In the October 27, 2011 edition of the Journal of Upper Cervical Chiropractic Research, comes a documented case study of a person with Multiple Sclerosis being significantly helped by chiropractic care.
According to the US National Library of Medicine website, “Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease that affects the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system).” The site goes further to explain that, “MS affects women more than men. The disorder is most commonly diagnosed between ages 20 and 40, but can be seen at any age.”
In this case a 28 year old woman went to the chiropractor with a chief complaint of severe neck pain following an accident several years earlier where she slipped on a wet bathroom floor and struck her head on the toilet with her mid-back landing on the bathtub. She also suffered with complaints of headaches, back, shoulder and arm pain, hip and leg pain, and skin problems. Additionally, she had been previously diagnosed with MS.
In a self-help attempt to relieve the pain the woman would try lying down with a rolled-up towel under her neck. This would relieve the pain and lessened the headaches, however, staying in that position for longer than 15 minutes would cause her to lose consciousness for 8-9 hours.
A chiropractic examination and x-rays were performed and a determination was made that subluxations were present in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions. Of the spinal areas involved, it was determined that the upper neck was the primary subluxation in this woman’s spine. Specific chiropractic adjustments were begun to address her subluxations.
At the initiation of care the patient rated her condition as a 2 out of 10, with 10 being the best and 0 being worst. By the fourth visit she rated herself as a 7 out of 10. Her improvement in all her symptoms including those attributed to her MS remained through the course of this case study.
In his conclusion the author noted that in addition to this case, there had been previous studies that also showed improvement with MS patients. He wrote, “Studies involving larger groups with MS have already been conducted showing favorable response to chiropractic care. Other related chiropractic research has shown similar outcomes with patients experiencing musculoskeletal pain along with associated symptoms of MS.”
