfunction; these have been written about extensively in the applied kinesiology (AK), sacro-occipital technique (SOT) and osteopathic literature. Returning the dura to a physiological range of tension by using specifically applied cranial corrections is a major goal of AK evaluation and treatment, which seeks to achieve zero defects inside and outside the cranium.

Like Cranial Osteopathy, Cranial Sacral Therapy seeks to restore the natural rhythmic movement found between the bones of the skull and the sacrum which is correlated to our inspiration and expiration; in other words, the cranial bones and sacrum move in different directions when we breathe in and in opposite directions when we breathe out.

The purpose of this is to aid the circulation of the cerebrospinal fluid throughout the central nervous system.

And some suggested that CSF flow along the cranial nerves and spinal nerve roots allow it into the lymphatic channels. Restoring normal cranial-sacral rhythm enables the body to function optimally and may alleviate a wide variety of painful and dysfunctional conditions within the body.

Using a soft gentle touch practitioners release restrictions in the cranial-sacral system to improve the functioning of the central nervous system.

There are many results why the motion of the cranial and the sacrum may be disturbed.  

For some, it can be caused by the trauma of a difficult birth. Normally since the bones are very flexible, normal movement and the act of crying restores the natural movement.

For others, it could have been caused an accidental bang to the head, a fall, whiplash following an auto accident. Jaw problems can also affect the cranials as when we chew or clench our teeth, there are muscles forces directed to the skull such as the pull of  the   Temporalis muscle on the squamosal suture of the skull. Even the act of holding our breath during physical exertion (we should be breathing out at that moment), can cause a failure of proper cranial and sacral motion.

 Dysfunction of the cranial sacral motion can be seen in different problems, even some caused by the entrapment of cranial nerves

as they exit the cranium such as trigeminal neuralgia, headaches, migraines, low back  and disc problems, general weakness on one side of the body, problems w/ visual acuity, low or high blood pressure, a spastic ileo-cecal value, neck flexor weakness, allergies, hypochlorhydria, earaches, loss of balance, tinnitus, dizziness and vertigo, recurring upper cervical (neck) problems and scoliosis  

 In applied kinesiology, there are techniques to find the dysfunctions (or cranial faults) and to find out how to fix it. The difference in muscle strength when the patient is breathing in or breathing out is one clue. The asymmetrical face is another clue that there may be a problem. Or the doctor can observe what happens to the strength of a muscle when she (or he) presses on certain cranials or sutures; this is called a challenge.

Cranial-sacrum corrections are easily made and if incorporated with the correction of accompanying spinal dysfunction, muscle balancing and proper nutrition, it will have a lasting effect.

 For more information on cranial- sacral therapy, cerebrospinal fluid, cranial nerves, and the bones of the skull, please see:

 http://www.answers.com/topic/craniosacral-therapy

http://www.med.yale.edu/caim/cnerves/

http://face-and-emotion.com/dataface/anatomy/cranium.jsp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniosacral_therapy

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebrospinal_fluid

Mesmerising Video Shows Waves of Spinal Fluid Washing Over The Brain During Sleep

© 2010-Dr. Vittoria Repetto

June 2018

– A new patient had a history of not being able to look to her left without turning her body since contacting toxoplasmosis when she was 18; she was now 80 yrs old. She stated that the infection affected her lt eye.  Found that the muscles for lt. lat flexion were weak but therapy localization (touching) of the ethmoid bone that makes up the lateral part of the eye socket made the muscles stronger. So I adjusted the bone with an inspiration assist and the muscles were strengthened and the range of motion was improved; in fact the range was now better than the right side.

© – 2018 – Dr. Vittoria Repetto

 

Interesting article:  To Improve Memory, Tune It Like an Orchestra

Want more information on Dr. Vittoria Repetto and her NYC Applied Kinesiology/Chiropractic/ NKT practice at 230 W 13th St., NYC 10011; please go to www.drvittoriarepetto.com

And please check out the Patient Testimonials page on my web site.

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The Myth of Stroke Following Chiropractic Adjustment

I was walking towards a local award ceremony when a women standing outside greeted me by name. She continued,” So the MD’s are at it again trying to discredit chiropractors, did you see the science report on NBC the other night?”

“Yes,” I said, “I caught part of it and I thought one of the M.D’s was honest enough to say that he did think there was not enough proof that chiropractic caused strokes.”

I continued” You know in my practice, I take a detailed medical history looking for hypertension, headaches, bad diet or other factors that I may suspect predispose the patient to a stroke and then in the exam, I include blood pressure, pulse rates,  and I do a number of vertebra-basilar tests and have the patient move their head in all ranges of motion, and note any signs of nausea, tinnitus, vertigo, light headaches, slurring of speech, dizziness or nystagmus may indicate vascular compromise or stenosis of the carotid or vertebral arteries

Here’s some more information on some of those tests: http://www.dynamicchiropractic.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=37567

www.rollanet.org/~mhall/orthotests-midterm.doc

The second thing that I talk to people about when they ask about chiropractic causing strokes is I ask if they have seen newspaper articles about this and then I ask if they read the complete article. Because I say in every article that I have seen with the headline screaming “Stroke Caused by Chiropractic” it will say, at the end of the article, who did the chiropractic adjustment that supposedly caused the stroke.

And guess what? It’s never a chiropractor.

It’s a personal trainer, a physical therapist or some other person who has not had the training in how to do an adjustment safely.

Chiropractors go through two years of intensive training on how to do adjustments and we practice for those two years on each other before we are allowed to touch a patient in the school clinics for another two years. So that is a total of 4 yrs of practicing how to adjust before we get our licenses.

And the third point that I put across to people is I ask if they know how malpractice insurance premiums are calculated and if they know the difference in premiums between different medical specialties and chiropractic.

Insurance premiums are calculated via actuarial science which is the discipline that applies mathematical and statistical methods to assess risk in the insurance and finance industries; they involve in malpractice the risk of the procedure to cause mortality and injury. group vs. individual practice, involvement w/ an HMO, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actuarial_science

A family physician or an internist may have a malpractice premium of $20,000 to $40,000. This premium goes up depending on their specialty; surgeons have the highest premiums.

As a chiropractor in solo practice, not signed up w/ an HMO, my malpractice premium is $3000. So according actuarial science, chiropractic adjustments done by properly trained doctors of chiropractors is a fairly safe procedure.

Who then, I ask, are doing the dangerous procedures??

“Not the chiropractors” said the women. “That’s right, pass it on!” I said, and headed inside to the ceremony.

© 2010-Dr. Vittoria Repetto

Risk of Carotid Stroke after Chiropractic Care: A Population-Based Case-Crossover Study   

J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis. 2017 Apr;26(4):842-850. doi: 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2016.10.031. Epub 2016 Nov 21.

Want more information on Dr. Vittoria Repetto and her NYC Applied Kinesiology/Chiropractic/ NKT practice at 230 W 13th St., NYC 10011; please go to www.drvittoriarepetto.com

And please check out the Patient Testimonials page on my web site.

 Want to be in the know on holistic information and postings? 

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