October 2008

Philosophy in motion by Dr. Ken Vinton

The words "Founded On Tone" are inscribed on the opening page of DD Palmer's 1910 text. [1] "Life is the expression of tone. In that sentence is the basic principle of chiropractic", he said. "Tone is the normal degree of nerve tension…consequently, the cause of disease is any variation of tone -- nerves too tense or too slack."

He added: "Impingements, poisons, and intense thinking, auto-suggestion, unrelieved change of thought, insufficient rest and sleep, increase or decrease the momentum of impulses."

Furthermore, Dr. Palmer stated: "…We no longer believe that disease is an entity, something foreign to the body, which may enter from without, and with which we have to grasp, struggle, fight and conquer, or submit and succumb to its ravages. Disease is a disturbed condition, not a thing of enmity. Disease is an abnormal performance of certain functions; the abnormal activity has its causes." [1]

Stephenson's text book, approved by Dr. BJ Palmer, further defined subluxation [2] as a vertebra out of proper juxtaposition with the one above, the one below, or both, to an extent less than a luxation, which occludes an opening, impinges nerves and interferes with the transmission of mental impulse. Many chiropractors continue to focus all of their attention on the misalignment, as if the bone out of place is a subluxation.

Many chiropractors continue to mistakenly assume that every thrust is an adjustment, without ever knowing if there was interference to begin with, or if they had removed any or all of it. Let's take a look.

This is an EEG recording done at a seminar in Atlanta of a patient on the adjusting table. It's 25-minutes long (see the time stamp across the bottom). You will also see vertical lines across the graph marked "a," "b," "c," "d," and "e." These are event markers and indicate when something was done.

From "a" to "b" was the patient just lying face down on the adjusting table. From "b" to "c" was a prominent DC analyzing and adjusting the patient. Notice that not much happened to the brain recording. So, the doctor suggested that maybe time was a factor, so from "c" to "d" we let the patient continue to lie on the table. Still not much happened, so at point "d" on the graph another doctor from the audience got up, walked over, analyzed the patient, and gave his adjustment and you can see from "d" to "e" the dramatic and positive shift in brain wave activity.

For now, I'm not going to discuss what each frequency of brain wave means (it has relevance) but the purpose of this example is this. Same patient, two different doctors using very similar technique, just minutes apart with two very different neurologic responses from the patient. One had apparently no effect, and one had quite a dramatic effect. The first "adjustment" will not get the patient well, the second one will (actually, the first attempt was manipulation and the second was an adjustment, as the proper definition of adjustment includes removing interference). So, I ask, how do you answer the age-old question of subluxation vs. misalignment? How do you know if there was interference and whether or not you removed it?

If there existed a tool that would allow you to have a window into your patient's nervous system not only before or after an adjustment (analyzing as few or as many neurophysiologic responses as you'd like… EEG, HRV, respiration, peripheral skin temperature, galvanic skin response, or dynamic sEMG, as well as, the standard, static spinal EMG or thermal readings), but also (if you so chose) during your adjustment to allow you to see the effects of your adjustment upon your patient's nervous system, would that interest you?

If, by a computerized evaluation your staff can perform in just a few minutes, you could know on your first encounter with a new patient to what degree his or her nervous system was functioning or how he or she did, or did not, respond to stress (remember Hans Selye [3] stated that stress was not in the event, but rather in the failure to recover from the event) which will dramatically impact response to your care, what advantage would it allow you in recommending your care plan if you knew this information about your patient's nervous system, on such an intimate level, before you ever gave your first adjustment?

What would it mean for your level of certainty? How would it improve your patient education and retention? What would it mean for your self-esteem in knowing that your walk does match your talk? Would you stand a little straighter, prouder to be a chiropractor? Could you handle more and difficult cases with ease?

Finally, imagine the additional income with improved patient care, increased referrals, dramatically increased retention, extended care plans, etc… all of this from a single exam. You've never seen anything like it… it is that good. It's called Neuro Infiniti. And it's available now.

References

1. Palmer, DD: "Text-Book of the Science, Art and Philosophy of Chiropractic," 1910.

2. Stevenson, Ralph, DC, PhC: Vol 14: "The Chiropractic Textbook," 1927.

3. "General Adaptation Syndrome," British journal Nature, 1936.

(Dr. Ken Vinton graduated from Palmer College in 1989 with research honors, and has studied extensively within chiropractic and outside the profession with leaders in the fields of healing, consciousness, neuroscience, psychophysiology, energy medicine, business and marketing. He has run both cash- and insurance-based practices and, since the late 1990s, his practice has maintained a patient retention in the hundreds [attributable in large part to the demonstrable proof of neurologic dysregulation as seen in the NeuroInfiniti exam findings]. Dr. Vinton practices in a solo practice and may be reached at drvinton@hotmail.com)