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Curious Case of Crying Baby

By On · Add Comment · In birthing, chiropractic adjustments, crying, difficulty sleeping, eye drooping, infant, learning difficulties, malformation, occiput, refused breast, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

I had an interesting case come into my office this last week, a 3-month-old boy that was having difficulty sleeping and the inability to turn his head to the right.  When his parent tried to turn his head to the right, the child would start to scream and cry.  The parents reported that the boy had refused the breast from early on, and was therefore on formula, and also that his left eye drooped a little.

Upon examination I noticed that his right occipital bone (back skull) appeared to be protruding backward, yet he was turning his head toward the left, which was an oddity to me.  If, for instance, his occiput was rotated backward on the right, he would turn his head to the right, but not to the left.  This, of course, was not the case.

Not Child’s Actual MRI: for illustrative purposes

I realized that his right occipital bone was jammed into the first cervical vertebra, and rotated backward on the left.  But why did it appear as if he was rotated back on the right.  It was an optical illusion that was perpetuated by increased muscular tone on the left side of the back of his skull (see picture).  Further, I believe that because he was lying on his back (to prevent sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS), he might have caused a bit of flattening known as plagiocephaly, which should correct now that he is improving.

I guess I gave it away, but I treated him by lifting his occipital condyle off of the first cervical vertebra.  With a little left to right rotation, the infant was immediately turning his head to the right (see pictures).  For his eye drooping I did some light adjustments of his hand and foot digits on the opposite side (in this case the right), and sent he and his family on their way, with instructions to return two days later.

I saw the little guy again on Saturday, when his father told me that “whatever you did worked, because he slept that day like he hadn’t in weeks.”  His eye also seemed to normalize somewhat.  When I worked on him this time, he was giggling and cooing throughout the light chiropractic infant adjustments.  It was amazing!

On day three (today), he looks like a totally different kid.  His head was sitting straight, he was calm and his eyes seemed nearly fully symmetrical.  I believe that this condition is not that uncommon, as the birthing process can be tough on a baby.  Somewhere through the canal, his head jammed.  Although I am certain he would have adapted to the malformation, probably with an increased thoracic hump (hunchback), correcting the problem now prevents any neurological compromise or even learning difficulties that could arise from the deformity.

Cases like this make my work so rewarding.  I only wish more people would take their children in for regular chiropractic checkups.  Sometimes the fussing and crying some babies go through has to do with a structural deformity.  I can’t imagine having your occiput jammed into your spine feels good.  It sure didn’t for that little tyke, but he feels a lot better now.  And so do his parents.  God bless chiropractic.

Baby Born to Comatose Mother

By On · Add Comment · In birthing, cesarean section, coma, heart attack, human, innate intelligence, medical paradigm

If you are not fully aware of the amazing intelligence of the human body, let me fill you in: A 40-year-old woman who fell into a coma while 13-weeks pregnant gave birth to a healthy baby 22 weeks later in a German hospital, sources disclosed this week. The incident occurred one and a half years ago, but was withheld until Friday to keep the astounding results from setting off a media circus.

The mother suffered a heart attack early in her pregnancy and remained in a coma throughout. Doctors did not disclose whether the baby was birthed naturally or by cesarean section. The baby is now 1 1/2 years old and healthy. Matthias Beckmann, a director at the hospital in Erlangen, Bavaria, said: “We wanted to keep the spectacular case secret for as long as possible to demonstrate that we’re not experimenting on people and that the child is still healthy.”

Anyone else in awe of the body’s incredible innate intelligence? The body knows what to do and when to do it. The current medical/physiological paradigm perceives the body as highly fragile and fallible. There are some, it believes, that have “good genes,” and are therefore strong and resilient. But for some poor folk–those cursed with “bad genes” or those that have simply gotten the short end of the stick (whatever that’s supposed to mean)–medical science believes their bodies can’t produce proper amounts of cholesterol, or that their brains are dysfunctional in their regulation of neurotransmitters; and that somehow they needs a lifetime of medical intervention to function properly and sustain life.

You know, if this was the rationale behind some medical cases, then I might not scoff. But this paradigm is the prevailing belief system in nearly all of health care and medicine. It’s false.

The human body has an innate intelligence governing it, and the source is not simply genetics. The body knows what it needs and to what degree in development, maintenance and healing. It produces enough cholesterol, serotonin and dopamine for its particular host, even if that amount is outside “medically determined” norms. The innate intelligence of the body is smarter than man; it knows how to regulate a system better, within a wider range of variabilities, than man-made pharmacology does.

Don’t believe me? Ask a German-born child who spent 22-weeks developing in the womb of a comatose mother, who was delivered healthy, and remains alive and well one and a half years later. In a few years ask that child what he or she thinks about innate intelligence.

Let me know what you find out.

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