Whiplash
Some people with trauma due to whiplash dynamics from an auto accident respond very well to chiropractic care, while others continue to have problems and eventually seek help from doctor after doctor.
I have had the opportunity to examine many patients with ongoing problems even after two or three years of chiropractic treatment. After prolonged treatment the insurance company requests an independent examination and designates a doctor who never finds objective reasons for the continuing complaints. The insurance company then denies further treatment. The patient, still having problems and knowing s/he at least gets temporary relief, seeks an attorney for advice; he in tern refers the patient to me for examination and treatment.
This type of case poses an additional problem for the attorney, especially if the insurance is of the no- fault type and the patient’s insurance is responsible for his or her care. In these protracted cases there has probably been considerable lost time from work, and the attorney wants to collect from the person who caused the accident. When the patient’s own insurance company is denying there is a problem, the patient is classified as a malingerer. When treatment is changed and the patient responds, the allegation is laid to rest.
Those who fail to respond usually have disturbance in the cranial-sacral primary respiratory mechanism as a cause of many of their symptoms. It is unfortunate that there are not more doctors who are aware of this mechanism who can examine and treat it effectively.
Often the patients who fit in this category have problems with vision, equilibrium, digestion, general neurologic confusion (switching), neck pain, headaches, facial pain, low back pain, and a myriad of other problems. They often complain, "My teeth don't fit together right any more." These problems have one common denominator: they all relate in one way or another to cranial nerves. This alone should give an observant doctor the clues necessary to examine the cranial-sacral primary respiratory mechanism. Teeth not fitting together properly is an indication of cranial bone distortion and/or imbalance of the muscles of mastication.
An accident victim may see a dentist because of an uncomfortable bite. Upon examination malocclusion is indeed observed, and the dentist proceeds with selective grinding to make the teeth again fit together properly. This equilibration is fine for the bite complaint, but what does it do about the distorted cranium and cranial nerve entrapment? Unfortunately, this locks in the cranial faults because now the individual's bite matches the distorted skull. Hopefully the accident victim will find a doctor knowledgeable about the cranial primary respiratory mechanism, one with the ability to evaluate the organization within the total stomatognathic system. When cranial corrections are made, there will now be malocclusion because the teeth have been equilibrated to an abnormal skull; correcting it causes malocclusion that tends to push the skull back to the distorted state when chewing, swallowing, and clenching the teeth.
When evaluating a patient with neck pain, headaches, and other symptoms as a result of a whiplash-type trauma, be certain to consider the organization of the stomatognathic system. The term "stomatognathic" used in this context follows the definition of Nathan Allen Shore, [1] which includes basically all the structures from the shoulder girdle up. Although many patients who have expeienced the trauma of whiplash dynamics are considered to be malingerers looking for a legal settlement, in most cases this is not true; rather the basic underlying cause of the problem has not been found.
The doctor who examines his patients with orthopedic and neurologic tests, as well as applied kinesiology, has an optimal ability to find the basic underlying cause and correct it. The correction may require consultation and work with a doctor in another area of specialization, such as chiropractic or dentistry.
REFERENCE 1. Nathan Allen Shore, Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction and Occlusal Equilibration, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1976).
Some people with trauma due to whiplash dynamics from an auto accident respond very well to chiropractic care, while others continue to have problems and eventually seek help from doctor after doctor.
I have had the opportunity to examine many patients with ongoing problems even after two or three years of chiropractic treatment. After prolonged treatment the insurance company requests an independent examination and designates a doctor who never finds objective reasons for the continuing complaints. The insurance company then denies further treatment. The patient, still having problems and knowing s/he at least gets temporary relief, seeks an attorney for advice; he in tern refers the patient to me for examination and treatment.
This type of case poses an additional problem for the attorney, especially if the insurance is of the no- fault type and the patient’s insurance is responsible for his or her care. In these protracted cases there has probably been considerable lost time from work, and the attorney wants to collect from the person who caused the accident. When the patient’s own insurance company is denying there is a problem, the patient is classified as a malingerer. When treatment is changed and the patient responds, the allegation is laid to rest.
Those who fail to respond usually have disturbance in the cranial-sacral primary respiratory mechanism as a cause of many of their symptoms. It is unfortunate that there are not more doctors who are aware of this mechanism who can examine and treat it effectively.
Often the patients who fit in this category have problems with vision, equilibrium, digestion, general neurologic confusion (switching), neck pain, headaches, facial pain, low back pain, and a myriad of other problems. They often complain, "My teeth don't fit together right any more." These problems have one common denominator: they all relate in one way or another to cranial nerves. This alone should give an observant doctor the clues necessary to examine the cranial-sacral primary respiratory mechanism. Teeth not fitting together properly is an indication of cranial bone distortion and/or imbalance of the muscles of mastication.
An accident victim may see a dentist because of an uncomfortable bite. Upon examination malocclusion is indeed observed, and the dentist proceeds with selective grinding to make the teeth again fit together properly. This equilibration is fine for the bite complaint, but what does it do about the distorted cranium and cranial nerve entrapment? Unfortunately, this locks in the cranial faults because now the individual's bite matches the distorted skull. Hopefully the accident victim will find a doctor knowledgeable about the cranial primary respiratory mechanism, one with the ability to evaluate the organization within the total stomatognathic system. When cranial corrections are made, there will now be malocclusion because the teeth have been equilibrated to an abnormal skull; correcting it causes malocclusion that tends to push the skull back to the distorted state when chewing, swallowing, and clenching the teeth.
When evaluating a patient with neck pain, headaches, and other symptoms as a result of a whiplash-type trauma, be certain to consider the organization of the stomatognathic system. The term "stomatognathic" used in this context follows the definition of Nathan Allen Shore, [1] which includes basically all the structures from the shoulder girdle up. Although many patients who have expeienced the trauma of whiplash dynamics are considered to be malingerers looking for a legal settlement, in most cases this is not true; rather the basic underlying cause of the problem has not been found.
The doctor who examines his patients with orthopedic and neurologic tests, as well as applied kinesiology, has an optimal ability to find the basic underlying cause and correct it. The correction may require consultation and work with a doctor in another area of specialization, such as chiropractic or dentistry.
REFERENCE 1. Nathan Allen Shore, Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction and Occlusal Equilibration, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1976).