My name is Dr. Ross Hauser, welcome to the Hauser Neck Center in Fort Myers, Florida. Today we’re going to talk about Hauser’s laws and I’m going to give some of the background of how over the course of 30 years I came up with these structural laws of the cause of human disease as it relates to musculoskeletal structure. For those of you who want to delve deeper into this topic, I’d recommend that you review this article. Hauser’s laws on the ligamentous structural causes of chronic disabling symptoms of human diseases. I wrote this paper to show the extensiveness of all the different things that ligamentous joint instability causes and I came up with four different laws.

In a nutshell, when you have ligament damage in a joint, like a screw that has come loose in a hinge causing a door to fall out of alignment, once that joint starts having excessive motion, the excessive motion leads to excessive pressure and excessive pressure is what causes connective tissue cells to die and that’s where you get ligamentous, tendinosis, articular cartilage degeneration, joint swelling, and basically, any nerves that are near the unstable joint, their function can be compromised because of the pressure from the unstable movement of the bones. The nerves will be stretched, compressed, and damaged.

• Hauser’s Law Number One: relates to ligamentous joint instability causing joint degeneration.
• Hauser’s Law Number Two: relates to ligamentous joint or cervical and stability affecting nerve function.
• Hauser’s Law Number Three: relates to ligamentous cervical instability causing a lot of symptoms because of dynamic carotid sheath compression especially compression of the jugular vein.

And when these three laws don’t explain a person’s symptoms then we go to:

• Hauser’s Law Number 4 which relates to a ligamentous joint instability or cervical instability affecting another fluid flow such as an artery, another vein, or cerebral spinal fluid.

All these laws relate to Dynamic Structural Medicine.

• Dynamic Structural Medicine: Bony alignment, spinal curves and postures, as well as joint instability are the pillars of dynamic structural medicine. The effects of normal structural alignment and stability and the effects of malalignments, dysfunctional curves and joint instability explain the structural cause of human health and disease.
• When somebody goes to a lot of physicians and nobody can figure out the cause of someone’s symptoms and problems, one has to use Hauser’s Laws to try and figure out the cause. Dynamic structural medicine says that human posture, human movement, human joint stability affects gastroenterology, immunology, endocrinology, cardiology, and neurology. When there is ligament injury it’s going to affect human health and ultimately you’re going to get human disease and symptoms.

Digital motion x-ray

One of the ways we can tell if there are structural problems in 5the cervical spine is by use of digital motion X-ray (DMX). The image below explains images taken with the DMX.

The caption of the image reads: Hauser analysis of upright neutral c-spine x-rays with different neck curves demonstrating C6 Atlas interval and depth of curve

• Image A: Normal C6 Atlas interval is less than 10 mm and depth of curve 7 to 17 mm.
• Image B: Military curve with forward head, the C6 Atlas interval is more than 10 mm loss of lordosis, that’s a curve less than 7 mm image.
• Image C: Kyphosis above the level of fusion with forward head. Notice that the depth of curve is negative 10.2 mm the curve has reversed.
• Image D: Degenerative sigmoid “s-curve” the posterior C6 vertebral-to-anterior atlas distance in the sagittal plane gives an indication of how far forward the head, and thus the atlas, is compared to the lowest cervical vertebrae. The depth of curve is the distance in millimeters from the posterior inferior C4 vertebrae to a line drawn from the posterior inferior C6 vertebrae to the top of the dens the greater the depth of curve and loss of lordosis the more likely structures that transverse through the neck such as the carotid sheath (including the jugular veins in vagus nerves), will be stretched and compromised.

Hauser’s law #1: If the etiology of chronic joint degeneration remains elusive, it can be traced back to ligamentous joint instability

Ligamentous joint instability is a progressive condition caused by weakened (lax) ligaments that if left unchecked, can lead to chronic pain and degenerative joint disease. When ligament damage occurs, the body tries to protect the joints by causing swelling and muscle tightening to stop joint hypermobility and further damage. The body knows that a joint is only as strong as its weakest ligament. Ligaments are strong rope-like connective tissue structures that hold bones close together when forces are applied to them. Ligaments connect bone to bone and
function as screws on a door hinge to stabilize the joints.

If you take a ligament and you do a stress test on it, the stress and strain on the ligament will stretch and ligament elongate. The ligament will then start to fail. Ligament failure is a cause of joint instability. As joint instability is a progressive disorder, if you do not treat the damaged ligaments, the the joint will get worse.

Symptoms of ligamentous joint instability include a cracking, clicking, or popping sensation with motions of the joint and typically stiffness from muscle tightness or joint swelling.  There may be weakness in the limited, and patients with ligamentous upper cervical instability may have a heavy or bobblehead feeling is common. If nerves traverse the joint, then nerve irritation and even damage can occur. Because of the close location of the carotid sheath in the upper neck, the internal jugular veins and vagus nerves can be compressed and stretched

Ligamentous joint instability can be diagnosed by motion or stress ultrasound, x-ray, upright or positional MRI, or CT scanning [59-62]. The degree of peripheral joint opening and
status of the ligaments can be compared to the uninjured, nonpainful opposing joint with ultrasound (See below).

In the image below we see:

A. Knee at rest with an extruded meniscus.

B. Knee under vagus stress. Notice there is a 3.4 mm medial knee joint opening (7.6-4.2 mm) under stress with the meniscus “popping” back into the joint. There is also ligamentous (degenerated medial collateral ligament) present.

The progression of knee osteoarthritis. When a simple ligament injury (medial collateral ligament depicted below) is not resolved, the resultant joint instability can progress to the complete breakdown of the articular cartilage and the joint.

The Hinge-Joint Analogy

Ligamentous joint instability is a progressive degenerative disorder. The purpose of a hinge on a cabinet door is to keep the door aligned in order to properly open and close. When one of the screws loosens, more force is placed on the remaining screws to hold the hinge onto the cabinet door. Eventually, the other screws loosen and the entire hinge becomes loose. This then exerts more pressure on the remaining hinges, which also eventually loosen. The cabinet door ultimately starts hitting the adjacent door and damage to both doors occurs.

The “treatment” to realign the door and stop ongoing damage is to tighten the loose screws with a screwdriver. Prolotherapy to the ligaments is akin to tightening the loose screws on the hinge. Simple as that! All of the attachments must be treated in order to stimulate them to heal (or tighten).

Hauser’s Law #2: When the etiology of a chronic symptom or disease remains elusive, following the neurology will lead to ligamentous joint instability.

An example of “follow the neurology” is someone who has heart problems, atrial fibrillation, or tachycardia, they have blood pressure swings. If you follow the neurology of the heart or blood pressure, the neurology will lead you to the vagus nerve. Then you should ask yourself where does the vagus nerve travel through and go in the body? It goes right in front of the cervical vertebrae. A cause then of the low blood pressure, palpitations, atrial fibrillation, or tachycardia may be cervical ligament instability, which causes pressure or stretching of the vagus nerve leading to cardiac-like symptoms.

Most nerves in the body are protected by being close to bones, normally within a few millimeters, with some nerve tracts such as the spinal cord and brain being encased in bone. Any type
of ligamentous joint instability has the potential to stretch and compress nerves, causing radiculopathy, neuritis, neuralgia, or myelopathy.

• In the course of normal body movement, nerves stretch about 1-3%. However, in situations of ligamentous joint instability, the stretch can be much greater, with nerve impulses being 70% blocked at 5-6% stretch and complete conduction block by 12% stretch.
• For peripheral neurology symptoms of pain or weakness, if one follows the nerve path that innervates the area of pain or the muscles that are weak, it will reveal the likely culprit of ligamentous joint instability. An example of this would be peroneal neuralgia, as the peroneal nerve could be irritated as it runs around the fibular head (in the shin under the knee) because of posterolateral knee or lateral ankle instability, allowing excessive movement of the fibular head. The peroneal nerve swelling, ligament injuries, and instability can all be documented by ultrasound.

Nerve syndromes and associated instabilities

• Diagnosis: Carpal tunnel syndrome – Nerve: Median nerve – Joint instability: wrist and or elbow – Ligaments: Dorsal wrist (radial collateral) and lateral elbow (annular).
  • For example, if you have carpal tunnel syndrome and if you apply Hauser Law #2 which involves the median nerve, if you follow the median nerve you see it goes through a tunnel called the carpal tunnel. A tunnel surrounded by bones. If you have ligamentous wrist instability, the instability of the bones could stretch and compress the median nerve and cause carpal tunnel.
• Diagnosis: Cervical radiculopathy – Nerve: Cervical nerve root – Joint instability: cervical facet joint – Ligaments: Capsular ligaments.
  • If you have cervical radiculopathy and pain and numbness shoot down your arm, if you follow the nerves into the cervical spine you may discover ligamentous cervical instability. It doesn’t mean that the ligamentous cervical instability is the only cause. Someone could have a spinal stenosis or a bone spur but what caused the spinal stenosis what caused the bone spur? The bone spur or the overgrowth of bone is likely from a ligament injury years ago and the body grew the bone spur to stabilize an unstable joint.
• Diagnosis:  Cubital tunnel syndrome – Nerve: Ulnar  – Joint instability: elbow – Ligaments: Ulnar collateral ligament.
• Diagnosis: Intercostal neuralgia – Nerve: Intercostal – Joint instability: thoracic spine – Ligaments:  Costotransverse ligament, capsular ligaments.
• Diagnosis: Lumbar radiculopathy – Nerve: Lumbar nerve root – Joint instability: lumbar facet joints – Ligaments: joint capsular ligaments.
• Diagnosis: Occipital neuralgia – Nerve: upper cervical – Joint instability: – cervical facet joint – Ligaments: capsular ligaments.
• Diagnosis: Perineal neuralgia – Nerve: Peroneal – Joint instability: knee  Ligaments: lateral collateral ligament, arcuate.
  • If you have top-of-the-foot pain or pain from the lateral side of the knee burning down the foot many people have been diagnosed with perineal neuralgia. The peroneal nerve runs close to the fibula, and if you have lateral collateral ligament injury or other injuries to the ligamentous complex on the lateral side of the knee the fibula moves excessively, and then you can get perineal neuralgia.
• Diagnosis: Piriformis syndrome – Nerve: Sciatic – Joint instability: sacroiliac joints. Ligaments: sacroiliac.
• Diagnosis: Pudendal neuralgia – Nerve: Pudendal – Joint instability: pelvis – Ligaments: Sacrotuberous, pubic, sacroiliac
• Diagnosis: Tarsal tunnel syndrome –Nerve: Tibial – Joint instability: ankle – Ligaments: deltoid ligament
• Diagnosis: Trigeminal neuralgia – Nerve: Upper cervical – Joint instability: cervical facet – Ligaments: capsular ligaments.

The vagus nerve runs right near the anterior cervical vertebrae and the ganglion especially the nodose ganglion which is the sensory part of the vagus nerve that has to do with the internal organs that sit right in front of the atlas or C1.

So Hauser’s Law #2 explains, if you have some kind of bizarre symptoms like internal tremors or you have digestive tract issues and nobody knows the cause and you get recommendations to change your diet, you are diagnosed with SIBO small intestinal bowel overgrowth, you try mold remediation, you did a whole bunch of things and you still have the issue and especially if you’re losing weight or you’re so constipated, if there’s damage to the vagus nerves because of ligamentous cervical instability, the tight junctions in the digestive tract become hyperpermeable meaning that you eat a meal but the mucosal surfaces in the digestive tract are leaky because nerve signals are inhibited to the digestive tract you can get food sensitivities, leaky gut syndrome, your sphincter doesn’t work so the bacteria from the large intestine goes into the small intestine or your ileocecal valve doesn’t work or you get gastroesophageal reflux right. When there are no answers you may want to follow the neurology, the neurology leads to the vagus nerves and the vagus nerve to ligamentous cervical instability.

Using Hauser’s Law #2, in “following the neurology,” could a person who periodically experiences tachycardia or blood pressure issues have intermittent blocks of the vagus nerve inputs to the heart, for instance, causing their heart rate to quickly rise? As the glossopharyngeal nerve provides the brain with afferent information from the baroreceptors at the carotid sinus and the vagal afferents give mechanoreceptor information from baroreceptors in the aortic arch, atria, ventricles, and pulmonary arteries, if one follows the neurology for anyone with blood pressure, heart rate, arrhythmia, or heart issues, it will lead to LCI, as both the vagus and glossopharyngeal nerves are in the carotid sheath.

When the vagus nerve is stretched you have cervical destruction or a breakdown of the cervical curve, the atlas smashes the ganglion. We measure the diameter of the vagus nerve in the neck and we find that people with chronic digestive problems autoimmune diseases chronic fatigue inflammation over their whole body fibromyalgia like symptoms heart issues tachycardia palpitations even valvular incompetency, mitral valve regurgitation, all these things can be from vagus nerve degeneration because of ligament damaged in the neck. When the vagus nerve degenerates, you can get systemic inflammation or autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis Scleroderma systemic lupus erythematosus all different kinds of mixed connective tissue diseases because the vagus nerve goes to the Celiac ganglion then goes to the spleen by the splenic nerve of the vagus nerve in it play some interaction with the splenic nerve that interaction is what starts the process of anti-inflation so the vagus nerve is involved in controlling inflammation in the body is called the cholinergic anti-inflammatory system so if you have vagus nerve degeneration your body’s ability to resolve inflammation is hampered and you’re much more prone to having chronic pain, neuroinflammation of the brain, in the body weird kinds of swelling you could have a Mast Cell Activation Syndrome right which is inflammation out of control which has to do with histamine again this is related to the vagus nerve.

Vagus nerve branches: functions and potential symptoms of dysfunction

Hauser’s Law #3: The cause of most chronic disabling symptoms of human diseases when the etiology remains elusive is dynamic carotid sheath compression from ligamentous cervical instability.

Many people with cell phones are, or will, experience dynamic carotid sheath compression from ligamentous cervical instability, especially in the upper cervical region. In the carotid sheath are the Internal Jugular Veins (IJVs), the main drainage ports for the brain. Without the ability to drain fluid during the night, the venous pressure and the Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) pressure increase, causing an increase in brain pressure (ICH). Without any relieving of the Internal Jugular Veins compression, there can be ineffective removal of toxic metabolic waste products from the brain, which together with high brain pressure, not only causes brain fog, mental illness, cognitive decline, and poor overall brain function, but can lead to brain atrophy, and at least theoretically, dementia.

Hauser’s Law #4: If the etiology of a chronic disabling symptom or disease is not found using Hauser’s Laws #1-3, the cause will be an alternative fluid flow obstruction.

Damage to the cervical spine structure can affect the major fluid flows through the neck on their way to and from the brain: venous, arterial, and CSF. Altered or diminished arterial blood flow to the brain can cause immediate ischemia and be life-threatening. This is why sudden-onset fainting, stroke, seizure disorder, dystonic storms, and other feelings of impending death are generally from acute arterial occlusion. The vertebral arteries supply blood to the brainstem and cerebellum, as well as a portion of the interbrain and cervical spinal cord segments, and additionally, parts of the occipital and temporal lobes. The anterior and posterior arterial systems are connected to each other in the brain by the circle of Willis.

Dynamic extracranial and transcranial Doppler examination. A. Doppler ultrasound of vertebral artery. B. Transcranial Doppler examination. C. Diminished blood flow seen on screen with a specific type of neck movement. This particular patient’s (B) cerebral blood flow was severely impaired by a neck extension and rotation, resulting in her experiencing a dystonic storm. Symptom improvement was dramatic after her ligamentous cervical instability was treated with Prolotherapy.

Meet patients whose vision problems were helped at Caring Medical by following Hauser’s Laws