From the Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health, May 4, 2017, edition comes a case study of a young boy who suffered from two conditions being helped by chiropractic. His first condition was strabismus, sometimes known as cross-eyed or wall-eyed. His second condition was hypersensitivity to touch, such as clothing and other stimulus.
Strabismus is described on the website www.strabismus.org as “…a vision condition in which a person can not align both eyes simultaneously under normal condition.” This study simply states that strabismus is a condition in which the eyes do not point in the same direction. It is estimated that up to 5% of all children have this condition to some degree.
Hypersensitivity to touch and clothing is common among children. This is when a child seems to over-react to small stimulus such as clothing, shoes and other things touching their body. Experts believe that this is due to the brain improperly interpreting input sensory data causing the child to think a normal stimulus is causing discomfort.
In this case, a 10-year-old boy suffering from lateral strabismus in his right eye, fatigue, and hypersensitivity was brought to the chiropractor. His hypersensitivity included touching his skin, heat and bright lights, as well as tightness in his upper chest area. The boy stated that his clothes would make him itch all over. Touching his skin made him feel ticklish all over. He was unable to attend school regularly due to his clothing bothering him, and his fatigue and lack of concentration.
He first started experiencing hypersensitivity after two surgeries to remove a type of tumor known as a teratoma germinoma from his pineal gland in the brain. After the second surgery, there was no further medical treatment needed for his tumor.
During his chiropractic examination, it was noticed that the boy had a hunched posture with right head tilt and left shoulder higher than the right. The one eye deviation was noted but no other anomalies of the eyes were reported. A subluxation assessment was performed, and based upon this assessment, various types of specific chiropractic adjustments for correction of vertebral subluxations were initiated.
On the boy’s fifth chiropractic visit, he reported a reduction in skin irritation from his clothing. On his eighth chiropractic visit, a head and neck exam was performed with neurological testing. The examination showed a more fluid bilateral visual tracking during a visual field test, indicating improvement of the boy’s strabismus. By the 13th visit, the boy’s clothing no longer bothered him. This allowed him to return to school on a regular basis as he was only attending 2 out of 5 days most weeks. By his 19th chiropractic visit, the boy had improved to the point where he no longer had any thoracic tightness, was feeling great, and was no longer getting tired.
In their discussion and conclusion the authors noted, “The case study reports the cessation of hypersensitivity, lateral strabismus and fatigue in a 10-year-old boy following subluxation focused chiropractic care.” They continued by explaining, “Chiropractic care alters sensorimotor integration and this may have resulted in positive symptomatic changes in this child.”