...continued from page 1

–––– The Sticking Point ––––

X-ray was supposed to be the answer to getting more information to make Chiropractic work more predictably and consistently. The problem is that doctors of chiropractic and osteopathy, medical doctors and physical therapists tend to look at the spine from the front on view as it appears on the x-rays without thinking of it as the three dimensional working object it actually is.

Supposedly, the two dimensional point-of-view problem was solved by taking front and side view x-rays. However, most doctors and researchers still look at only the front view of the spine because that is how they look at people: front-on.

–––– The Office Today ––––

Modern medical and chiropractic studies of scoliosis (side-to-side curves of the spine seen on front view x-rays) are still done using only front view films. They measure the degree of side-to-side curve without accounting for the three dimensional twist of the entire spine. Doctors know the ideal spine should be straight up and down when viewed from the front or back. It is simple and the easiest thing to understand. It does not take into account the three dimensional twist. Doctors often do not realize that the curves which appear on the front view films appear because of the three dimensional twisting. Most doctors take the easy route looking at the very limited front-on point-of-view even while admitting its shortcomings because they do not understand how to figure what is happening on the side views. This is a failure of the schools to research the entire spine in three dimensions.

The result is the theory of directly pushing the bones into a better position: If it is out of place left, push it right, if it is right push it left, etc. That theory creates a problem in that the three dimensional spinal column might be twisting to compensate. Push it straight and you can remove compensations necessary for patients’ health.

In the 50’s and through the late 70’s most chiropractors and chiropractic researchers recognized the entire spine moved in a synchronized fashion with one part moving and changing in response to changes caused by motion of other parts. They used x-rays of the entire spine in an effort to show how treatments of various types changed the spine for the better and in order to develop a treatment system that would make chiropractic work more consistently and predictably. It has not worked out so far and there are good reasons.

Besides not truly viewing and considering spinal motion in three dimensions, another major stumbling block was and still is, the basic idea that x-rays should be taken in the standing position because that is the natural position of man and the position in which the problems would most accurately show. That basic thought, still used by most doctors and researchers in chiropractic, medicine and physical therapy, is false and has misled many doctors and researchers.

In the standing position human beings can most effectively position their legs and use the large muscles attaching from the legs and pelvis to the spine to twist the spine and pelvis into the best position possible to compensate for any mechanical problems and keep them upright. When sitting, bending, or lying, humans lose most of that ability to compensate because the legs are not planted firmly and are no longer a stable base from which the spine can be supported by those muscles.

This is why many people sit with their legs twisted under themselves to sit. The twist of the legs and pelvis in those positions better supports and compensates their mechanical problems. They are more comfortable with the legs twisted in that manner. They most often do not understand those who ask how they sit that way. It’s natural to them. It gets them into a more comfortable position than they can get into sitting straight with their feet flat on the floor. Yet, after treatment that truly improves their biomechanics you immediately find these same patients sitting straight and comfortably without their legs twisted with no prompting. When it is pointed out to them that they are sitting straight and comfortably either they are stunned by the realization that they have truly been improved or, they are so naturally comfortable they often insist it has always been so. The latter position often astounds their spouse or parents who have been exhorting them to “sit straight” for decades.

–––––––––––––––

Yet, after treatment that truly improves their biomechanics, you immediately find these

same patients sitting straight and comfortably without their legs twisted

with no prompting whatsoever by the doctor or anyone else.

–––––––––––––––

Back to the research that did not work out: In most cases, front view x-rays taken after a period of treatments on patients who were feeling and moving better, showed no changes or greater side to side curves (scoliosis). Doctors did not know what to do. The physical observations that patients were better were undeniable but larger curves on the x-rays did not fit the theory that chiropractic adjustments straighten the spine and get the patients better. It seemed to negate that theory. On the other hand, it was readily apparent to all that the patients were truly improved. The patients knew they felt and moved better and the physical examinations and orthopedic tests showed the doctors that the patients were better – even with “no changes or bigger spinal curves on the posttreatment x-ray”.

Not understanding that the spine was many time indeed straightening by unwinding (untwisting) itself in three dimensions and fearing that the greater curves on the front view (AP) films after treatment would lead to greater criticism, chiropractors stopped taking posttreatment films rather than modifying their theories and doing more full spine research. The chiropractic political leadership made it policy to discourage post-treatment x-rays. They imposed license suspensions on doctors who did take before and after treatment comparison x-rays of their patients, persecuting those doctors out of fear the unexplained larger curves would be the downfall of the profession. This started what will be eventually be known as “The Dark Ages of Chiropractic”.

continued on page 3...