Car Crash Wreck Your Neck?

If traffic is in your favor, you can drive from Boca Raton to West Palm Beach in about 40 minutes. Or you can do as June Mullett prefers and go by bicycle. Sure, the bike ride takes a little longer, but if you follow the scenic route along State Road A1A, the ocean views make for a timeless journey.

“I love making that bike ride,” June raves. “Bike riding is one of my favorite hobbies, and I’ve made that ride several times a year.”

In addition to biking, June likes to hike and work out at the gym. For several years, though, June couldn’t do any of those things. Neck pain from injuries sustained in two car accidents four years apart was the reason.

The first collision occurred in 2018 and left June with an annoying degree of neck pain that never went away. Then, in January 2022, the latter wreck made a bad situation worse.

“In the second crash, I was hit from behind by a car traveling at a very high rate of speed,” June details. “I had no idea that car was coming. I was lucky that I didn’t get any broken bones, but I didn’t walk away either.

“At the scene, I was placed in a neck brace and taken to the emergency room. I later found out that my neck wasn’t broken, which is fortunate, but I did have some herniated discs that were pressing on my spinal cord and causing a lot of pain.”

To alleviate the pain, physicians at the hospital performed a minimally invasive procedure called radiofrequency ablation, in which radio waves create heat lesions on specific nerve roots that carry pain signals to the brain so they no longer do so.

Alas, in June’s case, it had little to no effect, so she was soon referred to another doctor.

“That doctor took one look at my x-rays and said, You’re looking at surgery here,” June recalls. “Because it was my neck, I couldn’t see myself doing that, especially after talking to some people who had been told surgery was their only option and had it.

“Some of those people said the surgery made some improvement, but others said it just created a whole new set of problems. Because of that, I wasn’t ready to accept that as my only option, so I was eventually referred to a chiropractor. The first time I visited him, it just didn’t feel right.

“Then a friend gave me the phone number for Active Health Center.”

Needed Recommendation

Courtesy Photo
June Mullett

June received that tip about a month after the second car crash. By then, the radiofrequency ablation had worn off, and she was struggling with neck pain the likes of which she’d never experienced.

“I’m a licensed massage therapist, and I do some real estate, so I’m in my car a lot,” June relates. “At the time, my neck hurt so bad that being in the car for just 15 minutes would send the pain level in my neck to 10 on a scale of one to 10.

“It was a really bad situation. I couldn’t turn my head very far or look up or down without it hurting. Just sitting and watching TV hurt, too. I slept OK, but I’d usually wake up the next morning with a lot of spasms in my upper back.

“Another problem was, I couldn’t carry any of my massage equipment. I thought, This has really done me in. How am I going to get through this?

“I knew I needed help, so as soon as I got that recommendation, I went straight to Active Health Center.”

Exclusive Tool

At Active Health Center, June was placed in the care of Colin O. Behrue, DC, and Cody Grigsby, DC. The doctors began with a thorough examination that included testing with an evaluation and treatment tool called the Multi-Cervical Unit, or MCU.

Exclusive to Active Health Center in South Florida, the MCU is a technologically advanced nonsurgical device that not only assesses the strength of neck muscles, but also isolates and strengthens those muscles.

An instrument in what doctors refer to as evidence-based medicine, the MCU records 16 muscle movements for strength to determine the areas of the neck where there are weaknesses, imbalances or a loss in range of motion.

Once that data are collected, a treatment program is designed that allows the MCU to correct the problems. As such, the MCU is considered the most efficient system for assessment and rehabilitation of the neck.

It has proven so effective that MCU technology is being used by chiropractors and physical therapists worldwide, including those working with athletes in the National Football League and Major League Baseball.

“Starting in the 1990s, a fair amount of research came out that showed neck weakness will lead to neck pain, and that you need to address the neck weakness to treat the pain,” says Marc A. Weinberg, DC, founder of Active Health Center. “That’s what the MCU does.”

Each MCU session lasts 20 to 30 minutes, with patients typically going through three sessions a week for nine weeks. Patients are tested at least three times during that nine-week period to determine the effectiveness of the course of treatments.

“We retest the patient every nine visits and compare the results with the original examination,” Dr. Behrue notes. “The comparison shows us how the patient is progressing.

“Based on the findings, we make clinical changes to the protocol that help the patient continue to improve and build strength. And I want to emphasize that MCU sessions are painless, and there’s always someone available to help you.”

Studies show that following MCU therapy pain levels decrease by 66 percent while strength levels increase more than 70 percent, with more than 90 percent of patients making a full recovery, according to Active Health Center.

“The Greatest”

June’s initial evaluation with the MCU revealed significant weakness throughout her neck muscles. When Dr. Behrue and Dr. Grigsby shared their findings, June was shocked by what she learned.

“They showed me a chart of where a person my age without injuries should be and where I was, and there was a big difference,” June recalls. “They said my goal was to regain normal strength and that as my neck got stronger the rest of my body would feel better, too.”

The doctors further explained that regaining strength would require not only a full course on the MCU, but also chiropractic adjustments and physical therapy. June accepted that recommendation and began receiving treatments last spring.

The results, she says, have been “lifesaving.” During an initial course of nine treatments on the MCU, June’s neck pain slowly subsided to the point where she was able to resume her active lifestyle after a few weeks.

“I was beginning to remember what life was like without neck pain, which was exciting,” June says. “I was able to get out and do some things, and I was able to sleep on my side again, which I was not able to do before because of the pain.”

Since completing her first MCU course, June has moved to Colorado, where she’s attending school. She returns to Florida for most holidays, however, and when she does, she always tries to squeeze in a few sessions on the MCU. Those extra sessions have further improved her comfort level.

June says she has been “absolutely pain-free” since the beginning of this year. She’s so excited by the results, in fact, that she’s encouraged Dr. Weinberg to open a practice in Colorado.

Mountain Don’t?

“I come across a lot of people here who have neck pain like I had,” she says. “For some, it’s a result of whiplash that they got from being in a car accident, but for a lot of others, it’s from falling off a mountain, which happens quite a lot out here.

“And I always tell them, I know exactly how you feel, and were it not for the MCU, I would have probably had to have surgery by now, and then I explain to them exactly what the MCU is and what it does.

“I told Dr. Weinberg, If you opened a place in Colorado Springs or Woodland Park, you would be so busy, and that’s just because of the nature of what people do out here and the fact that a lot of them are having a hard time doing it because of neck pain.

“If you ask me, the MCU is absolutely one of the greatest medical devices that’s ever been created, and I am proof that it works.

“I’m riding my bike again and doing some hiking and engaging in other activities that I would not have been able to do six months ago, and that’s all because I found Active Health Center and the MCU in North Palm Beach. That’s the only reason I’m able to do any of these things.”

June offers similar reviews for those who provided her care back in South Florida.

“I can’t say enough good things about the people at Active Health Center,” she concludes. “They have a great team, and they know what they’re doing. I really like their system, how they do their reports and track your progress.

“Everybody’s on the same page. I honestly hate to think what my life would be like had I not found Active Health Center. They have been such a blessing to me because, quite frankly, they have given me my life back.”