A video published on December 23, 2007, on the popular website YouTube, shows Montel Williams testifying about the great results he got under chiropractic care. The daytime television personality was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). His personal experience has caught the eye of many in chiropractic and in the MS community.
On the video, Montel starts by saying, “I’m not certain because I haven’t done the scientific research on it to know if this can work for everybody else out there, but I want to tell you I suffer from MS (multiple sclerosis), I have extreme neuralgic pain in the lower extremities, I’m in pain 24 hours a day seven days a week 365 days a year, and then I go to see this doctor, I’ve had pain in my feet, I’ve struggled with my balance, so Dr. Erica sent me to see a man who I will tell you now, 12 days ago… and there’s not a person that knows me who will not confirm this, if you just ask them, everybody who sees me, I am walking differently, my pain is less, I have already regained strength in my left leg, my left leg has dropped because I found out that my pelvis was tilted, it’s dropped back down, they are now the same length, it’s the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me.”
In the video Dr. Patrick Kerr, Montel’s chiropractor, explains that the positive results Montel experienced are the direct result of removing pressure on the brain stem resulting from misalignment of the atlas (subluxation), the top bone of the spine. Dr. Kerr further explained how misalignment of the spine causes mechanical compression of the nerve roots that exit the spine, causing all kinds of dysfunction. Properly aligning the spine reestablishes proper communication between the brain and the rest of the body. (Click on image below to see actual YouTube video.)
On the website MSNews, a website for the MS community, Bonnie who also suffers from MS posted her comments which may well represent the reaction to this video. She stated, “Hmmm… I have heard some cautions against chiro adjustments with MS – something about the body interpreting it as trauma? I used to love seeing my chiro years ago – with all the jolly cracking noises – but have not been back since my DX 11/02. Anyone else aware of any pros or cons with adjustments? Maybe it’s time for me to go back.”
