This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Hello Robert,

Yes. It is important to relieve (correct) upper cervical strains (misalignments).

Hi Doc,

George the chiro is not very experienced in atlas correction, can you advice him in this? ( you got his mailaddress)

second thing; i've been looking for the possibility of a CINE MRI (CSF measurement)
The only Fonar Upright MRI capable of CINE in Europe, is in Londen (at Fonar/Tecsentra center)

Well, results of the study of Dr. Damadian about MS patients and CSF disturbances should be available end of this year. Firs wait for that...

Regards,

Robert

What i want to add;
Part of the treatment of the lower back, when there is traction a.k.a. the machine goes down, i feel a kind or 'pulling' pain in the lowest part of the back.
I suppose it is normal but wanted to mention it.

Robert,
I use a unique approach to correction of the craniocervical junction that is a hybrid of the upper cervical, craniopathy and applied kinesiology methods. I don't use one maneuver. I use a variety based on exam findings such as range of motion, tenderness, muscle weakness etc. My goal for example is to increase range of motion, decrease tenderness, increase strength, move blood and CSF, or eliminate orthopedic and neurological signs. It would be difficult to explain the maneuvers I use in an email. I will be teaching seminars soon after I open my restaurant and guest house. In the meantime, the doctor should work on your suboccipital area such as a the CSF pump maneuver used with Cox technique. He can also put you on the table supine (face up) and use manual or automatic traction of the craniocervical junction. I prefer manual because it allows me isolate and precisely work all the ranges of motion are the involved segments. The pulling pain in the low back is most likely musculoskeletal but it could be checked to make sure that it isn't neurological using standard orthopedic and neurological tests. In either case, let the doctor know as it may be something that needs to be worked on more or avoided.

http://www.fonar.com/news/110211.htm

Misaligned cervical vertebrae in the patient (specifically, the vertebrae in the neck known as C-1, C-2, and C3) were causing blockage of the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. The malrotations of these vertebrae were initially discovered and visualized by the FONAR UPRIGHT® MRI, which showed that the vertebrae were rotated 5-6 degrees from their normal alignment.

Hi doc,

Rotation, is that top-down? So, that when you look from the front the left side of the disc comes forward and the right side backward?
Phew, difficult to explain

And how do you see 6 degrees? It's not much...


Regards,

Robert

Hello Robert,
Rotation of the upper cervical spine is best seen with top down or bottom up x-rays such as Vertex and Base Posterior x-rays used by upper cervical chiropractors or axial MRI views. When present, rotational strains (misalignments) of the upper cervical spine are fairly easy to see. What is not easy to see is fibrosis of the cisterns and subarachnoid space that can obstruct flow despite correction of the strain.

The following is an interesting case that recently commented on my website. I included some minor edits in parentheses for clarity. The patient is being treated by Dr. Rekate, a neurosurgeon who took over as the director of the Chiari Institute after Dr. Thomas Milhorat retired. Unfortunately the MRI and Cine Flow study were done supine. Chiari malformations can get worse with upright posture. This is a case where manual medicine such as the methods I have suggested should be tried first to improve craniospinal hydrodynamics. If that fails, venoplasty and stents should be considered to improve drainage capacity as CSF shunts can make some of these cases worse.

Hi I'm Kim! I've been spending much of the last year in bed due to major head pressure upon being upright. Upon looking for a csf leak my spinal tap showed an opening pressure of 30 (mmHg), mri normal (no signs of leak), empty Sella (comressed pituitary gland) filled with csf fluid, mrv shows bilateral transverse sinus stenosis (narrow major veins in brain), spinal mri showed cysts on nerve root sleeves. I was then diagnosed with iih (idiopathic intracranial hypertension) and csf leak (due to symptoms). I've tried diamox, makes symptoms worse. My Doc THEORY Is My Increased High (intracranial) Pressure Causes Me To Leak from The cysts. I also have a 5mm herniated tonsils (possible chiari). I'm wondering if they csf pressure could be different in the spinal canal and brain? Mri shows signs of high pressure, and spinal taps are high but the headache is positional. We did a cine study which showed good flow. Had 2 blood patches no relief. Doc wants to do a lp (lumboperitoneal) shunt to lower pressure. I'm so confused. I am a patient at the chiari Institute in ny with Dr.Rekate.

hi dr. flanagan, what do you think of this chio. method? would you explain in your words.

http://www.meningealrelease.com/multiple-sclerosis

in the "about us" part is their explaination.

Hello Blossom,
It's nice to hear from you. Unfortunately, I can't make heads or tails out of the technique. The information on the website is vague and meaningless. The technique appears to be based on an old belief that comes from craniopathy that bones of the skull move, which is necessary for health. According to craniopathy, the bones of the skull can become misaligned and result in ill health. I disagree with the theory, which I discuss in my book. I did comparative anatomical studies that included bats, whales, giraffes and apes as well as other species. Among other things, the sutures (joints) of the skull bones in whales get compressed and fused causing them to teloscope (override) each other as a result of compression from deep dives. The joints (sutures) are also fused and covered by large ridges of bones called nuchal and sagital crests in apes located along the base of the skull and the top of the head respectively. The large ridges of bone that grows on top of the fused joints is caused by pulling (tension) from powerful neck and jaw muscles. The joints of the skull in humans stay open until age 21 or so and then start to progressively close with age. In contrast to craniopathic theory, my research showed that the joints (sutures) of the skull stayed open in adults with pathology and closed (fused) in healthy aging. The bones of the skull don't need to move to be healthy. The joints of the skull are a reflection of the stresses that strain them. It is my opinion that the sutures of the skull in humans stay open as long as they do, due to hydraulic stresses in the dipolic veins of the skull bones associated with upright posture.

I don't work on the bones of the skull per se. I work on the musculoskeletal system of the skull. More importantly, I endeavor to work on the contents of the cranial vault, such as the different parts of the brain, brainstem, cranial nerves, blood vessels, CSF pathways etc. My theory and methods are very different. More importanly, they are based on a vast amount of sound research and clinical sciences any expert could understand. My seminars won't be popular with lazy doctors. There is too much to learn. The topics I will be covering are complex and challenging even for the best experts.

I talked with a lady diagnosed with MS. She had sciatica and other problems with her spine. Had a rod inserted in her back February, and most her MS symptoms disappeared immediately. She has continued to improve.
This is my third day in my W/C after being in my bed lying down since mid Nov. I am typing with both hands now. The changes are dramatic and fast. Last week the lady who gave my a shower had to do everything. Today, I did almost everything. She could not believe how much stronger (able to do more) I was.

Hello Dania,
The lady is a very interesting case. I wonder what her signs and symptoms are. I had a case with spondylolisthesis with bilateral stenosis (narrowing) of the intervertebral foramen (opening) where the nerve roots to the leg exit the spine. She has leg weakness foot weakness with a mild foot drop and positvie Babinski and clonus signs on the right. She has no lesions. Nonetheless, she was diagnosed with MS because of other symptoms, as well as remissions and exacerbations that are somewhat progressive in that the leg weakness appears to be spreading to the left side. She was also diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease. It's a complex case but I don't think she has MS. I suspect that her problems are mostly due to the spondylolisthesis and stenosis. There is a good chance she would benefit from endoscopic surgery to open the foramen. The problem is everyone is focused on the possible MS diagnosis and even less likely Lyme disease.

As far as the improvement in your condition is concerned, lying down relieves the compression loads acting on the spine, pelvis and coccyx. It also relieves compression of the blood and lymph vessels in the back of the legs. Using an inversion board, such as the one I recommended for you, would be even better. What's more, you can use the benefit of gravity in the inverted position to exercise your legs with knee raises and work your abs with head curls. Both would be beneficial to the colon and constipation. Lastly, lying on and inversion board would decrease compression of the colon and help to relieve venous and lymph congestion in your legs and pelvis.

I improved after wearing a neck collar. Keeping my head from flopping backwards and to the right.

The comment below from my website is an interesting case of MS that involves significant spondylosis (degeneration) and stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal and intervertebral foramen) of the cervical spine:

Dr. Flanagan I just purchased your book after checking out your site that was given to me on a MS World.

My doctors (PCP and Neuro) both told me I am a weird case patient, gave me some drugs & have pretty much given up on me. I was a perfectly healthy, extremely energetic & vibrant 51 yr old female until Aug 2011.

First symptom (sx) was the immediate onset of floaters in the right eye. Two days later I lost periphrial vision & words became hit & miss. I; have issues with color contrast & depth perception. The left eye is unaffected. After immediate brain MRI, there were no lesions but I was diagnosed with Optic Neuritis. Further testing was done for MS and it's mimics. All of the tests were negative.

At the same time, I developed bilateral severe Restless Leg Syndrome, cog fog, MS hug, sensitivity to light touch and noise, extreme fatigue, and heat intolerance that has progressively gotten worse. I was prescribed meds for that. They are not working anymore. Reason for thought for MS.

Between 2011-2014. Neuro wanted brain MRI's one every year for next five years. I have had three already. They still show no lesions. I am rechecked periodicly for all the MS mimics. Those tests are still all negative. They tell me I'm weird.

Ongoing symptoms - Dizziness when head is tilted back, pressure behind both eyes when overheated, heat intolerance even at the slightest rise in body temp., worse when attacked by a virus, sinus issues (never had them before) loss of balance to the left at times, RLS everynight, loss of bilateral hand strength, left leg weakness. I walk to the left side at times as if i am drunk.

Since 1999 though I have had spinal issues. The diagnosis based on x-rays are degenerative disc disease and degenerative joint diseases of the C4 and C5 & L4, L5, S1 that were corrected with chiropractic adjustments.

In light of recent symptoms, my PCP ordered new MRI's with contrast.

Fast forward to March 2014.

MRI's now show
Cervical: C2-C3 no problems, C3-C4 disc height preserved, disc bulge w/mild bilateral uncovertebral arthropathy, C4-C5 disc height preserved, disc bulge w/bilateral uncovertebral arthropathy. There is narrowing of the anterior CSF space & compression of the ventral thecal sac. There is no central canal stenosis. Facet arthropathy contributes to bilateral foraminal stenosis, moderate on left/mild on right. C5-C6 moderate loss of intervertebral disc space, large posterior disc osteophyte complex which effaces the anterior CSF space and compresses the ventral thecal sac. There is flattening of the ventral cord. There is no central canal stenosis. Facet arthropathy contributes to bilateral foraminal stenosis, moderate to severe on right, mild on left. C6-C7 moderate loss of intervertebral disc height, A large posterior disc osteophyte complex effaces the anterior CSF space and compresses the ventral thecal sac. There is flattening of the ventral cord. There is mild central canal stenosis. There is moderate left sided and mild right sided foraminal stenosis. C7-T1 is fine.

I feel my health issues are cervical related. I don't think I have the start of MS. Going to the chiropractor is not helping anymore since I have to go almost every week. He did start me on some decompression therapy to see if it would help. Two weeks after the therapy, I am back at square one.

Your opinion would be most greatful as I my life is slowly deteriorating at a fast rate it seems. Too young for this. Thank you for your time and I am looking forward in reading your book.

Sounds very familiar to me!!

Hope all is well for everyone!

I also hope progress is happening on your project Dr F ;)

I'm due next week for a check up with the Neuro and hopefully an MRI looking at why I am still progressing.

Regards,
Nigel

The case above is clearing affecting venous blood and CSF flow in the spinal canal and intervertebral foramen as reported based on her cervical scan. Dizziness when tipping the head back is most likely a sign of vertebral-basilar ischemia due to compression of the third segment of the vertebral artery where it passes through the suboccipital cavernous sinus between the skull and atlas. Decreased blood flow in the vertebral-basilar arteries would explain the cog fog and fatigue. The floaters and optic neuritis are most likely due to poor drainage of the right eye. In addition to possible hypothalamic signs, the heat intolerance can be affected by venous drainage of the eye. In this regard, they ophthalmic veins of the eyes cool the cavernous sinus and play and important role in brain cooling. The suboccipital cavernous sinus is likewise important for brain cooling. The cavernous sinus also contains the ophthalmic artery which supplies the eye. Displacement of the brain in the cranial vault (ectopia) can strain the opthalmic artery and optic nerve as they pass through the optic canal. Upper cervical misalignments, head tilts, trauma etc. can cause displacement of the brain in the cranial vault. Spondylosis and stenosis compress the epidural space which contains the vertebral veins that drain the brain in the upright position. Obstruction to venous flow can further affect blood flow to the cord and CSF flow. The cervical spondylosis and stenosis also explains the weakness in the extremities. It's amazing to me that such highly educated doctors and esteemed experts still don't see the obvious connection.