How to get really better. by Stuart C. Marmorstein, D.C.

How to Get Better...Really Better...



From Fibromyalgia and other Chronic Pain Syndromes
by Stuart C. Marmorstein, D.C.


Don't give up! A high percentage of my patients have endured some type of chronic pain syndrome. Five of my eight new patients yesterday had already been medically diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. Thank God they had the fortitude to try yet one more thing after all of the expensive and even dangerous treatments that have failed them. Of course that "one more thing" had to be the all-too-rare "something" that actually makes sense. This group of FM sufferers all left the office with a sense of relief and hope.

Most of the people who come to see me with migraine headaches have lived with them for years or even decades. For the most part, they've become brave experts at surviving unbearable pain and loss of productivity. To their great surprise, they generally improve within just a few visits. Dentists refer their tough TMJ (jaw joint) dysfunction patients to me because I've found ways to help help them to comfortably chew, smile, talk, sing and play wind instruments again. Head, neck and jaw problems can only be corrected by understanding the anatomy of the bones of the head and upper neck on a very deep level and making some necessary and fundamental changes.

I couldn't tell you how many times someone has told me that their low back pain had been with them for 15 years or more and how it had kept them from enjoying life, in spite of long stints of getting chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture or massage. What this has taught me (and them) is that people don't get better from doing the wrong thing with greater frequency or intensity: They get better only when you do the right thing. We must take the time to understand and eliminate the hidden factors that bind them to their misery.

What about health issues other than pain? Like insomnia, indigestion, fatigue, allergies, depression, scoliosis; etc., etc. etc. There is a different way to look at and work with these, too.

Over thirty years of thinking different thoughts and taking different actions with thousands of frustrated people has shown me how to find the active and happy person who is stuck inside a body under strain. Giving credit where credit is due, I've had numerous special teachers and mentors along the way who have guided and inspired me. I'll introduce them where it's appropriate. I also firmly believe that the Grand Designer has left us clues at every turn, and that if we follow these clues, we can find the keys we need to get out of the prison of pain; and to open the treasure chest filled with abundant life and energy. 3




Starting The Process


Every body has a story. While each story is unique in the details, there are some pretty common elements. The first major element I address with all new patients is trauma. This can be any shock to the system: physical, mental or emotional. While falls, accidents and surgeries have specific effects on the parts of the body that get jerked, smacked and cut-- including over-stretching of muscles and ligaments, bruises, bone misalignments and infections--they also create generalized disorganizing effects on the nervous system. I call the first of these neurological disorganization syndromes, "switching".

Switching


Almost everyone who sees me for the first time with chronic pain, especially fibromyalgia, is switched. In fact 90-95% of ALL of my new patients are switched when I meet them! This means that the brain is not responding as it should to normal changes in the body's surroundings. Poor communication between the brain and the body is the single biggest

factor causing physical stress and instability, so I always look for switching at the beginning of a session.

I use a method called "Applied Kinesiology" or AK in my practice. It was developed by a Detroit, Michigan chiropractor, Dr. George Goodheart and others starting in the 1970s. If I test a person who is normal and well-balanced by pressing downward on their wrist while they attempt to resist my pressure, they can normally hold their arm parallel to the ground unless I use excessive amounts of force. If I then have them turn their eyes to the left or the right and retest the arm resistance, it should make no difference in their ability to hold up their arm.

If they are switched, however, merely turning the eyes right or left will cause the arm to weaken and drop in response to relatively low pressure placed on it. They will often have other abnormal and even bizarre responses, as well, because the brain is not adapting to changes in their surroundings quickly enough. 4



Patient's arm remains up for "before" test.

Arm drops on pressure in response to turning eyes.

What does this mean to the patient? It means that EVERY time they turn their eyes to one side, they are both losing energy and muscle strength! If enough of the patient's environment is stressful to them because the nervous system can't process what's going on in real time, the patient will leak energy like a house with all of the windows and doors wide open.

Suppose for a moment that the patient is complaining of neck pain or tightness. They may have sought help for this condition, but have not experienced lasting improvement from their treatments. Here's why: The average adult head weighs a whopping twelve pounds--the equivalent of a bowling ball. This head is supported on top of a column of seven separate

neck bones or vertebrae and is held stable by neck muscles. If these muscles that support the head "turn off" every time the patient looks to the left, then the weight of the head can pull the vertebrae out of place because the patient's eyes are turned to the side. So, if the patient reads a book, or looks into the sideview mirror of their car to avoid a collision, they may lose whatever good effects they may have received from a recently performed treatment! This 5



unnecessarily prolongs recovery and can lead to mounting chiropractic, massage or other holistic or medical expenses, loss of precious time and an increasing likelihood that they'll wind up resorting to toxic drug therapies or surgery.

When I have asked my patients if any other doctor has ever performed the switching tests that I routinely use in my office, almost nobody has been able to answer, "Yes." The treatment for switching is ridiculously simple and takes just seconds to perform. It is

100% effective and will last until a major trauma takes place again. I teach my patients how to correct switching by themselves at home in case an auto accident or fall occurs, so that they can take care of this before they come back to my office.



When we fix the switching problem, we are off to a good start; but many other factors remain. Until they are taken care of, the patient will still be vulnerable to problems that either don't respond to treatment or only respond temporarily.

Weight-Bearing Stress


Imagine what would happen if you tried to walk an elephant across a bridge made out of thin wooden popsicle sticks, or to hang a ceiling fan with adhesive tape. It would be laughable to think that the popsicle sticks or tape could do what we're asking them to do. We know that the elephant would fall through the bridge, and that the ceiling fan would wind up on the floor (or somebody's head.) When our muscles can't support the spine, pelvis and head, a lot of strain is borne by the muscles and transferred to the joints; and this leads to pain. Interference with the flow of energy and information between the brain and the body can and does cause such inadequate functioning of muscles and organs affecting our health and safety. Our ligaments and fibrous tissue become irritated and inflamed.

Another common problem that patients present with on their first visit is weight-bearing imbalances. Again, we have a simple test to detect this state: I test the patient's arm while they stand with their feet next to each other. If the arm is strong, I have them take one step forward with the opposite foot, shifting their weight to that foot. If the arm weakens, they have the problem. The patient may have a weight-bearing stress problem on one side or both.

Roughly 10% of the time, they have no problem with either side. The Bio Cranial procedure, discovered and developed by Dr. Robert Boyd, an osteopath from Ireland, corrects the weight-bearing problem 100% time, without fail and without recurrence! We'll talk about Bio Cranial and other cranial adjusting approaches much more in this eBook. 6




My Introduction to Bio Cranial Therapy


Ten years ago, I was still practicing chiropractic in New York City, and I was also using Applied Kinesiology in my practice. I knew that something had to be missing from the care I was offering my patients, and for that matter, from the care I was receiving myself. I would usually feel better when I would get together with my friend, Dr. Joe, and so would he. But only for about a week. After a week of bending over tables and working on patients, we'd both have certain characteristic problems that would return. Annoyingly so, and as predictable as clockwork.

Then, I saw an article in a chiropractic journal that changed my life and my career. An osteopath from Ireland, Dr. Robert Boyd, had connected the dots for me and explained why my treatments couldn't possibly last as long I would like. He clarified the intimate and intricate relationship between the twenty-two separate bones of the skull and our spinal alignment. I learned his theories and his techniques well enough to become a Bio Cranial instructor, and now use the Bio Cranial method or other cranial methods every day.



After receiving just a few Bio Cranial treatments, my tendency to spinal instability was gone, as was my TMJ (temporomandibular joint) trouble of many years duration. Dr. Joe continued to visit me, since he really liked the new work better. I have had very few chiropractic adjustments since I was exposed to Bio Cranial in 1998. I enjoy the wonderful way I feel after

getting a Bio Cranial, so I continue to trade with a colleague every several weeks even though I am no longer in any pain or discomfort between visits. I enjoy an active, busy practice and family life.

Bio Cranial is safe for people of all ages and almost all conditions. I returned from teaching a Bio Cranial class one Sunday, and drove straight from the airport to the hospital where my new granddaughter, Jazmin, had been born just a few hours earlier. She received her first Bio Cranial correction when she was just six hours old. Jazmin was already holding her head up and turning over in her bed before she left the hospital, and was much more alert, bright and response than any child the nurses or doctors there had ever seen. I have also treated a few people in their nineties and many in their eigities. There are no sudden, jarring or noisy movements applied during the Bio Cranial procedure. Treatment sessions are brief and

easily tolerated, even by young children. They may be safely applied to patients with osteoporosis, spinal fusions, Harrington Rods and other surgical hardware, spinal, brain and surgeries (after recovery), cardiac pacemakers; and by patients who have been advised by their physicians to avoid spinal manipulation by their physicians for any reason. X-RAYS are generally unnecessary.

Cranial adjusting is uniquely valuable, I have incorporated it into our approach. I'll summarize the most important points about the skull and its connection with our health, relating the principles to common problems I see in the office. 7




Cranial Basics


The cranium, or skull, is made of 22 separate interlocking bones that move in a slight, involuntary rhythmic manner throughout life. This motion has been measured by NASA. If you are online, you can download the article for further details on this research. It is similar to the expansion and contraction of the heart or lungs, but has its own separate rate, rhythm and magnitude. Far from being dry, fixed or fused, the skull is a dynamic living complex. There are numerous sinus passageways and many holes of different sizes so that twelve pairs of cranial nerves and many more blood vessels can travel between the skull and the parts of the body they serve. Cranial nerves influence many functions within the body. This will be discussed in detail in an upcoming section.




Universality of Cranial Distortion


Unfortunately, cranial distortion and the stresses it causes in the body are practically universal. The shape of the head and the alignment of cranial bones may be affected by:

1. Uneven pressure on different parts of the skull during its early formation inside the womb, pressure exerted on the outside of the head during the birth process (whether by uterine contractions; or hands, vacuums or forceps during either vaginal or Caesarian deliveries)

2. sleeping positions of the baby during the early weeks of life

3. sports injuries, whiplash accidents and other neck trauma causing jerking of muscles attaching to the head and neck

4. dental stress from poor dental arch formation, genetics, mouth trauma, prolonged dental or orthodontic procedures, etc.

View of Bottom of Brain (cranial nerves are shown in yellow) Cranial Nerve:	Major Functions:
I Olfactory	smell
II Optic	vision
III Oculomotor	eyelid and eyeball movement
IV Trochlear	innervates superior oblique turns eye downward and laterally
V Trigeminal	chewing face & mouth touch & pain
VI Abducens	turns eye laterally
VII Facial	controls most facial expressions secretion of tears & saliva taste
VIII Vestibulocochlear (auditory)	hearing equillibrium sensation
IX Glossopharyngeal	taste senses carotid blood pressure
X Vagus	senses aortic blood pressure slows heart rate stimulates digestive organs taste
XI Spinal Accessory	controls trapezius & sternocleidomastoid controls swallowing movements
XII Hypoglossal	controls tongue movements