postr/StutterJuly 31, 2019

Chiropractic Neurology - a revelation

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Chiropractic Neurology - a revelation hello r/Stutter, I have stuttered since I learned to speak and created a reddit account just to make this post in this forum to tell my story. Having seen several speech therapists of different levels and experience over the years, I found very little meaningful result and was ready to give up in every way. It did a number on my mental health - anxiety to the point of paranoia and depression to the point of suicide attempts. I am here to tell you there is hope. A quick google search for speech pathologists in my area (western OR) brought up results for a speech pathologist with expertise in orofacial myology, who partners with a chiropractic neurologist. You can imagine my skepticism because I've never needed to see a chiropractor for any other reason before now. I had also never heard of either of these disciplines and was a bit dazzled by the fancy sounding names. Not knowing what to expect in this new territory, I had nothing to lose so I jumped in. Now for the good part:I arrive for the intake appointment and it turns out part my tongue has been stuck to the hyoid bone (the tongue bone - if you stick your tongue angled down inside your mouth you feel the bone on either side below the gums) and it was seriously disrupting my brain's speech signaling. Imagine, if you will, part of the calf muscle having been stuck to the tibia(shin bone) and limping your whole life. I am learning how to walk. She explains how some are able to bypass this by using the other hemisphere of the brain to communicate - like famous actors who teach themselves how to act like someone who doesn't stutter, or using a singing sort of voice to speak. She lays me on the table and rubs right under my chin on the right side as well as the right side of my neck. "Do you often feel tension under there?" "YES!" I ask if it's like guitar strings that are stuck together and she corrects me saying it's more like pasta you forgot to stir. The muscles are supposed to be separate and mine have been stuck together up against the bone, making my brain do tricks to adapt (and cope). She puts on a latex glove and inserts two fingers in my mouth to feel under my tongue to find the muscles and confirm her suspicion. "I can help you." - I nearly hyperventilate from excitement and a flood of emotion. She says she wants to see me twice a week for three weeks and to schedule with the aforementioned speech specialist to "rebuild" my speech. After just the first week I am already noticing an ENORMOUS difference in my speech and self image. My entire world is seemingly transforming. I had been chipping away at this crap with a metal spoon and banging my head against it for years and years and I am glad to say I have found some blasting dynamite. There is still much work to do in my shoulders, diaphragm and chest where tension and stress have built up for years due to the inability to adequately express myself. Before our first appointment I wrote up and sent to her a personal essay about how stuttering has effected my life - bullying in school and at work, people thinking phone lines still break up, lesser minds blowing right past me in life, etc. For the longest time I thought it was some wacky kind of congenital brain damage or a throat muscle strength issue - explaining to friends or whoever was curious that if they screamed at the top of their lungs for as long and loud as they could, mine would be less than half the length and intensity of their's. Partly due to choosing not to speak for so long (life long stutterers, put your hands in the air), instead it is a muscle rehab/retraining issue - in my case, anyway. I invite your questions and look forward to interacting with this community. \-Sabin787 ​ tldr: A chiropractor helped me more than any speech therapist and almost cured my stutter. Part of my tongue was stuck to my tongue bone and separating it to where it should be has made a world of difference in my fluency.

Themes

Anticipation & AvoidanceCauses & VariabilityTherapy & Professional

Subthemes

Avoidance & SubstitutionHiding & ConcealmentOverthinking & MonitoringTrauma & PsychologicalPositive Therapy TechniquesNegative Therapy / Harm

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propositionality