Relieving Back Pain: A Revolution in Chiropractic - Part 1

Relieving Back Pain: A Revolution in Chiropractic - Part 1

You've heard about the revolutions in the Middle East and Wisconsin, right? Well, there is a quiet technological revolution beginning in chiropractic that provides calming, effective treatment for chronic pain without twisting, cracking, or popping joints. Additionally, the patient can now actually see documented progress and completion of treatment. This deserves a WOW!

If you're an athlete, especially if you play an asymmetrical sport like baseball, tennis, table tennis, golf or racquetball, this is big news. Of course, this is also big news for non-athletes with chronic pain, coaches and personal injury lawyers!

Some of my clients told me that I was using the new pain management equipment at Dr. Westwood Clinic (westwood-clinic.com). Must see Mel Bahri in Los Angeles. His reputation among my customers swelled (he he).

There I tested two new technologies (ProAdjuster and Myopulse) that help eliminate the notorious stigma that has kept new patients away from chiropractic care for many years. The two main complaints are the “cracking” of the joints and the indefinite “end of treatment”.

In several sessions I tested the ProAdjuster (from Pulstar) and the Myopulse (from Advanced Biomedical Technologies). Both devices have been approved by the FDA for the treatment of chronic pain conditions. This article describes ProAdjuster treatment.

With this technology, the patient sits comfortably in an upright position in a massage chair without having to turn their head or neck or even take off their shirt. The ProAdjuster applicator, called a “Fras,” contains a sensor (a piezoelectric device) that first sends a gentle tap (percussion) into the spine at each spinal segment or vertebra as a test force.

This force is reflected by the body, like a submarine's sonar in the water, to tell the computer the location of the bone and the stiffness of the nearby muscle. The software takes the results of every percussion test from every vertebra in the spine and INSTANTLY creates a complete and detailed image of the spine on a large monitor.

This image shows the entire spine, its curves (or lack of curves), which give the doctor and computer specific locations for treatment - the pre-treatment data. The computer program then highlights the five most displaced vertebrae and, in a pleasant female voice, tells the doctor where to place the soft fingers of the Fras to carry out the treatment phase for each bone.

The body's natural defenses cause muscles around misaligned vertebrae to spasm or rigidly prevent a larger misaligned bone from moving further from its proper position. Measured and specific GENTLE percussion is now managed by the computer via the Fras in a series of oscillating taps. These blows move the vertebra into the correct position, which also relaxes nearby muscles, improving range of motion and reducing pressure on nearby nerves.

The treatment period feels really great. This is a revolution for chiropractors and patients!

Post-treatment reanalysis by the Fras allows objective measurement of changes in spinal position, which can be compared with other sessions and the pre-treatment tests along the spine. The patient can actually see and understand the treatment when the doctor is standing next to them. That alone is a valuable physical medical concept that is difficult to underestimate.

The results are instant and EASY for a patient to read. No delays, no special interpretations, no X-rays, no big CT scanners, scary MRI machines or sonogram studies, etc. The software displays the percentage of improvement on the screen so both patient and doctor can objectively assess the overall progress, allowing BOTH to plan further treatments if necessary. The patient, the doctor and the computer as an immediately well-informed healing team. What a concept!

Unbelievable, it feels great all the time. When the days of twitching and straining for cracks and pops in chiropractic are numbered, I can prepare for it!

Inspired by Jonathan Bailin, Ph.D.