I am Grateful

I appreciate how thorough Dr Burtis was. He explained where the issue was and what was causing it rather than just fixing the problem. The facility was very clean and well kept which is a good first impression. I am grateful I chose to take my issue to this office.

I am glad I saw Dr. Burtis speak about his nutrition and supplements for optimum wellness. That is what made me choose him. I trust his knowledge because of our common denominator of preventing re-occuring cancer. I am thankful to have him here in Fairmont, it’s nice to have a specialist right here in town.”
S.J.

Beyond the Expectations

Talking with Dr Burtis I can tell he is piecing together ways to help get me to be my best self. Beyond the expectations that I have for my visit. I’m looking forward to more visits to help get me on the best track I can be on. The staff there is also very polite, and helpful and didn’t seem to mind a few jokes.

Very Helpful

Loved them from the moment I called them. Very helpful and nice over the phone and even better in person. Helped keep me calm through my whole visit and explained every question I had. The atmosphere had me leaving with a smile on my face and happy the rest of the day. Look forward to seeing them more and will refer others.

Thorough

The staff made me feel very welcome and the doctor was excellent at his profession. He did a very thorough job and listened very well.

Very welcoming place!

The whole team is very friendly! Very welcoming place! Love how Dr. Burtis explains EVERYTHING! Even so we the patience can best understand it!

And so we share the story of Dakotah…

Dakotah actually first came to our office with his mom. She had migraines and they were getting better and better. One day she asked if we could do anything for constipation, as her little two-year-old boy Dakotah had a very bad case. Before I could start to answer, a loud scream came out of my waiting room. I excused myself to go, but she said “Oh, don’t worry, that’s just Dakotah, trying to have a B.M.” Wow! I offered to put him on a course of care and had her bring him in.

Into the adjusting room walked the cutest little boy, walking on his knees. I said “Hello, Dakotah,” but he did not answer. “He doesn’t speak,” his mom said. “He has cerebral palsy, and he hasn’t spoken or walked on his feet since he was born.” That explained the walking on the knees. I found a number of bad subluxations, and began to adjust them.As we continued to correct him, the constipation improved. One day I was adjusting his grandma (she had brought him in along with her) and he walked in the room. I was surprised and said to his grandma, “I thought he couldn’t walk on his feet?” “He couldn’t,” she replied. “Until you started to adjust him.” WOW! I was thrilled to see the body’s healing power at work through chiropractic. But we weren’t done.

A couple weeks later, he was back with grandma. He walked in the room and looked out the window. He pointed at something and said “doggie”. This time I just stopped. I asked again, “I thought he couldn’t talk?” “He never did,” she again replied. “Until he started seeing you.” Dakotah still walks and talks just fine.

I encourage you to read this story again, and give it to someone else. Someone you know (perhaps you) needs healing in their life. Chiropractic may be their best and only hope. We don’t just “pop backs,” we restore life and turn the power back on. If you want the scientific explanation wait until I have a few hours. Until then, live it to the fullest!

Restoring Balance

A lot of people still think chiropractic is just for low back pain. Many times it takes a personal experience of having some condition clear up to understand just how far-reaching the effect of chiropractic can be. For Joan, it was restoring balance.

Joan had come in for some neck pain and headaches. She had tried medicine and other chiropractors. She still experienced sharp headaches and a painful neck that made it hard to function normally. As she moved around for her exam, I noticed she kept holding on to whatever she could. When I asked about that she told me that she had an inner ear infection; her doctor had told her that. When I asked how long it had been, she replied, “Something like six months”. Inner ear infections don’t last six months. Unfortunately, anyone with dizziness is usually told they have an inner ear infection.I explained to Joan that subluxations (bone out of place causing nerve interference) can disrupt the normal coordination of eyes, inner ears, and brain. This coordination is so vital for good nerve communication and good balance. We began to correct her neck subluxations which were causing her headaches. As the subluxations were corrected, her balance returned. She held on less and less, and stood straighter and taller.

She tells her friends that I cured her inner ear infection. She tells me that I gave her back her confidence to move. I told her I moved the bone and God did the healing. And now her life has balance again.

Bedwetting: A Big Change!

Working with kids is one of the greatest joys I have. Kids respond better, mostly because their stress levels aren’t as high. They are also easier to adjust and have less muscle spasm, less scar tissue, and less adhesions. They tend to listen better, too.

I recently had the opportunity to take care of a young boy who was a bed wetter. He was eleven years old and had been dry occasionally, but for the most part had “accidents” all the time. I explained how chiropractic can help with bedwetting (improving the reflexes to “hold it”), and that it helps create a healthier nervous system so they can wake up easier at night. I also informed them of the side effects of the drugs he was taking, (they weren’t told there were any side effects….. EXCUSE ME… ALL DRUGS HAVE SIDE EFFECTS!!)After the first adjustment, he was dry for six whole days! Not because he had a pinched nerve we un-pinched, but because we removed interference to his nervous system. He had a few more wet nights, but after completing his course of care, he has been dry for almost three months now. His mother now brings him in for follow up care; not because we fixed his bedwetting, but because his nervous system is now healthier, and you can’t put a price on that! She became a patient too, and she feels more energy and less stress as well!

Bedwettting: Dry Nights… Great Mornings!

I want to share this story to show you the joy that can take place behind the healing. It is a story of a little boy who hated nights, because bedtime meant waking up to a wet bed, embarrassment, and another failure.

Timmy was five years old and should have moved past nighttime accidents long ago. But he hadn’t. His parents knew it, his siblings knew it, and most of all, and he knew it. They tried everything… going to the bathroom right before bed, waking him up in the middle of the night, bed alarms, everything. The medication they tried did not help and had very unpleasant side effects. They finally came here as a last resort. Timmy’s mom had been a patient, but only for a low back problem, and only until the pain went away.“But Timmy has no back pain,” she had started out. “How can his back be a part of his bedwetting problem?” I explained how the nervous system controls everything, and that a subluxation (bone out of place with the one above and below causing nerve interference) would disrupt the normal reflexes. And those subluxations themselves can be present with no pain or symptoms.

I got the feeling she didn’t quite understand, but she agreed to “Give us a try.” I told her that we would need at least two weeks of care before we knew if it would work. She agreed, and the very first night he was dry!! But that was the last night for two weeks. Timmy’s mom was ready to give up, but not Timmy. At his insistence, she followed through for the first two weeks as I said. Finally, about thirteen nights in, he was dry again. And he has been dry ever since. That part is great, but the best part to me is seeing how Timmy stands taller, holds himself a little better, and has more joy.

Bladder Sciatica

Here is a story from another chiropractor’s office that is a good example of one of those “surprise” experiences, where you go to a chiropractor for one thing and see a second unexpected miracle occur.

“I’ve been fighting sciatica pain for about a year and half. In April 2006, I had returned from a five month international trip that had exacerbated the pain. My first action was to visit my physician who referred me to a neurosurgeon. The operative word being ‘surgeon’, consequently surgery was recommended to repair the herniated disk.Having no peace with the recommended surgery I was looking for alternatives. That’s when I decided to try chiropractic.

My symptoms were this: the nerve running through my buttock and down my right leg was burning and causing my calf and toes to be numb, sitting was not an option, and I couldn’t stand still without severe pain. Driving was becoming very difficult. And probably the worst and most embarrassing was incontinence had become a serious issue.

It has been 90 days since I started chiropractic treatment and I am delighted to report my progress. I used to arrive for treatment often in tears because of the pain, but not anymore! The intensity of the pain is relieved; I went to the movies today and sat through the whole movie! And best of all the incontinence is a thing of the past!

I’m not completely without pain yet, but the healing process is moving forward with such strides that being pain free is within reach. Surgery is touted to be a ‘quick fix’ to get out of pain, but there are no guarantees that it will always be the fix they promise. The path of adjustments, traction, supplements, good diet, exercise, prayer and hope may take a little longer in time, but the results will be longer lasting!”

What is the miracle you are ready for? What are you waiting for?

“I was very impressed with my first visit – timeliness, professionalism, expertise, genuine caring, and more were excellent. Thank you!”

Dear Patient and Friend of Burtis Chiropractic:

We have been sharing some stories of remarkable healings that have occurred right here at Burtis Chiropractic as well as those I have found through the grapevine. We want to help people move away from this weird idea that chiropractic is just for back aches. There are too many people in need of something different in their life, and perhaps chiropractic is that something. It is our hope that after hearing these stories you will begin to tell others about what is happening here, and help us reach those in need of healing.

Heavy Lifting

This testimonial I want to share is one I picked to hopefully open your eyes to chiropractic. It is NOT just for back pain. It is for the restoration of health and function.

Carol came in after moving some furniture. She had hurt her mid-back and needed some pain relief. After a couple of visits she was feeling better. As she was leaving she asked me, “Do you ever work with the eyes?”I responded that yes, we work with the eyes, and that as long as there is a subluxation (bone out of alignment causing nerve interference) that chiropractic is the only thing that can help. So she told me how she had gone to Mayo because her vision kept getting fuzzier. They had told her that she had degeneration of the retina, and that she would be blind in six months.

I checked her for subluxations and found a very deep one in her upper neck. This is right where the sympathetic nerve flow for the eyes comes from. I tried to adjust it two different ways but it wouldn’t move. She got up and said, “Well, thanks for trying.” Then, for some reason, I could see myself adjusting her with an old-fashioned style of adjustment. I told her to lie down on her side and she did. I had never done this type of adjustment before, but it felt right. As soon as I performed the adjustment, she got up and said, “There, I can see again.” And she still sees today. She sees her grandchildren, she sees her husband, she sees…everything. Being told she would never see again makes that all the more beautiful.

Remember that no matter what some other doctor says, there is always hope. So please tell a friend who has run out of hope. Try chiropractic. Carol is sure glad she did!

Cold and Flu

With “cold and flu season” just around the corner, we thought it wise to share this testimonial from our files. It reminds us that with a strong immune system there is no “cold and flu season.”

Nancy was being treated for a hip injury. It seems she had injured it years ago and never really got it taken care of, so it always flared up in the winter. But her next comment led me to ask her more questions. “And now that it’s getting cold out, I’m sure I’ll spend half the winter with a cold!” I asked her why she felt that way, and she noted that every year for as long as she can remember, she has suffered through three or four bouts of throat and sinus infections every winter.I explained to her that chiropractic makes the immune system stronger by keeping the nervous system connected better, and that she should do this to avoid another winter of infections. “I’m willing to try anything!” she said. For the next three months she followed through with care and experienced her first winter without a cold! No missed work, no fighting through the holidays with Kleenexes, no feeling miserable to start the new year.

She felt so good that she committed to coming in once a month for wellness care. The best thing is that the following winter, thanks to her commitment to wellness care, she still only got one little cold.

Colic No More!

Of all the conditions that we can help, colic is the one where I hear,”I wish I had known that!” the most. Susan was lucky; she found out before it was too late.

Susan was a young mother who should have been enjoying the first few months of motherhood. She should have been holding a cooing baby, watching her angel sleep, cuddling and holding her little miracle. Unfortunately that was not the case. What she was experiencing was four hours of screaming and crying every night. Her baby had colic, and her dreams of young motherhood had been soured by colic.She actually came in to get help with her chronic fatigue. When we finally traced it to her lack of sleep, she told me about her baby’s colic. Her pediatrician had advised gas drops. When those didn’t work, he had told her to wait six weeks; it would go away. She had accepted that, because no one else had any other options.

When I showed her how gentle an infant adjustment was, she agreed to bring her baby in. I told her that babies often sleep more than usual after their first adjustment. She rolled her eyes and said, “I would love to see that.”

The next time she came in Susan was beaming ear to ear. Not only had her baby not been colicky, but she had slept through the night for the first time ever. After a few adjustments her baby was happier, quieter, and on her way to being healthier. Susan still gets her baby checked today, almost three years later. And her baby is healthy, happy, and no more colic!

Infertility – “Amazing Grace”

This testimony recalls one of the most touching moments in my 20+ year career. It begins with a young wife who was desperate. She and her husband had been trying to get pregnant for some time. Medications had been tried, surgery was being suggested. She wanted something more natural and something more reassuring than “Let’s try this now.”

“Can chiropractic help you get pregnant if you’re having problems?” she asked. I answered by telling her the stories of a few young families who had indeed become pregnant after trying chiropractic to address fertility issues. There has even been research published in medical journals of how and why this works!I told her this was not a “one-time pop-in-the-back” sort of thing. It required both she and her husband to commit to regular care, and she understood that healing takes time and repetition. After six weeks of care, they were not pregnant, and they were moving to Phoenix. They thanked me for trying and said good-bye.

About nine months later, in the middle of a busy morning, I was stopped in my tracks as I walked from the second adjusting room to the first. There on the table was a beautiful two-month-old girl. Along side her, the young couple I had tried to help stood smiling from ear to ear. At first I thought they were here for an adjustment, and were watching a niece or something like that.

“We just came in to show you your good work,” the father told me. At first I didn’t understand. They had left the previous summer with no word, and I assumed it had not worked. However, here in front of me was the proof of the power of principled chiropractic. They had become pregnant thanks to chiropractic, and here was the result. Her name was Grace, but I call her Amazing Grace. She is an ever present reminder that miracles still occur, and that when I remember that God does the healing, that miracles can happen right here in my office.

Please share this story with a friend or loved one who is struggling with infertility. You may be their answer to a prayer!

Stage One Hypertension

A study published in the October 29, 2007, edition of the scientific periodical, the Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, showed that chiropractic adjustments had a profound positive effect on stage 1 hypertension. According to the authors of the study, the purpose of the study was stated as follows: “This pilot study examines the relationship between nonsurgical interventions to align the Atlas vertebra and changes in blood pressure and heart rate.”

The atlas vertebra is the top bone in the neck. Chiropractors have long noted the importance that particular bone plays in proper nerve function. Accordingly, the authors’ hypothesis for this study was stated as: “Those with hypertension and absence of neck pain will have misalignment of their Atlas vertebra where upon correction will lead to significant lowering of their blood pressure.”The results showed a significant drop in both the systolic and diastolic (upper and lower numbers) of blood pressure. The amount of the drop was so significant that the researchers remarked, “We conclude that restoration of Atlas alignment is associated with marked reductions in blood pressure similar to the use of two-drug combination therapy. Larger studies are needed to validate these findings.”
The study compared two groups of individuals who had a history of Stage 1 hypertension with no apparent cause or disease creating this condition. Of all the participants, only 42% had a family history of hypertension. The volunteers in this study were divided into groups. One group received specific chiropractic adjustments while the control group went through a similar procedure (called sham intervention) without receiving a real adjustment. The researchers noted that the “sham intervention” was designed to be indistinguishable to the patient from an authentic adjustment.Both groups were examined before and after the procedures and their blood pressures were taken. Both the systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings were significantly reduced for the group that received chiropractic adjustments as compared to the control group that got the sham procedure. Researchers were so impressed with the findings that in their summary and conclusions they wrote, “This pilot study shows that correction of misalignment of the Atlas vertebra lowers and sustains reductions in blood pressure for at least 8 weeks in people with Stage 1 hypertension. Individuals with Stage 1 hypertension who have no apparent etiology and lack a family history may have cervical neck abnormalities related to the Atlas Vertebra.”

Parkinsons – “Surprise…Surprise…Surprise!”

Those of you who remember television from the sixties and seventies will remember this phrase from the late great Jim Nabors of Gomer Pyle fame. Jim Nabors had a surprise of his own up his sleeve; that hillbilly accent he did so well hid a beautiful baritone singing voice that could bring you to tears.

Chiropractic has its own surprise, and that is the ability to affect conditions that most folks would never relate to the back. A good example I was just reading about was Parkinson’s Disease. People who know about Parkinson’s know it has to do with the brain and nervous system. So it may surprise you that there are a few studies out there that show chiropractic having a positive impact on Parkinson’s. In one study, eight out of ten people improved under chiropractic care. In another, eighty-one showed improvements and stronger function.You see, Parkinson’s is a disease of the central nervous system. And chiropractic affects the central nervous system. Yes, we do treat back pain; better than anyone else does. But it works for the back for the same reason it works for Parkinson’s. Namely, it corrects dysfunction of the central nervous system and allows the body to heal itself.

So the next time you hear someone doubting that chiropractic can help back pain, just tell them, “If it can help Parkinson’s, back pain shouldn’t be so tough!”

No More Restless Legs

This testimonial tells of a patient who came in for one problem (low back pain), and found out to her surprise that something else improved dramatically!

Janet was a new patient who had never been to a chiropractor. She was very reluctant, even a little scared. But she had been bothered with low back pain since the birth of her last child, and did not want the surgery they were suggesting. So she tried chiropractic as a last resort, as so many people do.The first couple of weeks she did not notice much difference in her low back. So I asked her “What else is different? What is better or worse or changed?” She thought hard, but couldn’t come up with anything. She seemed ready to give up on chiropractic.

At her next appointment she came in smiling and bubbly. She had something to tell me. “I figured it out – what’s better!” She seemed excited to share this. “I didn’t make the connection until I remembered that scan you did, and you talked about how the nerves in the low back affect the legs. I have had restless leg syndrome for four years now, and the last few nights are the first time it hasn’t woke me up!” She hadn’t told me she even had restless leg syndrome!

Restless legs are just a symptom of a nervous system out of balance. Janet now sleeps through the night every night. Her restless legs are a thing of the past. Oh, and so is her low back pain. She tells that to all her friends!

The Sense of Smell

Karen came to our office because she wanted to try a different chiropractor. Her previous chiropractor was the kind that told his patients, “If it still hurts, come back,” and letting them decide the care. (Imagine a dentist or cardiologist telling one of their patients the same thing…kind of crazy, right?) She wanted more serious care. She mentioned the sinus problems she had suffered with for over 20 years, and wondered if I could help with that. I informed her that a problem that old would not go away over night. She said she was fine with that, as long as it took care of the problem.

After two weeks she came in smiling from ear to ear. She had something to tell me, and I could tell it was good. I asked her if her sinuses were starting to open up. She said “Yes, and something even better!” I asked her, “What would that be?” She proceeded to tell me. It seems that she had begun having these serious sinus problems after a bad infection 20 years ago. But at that time she had also lost her sense of smell. The doctor back then told her the infection had killed the nerves in the nose that allowed her to smell. But after the first two weeks of care here, she was beginning to smell things again!After six weeks of care, her sinuses were clear AND she could smell everything! Which also meant she could taste again…. for the first time in 20 years. To her, it was a miracle. To me, it was just great she kept giving chiropractic a chance to do what it is capable of doing!

A Story to Thaw Your Heart Out!

This testimonial comes from a speaker I heard at a seminar a while back. I hope it moves your heart and opens your mind up to what chiropractic can do.

A woman came in to her chiropractor in great distress. When he asked her what was wrong, she told him about her husband. He was a mean, ornery cuss, who never showed love, never had time for his family, always angry. She had recently given her daughter a rabbit for a pet, and he had killed it on purpose, just to be mean. He had terrible knee pain, and she felt if the doctor could help his knee, he wouldn’t be so mean.She somehow got her husband to come in, and the doctor could see what she meant. His knee was terrible, but there was bitterness to the man that sent shivers down the doctor’s spine. The man agreed to come in for care saying “I don’t think you can help, so I’ll come in just to see you fail.”

After about a month the knee was no better. But the wife came in privately to tell of the changes in her husband. “He’s happier, he’s not so mean. And today, he bought my daughter a puppy!” She nearly broke down, but she had more to say. “And last night, for the first time in thirty years of marriage, he told me he loved me.” Wow!! I remember the doctor telling the story. He continued by telling us the man’s knee never did get better. But his heart was healed. And in doing so, a family was restored. And that is what chiropractic can do. Please stop seeing chiropractic as something for your back. We are specialists of the nervous system. And when God works through us, anything can happen.