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Pain Sufferers Find Relief in Nontraditional Ways

pain chronic migraines migraine headaches dizziness fibromyalgia chiropractic neurologist neurology medications

Audrey Mader of Sherwood knows what it feels like to be in constant pain. Four back surgeries and arthritis have forced her to live with daily discomfort for nearly half her life. "I always hurt from the time I got up each morning until the time I went to bed and then some," Mader recalls. She tried everything from injections directly into her spine to pain patches to control the hurt. "I didn't get any relief," Mader says. Even the specialists at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. could offer no solution for her chronic pain. Last fall a friend referred Mader to chiropractic neurologist Michael Johnson of the Apple Medical Clinic in Appleton, WI. When she first saw Johnson in October 2003, Mader was dependent on a cane for mobility and taking daily doses of hydrocodone, a powerful painkiller. By the end of October she was no longer using the cane and had stopped taking all pain medication. Her sessions with Johnson included receiving oxygen, because her levels were extremely low; getting a chiropractic adjustment on one side of her body; and receiving electrical stimulation, Transcutaneous Electronic Nerve Stimulation (T.E.N.S.), that signals the spinal cord to the cerebellum to relax the muscles. For the first time in four decades, Mader was pain-free. She says her friends can see in her face that the discomfort has gone. "I'm so much better," she says. In his book, What Do You Do When the Medications Don’t Work? – A Non-Drug Treatment of Dizziness, Fibromyalgia, Migraine Headaches, and Other Chronic Conditions, Johnson explains in lay terms how the brain functions. "Under normal conditions, the brain fires impulses down to the lower two-thirds of the brainstem," Johnson says. "Physical, emotional, and chemical stress adversely affect the brain by causing a decrease in the frequency of firing, or impulses. When the lower brainstem slows down, the upper brainstem over-fires, causing a person to experience pain. What we want to do as chiropractic neurologists is to slow down that upper brainstem." Through a series of tests that check orthopedic, optical, and other functions, a chiropractic neurologist can determine the source of the person's pain. Once this is determined, a plan is implemented to stimulate the side of the brain that will help decrease the pain. This can involve a number of simple exercises and procedures. Some procedures, such as unilateral manipulation, need to be performed in the chiropractor's office. These adjustments are done on one side of the body to increase brain function in the opposite side of the brain. Patients can also receive supplemental oxygen administered by a licensed medical doctor to increase the vascular supply, or fuel, to the brain. At home, patients can help control their pain through a number of different methods. Auditory stimulation using nature sounds is one method. Visual stimulation through eye exercises such as gazing at a checkerboard can also help. Heat therapy, ultrasound, and olfactory stimulation can also decrease pain, as well as simple exercises such as squeezing a ball or spinning in a chair. These exercises increase impulses to the brain, and as these impulses are increased, the sensation of pain decreases. Johnson, who has been practicing since 1983, says the solutions may sound unusual but that he knows from personal experience that they can work. Johnson's original training was in traditional chiropractic methods. But, as much as he believed in his own profession, he found that chiropractic techniques alone were not relieving his own debilitating pain caused by severe migraines. Taking medication did not help either. "Chronic pain robs you of your life," Johnson says. Sessions with associates of chiropractic neurologist Ted Carrick in Dallas, Texas finally ended the headaches for Johnson. He was so impressed with Carrick's work that he trained with the chiropractic neurologist for three years to become certified himself. On a recent visit to Johnson, Mader had a chiropractic adjustment, underwent heat therapy and electrical stimulation on her back, received supplemental oxygen, and listened to a tape of relaxing ocean sounds. Johnson encourages people suffering from chronic pain to keep searching until they find relief, whether it is holistic or through the standard medical community.

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