Can Chiropractic Care Help Epilepsy? How Does Chiropractic Help with Seizures?
This title is from a feel-good story published on February 14, 2015, in the Rapid City Journal of South Dakota. The story, written by Christopher Smith, chronicles the life of Robert Renner, an 89-year-old man whose life has been drastically different due to chiropractic care.
According to the article, as a young man, Renner suffered from terrible grand-mal seizures that often left him unconscious and in spasm. During this 11-year period. Renner’s quality of life deteriorated due to his seizures. Then, in 1947, friends of Renner saw a sign that said that chiropractic could help with neurological problems. His friends spoke with a doctor who suggested he go to the Palmer School of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa.
D.D. Palmer discovered chiropractic in 1895 in Davenport. He established a school there which his son, Dr. B.J. Palmer, developed into a world famous college and healthcare facility. However, in 1947, chiropractic was still relatively unknown and not well accepted. In spite of any skepticism, Renner’s grandfather came up with $1500.00 to send his grandson from their home in northern North Dakota to the Palmer clinic in Iowa.
The rest, as they say, is history. He reports in the article that he has not had a single seizure since. “After 11 years of epilepsy, I was at the clinic for four weeks in October of 1947,” Renner recalls. “I had attacks usually three times a week; I’d chewed my tongue so bad I could only eat cold soup. At the clinic they took x-rays of my back and spine three times a day to see my improvement. When I left, they showed me the first x-ray and where the problem was in my first vertebrae, and how it improved each day. And I haven’t had any signs of epilepsy since.”
Not only does Renner credit chiropractic for the elimination of his seizures, but he also states that regular chiropractic care has kept him headache free for 40 years. “Chiropractic work saved my life,” he said. “Over the years as I’ve moved around, I’ve had 13 or 14 different doctors. It’s marvelous what they can do for people.”
Dr. Stephen Gullikson, from Rapid City, is Renner’s current chiropractor and explained in the article how chiropractic works. “The nervous system controls 100 percent of our body’s functions, from hair growth to toenails. My job is to remove interference from the nervous system, so when you do that with the adjustments we do through chiropractic care, many types of symptoms that people come in with are helped along the way.”
Dr. Gullikson continued, “If the nervous system has interference because of a misalignment of the back compressing a nerve, problems can arise wherever that nerve goes,” he said. “So when I work with patients, I can see many different results on things they might not have even told me about. My goal is really to help people get well without drugs or surgery.”
It obviously does not take much convincing to get Robert Renner to be excited about chiropractic care. He intends to continue chiropractic care for the rest of his life. Renner concluded, “I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for the doctors that have helped me, and the Lord guiding me.”
If you or anyone you know suffers from seizures or epilepsy, chiropractic may be able to help. Please call our office at 512-452-2525 to schedule a consultation with Dr. Swanson.