How Beatrice Changed Her Life: A NHC Success Story

Last week, I told you about Denise, who suffered from pain and swelling in her ankles and struggled with her weight for more than 40 years before coming to see us at Natural Healthcare Center.

By committing herself to a wellness program designed by Dr. Coetzee and myself, Denise changed her life. She no longer experiences pain or swelling in her ankles, and her weight is under control, which has reduced her chance of stroke, heart attack and type II diabetes. Denise is happier and more confident than ever.

As we continue to wind down 2013, the year of the family, I’d like to share another Natural Healthcare Center success story from Dr. Kurt Hostnik, our Clinical Director and board-certified chiropractic neurologist, experienced in successfully treating conditions like tinnitus, vertigo, inner ear imbalances and dizziness.

Chiropractic neurology, also called functional neurology, is the study of the nervous system – the brain, spinal cord and nerves – from a physiologic perspective. A medical neurologist will commonly prescribe medication to treat symptoms of a nervous system disorder. On the other hand, a chiropractic neurologist will typically prescribe therapy, based on knowledge of how the brain impacts joint and muscular disorders, to restore or improve function that has been affected by a nervous system disorder.

Beatrice is a 57-year-old woman who was consulted and treated by Dr. Hostnik. Beatrice had been experiencing occasional but severe dizziness for about 20 years. This dizziness occurred when she turned her head to the left or rolled onto her left side while lying down.

She described the dizziness as intense spinning that would last 20-40 seconds and left her feeling fatigued and “out of it.” To prevent this dizziness, Beatrice had conditioned herself to avoid turning her head to the left or lying on her left side whenever possible.

Dr. Hostnik recommended that the Epley maneuver be performed on Beatrice three times over the course of one week. The Epley maneuver is an exercise used to treat benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV). The goal is to get calcium crystal debris that cause vertigo, sometimes called ear rocks, to exit the semicircular canal and enter the utricle, where they can no longer cause symptoms.

Eye movement exercises, specifically a series of pursuits and saccades, were also recommended to treat functional lesions observed during Beatrice’s exam. Pursuit eye movement occurs when the eye follows a moving object, while saccades involve both eyes moving quickly and simultaneously in the same direction.

Thanks to Dr. Hostnik’s treatment program, Beatrice can move her head in all directions and sleep on her left side without any spinning sensation. We couldn’t be happier that she no longer has to deal with the dizziness that bothered her for 20 years.

The lesson here? Don’t accept pain or discomfort as normal. This is how our bodies tell us something is wrong. If we’re going to take back our health, we need to listen to these warning signs and talk to people who can help. Many people come to Natural Healthcare Center when they don’t know where else to turn. That’s what we’re here for.

I hope you’ll take the initiative to improve your quality of life and join Beatrice, Denise and thousands of others who we’ve been privileged to help at Natural Healthcare Center.

Dr. James Prood­ian is an accomplished chiropractic physician and health educator who founded Proodian Healthcare Family of Companies to help people feel better, function better, and live longer. His expertise for the past two decades has been in physical rehabilitation, and he has successfully established himself as a spinal specialist. In his practice, he advocates the science of functional medicine, which takes an integrative approach to treating patients by addressing their physical, nutritional, and psychological needs. Alarmed by the escalation of complex, chronic illness in our country, Dr. Proodian has been speaking to companies and organizations through his “Wellness at Work” program since 1994, motivating thousands of people to make positive lifestyle choices and lead healthier, more productive lives. He can be heard weekly on his radio program, “Proodian Healthcare By Design,” on Tandem Radio.