I was diagnosed with PV in 2016 and taking 2-3 tablets daily since. My blood counts have been under control with occasional venesections. I’ve started having Osteopathy treatments at the UCL clinic, treatments are performed by last year students under the supervision of their teachers. I’ve been treating shoulder/neck, lower back pain and foot. Teacher is more than happy for the student to manipulate my back muscles and foot but told the student to avoid my neck area because it can cause me to have a stroke.
I can’t make sense of this comment and would like to know if this can be possible, when manipulating my back and foot is ok.
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hybiscus
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This is because the vertebral arteries are running through the cervical spine, unlike the dorsal or the lumbar spine. Atherosclerosis tend to affect the arteries of MNP patients. So it makes sense to avoid strong cervical manipulation.
Yes, manipulating the neck can be very dangerous. Dear friend of mine was going through same treatment for his back and the PT did manipulate his neck. It triggered a serious stroke within seconds of the PT hand pressure. He passed out and was rushed to hospital which luckily was fairly close so he was treated quickly. He was incapacitated for quite some time after but has reached nearly full recovery after a year of therapy. I hate to think what worse could have happened if not for that quick hospital access. He did not nor does he now have an MPN, only osteo. Please be very careful.
Some personal experience on this area. I'm not familiar with stroke specifically but the neck is the most delicate area osteos work with and most our body follows nerves that pass there.
My friend is an experienced cranial osteopath. ~30 years ago he was a student and he visited with a student friend. That friend "manipulated" my neck. He was clearly too aggressive and I could hear a click. I believe some of the accumulated damage to my cervical spine was from that incident. (in my post "Last Dose" is more mash up of that area)
I've since had full body treatments from the 65 year old version of my friend and other experienced cranial osteos. Proper technique is delicate and controlled. But a blanket ban on supervised students working the neck seems excessive, how can they get any experience? There should be lower risk procedures they are safe to perform.
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On success with osteo, I had limited shoulder motion from my vax injury (discussed in that post). Lots of PT made little diff. One manipulation by an osteo durably fixed it in seconds.
I have osteopathy now and again, including the neck. Always freaks me out because it feels like a fine line between cracking a joint and breaking your neck. Not sure I'd want a student doing it sorry. My chap's been practising for over 20yrs and I trust him.
My son who is a Radiologist at a major drama center in Denver has reiterated the same message about manipulating the neck. He told me to never let anyone manipulate my neck because he has seen many patients brain scans (young ones as well-not isolated to MPN patients) ending up with massive strokes. I can't remember exactly the medical terminology he used but something about blood vessels breaking off and traveling to the brain. Don't recommend any chiropractor/Osteopath cracking the neck. Your teacher was correct in telling the students to not touch the neck for this precise reason. Kerry
I have had treatment over years for sports injuries etc. shoulders back . I would never let anyone near my neck. Too sensitive part of body. Gentle massage or acupuncture fine but from experience I would not let anyone on my neck . I had neck injury in car crash made worse by this . Hence now stick to acupuncture . 👌
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