Hair Analysis

I have found that when people are faced with challenges they have never faced before they tend to look for answers in places they have never imagined looking.  While I had found great results with the OT and speech therapy for Gracie we continued to be very frustrated with the lack of a "diagnosis" as well as any real medical advice and/or assistance for her.  The doctors we took her to didn't have any clear answers for us.

I began to look more and more into more alternative forms of treatment.  I started by having Grace's blood tested for lead poisoning.  That came back fine.  The next thing I did was have a hair analysis done.  A hair analysis is a simple and painless way to show what minerals the body may be low in and what, if any, toxic metals are (or were) present in the system.  I went to see a chiropractor and he cut a small sample of her hair very close to her head.  I paid $150.00 and he sent it off to a lab in Phoenix, Arizona.  After several weeks the results came back.  I received a 20 page book containing all of the information.

The results were, for a lack of a better word,  interesting.  Grace was low in all 16 of the minerals tested.  I had expected this considering her poor diet.  They tested for calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, iron, copper, manganese, zinc, chromium, selenium, phosphorus, nickel, cobalt, molybdenum (never heard of this one), lithium and boron.  She was lowest in boron (it was 0).  They also tested for several mineral ratios.  Her calcium/magnesium ratio was ideal, but her sodium/potassium and calcium/phosphorus ratios were low.  In the area of toxic metals she showed a presence of aluminum.  Now I imagine that many, many people have aluminum in their systems so this probably means nothing.  I was more interested to see if she had mercury, which she did not.

On the final page of the write up was a page of "presenting symptoms".  I'm not sure how they come about this from simply seeing what minerals you are low in,  looking at your mineral ratios, and determining if you are a mixed, slow or fast oxidizer  but when I read Grace's review I was shocked.  Here is what it said:
- anger
-autism
-temper
-bedwetting
-behavior problems
-compulsive behavior
-constipation
-craving sweets
-dry mouth
-ear infections
-emotional sensitivity
-fatigue
-hyperactivity
-irritability
-loss of balance
-loss of concentration
-mood swings
-poor muscle tone
-worrying

Was it fortune telling or was it real?  I couldn't tell.  But I bought $60 worth of supplements from the company for Grace.   Grace wouldn't take the vitamins, however, so I finally ended up grinding them up with a pill masher and mixing them with chocolate syrup.  I decided that the health factor of the vitamins and minerals negated out the sugar factor of the chocolate syrup.  This was what I told myself at least...