Spasmodic Torticollis Treatment Sarasota and Tampa Bay

There are many different types of torticollis. Childhood torticollis is much more common than adult-onset torticollis. Torticollis is a condition where the cervical spine musculature becomes imbalanced pulling the head onto one side and most often includes rotation also.

Torticollis can occur when a window is left open and the draft of cold air causes one side of the neck to no one right and not the other. With that said there has to be an underlying issue that makes the person susceptible to torticollis in the first place. In this article, we will discuss two types of torticollis, spasmodic torticollis and torticollis. We will discuss what we feel are the underlying causative factors and what you can do to address their underlying cause.

Spasmodic torticollis is a chronic condition that involves the head being pulled off to the side, directly backward or a combination of the two coupled with rhythmic involuntary contractions of the muscles.

Spasmodic torticollis is very closely associated with dystonia. Torticollis does not include the spasmodic component and typically will resolve on its own.

Spasmodic torticollis is caused by aberrant signals in the nervous system that are responsible for the patterning of involuntary muscle spasms. Traditional treatment includes Botox injections, muscle relaxers, and pain medication.

It is our belief that spasmodic torticollis is kicked off by an underlying upper cervical spine structural problem that causes irritation and abnormal patterning in the nervous system. In our clinic, we have seen many cases of spasmodic torticollis recover by correcting joint misalignments in the upper cervical spine that are the result of trauma.

Trauma such as car accidents falls, and sports injuries can damage the soft tissues around the joint leading to misalignment and nervous system irritation. This can be the underlying cause of both of these conditions and it is prudent you visit an upper cervical chiropractor got to get assessed for upper cervical misalignment

My journey with Dr. Hall has been an eventful one. I came into his office after a hiking trip with a number of neurological issues: occipital neuralgia, general facial pain, spasms, and numbness, cervical dystonia, migraine, vertigo/noise sensitivity/light sensitivity. I was a wreck, to say the least. I caught wind of his office by searching through reviews just like this. I figured I had tried most medical options (which I still continue with to this day, don't get me wrong), but it was time to take a leap of faith.

I went to his office with low expectations. He was energetic and supportive, but the thing I appreciated the most was that he had heard almost everything I had told him before. These symptoms I experience were not foreign to him (like they can be with some neurologists I see), and we figured out a plan of action.

He adjusted me on the first day (no popping, cracking, etc), and I swear that my symptoms over the course of that day and the next went from like an 8/10 to a 1/10. No medicine had provided me with this drastic improvement so quickly. It was as bizarre as it was amazing. Of course, nothing is that easy, and the symptoms slowly crept back over the course of the week but through his initial plan, you meet with him twice a week to make sure you're holding adjustment.

Because of my dystonia, the adjustment has been harder to hold than the average patient, but I just remind myself of how much my symptoms are decreased by our appointments. Also when my symptoms begin to flare up for whatever reason, his adjustments consistently seem to "bail me out" of these episodes. It's such a blessing to have this resource.

He continually refers to my recovery as a dogfight and that it is. Because of the interaction of my problems, this has not been the speediest of recoveries. But the fact of the matter is that my health is noticeably better than it was 7 months ago. I'm not in constant anguish as I was before. A combination of positivity and great technique has provided me with some relief and I'm looking to the future for even better results. Thank you, Dr. Hall.

Blair Upper Cervical doctors are specially trained to locate spinal misalignments in the upper cervical spine and correct them. Spinal misalignments are located by running a battery of neurological tests that locate the spinal segments that have been injured and misaligned by a prior neck injury.

Once located, precision imaging in the form of digital x-ray or cone-beam computed tomography (cbct) is used to precisely determine which joint has misaligned and the angulation of the misaligned joint. Each person’s anatomy is different and therefore imaging is used to uncover the blueprint to be used to correct each patient’s individual misalignment pattern.

Once this information is gleaned, a gentle, light correction is made without twisting, popping, or pulling. The patient is then monitored overtime to ensure that the correction is holding. If the testing indicates the need for another correction, then it is performed.

However, the goal of Blair Upper Cervical Care is for the patient to stay in “adjustment”. It isn’t the correction that produces healing. It is the removal of nerve irritation and the adjustment “holding” in its normal position that allows the body to function better and proceed through a healing process.