EPISODE SUMMARY
Guest: Dr. Mercedes Cook
Dr. Mercedes Cook is the owner of Upper Cervical Chiropractic San Diego. They are located in the Mission Valley area of San Diego. She has had an amazing experience personally with upper cervical care. When she was in high school, she was a cheerleader, dancer, and really active. She was dealing with a lot of hip pain and had gotten MRIs, other imaging, done PT, done the traditional things to help with that, and nothing was really helping. Then she started to develop other issues like not being able to sleep well and having anxiety. She wasn’t getting anywhere with western medicine. A couple of her parents' friends suggested that they try a chiropractor, and they had no idea of the differences between general chiropractic and upper cervical specific chiropractic. They found a doctor in their hometown that practiced upper cervical. The doctor explained to them that Mercedes had an issue in her upper neck that was probably causing the hip pain. After her first adjustment, her body felt completely different. She felt more calm and didn’t have the hip pain anymore.
She couldn’t believe what was happening with such a small adjustment to the C1 in her neck. She was 18 years old and about to go into college at the time, and the doctor she was going to was holding some workshops, so her parents took her and that’s when Mercedes decided she wanted to become an upper cervical chiropractor. In college, they studied all kinds of chiropractic methods, but she didn’t like being adjusted in any other method than upper cervical. So she went into Upper Cervical Chiropractic. At 26, she graduated from chiropractic college and moved back home, and practiced in the same clinic she had received help in. Later, she moved to San Diego and purchased a clinic there. After a while, she decided to go for her DCCJP, which is a diplomate status certification that you have to be certified in an upper cervical technique, not just Blair, which is what she’s certified in. It's several upper cervical techniques.
A lot of people don't know how everything from your head, your upper neck, the upper cervical area, how that connects to the rest of your spine, it affects your hips, it affects the length of your legs. Sometimes when we have pain somewhere, like when we have hip pain, it does not mean that our hip is the problem. It could be coming from a different area and for so many people, an overlooked area is the neck, mainly because a lot of people don't know how to analyze it specifically or treat it properly.
In her opinion, it is better to start your children off at a younger age instead of waiting until they're in their thirties and forties, and things have been breaking down for several decades. It's great, but I would take it a step further.
She sees a lot of patients with Meniere's disease which is, as of right now in the medical community they don't necessarily have a reasoning, but it's kind of this textbook symptom of people experiencing it usually vertigo. It's usually ear fullness. They can have these attacks that they basically- they can't do anything. They have to lie down, it like completely debilitates them, but a lot of the symptoms are in the head, the ears and the eyes. With these patients, what we're finding is that a lot of them have had previous trauma to their neck or they've been in car accidents. We're finding that there is a misalignment at the cranial cervical junction so somewhere between the back of their skull, their atlas, and their axis, there have been shifts or there's been ligament damage, and because of that, they're experiencing these debilitating symptoms. When someone gets a Meniere's diagnosis, she highly recommends getting checked out by an upper cervical chiropractor because what the upper neck can control and what it contributes to the nervous system could be.
Blog Post URL https://www.blairclinic.com/podcast
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Welcome, welcome, welcome to the podcast, What Pain in the Neck. This is the show where friends and experts share true and tried stories of resolution to suffering. My special guest today actually is both a friend and an expert. Welcome, Dr. Mercedes Cook. I'm so happy to have you here.
Thank you so, so much for having me. I'm excited to talk to you.
Yes. Dr. Mercedes Cook practices in San Diego. Tell the listeners, just so we get it out there right at the beginning, what the name of your practice is and how to get ahold of you?
Yes. Hi everybody. I'm Dr. Mercedes Cook and my practice is called Upper Cervical Chiropractic San Diego. We are located in the Mission Valley area of San Diego. If you want to get ahold of me, just go to my website, it's uppercervicalsd.com.
Thank you. Dr. Cook, we met a couple of years ago and you have known my husband, Dr. Gordon Elder, for a little bit longer than that. Why don't you start by just talking a little bit about yourself, what the connection is between you and Blair Chiropractic Clinic? Let's just start there.
Sure. I would love to share. Similar to you, I've had an amazing experience personally with upper cervical care, and so when I was in high school long story short, my parents were trying to help me deal with some health issues and I was transitioning from about to graduate from high school, going to college.
Okay. Since that's where you were starting.
Yes.
Instead of making that long story short, why don't you tell that story and then we'll move on to the next step.
Okay, sure. I can tell the whole thing. When I was in high school, I was a cheerleader dancer, really active. I was dealing with a lot of hip pain and, I had went and gotten MRIs, other imaging, done PT, done the traditional things to help with that and nothing was really helping me. Then I started to develop other issues like not being able to sleep well, having anxiety. At first my parents and I, we didn't know if that was just normal. I'm a high school girl, I'm about to go to college.
Well actually in my view, pain is never normal, but that's a whole nother story.
Yes. [laughs] We were just trying to find solutions to help me and with Western medicine, we just weren't getting anywhere. A couple of my parents' friends suggested that we try a chiropractor and we had no idea the differences between general chiropractic and upper cervical specific chiropractic, but a gentleman in our town, very small town in Ohio where I'm from, he happened to be practicing upper cervical, specifically knee chest at that practice.
I went in and he was doing some x-rays of me. He was explaining to my parents and I that I had an issue in my upper neck that was actually probably affecting my hip pain. That's why doing exercises and doing PT had not really helped me. We found that very fascinating. Strange, but fascinating.
Yes. Now that you actually are an upper cervical doctor, why don't you explain the connection between a pain in the neck or a problem in the neck-- Being the hip pain. It's like in your case, it was the hip pain that was a real pain in the neck for you.
Yes. That's a great way to put it. It is fascinating because being young or, the general population, a lot of people don't know how everything from your head, your upper neck, the upper cervical area, how that connects to the rest of your spine, it affects your hips, it affects the length of your legs. Sometimes when we have a pain somewhere like when we have hip pain, it does not mean that our hip is the problem. It could be coming from a different area and for so many people, an overlooked area is the neck, mainly because a lot of people don't know how to analyze it specifically or treat it properly.
Our medical profession just will do some imaging and as long as you don't have a fracture in your neck or you don't have a tumor, they're like, okay, everything looks good. Nothing to see here. It's really cool to have gone through the upper cervical care myself and then now specialize in it, because seeing the connection of what the neck does to the entire rest of the body, including your hips, is pretty profound.
Okay. I want to actually circle back to something you said. You said the medical profession and they look at x-rays, they look at fractures and tumors and other things like that. Now that you are a neck specialist and you look at a lot of images yourself, what do you look for?
Yes, really for me, when I'm looking at imaging, of course we're looking for obvious things, making sure there's no tumors, cancers, things like that, that's very important to look for.
Of course.
With the upper cervical specialty, it's more about are there any shifts in alignment or ligament instability or degeneration factors that are affecting this person's nervous system, and the structural integrity of the spine, that could be related to the health symptoms that they're experiencing. It's more about very minute details about spacing, about curvature and then how that affects our ligaments muscles that go ahead and attach to the spine.
Great. What I'm hearing you say is just because you don't have a tumor and you don't have cancer and you don't have a fracture, and hallelujah, you don't have those things, but it also doesn't mean that that necessarily means you're okay.
Right. Exactly.
All right. Back to your story in high school. You found a doctor that was able to find a problem in your neck. What was your journey from there?
Yes, my journey was, from that very first visit, I felt like when my parents and I met with a upper cervical doctor we learned more about our bodies in that one hour visit than I think I've ever learned up until my 18 years of life. It was pretty fascinating just hearing how being 18 years old, not having any curvature in my neck. Having injuries--
When you say curvature, it's supposed to be a C shape or a banana shape in the neck.
Yes, exactly. At 18 years old, my neck was completely straight. There was no curvature.
That's bad.
We traced back and talked about, oh maybe it has something to do with all the time that I was doing back flips and fell on my head, or someone dropped me at cheerleading.
You think?
Yes, [laughs] there were--
Do you think it might have something to do with being dropped on your head?
Yes, and it's fascinating because when we're kids, we do these crazy things with our body and we have falls. There's so many people who are dancers, cheerleaders in sports, we get banged around, but we don't go get checked. We don't go have our spines looked at. Over 5, 10, 15 years later after putting your body under all this stress and someone finally shows you what things look like, it's very fascinating and it really brings awareness to how important our spinal health truly is, and getting it checked early on can make a huge difference in your life.
That is so important. It's one of my biggest passions and it's one of my reasons for doing this podcast. I have a story myself of being in trouble at a very young age. I want all parents out there to know-- What would you recommend for parents?
Yes, absolutely.
I'm asking you as a doctor here. What do you recommend for parents that come to you?
My recommendation is, because this is what I generally see in my practice is my parents are starting to bring their children in when they start playing sports or when they start having complaints. Which is phenomenal. Starting your children off at a younger age instead of waiting until they're in their thirties and forties and things have been breaking down for several decades. It's great, but I would take it a step further.
I agree absolutely.
You have to take into account birth traumas, all of our developmental milestones and whether or not we're meeting those and how that affects our spine and our body. The absolute earliest that you can get your child checked to start their life off and their nervous system off properly, that is my number one recommendations to all of my clients.
Yes. When I first started off in upper cervical- my upper cervical journey, I worked for a older, very experienced doctor. His name was Dr. [unintelligible 00:09:34] and at that point he had practiced for more than 40 years and people would say, what's the age range? He would always say, "You have to be born first, and you can't be in the box, but in between there you can benefit."
Yes, I love that answer.
When it comes back to kids, as a parent myself, I really feel so passionate about that. We had our children checked out. I have four children. From the first week of birth. Just on a regular schedule of checkups, it doesn't mean that there's something wrong, but I also believe in regular dental checkups and I don't expect that there's going to be cavities or something wrong every time, but I want to be sure. That's what I appreciate about the upper cervical model is it should be just a way of life of get it checked once in a while and have the peace of mind that things are okay. Why wait till the spine is straight and you have an 18-year-old who's- have chronic hip pain or can't sleep at night. Why put that 18-year-old through that? Wouldn't it be better if you had known, and not had to have that?
Even though I'm grateful for the experience because it led me here, but in general, and like you're trying to do with this podcast if we can just get more people to understand how to take preventative measures for their health, because I think just how we've been led and what our healthcare is doing today is just leading people astray. It's not really helping us get better or helping us set up for a healthy future. If we can get more information out there about upper cervical, how to take care of your body properly, that's really going to set up our future generations for success.
Beautiful. I actually really like your perspective. While our goal is to prevent pain and have as little of it as possible, I appreciate your perspective in your case that you used the fact that you had this painful experience, and then the experience of the recovery process to do something different with your life. Why don't we pick up your personal story from that point. Talk about how the all of that happened, because obviously now you are Doctor Mercedes Cook, upper cervical chiropractor. How did you go from there to where you are now?
I got under upper cervical care, and I'm not kidding you, after the very first adjustment my body felt completely different. I knew things were healing, I felt better, I felt calmer. I didn't have hip pain which was amazing. I honestly at first was in denial. I'm like, I don't think this tiny little adjustment to my atlas, the C1 in my neck, how could it do that much? Maybe it's in my head, I don't know. I kept going back and the symptoms just kept getting better. I kept feeling better and within a week I asked the doctor if I could shadow him and learn what he was doing because I could not believe how I felt.
Thankfully he did some workshops at his office where he dove into upper cervical care more. My parents and I went, were learning, and then for me, it was truly like a spiritual experience. I was sitting in his office and this just overwhelm feeling came over me that this is exactly what I'm supposed to do with my life. I just looked over at my mom and I was like, "Mom, I think I should be an upper cervical chiropractor." She was like, "Great, do it." Literally from that point on when I was 18 and then I've been under care for over 13 years now. It's been a huge change in my own life. Now I get to provide that care for other people, which is just- I couldn't imagine doing anything else with my life.
That's beautiful. You made that decision, describe what it takes as an 18-year-old young woman. From the moment you decided to when you have your own upper cervical clinic in San Diego.
Yes. Really my journey was long but also short. Years go by so fast, but at 18 I was getting ready to head off for college. I went to Miami University in Ohio and I did a bachelor's degree there. There was four years there. Then I moved down to Atlanta, Georgia, and went to Life University Chiropractic College. I finished everything up in a little under four years, but typically the program's about a four-year program as well. That was about eight years of schooling.
You're saying eight years of schooling, and it's like one sentence. Give a little glimpse of what those eight years were, and especially I would say almost the last four of chiropractic college, because it really is a longer education that's crammed into a shorter amount of time. Why don't you just- what are some memories you have or some moments that you can share that are typical and that can paint a little picture of what it's actually like to be in chiropractic college for four years?
Yes, absolutely. The really cool thing was I had sort of this very small glimpse of what chiropractic was. I only knew upper cervical. I didn't know anything else. I didn't know that there were other techniques.
You went into it thinking all chiropractors were upper cervical [unintelligible 00:16:00]?
Yes. [laughs] Which is very unique. It's usually the opposite way around. I only had that one experience and it was so great. All through my undergrad, I continued to shadow- I actually worked at the chiropractic office in my town in between going to undergrad and going to chiropractic school. Upper cervical was really all that I knew and had experienced. When I went to school, I thought that's what everyone was doing. Then when I got there I was like, "Oh, okay, there's a lot going on here."
That's when I learned about more of the full spine method, diversified, all of the different techniques that there are to offer. I thought it was amazing that I got to experience them all and then take little bits from each thing. Ultimately every time I was in a a different technique class, it never felt right to me. I didn't personally like being adjusted in with other techniques other than upper cervical.
Why is that?
Just a lot of the cracking and popping type style, my nervous system did not sit well with that. I felt--
No, you didn't like it.
More stressed. I felt more anxious. It just didn't sit well with me. If I didn't like that style of care, I couldn't provide that style of care to my patients. For me it always came back- I felt my personal best physically, mentally and connected with upper cervical care. I just kept specializing and learning as much about that in school as I possibly could. I'm thankful for the experience to learn that there are other things out there and what it's like. Ultimately upper cervical, I just knew that that was my thing.
Yes. Beautiful. What were your days like in chiropractic college? Give us a glimpse of what a typical day would be like.
Sure. Thankfully from the very beginning at orientation, met some amazing friends at school. A couple of them who were a little bit older than me, which was great. They taught me so much just about staying, being active. We would all go to the same gym and work out together. I even learned from one of my best friends how to cook, just like skills that I had not really developed yet, but are so crucial to health. Typical days were just getting together with friends, making sure we exercise, and then honestly just focusing on our studies.
I've been a book worm my whole life and I love being in the library. Every day for me was like, okay, go to class and then either do I want to go to the library today or do I want to go to a coffee shop today. All during school that was pretty much- for four years, that was my life is just- you take so many classes because we're on a quarter system, if you're on an accelerated rate, you might have 8 to 10 classes you're taking at one time, which is a lot and it's very intense.
It's definitely manageable if you're able to buckle down and you're someone who is super focused and motivated, then it's definitely doable. I was lucky enough to have a supportive significant other throughout the process. We didn't get married until after chiropractic school, but having someone for a support system and who understood that my whole life was going to be studying for these four years, and this is what I have to put my focus on, that was a huge blessing as well.
[unintelligible 00:19:50] respect. I've been on the other side of that.
Yes. You know what it's like.
Yes. [chuckles] Graduating with a doctorate is a huge accomplishment. Most people would say, "Okay, that's enough," but you didn't stop there.
No.
I suppose I actually skipped the step of you acquiring a practice and all of that. You talk a little bit about how you came to be in San Diego, and then what the next step was- not enough to be a doctor with a successful practice in San Diego. Hello, just the best place ever.
It really is.
Yes. That is success, the most. What were you, what, 26 or something?
Yes, I graduated chiropractic college at 26 years old. The gentleman that I mentioned earlier who gave me my first upper cervical correction in my hometown, I actually graduated chiropractic school, moved back home and was his associate for almost two years which was amazing. I got to move back home, be near my family, practice in a place that I grew up which I'm so very thankful for that experience, but ultimately my whole life I always knew I would never live in a small town. Really wanted to live by the beach, and my husband happens to be from Southern California.
We knew that that was our dream destination. I just happened to get connected with a lady who was actually selling her upper cervical practice in San Diego. We connected, after one phone call, my husband looked at me and he was like, "We're moving to San Diego, aren't we?" I was like, "Yes, we are." In that transition- so I went from being an associate. I bought a practice in San Diego almost three years ago now, and during that process I learned about the diplomate program which I had the pleasure of completing with your husband.
I saw the doctor that I was working for, he had completed the first round of the upper cervical diplomate program. I just saw his level of knowledge and how it took him to a different level and the things that he learned. He was one of my biggest mentors. I was like, wow he did this and he got the highest level certification. He's one of the most knowledgeable people in the cranial cervical junction area. That's the next step for me.
Yes. The cranial cervical junction, so the diplomate- is called a diplomate in chiropractic in the cranial cervical junction. This cranial cervical junction, that's the part of the body where the head and neck come together. Why don't you just real quick in a minute or so describe what the diplomate program is? I don't know if you can do it in a minute, but abbreviated and summed up.
Absolutely. The diplomate in the cranial cervical junction procedures, the DCCJP, it is a diplomate status certification that- you have to be certified in an upper cervical technique so it's not just Blair which is what I'm certified in, it's several upper cervical techniques. You can apply for this program and during this program you are essentially set out to take three years worth of seminars and coursework and research work in order to achieve this certification.
How easy is it?
Not easy.
I know. I should have said how difficult is it, because I know it's not easy.
Honestly it was one of the most difficult things that I've ever done. We just completed our board exam to finish the program a couple of weeks ago. Yes, it was the hardest thing because it's not like where you're in school and you only have that to focus on. This is our real adult life. We have practices, we're trying to manage families, doing all these things and then on top of that we're trying to get this highest level certification possible so we can take care of our patients and take care of our communities which is so worth it but it was very difficult.
Yes. I feel like the doctors that have completed the diplomate program are willing to go to the next level so that you can take care of the hardest of the hardest cases and the sickest of the sick people. Is that correct?
That is correct.
Yes. All chiropractic helps some people and then there's some people where it doesn't work for, and then some doctors are just okay with, yes I help a lot of people and then some doctors think, okay it's not enough to help some people, I want to help more people. Is that how it is?
Yes, I absolutely agree with that. There's so many techniques out there that help a lot of people, but there will be this percentage of people that don't get well or things aren't changing. Sometimes it's about specificity. We want to get more specific about imaging and how we're adjusting. For me, doing the diplomate program really just took that to a whole different level. I felt like with my knowledge early on in practice was helping a lot of people, but there were still some people where it just seemed like something was missing or I was overlooking something.
I just thought, what if I just knew more or what if I knew how to look at things a different way? If I could help the other 5% of people that I wasn't helping before, and I feel like that's really where the diplomate shines is if you are trying to move.
If you are in that 5%, that is everything.
Yes, exactly. We're trying to reach people who have tried tried regular chiropractic, they've maybe even tried upper cervical chiropractic but have you went to a diplomate before in the cranial cervical junction? Have you gotten their opinion? Are there other things that maybe you haven't thought about? That's definitely something- just like you go to your primary and then you go to a specialist and then you go to the top specialist. There's different levels and everybody knows something different. It's always so helpful to get other opinions and seek other practitioners who have sought out more knowledge throughout their career.
Yes. After that is my purpose of doing this podcast, is I was always the most complicated patient everywhere I went, things that worked for everybody didn't work for me. My purpose of doing this podcast is if you are like me and you've tried everything, what if you haven't tried everything? Don't give up hope and keep seeing the next level. That would be my encouragement. What are some typical stories that you see or see people that come through your doors in San Diego? What are some patients that you see? Tell some, I'd like a couple of real stories that shows what you do day to day?
Yes, for sure. I have two top things that are very typical that are coming in every single week. One of them is Meniere's disease. I'm sure you have heard about it in the Blair Clinic as well.
Yes. We also see people with Meniere's disease that just a person listening in maybe for the first time, maybe have no idea. Why don't you say what that is?
Yes. Meniere's disease is, as of right now in the medical community they don't necessarily have a reasoning, but it's kind of this textbook symptoms of people experiencing it's usually vertigo. It's usually ear fullness. They can have these attacks that they basically- they can't do anything. They have to lay down, like completely debilitates them but a lot of the symptoms are in the head, the ears and in the eyes. With these patients, what we're finding is that a lot of them have had previous trauma to their neck or they've been in car accidents.
We're finding that there is a misalignment at the cranial cervical junction so somewhere between the back of their skull, their atlas and their axis, there's been shifts or there's been ligament damage, and because of that they're experiencing these debilitating symptoms. When someone gets a Meniere's diagnosis I highly, highly recommend getting checked out by an upper cervical chiropractor because what the upper neck can control and what it contributes to the nervous system could be relating. One of my absolute favorite patients, he's a pilot and he couldn't really fly much anymore because his fear of having a Meniere's attack when he's in the air is terrifying.
Yes. Vertigo's like you don't know which side's up or down or sideways.
Exactly. You don't want to be flying a plane during that time and he came under care. We evaluated his neck. He had had previous trauma from car accidents and being in sports when he was younger. We corrected his neck misalignment and it's been over two years and he hasn't had vertigo. He hasn't had any Meniere's attacks.
That is huge. Two years.
Yes. Two years. Now he has his own plane and he's up flying and doing things that he loves. That's really what it's about, is just if we can do this tiny thing that just restores the body back to the way it originally was before any trauma, any stress was encountered, then that person's body can heal and then they don't have these symptoms anymore. That is my absolute favorite thing.
That's beautiful.
Working with Meniere's patients, my other favorite type of client that I typically work with is post-concussion patients. Whether you had a concussion last week or you had a concussion when you were younger, you were in high school and now you're still suffering. Some people don't even know they're still suffering from post-concussion syndrome. A lot of those symptoms include headaches, brain fog, severe anxiety. These things are building up from the nervous system not being regulated for all of these years after having a concussion.
Again, same scenario with Meniere's disease, post-concussion patients coming in, we're evaluating their neck, we're seeing the same thing. We're finding these misalignments that are impacting how the brain stem's functioning. Again we're just doing these very specific gentle adjustments to the neck, getting things back into alignment, seeing their bodies heal and seeing these symptoms go away so people can get their life back. There's literally nothing better than seeing that happen for people.
That is really what it's all about, getting their life back. When you're suffering to that level you can't do normal things and then all of a sudden you can live life to the fullest. That's what it's about. That is really beautiful. That is actually maybe a good place to wrap-up, because that's what it's really about, isn't it?
Yes. It's what it's all about.
One more question. What motivates you and how do you get yourself going? Do you have a favorite quote or a life verse or something like that, that you dig into that, helps you day to day?
Honestly I think my motivation is when I wake up every day and I'm about to go into my practice, one thing that flashes- I'm very big into visualization. I visualize myself and what I was like in high school and every day that I walk into my practice, I get to meet people whether they're high school age or older, but someone just starting their healing journey, looking for answers.
If I don't show up, who is going to educate them on their spine and their health? They may not get this specific care if I'm not showing up. Honestly just my own personal experience and my journey that I've had is what keeps me going every day, because even if I can just help one more person that day or one more person the next day not have to live in suffering, for me that's enough to keep me going for forever.
That's beautiful. You're every day offering people the same help that you have received?
Yes.
That would make me want to come and see you.
[laughter]
Thankfully you're married to an upper cervical expert. That's pretty helpful.
I'm pretty well covered. It is also true that I get a lot of calls at the Blair Clinic in Texas asking for recommendations of where to go, and I will only recommend doctors that I would personally trust and go to myself. I want to thank you so much for your time and for what you've shared, and I feel confident that you have helped someone by taking time out of your day and telling the story. Is there anything that you want to say that I haven't asked?
I don't think so. I just want to thank you for bringing me on, getting to share a little bit about your story, my story. This is what it's all about is just reaching more people who don't have answers yet and giving them a different perspective. I know that through this podcast and all the people you interview, I hope that it inspires people to dig in even when they've tried everything, just to dig in a little bit deeper and look for more answers, because they're out there, you just haven't found them yet.