Dr. Stephen J. Kaufman
Denver, CO.
(303)
756-9567
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" A Breakthrough for Vertigo, Phobias, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Car Sickness:
Correcting Inner Ear Dysfunction With a New Applied Kinesiological Method"
Liddy is a 36 year old business woman and active mother of two. She had
suffered from severe attacks of incapacitating vertigo for over 20 years, two or
three times a month. She also had frequent, less severe dizzy spells occurring
several times a day. In addition she had a marked phobia of flying. Previous
medical treatment had consisted of meclizine as needed for her severe attacks.
After her first treatment at my office in Denver, she flew with her family to
the east coast. For the first time in memory, she had almost no anxiety at all
on the plane. After a further few weeks of treatment, her dizziness and vertigo
completely disappeared.
Ginnie is a 31 year old writer who had suffered severe disabling attacks
of vertigo twice monthly since she
was a child. Additionally she would have dizzy spells several times a week, and
shooting head pains daily which had been diagnosed as trigeminal
neuralgia. After a month of applied kinesiological treatment , her
head pains completely ceased. Her vertigo vanished as well.
James is a 42 year old man who was sexually molested several times as a
13 year old boy. He continued to suffer the pain and humiliation from this
several times daily for his entire life. After a five minute treatment (directed
at correcting his inner ear function), he felt completely (and
permanently) relieved of his emotional pain. He said he felt as if an act
of grace had descended on him.
For many years Carol had frequent episodes of vertigo so severe that she
would vomit and periodically have
to go to an emergency room. Between acute attacks, she would also have frequent
dizziness. Accompanying these attacks were severe migraines, weakness, and neck
pain. All of these symptoms completely subsided after several weeks of
treatment. These case histories are very typical results; they are not "best cases".
In 1988 Dr. Harold
Levinson, a neurologist in White Plains, New York,
published a book titled "Phobia Free"
(2). Dr. Levinson describes his discovery that 90% of phobic patients
have an inner ear disturbance, detectable by electronystagmography. When this
inner ear disturbance is treated by medication for vertigo, usually Dramamine or
meclazine, the patient's phobias are greatly reduced. Unfortunately it may take
a while for the symptoms to subside. The patient has to continue the medication
for an extended period of time (years), and of course, they usually have side
effects from the medication. Nevertheless, Levinson's discovery is a
breakthrough in the field, and has helped hundreds or thousands of his patients.
It has also allowed the development of a new, simpler, more effective set of
techniques which this paper will describe.
In 1982, Roger Callahan, PhD., a psychologist in southern California,
began to develop an amazing set of simple acupressure techniques which could
relieve phobias and post traumatic stress disorder (in minutes!) These
techniques were derived from Callahan's study of Applied Kinesiology, a
specialty in the chiropractic field developed by Dr. George Goodheart, a Detroit
chiropractor. Dr. Goodheart, in the 60's and '70's, had discovered techniques
which could also cure phobias and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) , but
they were more rudimentary and less effective than Callahan's innovations (3, 4)
. Goodheart's technique of Applied Kinesiology nevertheless is a more
comprehensive method of addressing mind -body states than had been seen before.
The techniques that we have found almost universally
effective in eliminating non pathological vertigo all grew out of
Goodheart's model.
Applied Kinesiology is taught to licensed health care professionals
associated with the International College of Applied Kinesiology, an
organization of 600 professional members. It is learned in several hundred hours
or training. There are a number of textbooks on Applied Kinesiology which
provide an excellent introduction to the work . (Most of what is called
"kinesiology" today in the health field has only a very small
resemblance to AK itself.)
Callahan's work to date is well summarized in his newest book
"Tapping the Healer Within" (1). His method, known as Thought Field
Therapy , is remarkably effective in the overwhelming majority of phobias and
PTSD cases. Unfortunately, his theory is
metaphysical and not scientifically based. This is of no importance to the
thousands of patients who have gotten well by his methods. The techniques
themselves are miraculous. Nevertheless, I propose that what Thought Field
Therapy actually does is correct an inner ear imbalance by stimulating
acupuncture points (an application of Levinson's theory with Callahan's treatment).
By starting from this hypothesis, I was able to construct a method to
successfully treat vertigo, phobias, PTSD, and even car sickness without using
any of Callahan's techniques, but with the
same remarkably high success rate. (Callahan of course never mentions
vertigo or car sickness.)
Let me sum up the main points so far:
1)
Most phobias (and instances of PTSD) are
due to a dysfunction of the inner ear. I say this based on my clinical
experience of many cases. Somehow, at the time of a trauma or the beginning of a
phobia, some change takes place in the inner ear. If this is not corrected over
time , whenever the person perceives the phobic
trigger (cats, dogs, airplane, elevators, needles, heights, etc.), the inner ear
malfunctions and sends a message to the brain, FEEL FEAR! A normal person
without this inner ear dysfunction feels little fear in the presence of these triggers. It may be noted that
a patient with phobias doesn't necessarily have any dizziness, and patients with
vertigo don't often have phobias. One may or may not have both together.
Patients with phobias often do have
a history of ear infections
( in children ) or sinus problems.
2)
In the case of PTSD, whenever the person remembers the loss, trauma, grief, etc., the inner
ear sends a message, FEEL GRIEF! This is normal for a while after a loss, of
course. But when there is an inner ear dysfunction, this severe grief continues
for years. It certainly isn't
normal (or adaptive) for a
husband to be grieving over a divorce eight years later, or a child to actively
grieve the loss of a pet ten years ago. In fact, the definition of normal grief
(is there one?) needs to be revised in the light of these treatment procedures,
since most people can recover so much more quickly now.
Vertigo
3)
In the case of vertigo, the patient's periodic attacks are due to the same
dysfunction that causes a phobia or PTSD in another person. When these patients
are examined with standard Applied Kinesiological procedures, the doctor
almost always finds an improper relationship between the atlas vertebra
and the mastoid process. This is known in Applied Kinesiology as an occipital
atlanto fixation, and was first described many years ago by Dr. Goodheart. We
hypothesize that this is causing sub occipital muscle spasm affecting the inner
ear balance mechanism. The atlanto occipital joint is less than an inch away
from the inner ear, as is the temperomandibular joint! The temporal bone of the
cranium sits directly above the ear. In
my experience, any slight malposition of these structures can perpetuate an inner ear problem. These are corrected with a very light
directional pressure. I do not use chiropractic manipulation or spinal
adjustments on these delicate structures.
Car Sickness
I
have treated many children and some adults with car sickness.
I check and normalize the structures around the inner ear, and also check and
correct diaphragmatic and stomach position.
The car sickness , nausea, and vomiting usually disappear after a handful
of treatments and never return. I had a 28 year woman who would actually vomit
whenever she bent far forward. She had been this way since she was 5! (Can you
imagine?) After one treatment this symptom vanished and never returned! In the
past month alone I have seen three children with severe car sickness often
leading to vomiting. All three were completely cured in 1-3 visits. Two of them
went on eight hour drives through the Rocky Mountains with no problems!
Levinson, a classically trained neurologist, has identified the inner ear
as a causative factor in phobias. If this is so , then
structural treatment from Applied Kinesiology, cranial osteopathy, and
acupuncture designed to normalize the areas around the inner ear should be able
to resolve phobias and PTSD ( as well as vertigo).
In my experience, this
happens rapidly or immediately in
almost all cases! ( The full treatment for vertigo usually takes several weeks,
although most patients have fewer or no attacks from the beginning of
treatment.)
We have developed many procedures to correct the inner ear. Most of them
are direct applications of Dr. Goodheart's earlier work. The A-O area is tested
in sitting, prone, and supine positions, and in all positions it is examined
with the head in flexion, extension ,lateral flexion, and right and left
rotation. The temporal bone and TMJ
are closely examined . The suboccipital muscles are checked for spasm, and all
the muscles that attach to the skull are examined for trigger points.
We have
developed a number of methods for quickly normalizing muscle function in the
neck, with often astonishing benefits for chronic headaches!
When all of these structures are normalized in patients with vertigo, the attacks usually stop, typically in a matter of weeks. I have seen many patients who have had vertigo for decades. Almost all of them respond, if there is no discernable pathology.
Patients with phobias and PTSD often
have a dramatic and permanent reduction
in their symptoms within minutes!
This
statement is almost incomprehensible to most patients and doctors, and yet it is
absolutely true! This exactly parallels Callahan's experience. Approximately
90% of patients with phobias or P.T.S.D. are relieved using these methods,
usually within one to three sessions. This agrees with both Callahan's and
Levinson's reports. We are getting
the same results, but using different procedures. This allows us more
therapeutic options. For information on inner ear disorders and A.D.D., click here.
For more information on thought field therapy, click
here.
Dr. Stephen J. Kaufman, D. C. , has practiced chiropractic, applied kinesiology, acupuncture, acupressure, Thought Field Therapy, yoga, and cranial osteopathy in Denver, CO. since 1978. He has developed many new techniques in soft tissue therapy and has published over 75 professional papers. He can be reached at (303) 756-9567. 2693 South Niagara St. ,Denver, CO., 80224.
Vertigo, Head Pain 3/04
In
2002, Dr. Steve Kaufman removed pain and vertigo I had felt since my early
childhood. The pain was a
version of temporal arteritis. Shooting,
stabbing pains would course through my head, just above my ear, leaving me
virtually incapacitated for 20 seconds at a time.
The labyrinth vertigo would come on suddenly, leaving me horribly dizzy
and sometimes nauseous for up to three days.
Although I had seen many Western medicine doctors, none had linked the
two; they treated the symptoms of each separately (or disregarded the symptoms
altogether, feeding me pain pills) instead of looking at the total connectivity
of my body and its ailments.
My mother-in-law
suggested I see Steve – he had worked wonders for her years earlier – and I
took up her suggestion. Not only
did Steve, within minutes, recognize the link between the two, he immediately
began a treatment that reduced, then ultimately relieved, the afflictions I had
been experiencing for nearly thirty years, all within a few weeks. It was an unbelievable experience – I could feel my body
shifting with Steve’s gentle nudgings, realigning itself to relieve
decades-long stress on my artery.
I now no longer
have to take pills with me wherever I go in case my vertigo hits me while I’m
driving or in a meeting or on vacation. I
don’t have to worry that the pain in my head may some day lead to an aneurysm
(which runs in my family). I am
free to be a “normal” human being. I
can never thank Steve enough for all his work, not just in treating me but in
also allowing me to look even deeper at and into my own physical self.
Thank you Steve, for everything you’ve done for me. ---- Jane Beecher
Vertigo,
Shoulder and Neck Pain
I
didn’t realize how bad my vertigo was until I started working with Dr. K.
I was having episodes every hour along with fear of heights, motion and
altitude sickness. I’ve now been
working with him over 2 months and I feel like a new person not being dizzy all
the time. All kinds of other health
problems particularly shoulder and neck pain have lessened.
I haven’t felt this strong and pain free for years.
Emotional
scars from sexual molestation
June 22, 2000
By my nature, I am a skeptical
man. I read most testimonials with
a wary eye. Yet I feel compelled to
write this one to you – the reader. In
June of 2002 I attended a lecture given by Dr. Steven Kaufman.
the talk demonstrated his techniques in treating effects of post
traumatic stress. Several people
volunteered to undergo a simple series of questions, tests, and adjustments. The problems presented ranged from a fear of going to the
dentist to deep-seated childhood memories.
Within a few minutes, to my surprise, each volunteer expressed emotional
relief from their concerns. I was
impressed. I was also doubtful that
Dr. Kaufman’s technique could help me.
---Jim Shutte
Fear
of the Dark
Before
this treatment, when I was in bed at night I was so afraid because I believed
there were monsters in my room. I
kept on making out pictures of monsters. I
wasn’t afraid of most of them but there were some that I was afraid of.
But now that I’ve had this treatment I’m not afraid.
Well I am a very, very tiny bit.
Hank, age 7
References
1)
Callahan, Roger. PhD. Tapping the Healer Within. Contemporary Books.
2002.
2)
Levinson, Harold. M.D. Phobia Free. M.
Evans. 1988.
3)
Walther, David. D.C. Applied Kinesiology: Synopsis.
Systems D.C. 1988.
4) Goodheart, George. D.C. Workshop Manuals. 1964-1998. Privately Published.
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