Chiropractic on a brachial plexius injury

[claudia]

Okay, I can't keep my myob either... For all of us who have battled insurance companies to pay for surgery--let us remember: to the insurance companies and doctors at large-SURGERY IS AN ALTERNATIVE THERAPY FOR BPI. Think about it, how far did we each have to go to find a specialist? How much self-educating did we each do? Though in our BPI world surgery is an active option, it is not in the non-BPI world. Just ask your ped. Or the gazillion doctors who told you that surgery would make your kid worse, definately. Hey, we know that is not true. Now, back to alternative therapies, pick what you feel works for you. Use your head, do your research, including asking people here. I took many classes in college about alternative therapies, I tend to be skeptical. MY choice. However, when my friend who had trouble breastfeeding asked me for some of my milk because she was told it would help clear her son's tear ducts, I gave. (I could have fed a small country at that point!!) My point is that we have to be vigilant in all of our choices because BPI is a medically evolving issue. But please, Mary, you are very anti-surgery, and it is a tough decision for all of us when we decide to go thru with it, try to be thoughtful of how it sounds to those people who are grappling with the decision to do surgery.
claudia

[admin]

in the two years that i have been on this board marymom has be a constant pot stirer. not that this is always bad but it seems that she is always looking to bash surgery every chance that she gets. personally i think that the main problem with chriopracters is that most of them believe they can heal any problem with their practices. to me that is dangerous. i can see the benefit of chriopractic in many applications and maybe bpi is one of them again i am with francine on research!!!

[m&mmom]

I'm having a hard time keeping quiet myself.
THANK YOU MARY for voicing your opinion on chiropractic. I finally got the courage to take him and it was done wonders for my son. I seriously doubt he would be walking right now if we hadn't taken him. His posture has been much better, he is weight bearing more which may help prevent future surgeries.
I also think that people should be able to post what they feel. If if offends you personally don't read on or reply personally. Unfortunately surgery is "cutting open" and you can't change that. I thought these boards were a place where everyone can express ideas/treatment options not a surgery vs. anti surgery board. I feel in this world surgery is a very relied upon alternative, in my experience if docs can't fix something they suggest cutting you open to try and fix it. In my opinion.
Respectfully
Cindy

[admin]

On one side you have a child with a less severe injury who has received chiropractic care once a month or less and the recovery is good.

On the other side you have a child with a severe injury who recieves chiropractic probably very often by a professional in the family and the results are that this child still needs multiple surgeries.

(1) So, what role did chiropractic play with the recovery of each child?
(2) What EXACTLY does chiropractic help with?
(3) What EXACT techniques are used to achieve this?
(4) Can you tell us what a session would consist of and how long it should last?
(5) How often should chiropratic adjustments be done ?
(6) How does one find a chiropractor to work on a child with a bpi ?

Can Natty's Daddy or another professional chiropractor shed some light?

[admin]

If Marymom shares with us information about chiropractic and how it has helped her son it would be greatly appreciated and accepted, just like your posts, Cindy and Natty's Daddy's posts. So why do you think Marymom is taking a hit? It's because she IS anti-surgery and she has a knack of reminding us each time she posts. Many times I read her posts and feel guilty that maybe I failed my son by having him have surgery (but then again he DID have chiropractic and it didn't help him avoid surgery even in the least bit.) I'd love to hear more about chiropractic and other alternatives, WITHOUT the guilt trip about having surgery.

[Bridget]

I like the idea about posting thoughts and ideas with respect for other people's right to make their own decisions...i.e. NO GUILT TRIPS.

I think that is a great idea.

Bridget

[Pam W]

I have found this topic very interesting. We started seeing the Chiropractor about 3 months ago because my son John has been having severe GI reflux, so bad that it came up into his mouth and he would have to spit it out in the bathroom.The episodes would last from 1-2 hours at a time. We had tried all the traditional approaches for dealing with the reflux with varied success.

When we went to the Chiropractor he suggested that it may be related to the bpi because the nerves that are damaged also branch out to the esophogus. We have been having good success so far.

Because of the muscle imbalances in the back John's spine was visibly crooked. This also has seemed to improve. We started out going 3 times per week and now go 2 times.
We are scheduled to have another exray this afternoon to see how things look.

The doctor has said he doesn't know how well the adjustments will hold because of the bpi but we are happy with the results so far. The other long term goal of keeping his spine straighter is maybe less chance of scoliosis, which we have been told is a great possibility because of the muscle imbalances. John is almost 9 and he likes going to the Chiropractor. I have never used a Chiropractor before but I have also been happy with how he has treated all of us.

[marymom]

It is no coincidence about the GI reflux(in my opinion) , I have heard discussion before about pressure points in the brachial plexus that cause reflux, I think that is seperate from the phrenic nerve but also possibly phrenic nerve involvement which affects the diaphragm could have something to do with it too-
Maxs adjustments do not hold for a long time either, altho they hold alot longer now than before, but like the rest of my kids can get adjusted two maybe 3 times a year while Max gets adjusted,10 to 15 x a year, probably will change according to growth rates and so forth.
Max spit up so often when he was first born that I thought he had something wrong with his intestines or something...We watched him closely as I was not comfortable with doctors testing and in time, the first 9 months, he slowly grew out of it...

[Kathleen]

Chiropractic adjustments stopped holding on me after a while... But they did help.

I now go to a PT who was first a Chiropractor.
He uses a combination of treatment but with very gentle adjustments and myofacial release...

I am about to start another round of PT.

Great care should be taken when choosing a chiropractor. We use a very fine one yet the other day after adjustment my daughters vision was impaired for hours... that is the first time that has happened and we have used the same Chiropractor for years...

I go to a PT/Chiropractor because I can no longer handle the strong adjustments and need e-stim and myofacial and the long combination of treatments...

Back to 2/3 times a week for me again at 62 -- this is a pain in the neck/or arm... no I feel good after treatment just tired/relaxed its better then drugs for me they just don't seem to work.
I am also getting Vitiman b-12 shots and that helped with the misfiring in my arm - since I started the shots my arm is back to sleep again.

It is good to investigate all avenues of treatment and then choose the one that is best for your child and your gut!! Because that internal voice will always give you the best advice for your own child.
Kath

[admin]

I also can't MYOB. This is in regards to the posting of chiro. I think any alternative treatment is a good thing. I also think the words "cutting open", is
a reality. This is what they do folks. I think surgery is needed depending on the child.
I also think that just because someone does not choose surgery, does not mean their child is "less severe".
I just means they don't want to put their child through the rigors and complications of surgery.
(which are great) I does not make a person less of parent if they choose to have surgery or not.
It seems that there are alot of psychosocial issues
when it comes to a BPI.
It is ok for Marymom to express her feelings about this
issue.
It is also ok for others to express theirs.
It does not mean that she is "stiring the pot".
It just means she has strong feelings, with strong
imagery attached to it.
Does this mean she is bashing? Not necessarily.
Each of us has to make our own decisions for the care of our children. We have to make sure the doctor,
pt, ot, bpi specialist, chiro, are all doing their
jobs right. That is a very hard and stressful thing to keep tract of. We are constantly questioning our
actions pertaining to bpi.
We have to respect eachothers opinions and also acknowledge that those opinions may be graphic at times. We don't have to agree to them, or even like them.
So lets pray we all find peace with our decisions in our life.