Question
My stepson hung himself at school over 3 years ago. He used a football belt and tied it up around the top of the bathroom stall and slid down. He was unresponsive and they had to shock him to revive him. When we got to the hospital he was awake and appeared normal. He had a tube down his thrat and he was restrained. The doctor induced a coma to let his brain heal and to take x-rays of his neck, which they said was fine. he spent 2 weeks in a coma and when he came out of it he couldn't move just open his eyes. He spent the next 14 weeks at RIC in Chicago rehabing. He has a brain injury and doesn't act normal, he;s almost like a little baby. We have tried everything we can think of. Pretty much he can do everything except walk on his own and he can't talk. Two weeks ago I took him to a chiropractor and he took some x-rays and rolled a device hooked up to a computer up his spine. The x-rays showed his neck is not normal and the scan of his spine showed the top three vertabrae in his neck severly out of place. The chiropractor said he can help him and we should see a big improvement after 12 visits to realign his neck. What is your opinoin or solution? Do you think there is a chance for him to recover fully?

Answer
Ron:

Ok!

Sorry to hear this.

Yes, I think the chiropractor could help him. Obviously, this is a very unusual case, and not a lot of research is available.

Think of the mechanics. If the belt was around his neck and he slid down the stall wall, there was a severe traction put upon his upper neck. This severe traction would straighten out the neck curve and when that happened, the bones in his upper neck would be not where they are supposed to be. This displacement of the bones has shut of the nerve juice which goes up and down the spinal cord. This is what causes the paralysis. The part of the brain which sticks down thru the hole in the bottom of the skull is being squashed.

I am sure the chiropractor is a dedicated healer. Otherwise he would prescribe many more visits than twelve. That chiropractor is an honest fellow, dedicated to the health of mankind. If your son walks again in twelve visits, the doctor should get some kind of an award.

But, what do you have to loose? A life of malfunctioning is not a good life. I am certain the chiro will not make him any worse. So give it a try.

Please let me know how it goes.

Dr. Rozeboom