The following are excerpts from patient care and personal reflection of over two decades of Dr Hanson’s experience as a Diplomate of the American Chiropractic Neurology Board practicing in Redmond, Washington.
Mal de debarquement Syndrome
Dr Hanson presents on the following case study of one of his previous patients…
Recently, a patient presented with a diagnosis of mal de debarquement syndrome which is the condition usually occurring after a cruise, flight, or sustained motion event. The most common conditions associated with this are involuntary rocking, swaying, and disequilibrium. For many people the symptoms may self resolve, but for an unfortunate many, these motion sensations persist. It can develop into a chronic condition that the person may not have any control over. Most recent research points to an area of the vestibular apparatus called the otolithic receptors that are the culprit for involuntary rocking, swaying, and disequilibrium based motions. In my patient with this syndrome, we were able to help significantly by creating balance in her cerebellar inhibitory pathways to her vestibular system using functional neurological techniques and chiropractic neurology protocols. She rated her rocking sensation, disequilibrium, difficulty walking an eight out of ten, on a scale zero being no symptoms and ten being severe, at the beginning of care. At the end of care, she rated it at a three out of ten, and stated she can walk a straight line without falling over or listing off to her right side. She later reported that she has been able to walk without holding onto any walls or handrails. She was also having moderate neck pain and right shoulder pain that mostly resolved with occasional mild episodic pain. It's wonderful to be able to help these kind of complex cases. If you or someone you know is suffering from a chronic condition or something similar, please call to see if you may be a candidate for care. I would love the opportunity to see if I can help you. January 24th, 2019
The Doctor’s Personal Experience
Dr Hanson reflects on the following on his own personal life and experiences…
As a boy in junior high and high school I played tackle football. I reflect and wish I would have gotten treatment from a Chiropractic Neurologist. The specialty can not only help injuries to the spine and shoulders, knees and ankles, and the musculoskeletal system, but with a postgraduate degree through the American Chiropractic Neurology Board, we are trained to help the effects of repetitive head injuries causing functional brain deficits which manifest consequences to the individual. The effects that I've seen in my practice from such injuries include sleep changes, visual disturbances, reading difficulties, focus problems, behavioral problems, moodiness, difficulty following directions, uneasy feelings, and balance problems. Many of these are consequences of the joint receptors, tendon receptors and muscle spindle receptors getting injured in such a way that they are not sending balanced information to the cerebellum and cortical pathways. I know that most of the patients, and specifically the young children treated in my office that play football that have significant compression and joint fixation as well as vestibular problems, do wonderfully with functional neurology and Chiropractic Neurology protocols. I ask that if you have a child that is playing football to consider having them checked, and our office is a great option as I specialize in these types of problems. Many children don't express that they're in pain but they still can have hidden injuries or mild concussions taking place throughout the season. The most common problems I see are lower neck (cervical thoracic junction) injuries, and back pain from tackling or line blocking, as well as a variety of joint injuries from overall playing. As a parent of boys that play football on local teams, I check them regularly. They now come to me to get treated because they have found they perform better in sports and function better in school. I know that when I was playing football as a boy, I sure had my bell rung a few times each season and when that happens, there's no way it doesn't cause injury. I am still repairing some of those injuries many years later. It is so much easier to prevent and treat when contemporaneously to the injury occurrence. November 1st, 2018