2 cases of FHP - a 21 year old female with neck-shoulder pain and daily migraines and a 78 year old man who maintains cervical lordosis after 5 yrs.
This month we will explore 2 cases of FHP with loss of cervical lordosis (neck curve). The first is a 21 year old female, Elana, and the second a 78 year old male who was treated over 5 yrs ago with the Cervigard FHP collar and has maintained his cervical curve despite having advanced DJD in his entire cervical spine!
The 21 yr old female. This case is notable because of her correction potential x-ray which did not show a lordosis correction with the rear fulcrum in the down position but did show the correction in the up position. If you look at her initial neutral lateral x-ray most doctors would think that the standard down position of the rear fulcrum should have worked! When this happens to one of your patients be sure to change the FULCRUM position and re take the x-ray. Once you can demonstrate an improved lordosis you are on your way to improved outcome with that patient. Once we got her fitted correctly she did well but when we advanced the Cervigard all the way she felt pressure in her neck. We correctly assumed she had a mechanical obstruction in her mid cervical spine that was likely a cervical disk bulge. We administered 2 cervical decompression tractions and this cleared the pressure and she was able to adjust the track all the way back.
You are all going to see this cervical disc bulge issue often because it’s caused by FHP which is ubiquitous in our world. Number one risk factor for FHP is if you own a cell phone. I’m afraid you are all going to see much more of this in your practices! You can purchase portable cervical decompression units for a few hundred dollars to address these disc bulges.
Above x-ray is the 21 year old female with FHP and cervical kyphosis suffering with daily migraines and neck-shoulder pain complex of symptoms.
Above x-ray is the 21 year old female with Cervigard rear fulcrum in both down and up positions. The up position produced the better neck-curve correction.
The 78 year old male. This patient has advanced DJD in his cervical spine. You can see he has maintained his cervical lordosis after over 5 years. He used the Cervigard Collar daily for the first year but stopped after that because he had no pain. A recent head injury brought him back to see us. Remodeling of cervical paraspinal ligaments can have lasting effects even in older patients. We instructed him to use the Cervigard weekly going forward. After initial use of 6 weeks daily your patients should be guided by the doctor on a maintenance schedule for its use with on going chiropractic wellness care programs.
Above x-ray is the 78 year old man with advanced DJD who regained and maintained his normal head position and cervical lordosis after 5 years!!
If any of you have challenging cases that you would like to discuss with us please call us at 973-680-1600. One of our doctors will get back to you.
Dr. Ron Dellanno
Cervigard Spinal Bracing Corporation
