Chiropractic and Lyme Disease

by Dave Cottrell
 

It is important in our zeal to feel well, again, to keep our options open.

If there is one thing I have discovered in my own quest for recovery, it is the tendency of many to perhaps too quickly decide they have Lyme disease and that anyone who disagrees is part of a conspiracy to bury the entire Lyme controversy.

Only recently, I have been handed a very good piece of scholarship in the form of a primer for medical practitioners on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME, CFS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), which those who have studied it believe may sometimes be caused by Lyme disease, while other times, active Lyme disease may indeed be the problem.  Thanks to their work, people suffering with the symptoms of Lyme disease and armed with this primer, may be able to get a Western Blot ordered by their MDs.

However, the work also points out the possibility that the symptoms you are suffering from may not be an active Burrelia burgdorferi infection.   Do you want to get well?  Don’t shut the door on other possibilities.


Another health issue that can cause a whole host of mysterious symptoms that will baffle most MDs and specialists is spinal injury.

Spinal injuries do not have to be caused by sudden, catastrophic damage, as you could expect from a car accident or a fall.  Spinal injuries can occur over time from playing sports, work, poor posture, and a host of other things.

When two vertebrae put pressure on a nerve for any reason, that will affect the organs and tissues that are connected to that nerve.  It is amazing how many systems can be affected by one improperly positioned pair of vertebrae.  Even such problems as hyper or hypo thyroidism and cardiopulmonary disorders can be affected by problems in the spinal column.

One thing that ALL who suffer with mysterious ailments should do, BEFORE simply assuming that they must have Lyme disease, is make a visit to a good chiropractor.

A good chiropractor will X-ray your spine, examine your posture, visibly observing your basic alignment, check your spine for subluxations and interview you, BEFORE performing any adjustments.  These things are necessary to determine the treatment best suited to you, to determine any existing health conditions that may be related to spinal challenges, and to determine a possible time frame for the desired outcome.

You may need to call on several chiropractors before you find one who will work to see you well, rather than simply working to see you feel better for a while.  I recommend a chiropractic office in Gibsons, BC, called New Hope Chiropractic.

You may not be able to visit the New Hope clinic, depending on where you live,  but they are connected to a network of chiropractors and may know of a practitioner in your area who follows a similar protocol.

Never give up on your health!  If you are struggling to find someone who can treat you and offer you hope for recovery, perhaps a chiropractor is that someone you have been looking for.

Lyme disease is multi-systemic, often completely misunderstood by MDs and medical specialists, denied to even exist in many areas, capable if suppressing the immune system, able to hide from many commonly used antibiotics, and very much politicized in the western world.   BUT… sometimes we need to back up and ask ourselves a very important question:  “IS everybody wrong?  Do I REALLY have Lyme disease… or am I assuming I do because no one can tell me what is wrong?”

As someone who is suffering from a multi-systemic, debilitating health challenge, you need to be proactive.

Don’t EVER sit back and assume you know what’s wrong and just need to find someone to treat you.  Start getting treatment, NOW.

Make an appointment with a chiropractor and get assessed.  Get what you can fixed.  You cannot go wrong, and you may find yourself suddenly feeling WAY better.

See a Naturopath who understands Lyme disease.  Check here for information about such practitioners, and we will do all we can to point you in the right direction.  Not every ND who says she or he will treat Lyme disease really knows anything about it, but a Lyme Literate Naturopathic Doctor (LLND) can often be very helpful, even without access to antibiotics.

Eat healthy.  Your body needs excellent nutrition to heal itself.

Drink lots of fluids.  Make sure your water is alkaline, or else add alkaline salts to keep your pH up.

Exercise as much as you can, and rest when you need to.

Stay positive!

God bless,

Dave