Main concern(s): Sleep Difficulties, Chronic Pain, Atrial Fibrillation

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Aaron Li Balance Method
Main concern(s): Sleep Difficulties, Chronic Pain, Atrial Fibrillation

Patient: 82 years old, female, Michigan
Practitioner: Aaron Li

Patient has been dealing with sleep difficulties for more than 20 years.  Patient has also been dealing with chronic pain in her right arm, lower back, legs, and neck for 40 years. She has seen a chiropractor, tried cold laser light treatment, massage, injections, vitamins and supplements which all have been helpful to a certain extent for her chronic pain. Her sleep issues affect her for a majority of the week, while her chronic discomforts are constant, and she has not found much to alleviate her sleep issues.

Patient has a history of many surgeries including on her knees, femur, and ankle. Other symptoms include dizziness and vertigo at times. Her health issues have prevented her from traveling, causes her to slow down in life, and causes her to have to be dependent on others.
 

 

In her initial exam she has stated that she can not fall asleep even when she is tired, and usually stays wide awake until 3:00 to 4:00 in the morning. She is usually up by 7:30am, although she occasionally sleeps in. The less sleep she has, the more her atrial fibrillation issues and pain acts up, so she hopes to be able to increase her sleep quality. Over the counter sleep medication does not work, but when she takes a trip she states she gets sleep pills prescribed which does make her sleep better.

 

Her pain is felt on her legs, back, neck, and right arm. She has injured her arm while working out.  She has a compressed disc in her L4 and L5 spine region, which is making her miserable, and causes her leg pain. She has been wearing a brace for her right leg and hip area. Sometimes the brace is uncomfortable due to it digging into her right side of the body. Surgery and metal in her knee and foot causes discomfort. Soreness in the neck is managed by adjusted workouts, aggravated from reading too long, as well as pain when attempting to do housework.

 

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One month into treatment, she states her sleep has improved a little bit.  She still wakes around midnight, although she has been able to fall back asleep several nights. She felt a bit of her Afib symptoms in the last week. Arm pain hasn’t been as bad. She feels soreness in her left hip which may be due to working out. She hopes to continue improving her sleep.

 

 

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Three months into treatment, she notes that she does not get headaches or neck discomfort, although shoulder has started hurting again and her hips still feel tender. She had four or five days of consecutive good sleep a week prior, but the sleep quality has not been good since then. She still has a hard time falling asleep, and spends 1 ½ hours wide awake. Her right leg pain is preventing her from walking long distances.

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Five months into treatment, she feels her sleep is so-so, sometimes good, and other times not.  She states she had four nights of good sleep in a row last week a week prior. She has not been able to work out because of her knee pain, and went to the ER when it did not work. She feels she’s always going to have some fracture because of the non union. 

 

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Conclusion:
Patient has seen steady improvement in sleep quality due to better management of her pain. She has been able to get back to traveling, being more physically active, and is now on a monthly maintenance treatment.