This article can be read on the Canton Repository website.
Triathlete/therapist uses his injury to help others
JACKSON TWP. - Fit and trim, Mike Jones looks the picture of health. He’s an athlete who completed three Ironman Triathlons with plans to compete in an international competition this year.
His sporting life nearly came to a halt in 1988, when Jones was involved in cycling collision at 27 miles per hour. The result was a monthlong hospital stay and debilitating head and neck injuries that triggered unexplained physiological symptoms, but showed no visible damage.
Jones’ memory and speech were impaired. He suffered from car sickness and frequently fell. He couldn’t walk from a darkened room to one that was lit without going into a panic, and endured chronic diarrhea and urination for nearly four years.
Jones didn’t know it at the time, but his frustration at being unable to find relief through conventional treatment would lead to a new career in a little-known specialty.
For 25 years, Jones has been a licensed "neuromuscular therapist." He claims that many people with ailments such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome can be "cured" — meaning restoration to normal function — by helping the body regain its balance.
"I having nothing against medicine," he said. "Medicine has its place, but the average person over 65 is on six different prescriptions."
HELPING HIMSELF
Jones said he used his illness to investigate various therapies. He met a Pittsburgh chiropractor who developed "cineradiography," a technology which films the motion of the spine, through which Jones discovered that six of his seven vertebrae were functioning as a block, not individually, as they’re designed to do.
Jones said it helped him to understand that his symptoms were a result of not just injury, but poor function. Jones uses a variety of "tools" that include cineradiography, kinesiology or muscle-testing, and such "physiological markers" as measurement of heart rates and pain thresholds. He also uses massotherapy techniques to restore balance and full function to the neck, vertebrae and soft tissues.
Dr. Leonard Knell, an orthopedic surgeon, has documented the results of Jones’ treatment in 26 diagnosed fibromyalgia cases.
"He’s had patients who had a really marked disability, who couldn’t function at all," Knell said. "He’s gotten them back to functioning again."
HOLISTIC APPROACH
Knell said Jones’ holistic approach to treatment is key to his success.
"I believe in holistic medicine, and Mike is a very holistic practitioner. He works from many different avenues," he said.
Another who vouches for Jones’ therapy is Betty Smith, the retired founding director of the Multi-Development Services of Stark County, and host of the "On Track with Betty Mac" TV show.
Smith, who retired in 2010, said Jones was able to find the reason for her chronic fatigue and blinding headaches when no one else could. Smith suffers from occipital neuralgia, a disability caused by root damage in the "C2" or "C3" vertebrae.
"Mike’s knowledge, compassion and expertise in dealing with fibromyalgia and occipital neuralgia has helped me overcome severe headaches," Smith said. "Occipital neuralgia is like ‘birthing a baby through your head.’ My infrequent pain is now manageable without medication. I thank God for having met Mike."
Knell said he met Jones when Jones was an orderly at Mercy Medical Center.
"He was searching for a way to help himself," Knell said. "At one time, he was on full disability. He gets his patients thinking along the lines he’s thinking; that helps. It’s a complete program that he puts his patients through. He won’t even take a patient unless they sign a contract saying they’re willing to follow his regimen. The ones (patients) I’ve evaluated have done very well."
For information, call Jones at 330-498-0544 or visit www.fibromyalgiafullresolution.com.