“I was pleasantly surprised after the first couple of sessions with you to note the highs and lows of my hearing seemed to have evened out.”
First rule of research: Never quote Wikipedia.
“I was deaf 17 years and I expected to always remain so, for I had doctored a great deal without any benefit. I had long ago made up my mind to not take any more ear treatments, for it did me no good. Last January Dr. Palmer told me that my deafness came from an injury in my spine. This was new to me; but it is a fact that my back was injured at the time I went deaf. Dr. Palmer treated me on the spine; in two treatments I could hear quite well. That was eight months ago. My hearing remains good. HARVEY LILLARD, 320 W. Eleventh St., Davenport, Iowa.” Wikipedia.
The spine? What a heretic.
And so the story goes. As a student, I wondered whether I’d ever see a Harvey Lillard case: The supposed first application of chiropractic by the founder around 1895 to a janitor whose hearing was magically restored. The surfeit of scientific rationalisation as to how this happened since then has been unending and most debates usually come to rest at the foot of clichéd tenets like “the power that made the body heals the body” or at the pub.
Besides the majority of good responses we get with tinnitus, this case was close enough to Harvey for me.
The more we understand about neurosensory processing at the level of the brainstem and reticular formation where most feedback from the spine and body confluences, the more we gain an understanding that problems which begin neurosensorily (usually stress) have great potential to be helped by chiropractic. Namely, nausea, vomiting, tinnitus, dizziness, visual changes, and in this case, sensorineural hearing loss.
Dear Neil
I want to recognise the work you are doing and say a little about the very positive results I am experiencing as a result of my care with you. Firstly I want say how pleasant it is just to come to your office. Both you and Pip are so friendly and welcoming and definitely go the extra mile to make me feel relaxed. I love reading the information on the monitor in the waiting area and find it very useful and interesting.
I first came to see you in the hope I could improve my hearing loss and otherwise had no pre-conceived ideas about the benefits of chiropractic care and your special approach to your practise. I have to say I was reluctant at first and maybe a bit cynical, thinking of the bone crunching type of chiropractic I remember from a few years ago; another place and time!
I was pleasantly surprised after the first couple of sessions with you to note the highs and lows of my hearing seemed to have evened out (my hearing loss is sensorineural). After a few sessions with you I went to see my audiologist who reported my hearing had not changed. That is significant for me because it has been getting worse and worse over the past 2-3 years with the decline speeding up. So this really bore out my perception that things had improved. I have not got my hearing back but there has definitely been an improvement and it took several years for it to get to where it was so I am happy to see small improvements and stabilisation for now. Who knows what continued care could do for me?
My bonus has been arriving at my appointment on a number of occasions with a stress-induced headache. In every case I have walked out of the office headache free – thank you Neil.
A huge benefit to me has been a massive increase in my energy! From consuming caffeine in some form (energy drinks) to get through a busy day to having none and enjoying more energy than I have had for a very long time is just fantastic to say the least. [Neil: Mary was able to happily dance at her wedding – something she didn’t think she could manage.]
Finally I have to say, this is nothing like the treatment I have received in the past – gentle and very effective, so much so that I will bring my 4 year old grandson to see you next, and I would only entrust him to someone I trust.
Thank you very much Neil and Pip.
Kindest regards,
Mary Vinsen