This article is from the Long Beach Magazine
Giving Patients Their Lives Back
BY CINDY ARORA
Sometimes in the middle of a consultation, Dr. Roger Smith will see
a
certain look flash in the eyes of a new patient, a look somewhere
between
hope and a tinge of "Is this guy for real?"
Smith, an upper cervical chiropractor, understands the cynicism because
he's seen it
often enough at his practice, Smith Upper Cervical Health
Care. His patients typically
arrive at his office after years of being shuffled
from
doctor to doctor, trying a variety of treatments or taking prescription
pills for temporary
relief for conditions such as back pain, chronic
headache,
allergies, sinus problems, numbness, and fibromyalgia. A lot
of times, these conditions
can be difficult to treat and patients are frustrated
and worried they will never feel 100 percent ever again.
Talking with Smith about what he does can sound like a magic trick, or
as he says,
"selling snake oil." But Smith backs up what he's peddling: "I
don't think we need pills, potions, or
lotions to be healthy. The thing with
modern medicine is we all want to take a pill to make the
symptom go
away …Drugs will shut the symptom down, but it's still there."
Smith is one of about 75 doctors worldwide who practices upper cervical
care through the
Blair Chiropractic Technique. This procedure focuses on
bringing the body into balance
by adjusting two specific vertebrae:
the
atlas and the axis. When these two are misaligned, this can bring on a
host
of problems from depression, indigestion, difficulty sleeping, swollen
knees,
dizziness, among others, like high blood pressure. In fact, an eight
week study
proved significant blood pressure reductions from this procedure
as printed in
online issue of the Journal of Human Hypertension. The
imbalance of these
vertebras can be triggered from birth (being pulled
from the birth canal), a
car accident, or emotional stress, to name a few
different causes. "People
aren't aware the upper cervical area is a nerve
area that communicates to
the rest of the body," Smith says, "and when
properly adjusted, can mean
a healthier life."
Take Edith Dworak, 72, who could barely move her left shoulder before
she met Smith. She was uncomfortable and in pain, but her doctors chalked
it up to arthritis, and she
was told to learn to live
with the discomfort.
She
and her husband met
Smith at an art show,
and he invited them
both
to come in for a consultation.
Nearly four years later,
Dworak-and
her husband-lead
pain-free lives.
"I am no spring chicken,
but now I eat right,
exercise, go to the gym, and
I even
lift weights," Dworak
says with a laugh. "I am
doing things now
that
I never
would
have dreamed of doing."
Improving people's overall health
and changing their lives are two of
the reasons
Smith chose this specialty. Smith was 14 when his grandmother,
who suffered from
allergies and fatigue, moved to the beach
and was taken to an upper cervical chiropractor
in Huntington Beach.
The experience of seeing his grandmother evolve from tired and
sickly to
healthy and alive was enough to make him a believer. He now commutes
from
his home in Long Beach to the same office where his grandmother
was treated and works
with the doctor who became his mentor when he
was a teenager.
"What we do here is actually improve people's health," Smith says. "But
this is teamwork,
and you have to work hard, because you are in charge
of your life and your health."
Treatment begins with neurological tests, heat-sensitive instrumentation,
and x-rays of
the upper cervical area. Smith also works with patients on
nutritional goals, exercise
plans, rest recommendations, positive thinking,
and spirituality. John Bell, a dockworker
at the Long Beach Port, was 28
when he was referred to Smith . After years of migraine
headaches and
popping sinus and allergy pills every day, he was looking for something
new.
"The first time Dr. Smith adjusted me, I felt like something had been
released inside of me,"
Bell says. "Now I surf, play volleyball … I truly feel
like I got my life back.