Dr. Acunia has literally transformed my physical health and I am forever grateful for meeting him. Prior to visiting Dr. Acunia I had been diagnosed with three herniated disks in my neck. I had seen several specialists, initially about loss of strength in my left arm and then trying to deal with debilitating pain in my back shooting down through my entire left arm. I was restricted from working out and basically in pain 24 hours a day. Getting through each work day was a major challenge.
After the third epidural in my neck failed to bring any relief I was told my only recourse would be to have three vertebrae in my neck fused, which would for the rest of my life limit my mobility along with the ability to do any of the physical activities I enjoy.
Visiting Dr. Acunia was my last hope. In addition to the MRI I already had he required a special set of x-rays before he'd see me. The previous doctors ( orthopedic surgeon, spine specialist, and a pain specialist) had only wanted the MRI to see what was the problem. Dr. Acunia's x-rays revealed that the herniated disks where a symptom, not the root issue. The root issue was two fractured vertebrae from many years ago that were never diagnosed and had flattened out over the years. Those fragments had shifted and rested on top of the nerve coming out of my spinal cord. That is what was causing the weak nerve signals that lead to weakness in my left arm and ultimately was the cause of the severe nerve pain I experienced in my back and left side of my body.
Dr. Acunia was open and honest in his initial assessment stating that he wasn't sure if he could help me but he'd try for a couple of weeks and see if we could make any progress. Although I wasn't feeling any relief those first few weeks he was seeing progress and after a couple of months I experienced my first pain free day in a couple of years. Needless to say I was ecstatic.
That was the end of Novemember 2016. Since then we have continued to work on my neck to ensure it doesn't relapse. In addition Dr. Acunia has started to work on both of my shoulders. Prior to meeting Dr. Acunia I had two surgeries on my left shoulder and was supposed to have additional surgeries on both shoulders but had been putting them off in order to deal with my neck. We've made unbelievable progress and I am now able to lift weights, hit the heavy bag, and generally undertake any activity I want without physical restrictions.
During our sessions I've learned a lot about the biomechanics of the body and how injuries in one area can manifest themselves as pain in other areas. A great deal of the shoulder pain I've experienced over the years is likely a result of my neck injury and only to a lessor degree the actual shoulder injuries. Dr. Acunia has a unique perspective on treatment, which is a bi- product of both his education in Gonstead chiropractic techniques and his training in physical therapy. Compared to previous doctors I've been to, he takes a whole body approach to detecting and treating pain/injuries. Whereas the orthopedic surgeons I've been to have always focused only on the point of pain, Dr. Acunia focuses on finding the root of the problem and then identifying and correcting each of the elements that contribute to it.
I could not recommend Dr. Frank Acunia any more highly. read more
