Hi all,
It's me, the guy who started this thread. I can't write much, because it's hard to write about disappointing news. And I've been disappointed with the ALF. And I have what I'd consider to be one of the better ALF people out there: Rebecca Griffiths (
http://www.tmjarizona.com/). I say that because she focuses on realigning the jaws in addition to the ALF. But she also sees things through a very rosy lens, if you ask me, and will continue to say that the ALF "moves bones" in the whole face, and also believe in a bunch of other bogus cures. She eventually has tried to refer me to a cranial osteopath to try to correct my asymmetries, and has remarked that it may not work if I'm not willing to "believe" in it. The cranio-osteopath will not do even one free session to try to help me decide, and I'm tired of forking out money for bogus treatments.
What has it done? Well, basically, just splayed out my top teeth. I'm not done with the treatment, but I don't have high hopes. I still feel very deficient in the mid and upper face.
Also what I've considered is NCR, as seen here in this youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ngRpnBN3ag. But seriously, is the guy who invented it credible? He's also invented this completely bullshit looking thing here (
http://www.bodiebox.com/). Anything that deals with "energy waves" can be written off as pure bullshit in my opinion. Anyways, I'm not willing to spend $400-$600 and a lot of trauma to find out if NCR is worth anything.
I'm very skeptical about alternative cures these days, and you should be too. For example, I've seen Mark Starr, who is well known for his "Type 2 Hypothyroidism: The Epidemic" book. I don't know if you know who he is, but I was shocked to learn that he's a complete con. You can take that not as my opinion, but a plain fact. I don't care to go into it, but noting that "kinesiology" and homeopathy are two main pillars of his "treatment" should be enough for you.
There are other forms of ALF devices out there. I wouldn't expect more out of them than the ALF but I guess it's worth mentioning here. There's this in Australia:
http://www.myoresearch.com/cms/index.php?professional, and another thing featured on this blog post:
http://ryan-koch.blogspot.com/2010/03/adult-palate-expansion.html.
My goal is to get some sort of cranial surgery done in my lifetime, and I'm probably just going to have to fork out the money. I've looked into being a research subject in using new techniques to fix the head, as seen here at the UCLA:
http://www.uclahealth.org/body.cfm?xyzpdqabc=0&id=307&action=detail&limit_department=22&limit_division=1069. They say ALL AGES. But I figure they only want people with more severe cranial deformities. I dunno, I guess I should try writing to them just in case. One of the people on the team is Dr. James Bradley, a guy who has WRITTEN the textbook on craniofacial surgery. They have the best people there. Anyways, what they are doing trials for, osteogenesis (stretching of craniofacial bones), sounds way better than traditional surgery. You can get a glimpse of how it works here:
http://www.rchsd.org/ourcare/programsservices/c-d/craniofacialservices/advancedprocedures/distractionosteogenesis/A002824.
Matt's girlfriend of 180degreehealth went to this guy:
http://www.arnettcourses.com/. You can see x-rays of what's been done to her on his blog post here:
http://180degreehealth.blogspot.com/2010/06/lose-25-pounds-in-28-days.html. I like that he does upper face as well.
Before going through with anything though, I'd like to know, what techniques should we use to determine what my head's supposed to look like? This is probably a question few could really have the right approach to, as few know about Weston A Price, and therefore, what a head is supposed to look like. All I know so far is that there is the "Sassouni analysis", along with a few others, as seen here:
http://www.sassouniorthodontics.com/pages/about.htm. That's what they use to do the tracing on my x-rays I get with my treatment from Rebecca Griffiths. But who's to say it's right? And that reminds me, I have to get the copies of my most recent x-rays, so I can do a conclusive before-and-after comparison to see what's changed, if anything. The tracing analysis has drastically changed, but I'd have to compare the actual x-rays, not the drawings of them, to be sure.
They use this software to do the analysis:
http://www.dolphinimaging.com/3d.html. I'd love to get it on my computer somehow, but I couldn't find a torrent anywhere. Heck, I'd love to get my own CT and x-ray machines for that matter, and then charge people to use them
. Eeeaaaaasy money!
Here's some more organizations that might be helpful:
http://www.baoms.org.uk/page.asp?id=61http://www.iaom.com/http://www.iscfs.org/http://www.researchgate.net/journal/1536-3732_The_Journal_of_craniofacial_surgeryHere's one of Bradley's books online:
http://books.google.com/books?id=ssYcw4GuihgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=experimental+craniofacial+surgery&source=gbs_similarbooks_s&cad=1#v=onepage&q=experimental%20craniofacial%20surgery&f=falseHere's a person with Crouzon's syndrome in the Czech Republic who is currently undergoing many surgeries, paid for by her government (I think). I don't have Crouzon's, but maybe someone here does.
http://candar.wordpress.com/about/Well, good luck to anyone in this pursuit. The only advice I can give is, be very skeptical. It's a cruel world, and there are sick people out there who will take money from sick people.
Also, I rarely visit this forum, especially because I am NOT low-carb anymore. I think it can actually be harmful. In essence, it is entirely plausible that humans have at least been eating various potato-like root vegetables and cooking them since the dawn of time. It's not that hard to believe that we naturally have eaten starch, as hominids probably got calories from whatever source they could. And consider this: what if insulin spikes do NOT lead to insulin resistance? Well, there's actually good evidence that they actually IMPROVE insulin sensitivity, as shown by Matt Stone, when his fasting glucose levels LOWERED after a month of eating a ton of carbs. I advise you to listen to him and get his free ebook here:
http://www.180degreehealth.com/. I know we're all desperate (desperate enough to eat raw meat?), but the main message you should get from him is that we need to trust our feelings more. I even eat sugar again (which he doesn't recommend, but I do). I'm taken away my acne by merely avoiding omega 6 and polyunsaturates in general, which does not require much willpower at all.
My best explanation for the ills of the world at this point are toxins (including unnatural PUFAs), and malnutrition (perhaps even caused by chronic
undereating).
