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If you are seeking natural treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome, there are a few things you need to know. The first thing that you need to know is that you are not alone! I know that it feels like it at times. If you suffer from chronic fatigue, you will appreciate that one of the most frustrating parts is that “no one understands.”
Not even your closest friends or family members. From the outside, you appear perfectly normal. But on the inside, you feel like a dead battery. As much as they try to understand, they do not understand how it is possible to feel so drained - so flat - that there are days where you simply cannot go!
Here are some stats, though, to let you know that you are not alone. Although the official incidence of chronic fatigue syndrome in Australia is 0.3-2% of the population, experts estimate that up to 20% of people in Australia are affected by chronic fatigue.
That is anywhere between 69,000 - 560,000 people officially suffering the condition … but 5.6 MILLION people affected by it in some form or another. The second thing you need to know if you are looking for a natural treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome is that the disorder is like a combination lock.
It is usually a combination of multiple things affecting your nervous system all at once. It is the reason that there are so many treatments, and remedies out there - many that you have probably tried already, but that may not have worked.
In order to open a combination lock, you need to have all the digits lined up in the correct sequence … or nothing happens! So too with chronic fatigue syndrome, there is no magic bullet because the syndrome is affected by so many things.
So, it is important that you understand that the information that I am sharing with you is one essential piece of the puzzle … but maybe not the entire thing. Read more about "The Combination Lock" in my previous post. The third thing that you need to know about natural treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome is that there IS a cause for what you are experiencing.
People do not experience any health problem without there being a specific reason or reasons. With chronic fatigue syndrome, I understand how frustrating it is to do XYZ - to see dozens of health professionals, who perform hundreds of tests that all come back saying that “you are normal” and to spend thousands of dollars across over years without answers.
I know what that is like. I also know that there is an answer out there. Though we all do our best to find it, sometimes we can’t, like trying to track down a ghost. That said, it is paramount that you never abandon hope that that you persevere in your quest for answers and a solution.
I believe in hope - not dangerous, hurtful false hope - but in the real hope that there is a natural treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome, and that you can reclaim your health, vitality, and life. The reason I believe it is because I’ve seen it plenty of times before.
The Role of the Upper Neck and Natural Treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Here’s what I know and want to share with you about the role that Upper Cervical Care - the upper neck - plays in a natural treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome. Others name for chronic fatigue syndrome or closely associated conditions are Fibromyalgia and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME).
These conditions are characterized when a person not only experiences the full-body “life sucked out of you” feeling, but also full-body pain like you’ve just run back-to-back marathons. The word “myalgia” means “muscle pain.” “Encephalo-“ refers to inside the head, and “Myelitis” means inflammation of the nervous system.
The reason I explain this breakdown is that there are some of the emerging hallmarks of people who experience chronic fatigue syndrome: it is that there is swelling on the brain, that is believed to cause your nerves to fire improperly, which your brain interprets as pain and also which brains your body’s resources (energy) to work properly.
The question then is, “why would there be swelling on the brain?” As I mentioned before, there are multiple potential factors (the combination lock) that can cause swelling and lead to health problems. To name a few: diet (such as wheat sensitivity), an undiagnosed virus (e.g., Glandular Fever or Ross River Fever … both of which are very common, an undiagnosed bacterial or mold infection and metal toxicity.
But there is another reason that potentially eclipses all of these combined: and that is a physical injury that disrupts the normal alignment between your skull and the top vertebra in your neck (aka C1 or the atlas).
Upper Cervical Care
The atlas is unlike any other vertebra in your spine and has a special relationship with your nervous system. First, it protects your brainstem, which processes and drives all vital life functions: heart activity, lung activity, digestion … but also, in an area called the Reticular Activating System (RAS), the ability to coordinate information to/from the brain and to facilitate sleep!
Moreover, incorrect alignment of the atlas has been shown to affect blood flow to the brain, from the brain, and also to disrupt the flow of cerebrospinal fluid - the watery substance that cushions and nourishes your brain. The problem if these systems are disrupted is that it can cause congestion, like a backed upriver that turns into a cesspool.
If fluids cannot drain properly from the brain, it causes swelling and a host of potential neurological problems. Researchers believe that inflammation like this may be responsible not only for chronic fatigue syndrome but also for other neurological disorders such as post-concussion syndrome or multiple sclerosis.
What is very interesting if you are looking for a natural treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome is that some preliminary research is demonstrating that a specific correction to the atlas alignment improves the circulation of fluids in the brain and even has reduced the amount of swelling on the brain!
What this is meant for many people who have experienced this work is a marked improvement in their symptoms … and a marked improvement in their ability to enjoy life again!
How did I misalign my Atlas in the first place?
The most common reason you may have a misaligned atlas is that you suffered some type of physical injury in the past: no broken bones, maybe some blood, but you thought you were fine and so you did nothing about it.
The problem, if your atlas misaligned and healed incorrectly by even a couple of millimeters is that the pressure has been building slowly over a period of months, years, or decades. What would happen if you didn’t pay down your credit cards for a few months?
The interest would accumulate (severely!), and if wouldn’t be long for the Repo Man to come. So too in the body, there is always a price to pay for unresolved health conditions … and that is whether or not you consciously knew about them.
The solution, first, is to identify if a misalignment of the atlas is part of your combination lock. Maybe it isn’t, which would mean you need a different type of natural solution for chronic fatigue syndrome. On the other hand, if your atlas is misaligned, that is likely one essential piece of the puzzle that must be in place if you want to recover from chronic fatigue.
How do I find out if it is Aligned?
Our office, located in North Lakes, is the only Upper Cervical Specific office in Brisbane. What we do is perform a series of neurological and diagnostic imaging tests - all in our office - to determine if you have a misalignment in your upper neck.
If we find this to be the case, we make a tailored care recommendation for you, during which we expect to see a marked improvement in your health. The procedure that we perform is called a Blair Upper Cervical Adjustment.
It is a specialized form of chiropractic that does not involve any cracking or manipulation. Dr. Jeffrey Hannah is an Advanced Certified Blair practitioner with 10 years of experience in Upper Cervical Specific Care. If you would like to speak with Dr. Hannah to determine if Upper Cervical Care may be right for you, contact our office for more information at 3188 9329.
We believe that every human being has the potential to have an extraordinary life, and it is our mission to make sure that a problem in your neck is not the things that are preventing you from living that extraordinary life that you believe you can too. If you are looking for a natural treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome, we will be honored to help you in any way that we can.
References & Resources
- Nacul LC, Lacerda EM, Pheby D, et al. Prevalence of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) in three regions of England: a repeated cross-sectional study in primary care. BMC Med. 2011 Jul 28;9:91. doi: 10.1186/1741-7015-9-91.
- Pomares FB, Funck T, Feier NA, et al. Histological Underpinnings of Grey Matter Changes in Fibromyalgia Investigated Using Multimodal Brain Imaging. J Neurosci. 2017 Feb 1;37(5):1090-1101. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2619-16.2016. Epub 2016 Dec 16.
- Smith FW, Dworkin JS (eds): The Craniocervical Syndrome and MRI. Basel, Karger, 2015. DOI:10.1159/000365463.
- Eriksen K. Upper Cervical Subluxation Complex: a review of the chiropractic and medical literature. Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins. Baltimore (MD). 2004.
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