Category Archives: Chronic Fatigue

Do you feel permanently exhausted, even after a full night’s sleep? Do you find it hard to focus on tasks at work? Do you suffer from headaches frequently? Then you probably suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome. At our chiropractic practice, we have extensive experience in treating patients who suffer from this condition. And in this article, we will explain to you everything you need to know about chiropractic for chronic fatigue syndrome.

What Are the Causes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

Until quite recently, the medical community did not even recognize chronic fatigue syndrome as a condition. However, it is a dire and debilitating reality for people like you, who suffer from it. It truly adds insult to the injury when you are told that you are just tired, isn’t it?

However, chiropractic for chronic fatigue syndrome exists because our branch of medicine does not dismiss any condition that limits your ability to enjoy life. And, as more doctors started to pay attention to CFS, they also discovered the root causes of this condition:

• Hormonal imbalances
• Immune system problems
• Physical trauma.

Why You Should Not Ignore Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

As we grow up, we are taught to “deal with it” when it comes to many situations when we do not feel well. Being an adult means being able to put up a happy face and carry on with your work and family life.

This approach is extremely wrong and detrimental. A patient with CFS cannot deal with permanent physical and mental exhaustion. They will find their lifestyle confined to a cycle of trying to work and trying to rest at home. Socializing, being intimate with their partner, pursuing hobbies they used to enjoy are left behind.

In time, this leads to social isolation, depression, and poor performance at work. However, you have the power to stop this vicious cycle by choosing chiropractic for chronic fatigue syndrome.

How Can Chiropractic for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Help You?

A chiropractor is trained to look beyond the visible symptoms and identify the root cause of your CFS. In many cases, chronic fatigue syndrome is triggered by physical and emotional trauma, such as being involved in a traffic accident.

Chiropractic for chronic fatigue syndrome has two phases:

Phase 1 – Solving the Immediate Cause of CFS

The chiropractor will identify the physical cause of your CFS, which in many cases is a vertebral subluxation. This misalignment between vertebrae is putting pressure on nerves in your spine. 

As you may know, nerves control everything in your body – from your movements to your immune system, digestion, and ability to perform high-precision tasks. When a nerve is pinched or restricted by a vertebral subluxation, it is no longer able to pass messages from the brain effectively.

Thus, using various adjustment techniques, the chiropractor will restore the vertebrae to their normal position, reducing pressure and inflammation on the respective nerve.

Phase 2 – Creating a Long-Term Program to Help You Prevent CFS in the Future

Chiropractors know that CFS may reappear, especially if it is triggered by hormonal or immune system problems. For this reason, the second phase of chiropractic for chronic fatigue syndrome aims to prevent this condition from reoccurring, by:

• Helping you adopt a healthy diet, full of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients
• Creating a detox program to eliminate heavy metals from your body
• Encouraging you to stop taking pain medication and sleeping aids
• Teaching you how to relieve stress in a healthy, natural way.

At the same time, you are encouraged to come for regular chiropractic maintenance appointments – once per month is usually enough. These appointments will help the chiropractor understand how you progress with your new lifestyle and perform simple adjustments and massages that keep your body in good shape.

Chiropractic for chronic fatigue syndrome is a tested and proven medical procedure that has helped many patients regain control over their lives. We encourage you to contact our chiropractic clinic and set up an initial evaluation appointment.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is a disorder that makes one feel extreme fatigue that cannot be explained by an underlying medical condition. The fatigue associated with chronic fatigue syndrome does not go away with rest and could worsen with any physical or mental activity.

Also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, it affects about one million individuals in the United States. Although the percentage of chronic fatigue syndrome is higher in women, it is not a “women’s disease” as 35 to 40 percent diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome are men.

The cause of chronic fatigue syndrome is unknown, and the disorder can affect one’s quality of life significantly. However, there is a treatment that has been extremely beneficial to those who are diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome that brings hope.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptoms

To understand how chronic fatigue syndrome affects the quality of life, it is best to realize its symptoms. Knowing the symptoms helps others who do not have the disorder understand what exactly chronic fatigue disorder sufferers are going through and the challenges they face each day.

Symptoms associated with chronic fatigue syndrome include:

• Fatigue that never goes away with rest
• Loss of memory or concentration
• Headaches
• Unrefreshing sleep or difficulty sleeping
• Unexplained muscle or joint pain
• Sore throat
• Enlarged lymph nodes in neck or armpits
• Extreme exhaustion lasting more than 24 hours after physical or mental exercise

While the body feels fatigued, many other issues could be present. Even experiencing extreme exhaustion lasting more than 24 hours could occur even after normal amounts of exercise and activity.

Those who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome could experience depression, social isolation, many lifestyle restrictions, or have an increase in work absences as their body and mind feels worn out.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Treatments

The most common treatment to help chronic fatigue syndrome is a combination of cognitive training and graded exercise. Cognitive training focuses on speaking to a counselor who may help you find options to work around some of the limitations the disorder causes.

This training can help you feel more in control of your life and make an impact on your outlook.

With graded exercise, you will see a physical therapist who will determine exercises best for your situation. Over time, the exercises will become more intense in hopes to reduce the feeling of being completely worn out after minimum exercise.

With cognitive training and graded exercise, these treatments hope to relieve you of some of the most common symptoms associated with chronic fatigue syndrome. While these treatments can help, there is one other treatment that helps what could be the underlying trigger of your chronic fatigue syndrome: upper cervical treatments.

Upper Cervical Connection to Chronic Fatigue

The upper cervical spine is located right underneath the base of your skull (the neck area) and houses your brainstem. When an upper cervical misalignment occurs, this can place pressure onto the brainstem – causing it to be unable to send proper signals to your body.

The brainstem helps send proper communication between the brain and the body, so if this communication is disrupted, many issues may occur and can lead to various health problems, including the onset of chronic fatigue syndrome.

With pressure causing signal disruption, the body is unable to get the information it needs to perform proper functions, fight against foreign invaders, heal injuries, and repair itself.

In addition, automatic functions such as proper blood pressure can be affected by the compressed brainstem causing the person to feel tired or develop headaches even if they are not diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome.

How Does an Upper Cervical Treatment Work?

An upper cervical treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome works as follows: First, you will see an upper cervical professional who can give you a physical consultation and scan to see if your brainstem is being harmed by an upper cervical misalignment.

The goal of the upper cervical chiropractor is to adjust the patient as little as possible and allow the body to repair and heal itself over time without the use of medication or surgery.

In order to ensure the body can repair and heal itself properly, upper cervical misalignments are corrected to release pressure off the brainstem and restore its proper communication functions.

Unlike general chiropractic, upper cervical adjustments are small, gentle, and precise. Upper cervical adjustments are also safe for any age and are a great treatment option for those who want to stay away from medication or surgery.

Because upper cervical adjustments allow the body to naturally recover as best as it can, many patients who have had medications and surgery still had amazing results. This is thanks to the body’s natural ability to heal and repair things we often cannot see.

For those suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, an upper cervical adjustment will help the body regulate blood pressure, normalize your central nervous system, and can change the way you feel from head to toe helping your energy level and mental clarity.

If you or a loved one has chronic fatigue syndrome or believe to have it, it is best to consult a professional as soon as possible. With upper cervical adjustments, the number of adjustments needed is based on how long you have had the misalignment and its severity.

While everyone has a chance in improving their body’s current condition with upper cervical adjustments due to releasing any interference on the brainstem, your body can heal more successfully if it is fixed before it worsens over time.

For those who have had a misalignment for quite some time, some patients have had a misalignment for years and have still noticed improvements in as soon as one adjustment. An upper cervical chiropractor will continue to adjust your misalignment (only when needed) until your upper cervical spine grows strong enough to hold the adjustment all on its own.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is estimated to affect one million people in the United States with 17 to 24 million affected worldwide. Chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as CFS, is an extreme fatigue or tiredness that does not go away with rest. This long-term illness can affect the body in numerous different ways and can make a person unable to perform regular day to day activities.

Chronic fatigue syndrome is most common in adults between the ages of 40 to 60 years old with women having a higher rate of being diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. Although it is most common between those ages, anyone no matter their age could get chronic fatigue syndrome.

Why does Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Affect my Health?

Chronic fatigue syndrome affects your health tremendously because of rest not being able to reset or fully relax your body – which affects both your body and mind functions. The extreme fatigue causes the body to react slower to your surroundings and to infections. For those who have low blood pressure (hypotension), chronic fatigue syndrome can worsen or prolong its effects such as dizziness and lightheadedness. 

There has also been a link between disruptions of the immune system and chronic fatigue syndrome. Because of this link, your body can become more susceptible to infection.

What is the Most Common Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptom?

Some of the symptoms associated with chronic fatigue syndrome are the following:

• Fatigue
• Slower body reactions
• Difficulty sleeping
• Sore throat
• Enlarged lymph nodes (swollen glands) in the neck or underarm area
• Muscle pain
• Poor memory
• Pain in several joints with no redness or swelling
• Feeling sick after exercise or strenuous activity (this usually starts the day after)
• Inability to concentrate
• Headaches
• Depression

The most common chronic fatigue syndrome symptom out of the ones listed the above would be fatigue as it is this extreme fatigue that gives the illness its name.

Difference Between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Depression

Depression can leave one feeling fatigued as well. Depression can cause your muscles to ache and make the body weak if severe enough. Although depression and chronic fatigue syndrome share some similar symptoms, you can still distinguish between the two.

• Depressing mood – Those who have chronic fatigue syndrome report feeling depressed and discouraged due to the lack of energy. Depression, on the other hand, is when a person reports feeling depressed most of the time without being able to pinpoint a reason for their mood.
• Decrease in appetite and weight loss – Those who suffer from depression may lose the interest to eat or end up overeating while chronic fatigue syndrome sufferers are still interested in eating or sustaining their food habits but find shopping and preparing meals to be tiring.
• Insomnia – Chronic fatigue syndrome does not let you feel refreshed after sleeping no matter how long you sleep. Those who have depression will either have poor sleep (insomnia) or excessive sleep (hypersomnia).
• Loss of interest in activities – With depression, patients report losing interest or lacking interest in activities they would or used to enjoy. Chronic fatigue syndrome patients still say they would take part in these activities more if they had the energy for them.
• Unable to think or concentrate – This symptom can be helped with antidepressant therapy for patients who have depression while patients with chronic fatigue syndrome do not see any improvement on their concentration or memory.
• Fatigue or loss of energy – Depression can make a person feel fatigued regardless of the task at hand with a view that all tasks are equally difficult for them. For chronic fatigue syndrome, patients feel an overwhelming amount of fatigue and express an interest in doing more but are not able.
• Suicidal thoughts or thoughts of death – It is common for patients who suffer from depression to believe life is hopeless while patients with chronic fatigue syndrome may have thoughts of death or suicide because of their condition’s symptoms and become depressed or suicidal from thinking they may have to live that way for the rest of their life.

Can Chronic Fatigue Syndrome be Treated by a Neck Adjustment?

Above we mentioned how there has been a link between disruptions of the immune system and chronic fatigue syndrome. Our upper cervical spine, located in the neck area under the base of your skull, protects your brain stem.

When there is an upper cervical misalignment, this compresses the brain stem and disrupts the functions of your brain to body communication. Without proper brain to body communication, your immune system suffers.

Because the brain stem helps control so many bodily functions, a misalignment in the upper cervical spine can cause various issues to occur. If left untreated, these problems can worsen over time developing conditions and causing the body to be unable to fight successfully against disease.

What is the Best Chiropractic Technique for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

The best chiropractic technique for chronic fatigue syndrome is an upper cervical adjustment. Upper cervical chiropractors study how the brain stem is harmed by upper cervical misalignments, what problems to the body it can cause, and ways of handling the patient’s misalignment appropriately.

Unlike general chiropractic, upper cervical chiropractic is very gentle, using small subtle movements to correct the misalignment. 

Can Chiropractic offer a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Treatment?

Upper cervical chiropractic can help you with chronic fatigue syndrome. As soon as the misalignment is corrected, the pressure is taken off the brain stem allowing your body to begin properly communicating with the brain again. Because of this, the body begins to heal and repair itself almost immediately and patients have reported positive results after as little as one adjustment.

Our brain stem is the most significant part of our body. It controls our blood pressure, breathing, digestion, and much more. Any harm or pressure that disrupts our brain stem can do some serious harm to the body – including leading up to the development of many conditions.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Specialist Near Me

If you have chronic fatigue syndrome and want a completely safe, gentle, and an all-natural treatment to help, upper cervical can do a lot for you.

We can see if you have a misalignment and can let you know how it is affecting your body with scans that shows us how the misalignment is pressing up against your brain and how severe it is. You do not have to rely on temporary fixes that target your symptoms.

Upper cervical chiropractic allows the body to heal and repair the cause properly thanks to the power of our brain stem.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID) or myalgic encephalomyelitis (MC), is a complicated medical condition with no known cause. This syndrome arises when you experience fatigue and a drop in activity levels for at least six months that cannot be relieved by sleep or rest. Chronic fatigue syndrome is not a result of strenuous exertion and will significantly lessen your body’s ability to normally function.

Those who have chronic fatigue syndrome may also fit the description of those with fibromyalgia syndrome and vice versa. Because of this, there is often confusion between these conditions especially when there is no known specific cause or test to help the diagnosis. In order to diagnose a person with either chronic fatigue syndrome or fibromyalgia syndrome, they mostly look at their symptoms. Both conditions include symptoms of fatigue, trouble or unrefreshing sleep, cognitive impairment, dizziness, chronic widespread pain, and impaired coordination.

The difference between these two conditions are their primary symptoms: the primary symptom of chronic fatigue syndrome is fatigue while the primary symptom of fibromyalgia is pain. In addition, chronic fatigue syndrome is more likely linked to flu-like symptoms.

Symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Each person with chronic fatigue syndrome will have their own unique combination of symptoms they will experience. Apart from this, the intensity of their symptoms can vary. To determine if a patient has chronic fatigue syndrome, they must be experiencing fatigue, post-exertional malaise, sleep problems, and either cognitive impairment (brain fog) or have their symptoms feel worse in an upright position (orthostatic intolerance). 

Listed below are common symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome:

• Pain in muscles and joints 
• Headaches
• Sensitivities and intolerance to heat, cold, light, noise, or alcohol
• Flu-like symptoms such as a low-grade fever, sore throat, or swollen lymph glands
• Anxiety or irregular heartbeat

Those who have chronic fatigue syndrome may also experience overlapping conditions, such as:

• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Premenstrual syndrome
• Endometriosis (when tissue that lines the inside of your uterus grows outside of the uterus)
• Depression
• Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)

Causes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

While there is no known direct cause of chronic fatigue syndrome, experts believe it may be caused by genetic mutations with exposure to specific viruses or toxins. A handful of the following pathogens are believed to have a role in causing chronic fatigue syndrome: HHV-6, Lyme disease, enterovirus, and Epstein-Barr virus.

Those who have chronic fatigue syndrome are seen to have irregularities in their immune system: some have a chronically active immune system while others have abnormally active or low-functioning immune system cells. In addition, a disruption or dysregulation of the sympathetic nervous system and the hormones in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis may be involved. The HPA axis regulates your sleep and controls your response to stress. In addition, the HPA axis plays a role in mood disorders, including depression.

A Safe, All-Natural Treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

While the main cause of chronic fatigue syndrome is unknown, the nervous system plays a great part in how the body fights against disease and when the nervous system is disrupted it grows weaker and the body will lose its ability to fight and heal itself normally. The most common treatments are meant to help the individual relieve their symptoms, not actually fight against the condition. The most common treatments for chronic fatigue syndrome are supplements, over-the-counter drugs, prescriptions, and therapies. 

For those not only seeking relief but wanting to help the body heal and fight against chronic fatigue syndrome, upper cervical could be a great option. Upper cervical is unlike general chiropractic; upper cervical doctors focus on the top two bones of the spine located just under the skull, the atlas and the axis, and these bones surround your brain stem. Your brain stem controls fundamental body functions including breathing, blood pressure, swallowing, heartbeat, and eye movements. When a misalignment occurs in the upper cervical area, your brain stem suffers and in return causes many negative changes throughout your body. 

Since a misalignment of the top two bones compresses your brain stem, your brain to body communication will be misinterpreted, causing pain throughout the body, impaired balance, headaches, sleepiness, low energy levels, and more. With an interference in brain to body communication, your body will have a more difficult time fighting against conditions and diseases as it is no longer getting proper signals to activate the body’s natural ability to repair and heal. Without proper communication, the body will be unable to fight against the symptoms and get down to correcting the cause of them.

an interference in brain to body communication, your body will have a more difficult time fighting against conditions and diseases as it is no longer getting proper signals to activate the body’s natural ability to repair and heal. Without proper communication, the body will be unable to fight against the symptoms and get down to correcting the cause of them. Patients diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome have experienced great results from upper cervical care including more regulated energy levels, reduction in pain and headaches, and an increase in mental health.

Upper cervical doctors look to find the root cause of the chronic condition in order to nullify it and give you your health back. In order to successfully combat chronic fatigue syndrome, your body needs to regain its proper functions, which is why many patients with chronic fatigue syndrome have seen great results from upper cervical care. In upper cervical care there is no “popping” or “cracking” involved but very precise and gentle movements to realign your upper cervical spine so you can get back to living your life with a healthy, pain free body.