It is past time for Chiropractors to advance the Profession to its rightful place in the health system. The first step is that there needs to be healing within the profession which involves a shift of focus away from the vertebral subluxation and onto the power of the adjustment, in all its forms, to change people’s lives; away from the theory of nerve root interference as cause and onto how the adjustment improves brain function. This simple shift in paradigm, which actually increases the value of Chiropractic by elevating the foundation of Chiropractic from a spinal (structural) model to a neurological (control) mode, seems to strike fear and trepidation into parts of the profession. It should not, for even if your approach tends to be structural (postural), the effects of your technique are still founded on changing the CNS control patterns. There are so many different portals of entry with which to stimulate neurological change and part of the goal of practice is to find which way is best for each patient.
Here’s the rub! How can we determine, based on objective data, what is the “Best Way” for neurological improvement in each patient? Virtually every Chiropractic group to whom I have made presentations have stated that the system of primary focus for Chiropractic is the nervous system. So where is the objective testing data to support the neurological care rendered? X-ray exams do not show neurological information. They show the effects on the passive system. sEMG scans the active system (the muscles) and are a step up from the passive system. Thermal spinal scans are still the active system in that they measure the dilation and /or restriction of capillary bed muscle activity – Again better than static x-ray studies but not directly neurological (control system). How about changes in leg length as a measurement? This procedure, outside of looking like some sort of magic, without data does not offer how the nervous system is involved. Range of motion as criteria for care does not address the neurological involvement. So while we continue to believe /think/project that Chiropractic is neurologically based, our methods of care are based on something else.
Once research started to demonstrate the direct effect of the adjustment on the patterns of the Central Nervous System, the game changed. The system of primary focus, the nervous system, moved from the spinal level to brain function which elevates the value of Chiropractic. This shift also explains why so many different technique methods generated similar results. Techniques from manual to Grostic, HIO to Logan Basic were brought together based on the neurological influence of the adjustment on the CNS function.
It is a new day for Chiropractic – but only if the profession can let go of an obsolete theory and grasp the importance and value of Chiropractic in this moment of the shift to a true neurological foundation.
The second step is investing in the ability to actually measure the state of the nervous system, especially the brain’s ability to deal with stressors and its recovery ability from the stressor. Yes, I developed and market the NeuroInfiniti instrument that can do exactly that level of accurate measurement. Vested interest – yes, but in the advancement of the profession as my primary goal! There have been DCs selling x-ray equipment, sEMG equipment, chiropractic tables, etc. My goal has always been to elevate the value of Chiropractic. I had seen great responses happen with patients under my care in which the old theory of bone on nerve didn’t make any sense. There had to be more than that simple explanation, so my search for the answer led me to study the effect of the adjustment on the brain. I still needed accurate proof. The NeuroInfiniti brings the objective stress/recovery patterns and the value of the adjustment to improve CNS function to life in practice. You owe it to the future of the profession to, at the very least, contact DeDe@NeuroInfiniti.com and check it out.
