Stroke and Chiropractors

In the early morning hours of a cold day in November of last year, I woke up to use the bathroom and promptly fell to the floor, waking my wife. Several hours later, doctors were explaining details of the stroke I had in my sleep.

I could not speak or move anything on the right half of my body and I was very frustrated because no one could tell me what caused the brain attack or what to expect for the future. I was not in the best shape in the world but, still, I didn't expect this at the age of 42.

It is almost a year later and I am very fortunate to have had a remarkable recovery. I can speak and get around fairly well and, if someone didn't tell, you would probably have a hard time knowing that there was anything wrong with me.

I am very thankful to God that, with a lot of hard work and some very good doctors and therapists, I am able to live at the level I do-- going back to work and doing most everything I did before, albeit not as well as I did.

I did a lot of research on my condition during my recovery and, in the Spring, stumbled upon a study claiming that people, under the age of 50, that had been receiving chiropractic treatment, specifically neck adjustments, were 8-10 times more likely to have a stroke.

I had been visiting the chiropractor for several months for upper back and neck pain and had a neck adjustment a few days before my event. Could this have had something to do with my stroke? Is that why, after hearing of my condition, I never heard from that doctor's office again?

The purpose of this lens is two-fold.

To collect information from other stroke survivors that had been receiving similar treatment and offer support and understanding to each other and...

To inform individuals considering chiropractic treatment of the possible consequences of some of the procedures.

If you are one of those people or know one, please look into this information and sign our guestbook.

Thanks.