Patients with neck-related, seemingly “weird” symptoms often contact us in a hopeless state because of previous healthcare experiences that left them with no answers; but leave their first visit at Caring Medical extremely hopeful. This hope is well-founded because for the first time the new patient at Caring Medical has been put through dynamic (motion) testing and is shown what is causing their symptoms and, equally important, what can be done about them!
To truly understand if and how symptoms are associated with the neck, it is important to analyze the following data like we do at Caring Medical:
- Neck instability and motion with digital motion x-ray (DMX)
- Neck and head structure with digital motion x-ray (DMX) and CBCT (cone beam CT scan)
- Blood flow through major arteries (supine, upright, and with the neck in various positions) (with ultrasound)
- Vagus nerve function (baseline and under stressful situations, including various neck positions) (with ultrasound)
- Autonomic nervous system function at baseline and under duress (with HRV monitor and ultrasound)
Once the testing is complete, our providers analyze the data, provide diagnoses, and develop an appropriate treatment plan. The success for patients at the Hauser Neck Center is based on individualized treatment plans which rely upon a thorough understanding of joint instability and cervical dysstructure and how to resolve these conditions with Comprehensive H3 Prolotherapy and appropriate supportive therapies. For some patients, these supportive therapies may include bracing, exercises, improvement in sleep habits, postural changes, and numerous other techniques.
Vascular testing at the Hauser Neck Center does also screen for plaque but that is not its primary purpose. We aim to discover if a person has compromised arterial blood flow because of neck position or movement because this type of scanning is not typically done at hospitals. The simple reason it is not done in hospitals is that there is no longer a billing code for looking at the change in blood flow for neck movement, so there is no way for hospitals to get paid for the motion part of the scan. Thus, it is not done. For the person with cervical arthritis, pain, and/or instability, the neck motion part of the scan is the most important part because it can show carotid or vertebral artery ischemia, or so-called “brain ischemia.” Heart ischemia causes angina (or chest pain), thus compromise of carotid and/or vertebral artery ischemia can cause brain angina (headache)!
Ultimately, our protocols for vascular testing involve motion testing and showing how the various arteries response to stretch and motion in real-time! It is in the extremes of flexion, extension, and rotation where compromises of blood flow are seen in patients with cervical instability.
So, if you are having symptoms such as brain fog, ringing in the ears, eye pressure, hearing changes, fluttering of the heart, blood pressure swings with motion, GI disturbances, and more – you may be dealing with cervical instability! We would love to take a look inside your head!
