Tonsillitis

The atlas fixation syndrome in the baby and infant. (German title: Das atlas-blockierungs-syndrom des sauglings und des kleinkindes.) Gutmann G. Manuelle Medizin 1987 25:5-10, Trans. Peters RE.

This is the case of an 18-month-old boy with recurring tonsillitis, frequent enteritis, therapy resistant conjunctivitis and who suffered from colds, rhinitis, ear infections and sleep disturbances. “Immediately after (spinal adjustment) the child demanded to be put to bed and for the first time slept peacefully to the next morning. Previously disturbed appetite normalized completely. Conjunctivitis cleared completely.”

The Neurobiologic Mechanisms in Manipulative Therapy Lewit K. Ed. I.W. Korr, Plenum Press 1978.

Taking the case history in patients with vertebrogenic disturbances, I was so struck by the high incidence of chronic relapsing tonsillitis that I took a random sample of 100 cases from my files and found that 56 had a history of chronic relapsing tonsillitis or tonsillectomy for that reason, while only 44 had no or only incidental tonsillitis. A later systematic study was carried out under the care of an otolaryngologist. Movement restriction (hypomobility) at the craniocervical junction was found in the great majority between occiput and atlas (70 cases or 92%).

Manipulative Therapy in Rehabilitation of the Locomotor System, 2nd ed. Lewit K (1991), Butterworth-Heineman, Oxford, 259.

37 children with chronic tonsillitis were treated by manipulation. Tonsillitis disappeared in 25 of them. “Tonsillitis goes hand in hand with movement restriction in the craniocervical junction.”

Manipulative Therapy and Rehabilitation of the Locomotor System. Lewit K. 1991. Second edition. Butterworth-Heineman, Oxford p.259.
Of 76 children with chronic tonsillitis and movement restriction at the craniocervical junction, 70 had spinal dysfunction between the occiput and atlas. 37 children who had not been operated on were given manipulation and were followed up for 5 years. 67.6% were cured of tonsillitis entirely, the remainders relapsed and were treated again with manipulation. 25 had their tonsils surgically removed, but 19 of these still suffered from movement restriction after surgery, requiring manipulation for relief.


A comparative study of the health status of children raised under the health care models of chiropractic and allopathic medicine. Van Breda, Wendy M. and Juan M. Journal of Chiropractic Research Summer 1989.

Two hundred pediatricians and two hundred chiropractors were randomly selected and sent a survey to determine if any differences were to be found in the health status of their respective children as raised under different health care models.

Usable responses were received from 35% of the chiropractors and 36% of the pediatricians and analysis of the results shows the chiropractic children had superior health to the medical children. More than 80% of the “medical” children were reported as having suffered from otitis media while only 315 of the “chiropractic” children were reported to have it. Nearly 43% of the medical children had suffered from tonsillitis, compared to less than 27% of the chiropractic children. Lower antibiotic use was also reported in the chiropractic children.

Blocked atlantal nerve syndrome in infants and small children. Gutman G. ICA Review, 1990; July:37-42. Originally published in German Manuelle Medizin (1987) 25:5-10.

From the abstract:

Three case reports are reviewed to illustrate a syndrome that has so far received far too little attention and which is caused and perpetuated in babies and infants by blocked nerve impulses at the atlas. Included in the clinical picture are lowered resistance to infections, especially to ear-, nose- and throat infections, two cases of insomnia, two cases of cranial bone asymmetry and one case each of torticollis, retarded locomotor development, retarded linguistic development, conjunctivitis, tonsillitis, rhinitis, earache, extreme neck sensitivity, incipient scoliosis, delayed hip development and seizures.


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