Case Studies

Case Study (CS5) (Back Injury and Re-injury)


August 3, 2018

CONDITION and HISTORY

CS5 is a large, strong man around seventy years old. By the time we first met nearly thirty years ago, he had built his own home in rural Arkansas and had developed a large organic garden and orchard. He was in his forties and was married with three young sons. After working for years in construction, he had been injured from a fall from second-floor height due to the collapse of scaffolding. He had surgery for a broken back, followed by months of recovery that included wearing a back brace.

One or two years later he decided to change professions since he believed that his back injury had compromised his ability to work in construction. He moved to another state to pursue training in horticulture. However, back pain continued to plague him to the point of increasing dysfunction. He became very concerned that he'd never be able to support himself and his family in his condition, and he was in so much pain that he could barely function day to day.

He showed up unannounced at my office late one day in April 1990, almost at the point of collapse. He had heard about my work, and he had driven five hours that day to seek my help. He asked me to do whatever I could. He was very agitated and obviously in severe pain. I was conducting a seminar and asked him to wait a short while until the class was dismissed, at which time I would work with him.


TREATMENT

CS5's treatment consisted of Applied Bio-Mechanics to align the structure and relieve muscle tension. The first session took about an hour, and at the end his pain level was so improved that he wanted to immediately drive back home. I advised him to stay in the local area, if possible, in order to rest and in case followup was needed. He said he could stay at his farm and would call the next day.

The following day he reported that he had slept well but after a half day the pain started to return and was at about fifty percent of what it had been the day before. He came for a session that afternoon, then another the following day. After the second session, he was completely pain-free, and the third session was mainly for reinforcement since he lived so far away. He returned home and called three days later to report that he continued to be 95 percent pain-free early in the mornings and by afternoon he would have no pain whatsoever. I advised him to continue being very cautious about getting plenty of rest and keeping his activities no greater than moderate to allow ample time for healing to occur.

My wife and I left home a few days later to attend a festival in Missouri. While we were there, CS5 contacted me in a panic. He had hurt himself very badly and needed emergency help. Since we were away from home and relatively nearby, he wondered if we could possibly come to his house. Arrangements were quickly made, and several hours later we arrived at his home.

CS5 explained what had happened to set him back so far. He said he'd been very diligent about resting and he felt good after his earlier sessions. But then his neighbor started building a wall of cement blocks and asked for his help. He explained to the neighbor that he was not supposed to do strenuous work, but he offered to come over to watch and advise him. His neighbor was struggling to do the job, and CS5 decided to help him just a little. He reached down, picked up a cement block (about thirty-five pounds average), and twisted around to place it on the wall, something he had done so many times in his profession as a builder that it seemed like a minor action, especially since he was now out of pain. His back immediately gave out and he collapsed in severe pain, much worse this time than before.

I worked with him as soon as we arrived late that night using Applied Bio-Mechanics. He was able to sleep somewhat better, but his response to treatment was much more sluggish than previously. The next day's treatment eased his pain enough that he was able to function better, though he was still in a lot of pain and couldn't sleep through the night. I included advanced (Bio-Engineering) techniques in his treatments, and he improved incrementally each day until the fourth day's treatment appeared to finally break through his condition. Even though he still reported being in pain, he said he felt different. That night when he turned over in bed, his back popped audibly and his pain disappeared.

His entire treatment, including the initial sessions at my office and those at his home after re-injury, took place within a two-week time-frame. He has never experienced that level of pain again.

CS5 finished his horticulture training and eventually returned to live full time in his Arkansas home. He expanded his garden into a full-fledged organic farm, making his living raising and selling produce. He has worked very hard in this endeavor for many years, and has remained fit and healthy. About four years ago, in 2014, I asked him to tell his story to a class I was teaching. He came straight from his work and gave a heartfelt talk to the students, which he allowed me to record and share. This is his story in his own words.



OBSERVATIONS

This was a fairly typical case of how Bio-Mechanics and Bio-Engineering can be used in recovery from serious injuries. Structural alignment, muscle relaxation, and rest are all important components for a full recovery. Pain medication, chiropractic adjustments, and acupuncture did not help in CS5's case, and the fact that he did not develop a dependency on medications or dependency on physical therapy or ongoing chiropractic treatments is an important aspect of his full recovery.

A point of interest, which he shared with the class, was the return of memories that he didn't expect. When tissues are able to reach a deep state of relaxation, long-forgotten events and emotions will sometimes surface. These memories are often meaningful to the person and will normally resolve on their own over a few days time.


Case Study (CS4) (Catatonic Depression) (Compression-Depression Triad)


March 15, 2018

CONDITION and HISTORY

CS4 is a female client who was approximately thirty-seven years old when she experienced a very debilitating catatonic condition.

She had previously been a client for about a year, coming several times for neck and back tension. She had responded very well to those bodywork sessions, recovering quickly from the minor incidents of a very active lifestyle. She has a stocky build and is very energetic and strong. She raises horses on her farm and she manages month-long horse camps twice a year, during which the participants take long trail rides daily. At the time of her catatonic episode, she was also managing, at her farm, a small herd of Lippizan horses for a neighboring absentee rancher.

About two months prior to the catatonic episode, CS4’s teenage son, her only child, had died in an automobile accident. CS4 suffered badly from the emotional trauma, but, in addition to her husband, she was surrounded by a large loving family and a supportive community of friends. She appeared to be coping as well as could be expected after such a tragedy.

CS4’s husband, who at times worked in another state several hundred miles away, eventually had to return to his job. Although he hesitated to leave CS4 alone, she assured him that she would be fine and that her family would check on her for the week he’d be gone. Everything appeared to go well, but when he returned home at the end of the week, he found her sitting on the floor inside their home in an unresponsive stupor. She was unable to communicate and could not say what had happened to her. There was no apparent injury, and he and the rest of her family believed she had suffered a mental breakdown due to extreme grief.

He sought medical and psychiatric help for her over a period of about six weeks, but she recovered very little, if at all. She appeared to suffer from catatonic depression, or what is now known as major depressive disorder with catatonic features, in which someone who has major depression develops physical symptoms, such as being unable to move or speak. CS4’s main symptoms were:

·      Stupor, in which there is little or no psychomotor activity, no evidence of a connection to the surroundings, and little or no eye contact.

·      Waxy flexibility: a tendency to remain in one place unless moved or led to another one.

·      Mutism: little or no verbal response (inability to talk).

She could follow very simple instructions; she could be led from one place to another; occasionally she could grunt a few words, but she was mostly incommunicative.

When her condition didn’t improve after six weeks, her husband called me to see if I had any suggestions. When I asked him if she had been injured somehow, he said that she had a small scuff on one forearm when he found her, but no other injuries had been observed nor diagnosed. He brought her for a session late the next day.


TREATMENT

When they arrived, CS4’s husband opened the car door for her and led her inside. She was hardly recognizable as the healthy, energetic person I had known. She had a stooped posture with a lowered head and had the appearance of a much older woman. When I greeted her, she didn’t speak. She didn’t raise her head or make eye contact. I took her arm and led her into my office. She was able to follow my simple instructions as I proceeded with my work. The session lasted about an hour and included the basic Applied Bio-Mechanics technic, which works to decompress and align the structure, followed by several craniosacral techniques to further aid in decompressing her spine and cranial base.

CS4 didn’t talk during the session, but her body exhibited relaxation, better breathing patterns, and a loosening of tensions. At the end of the session, I suggested that she lie on the table as long as she liked, then get up and come into the adjoining room. I went out and joined her husband and my wife in the other room.

In a few minutes, the door opened and CS4 peered into the room. While standing in the doorway, she looked around, meeting the eyes and holding the gaze of each one of us in turn. Then, she very clearly asked, “Where’s your phone?”

I pointed to it on a nearby table, and she walked over and dialed a number. When the person she called answered, she said, “Mom, I’m back.” She spoke briefly and normally with her mother, then hung up the phone and sat down.

I asked her how she felt. She said she felt fine and began to talk about her experience, both during the session and the weeks prior to it. She was very animated and bright. She did not struggle to speak at all. She laughed easily and spoke very normally.

She described her anguish at not being able to talk during the previous weeks and how when she had tried, all she could do was grunt. Occasionally, she could speak a few mumbled words, but she said, “It was like crossed wires — my brain shorting out a lot.” She said she was angered and humiliated by the psychiatrist asking her questions, then nodding and scribbling on his notepad when she grunted trying to answer. She said she tried to tell him she couldn’t talk because some wires inside her head were crossed and her jaw was numb, but she could never say what she meant ... only guttural noises came out.

Regarding the bodywork session, she said that “tenseness and shorting out were especially strong in my right shoulder blade area, and there were creaky, electrical noises in my head.” As she grew more relaxed during the session, she said she felt a sensation like “wires uncrossing.” She also described some esoteric experiences. Three or four “beings” had “pulled” her out of her body through her head or neck and had “showed-told-taught me some things” — things about her son, a message for her husband, and answers to some questions she asked. “There was definite communication, apparently nonverbal.” She experienced “knowing” the things the beings communicated. “It was too much, beyond my ability to comprehend. I blanked out. I woke up again in my body — felt stiff and heavy and awkward.” After she got up from the table, her body quickly returned to normal.

(Although she described all these experiences immediately after the session, the actual quotes above are taken from notes she wrote down a short time later.)

I asked her what had happened to her ... had she hurt herself in some way?

She said, yes, that she remembered the whole thing during the session.

While her husband was away working, she was in her house one day and heard a commotion at the barn. She looked out and saw that two prize Lippizan stallions were in a fight. She grabbed her bullwhip and rushed to the barnyard to break up the fight. She is a very experienced horsewoman and didn’t hesitate to wade into the fight to try and prevent the horses from being badly injured. She entered the fray with her bullwhip, trying to separate the horses. Then one of the stallions swung around and kicked out with his hind legs. She saw a hoof coming straight at her head and threw up her arm in defense. She didn’t remember anything after that. She didn’t remember whether or not she fell, or anything she did afterward, including what happened to the horses or how she got back to her house. The horses were not injured, and no one had suspected that they were involved in any mishap.

We talked for a while before they left to return home, and she engaged with everyone and every topic very normally. After this one session, she did not have any follow-up treatments and appeared to be completely back to her usual self.

Through the years since that incident, she has returned for bodywork occasionally, usually for complaints related to neck and back tension. Now in her sixties, she continues to ride horses and participate in the twice-yearly month-long horse camps. In addition to caring for her own farm, she co-manages a family-owned bed and breakfast and remains an active member of her family and community. Though recalling the relief of tensions and "wires uncrossing," she mostly remembers this particular session as a spiritual experience, during which she learned to let go of her son and her grief.


OBSERVATIONS

This case indicates with great clarity how intimately the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of the body are interwoven, and how nonintrusive bodywork can function on many levels to overcome a dire state of dysfunction, often very rapidly.

At the core of the case is the physical injury that this person suffered. Based on her body’s reaction during the bodywork session and her own description of what she felt during the session, as well as the incident with the horses, I believe that she probably suffered a whiplash-type injury and possibly a fall backward to the ground. The horse obviously didn't strike her, as she had no apparent injury, but it is easy to imagine her jerking backward to avoid being kicked and the hoof's grazing the arm that she put up in defense. There's no way of knowing whether she lost consciousness or not, but her lack of memory after seeing the hoof lash out toward her head probably indicates that her state of catatonia began soon after.

Applied Bio-Mechanics is very effective in releasing what is sometimes referred to as a compression-depression triad. Very simply, this type of compression involves the joints of the sacrum, the occiput-atlas-axis, and the sphenobasilar symphysis. These joints can become compressed due to a fall, a blow to the body anywhere (but especially the head), or a whiplash. Symptoms are many and varied, but depression is one of the foremost. Decompression of these joints through ABM and cranial releases will often completely resolve depressive episodes, as in the case cited here.

Another important component of this case involves CS4’s emotions surrounding the death of her son. Often, with the release of structural restrictions, a person will experience memories or have other insights into their emotional situation. The esoteric part of the session, completely internal, helped her resolve her extraordinary grief, and she believes the spiritual guidance she received changed her life. Although she still missed her son and grieved for him, she was able to accept what happened and move on with her life. The esoteric experience she had during the bodywork session was very real and has helped her through other emotional situations from then to now, including the death of her husband several years ago after a long illness.

Recently, I asked her what she experienced during the days following that session.

“There was enhanced imagery and enhanced perception, not just visual. ... I could see colors better; I could hear better. All my perceptions were enhanced. I really enjoyed that. Because I had been so unobservant for whatever period of time that was [about six weeks of catatonia plus about two months of grieving], to be really present in the moment was such a gift. Beautiful planet. We have a beautiful place here. I just remember being so appreciative of that, and appreciative of my life. All the doom and gloom ... was gone.”


Case Study (CS3) (Bell's Palsy) (Neck Tension or Pain)


March 15, 2018

CONDITION and HISTORY

Bell’s Palsy is a (usually) temporary paralysis with significant facial distortion. Symptoms include rapid onset of weakness in facial muscles and drooping on one side of the face, pain in or around the ear and jaw on that side, drooling from that side of the mouth, excessive tearing, twitching, and inability to completely close the affected eye. The symptoms usually resolve within six months, though in some cases they may last a lifetime or result in permanent damage to the facial nerves or (rarely) blindness in one eye.

CS3 is a strong, fit middle-aged woman who works physically hard managing a horse farm. She operates farm machinery of various kinds, rides and takes care of horses, does some maintenance on buildings and fences, and so forth. She is also a farrier, which involves equine hoof care and blacksmithing. She spends many hours a day in hard manual labor: standing, bending, lifting, kneeling, stooping, and handling heavy farm equipment, feed sacks, and bales of hay.

When she displayed symptoms of Bell’s Palsy after a period of strenuous work, she was referred to me by her employer, whose neighbor I had succesfully treated for a diagnosed case of Bell’s Palsy several years before.

Upon arrival at her appointment, in addition to her facial symptoms, CS3 reported tension and soreness in her neck and back, which she believed was the result of many hours she had recently spent bush hogging. (Bush hogging refers to mowing fields using a tractor to which a rotary mower is attached at the back. The machinery operator normally spends most of their time looking back over one shoulder at their equipment as they drive the tractor around a field, often over rugged terrain.) Her symptoms were very distressful, prevented her from working, and affected her daily routines profoundly.


TREATMENT

Upon examination and palpation, CS3 exhibited a contracted muscle pattern in most areas of her body plus additional tension in her neck and face on the left side. The initial Applied Bio-Mechanics session relieved all of the contracted areas with significant improvement in her facial symptoms. To give further attention to her cranial nerve symptoms, she returned for cranial-sacral therapy two days later. Her condition improved so much after these two sessions that her teenage son told me, “Thank you for saving my mother.”

During one month’s time, she received a total of four sessions of ABM and two of CST, during which her symptoms improved almost 100 percent. (A very slight sag remained under her left cheekbone.) Though I suggested that she return for an additional treatment, she felt well and did not feel the need to follow up. She had continued working during most of this time and felt back to her normal self.

About one year later, she returned for two treatments three days apart. She reported that she had done very well since her previous treatments, but recently had felt “out of sorts.” Her symptoms included soreness in her left hip, slightly blurred vision, and a mild facial twitch. After two ABM sessions with some CST releases, all of these symptoms disappeared and have not recurred.


OBSERVATIONS

Applied Bio-Mechanics theory suggests that the body functions best when the posture is erect and symmetrical. I have treated many people who work in physically demanding fields, including cowboys, farmers and ranchers, construction workers, mechanics, heavy equipment operators, welders, and so forth, who display a variety of symptoms due to the strains on their bodies that are inherent in their work.

In this case, I believe that the symptoms were brought on due to neck tension that pulled into the cranium and affected the cranial nerves. The strain of having her head turned back over one shoulder to watch her equipment while bush hogging was likely a contributing factor.

The previous case of Bell’s Palsy mentioned (the neighbor) occurred during an extended cross-country motorcycle ride. That client is an older man in good health, but he has a stooped, head-forward posture, and I had worked previously with him for back and neck pain. The Bell’s Palsy symptoms in his case may have been due to the extra strain of hunching forward on a motorcycle wearing a heavy helmet for hundreds of miles daily.

Bell’s Palsy is believed to be the result of inflammation and swelling of cranial nerves that affect the face, and is speculated to be caused by a viral infection. However, I believe that neck and back tension should be addressed and treated first and foremost, especially in cases of arduous labor, extreme effort from other circumstances, or postural strains. Applied Bio-Mechanics with some additional cranial releases has proven very effective in my experience.


Case Study (CS2) (Sciatica) (Cervicals, Neck and Arm Pain and Tingling)


November 12, 2017

CONDITION and HISTORY

This male client was approximately forty-three years old when he came for his first appointment in 1993 for pain in his hip and legs. He was an avid tennis player and reported that a prior structural condition had begun to hamper his game and put his tennis activity in jeopardy.

Following an accident at age fourteen, he had almost lost his right leg due to gangrene. After five weeks in the hospital and surgery the following year to narrow the wide one-and-a-half-inch scar, the surgeon reported that his right leg was growing more slowly than his left. He used crutches for months, and the doctor prescribed an elevated heel for his right shoe. As the years went by, he did not always use an elevated heel. He reported that the result of that accident was a curvature of the spine to compensate for the imbalance.

Around age twenty-seven, he received a diagnosis of sciatica. The doctor prescribed medication from which he received some minimal relief from his back, hip, and leg pain. He utilized chiropractors over the ensuing years to treat bouts of sciatica as they occurred.

When the sciatica recurred in 1993 during his tennis playing years, he determined to seek a cure for his condition rather than just treatment for the symptoms. He came to my office upon referral from another client.


TREATMENT

October 6, 1993 - Sciatica

During CS2’s first session, a posture analysis determined that his legs appeared to be the same length but his hips had rotated in such a way as to cause his right leg to appear shorter. The slight curvature in his spine was most likely due to this condition. Upon completion of an hour-long session of Applied Bio-Mechanics, he reported that he no longer had back and leg pain, and he returned almost immediately to playing tennis and strength training.

He has subsequently reported (most recently in March 2016) that the sciatica never recurred after that single session.


September 26, 1998 and October 1, 2002 - Preventative/Maintenance Sessions

CS2 returned through the years for two additional sessions. He reported that he did not have any particular complaint but wanted to maintain periodic sessions as a precautionary measure and to keep his skeletal frame in good working order. Basic Applied Bio-Mechanics was the only bodywork applied during these sessions, with positive benefits in how he felt as well as improvements in his posture.


July 24, 2007 - Cervicals/Bone Spur

CS2 requested help with a cervical problem and tingling in his left arm. He reported that a medical doctor had diagnosed a bone spur in his neck, which was causing numbness and pain in his left shoulder and arm. The pain level was in the six to seven range out of ten, and surgery was recommended. Physical therapy was also suggested as a possibility to get some relief. Instead, he made an appointment to receive Applied Bio-Mechanics. At the end of the session he reported that his symptoms were gone.


December 2007 – April 2008 - Cervicals/Bone Spur Followup

CS2 scheduled an appointment on December 12, 2007. At this time he reported that he “fell back,” meaning that his previous symptoms had recurred due to the prior cervical and shoulder problem: a bone spur at C5-7, pain in his left shoulder, and tingling down his left arm. The session went very well with improvements in his pain level.

As he was now approaching age 60, we discussed the seriousness of the situation and solutions that would improve his long-term health and physical condition. He obtained six additional treatments of Applied Bio-Mechanics over a span of four months: two more sessions one week apart in December 2007; one session about a month later in January 2008; one session about ten days later in February 2008; one session about a month later in March 2008; and a final session about a month after that in April 2008. Significant relief was obtained immediately, starting December 12, 2007, with steady improvements in his pain level and overall condition as time passed.

These sessions have served as a foundation for him to live free of all sciatic and neck/nerve pain ever since (nine years as of this date) without any additional followup.


Case Study (CS1) (Scoliosis)


October 9, 2017

CONDITION and HISTORY

In the video below (recorded in April 2011), CS1 describes her condition and treatment in her own words.

This female client was approximately fifteen years old when she came for her first appointment. Her mother, a registered nurse, had noticed that one clavicle protruded unnaturally, and subsequent doctor visits resulted in a diagnosis of scoliosis. Neck and shoulder pain were her most serious complaints. She was an otherwise healthy teenager who had an interest in playing basketball on her high school team. The school nurse would not release her to play sports until the spinal curvature was within specified bounds.


TREATMENT

CS1's first session of Applied Bio-Mechanics was very successful, resulting in an improvement in posture, range of motion, and level of comfort. Her protruding clavicle and spinal curvature improved significantly during the first session and over the next few sessions diminished to the point that neither condition was outside the normal range. Her parents did not seek additional medical interventions, being satisfied after the initial ABM sessions that she was recovering optimally, and the high school nurse released her to play basketball.

Being a very active teen and playing basketball on her high school team, CS1 found that she performed best and kept her pain level down with follow-up treatments scheduled as needed. During the approximately ten years since she graduated from high school, she has scheduled maintenance follow-up treatments from six months to five years apart, on an as needed basis.

She continues to lead a very active lifestyle, including dance and exercise instruction and professional dog training along with other work and leisure activities.