Dad, rugby, and the strangest most remarkable recovery story ever 🏉
I have just got back from taking my Dad to watch Guildford rugby club play. They are not having the best season and they just lost to Petersfield. They have only won one game so far this season.
This does leave them vulnerable to relegation, as they say ‘nothing is decided before Christmas’. Let’s wait and see how the next few weeks pan out.
Heading to watch Guildford play rugby was something we started doing a few years ago. My Dad had been going for years, first to watch my middle brother, Rory play as a youngster and then in the 1st team when he was in his 20’s. Although after a string of injuries he packed it in and hung up his boots.
And we always joke that he probably goes more now than when my brother was in the team.
I get it though, it’s a fun afternoon with his friends, they have a beer and watch some decent rugby.
This time is the first time that I have taken my Dad since he suffered a fall back in April of this year.
He was at Tower Hill tube station in London after a lunch with some old work colleagues. I remember my Mum calling me whilst I was hacking my way around the golf course. She said, ‘your Dad has had a fall down some stairs, I told him to get a cab, don’t worry he is fine, but he is on the way to Royal London hospital to get checked over.’
My Dad was diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis over 15 years ago and has been incredible at battling this disease. But after a long day of walking he does start to fatigue in his left leg and walks with a limp.
Hence when he goes to London to see friends, my Mum insists that he takes a taxi back to Waterloo.
We thought he had taken a tumble after having a few glasses of wine at lunch, however it turned out this was not the case. He had collapsed due to a heart arrythmia and fell down a whole flight of stairs at Tower Hill tube station. And landed on the back of his head.
My Mum called me when she got there to tell me I needed to get up there as he wasn’t making any sense.
Following a CT scan, we were told he had suffered a skull fracture, and his skull was pressing into his brain causing a bleed.
We were left in limbo about what condition he would be in.
As you can imagine this was not an easy 48 hours.
I remember visiting him on the Saturday, which was 2 days after the fall.
I was sitting by his bed as he drifted in and out of being asleep.
I remember talking to him about the Grand National that day which he usually loves to have a flutter on (and does well to be fair to him, he somehow always picks a winner or each way place).
To which he opened his eyes and smiled, in only the way that my Dad can, a cheeky Glaswegian grin, at that point I knew he was going to be ok.
My Dad suffered an occipital fracture in his skull which caused a stroke to the back of his brain, he lost the use of his right leg and had to use a wheelchair.
He was in hospital and then the Queen Elizabeth foundation in Leatherhead which is a specialist centre for neuro injury cases. This is where he did his rehabilitation and work to try to stimulate his leg to work.
He left there in September of this year. 6 months he spent in hospital.
He is an incredible man and I’m in awe of him.
And not to mention my Mum who has been by his side every step of the way, she is incredible.
With my Dad’s MS diagnosis, there was an inevitably that he would end up in a wheelchair and their lives would change. However, this would be a slow progression over years and would give you time to adapt, not just the home to live in, but more importantly from a mental perspective.
To have that time stripped away has forced them to adapt very quickly.
He now has 3-4 days per week of intense physiotherapy and rehabilitation to try to get his right leg working so he can walk again, it is a long road, but he is very determined.
I have recently started adjusting him.
It was following a trip to the United chiropractic association conference in October where I was listening to one of the speakers talking about the research around Chiropractic and post rehabilitative stroke.
This is always a ‘red flag’ topic for Chiropractors, and we try to avoid treating patients that have had a stroke.
I checked my Dad over and ensured it was safe to proceed.
It has been great to adjust him again.
It has only been a few weeks of adjusting him weekly, so I would not expect too many changes just yet. Although he has reported sleeping better and more deeply and his neuro-physiotherapist has said that he is improving with his movement. Is this down to the adjustment? I cannot say, but I do know that it is allowing his body to function better and give him the opportunity.
There is limited research suggesting that Chiropractic care could play a role in stroke rehabilitation.
Holt et al, 2019 showed that a single session of chiropractic care had a profound impact on cortical drive and spinal excitability in stroke patients. They measure the plantar flexor muscles; these are the muscles that push the foot down and propel you forward when you walk. They observed that these got stronger following a chiropractic adjustment compared with the control group.
Another study showed that following a course of chiropractic care the motor function in the upper and lower limbs improved in stroke patients, which means they could move their legs and arms more easily as well as improvements in their muscle activation and gait.
I read about the effects of a single session of spinal manipulation on strength and cortical drive-in athletes. The study looked at Taekwondo athletes following a session of spinal adjustments and showed that the athletes had increased muscle strength in their calf’s and corticospinal activity that lasted for 30-60 minutes (Thomas et al, 2018).
That is amazing to get that much of a difference from one adjustment to improve performance.
The studies and research are encouraging, and this is what led me to keep on adjusting my Dad, to stimulate his nervous system to try and help his recovery. With the help of the neuro-physiotherapists and the rehabilitation he is doing at home will stimulate his nervous system.
What does this mean for you?
I am NOT advocating that all stroke patients come to West Chiropractic.
The purpose behind this blog is to allow you to understand the real reason behind Chiropractic care and its relationship with the nervous system.
It is more than just pain and has a deeper connection with your body and how it functions.
Next time you are in why not ask your Chiropractor, why they are adjusting a certain area and where that nerve supply goes too?
References
Holt et al, 2019- The effects of a single session of chiropractic care on strength, cortical drive, and spinal excitability in stroke patients
Ling et al, 2023- Changes in gait parameters, muscle tone, and radiographic parameters in post-ischemic stroke patients following chiropractic care
Thomas et al, 2018- The effects of a single session of spinal manipulation on strength and cortical drive in athletes
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